by M. L. Briers
“Why do I get the feeling we’re not talking about the same thing?” Daniel asked.
“Did you ever wonder where you’d be in five years time?” She turned toward him with a thoughtful look on her face.
“I’ve never needed to. I’m pack. I’ll always be here,” Daniel gave a small shrug of his broad shoulders, and even that movement was enticing to her eyes to take a good, long, hard look at him.
It was no surprise to her that her body liked what she saw. But that didn’t mean that she was going to assume the position and give up to the mating pull without even considering a different life.
“Home, family, pack. That’s your world, but what about fun?” She wasn’t really asking him the question — she was asking it of herself.
Daniel took a slow step towards her, so as not to worry her, but even that slight movement caused her body to tense slightly. That didn’t stop him from taking a second step, and a third.
“I can promise you that there will be fun,” he said with a low rumble of a growl that sat in his chest.
“Maybe your idea of fun and my idea of fun are two different things,” she took a small step back, and the heel of a boot hit the skirting board as her shoulder blades found the wall.
Jules gave a small grunt of annoyance that she’d backed herself into a corner with nowhere else to go, and a big hunk of a man coming right at her. A lightning bolt of excitement shot through her body, as the butterflies danced inside of her stomach, and her womb roared to life.
Sex on a stick — and all mine.
So why the hell am I considering other options?
There’s something wrong with me?
Other women, my age would jump at the chance for even one night with a man that made their insides all mushy — all gooey — all hyper alert and doing the wild Samba.
It’s not like I’m a virgin — verging on the ridiculous!
Just one more step and I should slap him — splat him — zap him — stop that pigeon now! Only he’s not a cartoon character pigeon; he’s one hell of a sexy mate.
“Oh, I know what you’re thinking about,” Daniel growled.
He was toe to toe with her, and she couldn’t have flattened herself back against the wall anymore if she’d tried. Daniel thought that he might just have to peel her off.
“Oh, I don’t think you do,” she offered in a singsong voice.
Daniel lifted both arms and palmed his hands against the wall on either side of her body, leaning in slightly, keeping eye to eye contact, just like a hunter that had its prey right where he wanted it.
“You’re thinking about me naked,” Daniel teased.
“Actually, I was thinking about stop the pigeon.”
Jules watched as Daniel opened his mouth to speak. He considered her words, narrowing his eyes as he thought about it.
A small frown drew his eyebrows together over his nose, and even that movement sparked excitement within her.
“Just to clarify — the cartoon pigeon?” Daniel asked.
“One and the same.”
“Not me naked?” He was back to teasing again.
“Daniel, my whole world does not revolve around you.”
“Just to clarify — again — you see me, and you think of the cartoon pigeon?” Daniel had a small crooked smile upon his lips. That was certainly one that he hadn’t heard before.
“It just kind of popped in there,” she offered back with an innocent, mischievous, smug mixture of a look on her face. Her eyes were alive with amusement.
“Well, if I kiss you, do you think it will pop out again?” Daniel growled at the thought.
That question managed to slap her right between the eyes. The amusement was gone. The mischievous look had disappeared. And that smug smile had dropped right from her lips.
“You can’t just go around kissing people.”
“I know. But you’re not people,” he growled back.
“That’s a good point,” she said, and then nervously stumbled for something else to counter his argument with. She came up empty.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“There wasn’t a question!” She rushed out, but it was already too late, they made the connection. Daniel brought his lips down hers and silenced her racing thoughts, but not her racing heart.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
~
“In case you hadn’t noticed I’m having a bad day,” Debbie said as she leaned her elbows onto the kitchen countertop and rested her chin on the palm of the hands.
“Well, while mine hasn’t been exactly sunshine and roses I did meet you,” Jake tossed back over his shoulder as he poured two cups of coffee and turned back towards her.
“Reel your line back in — this fish isn’t biting.”
Debbie watched the way that he moved. He wasn’t exactly a small man and yet, he was graceful. She especially liked the way that his shirt fitted over his muscles, and his muscles moved beneath.
“The way you’re watching me there — I’d say you’re more shark than fish,” he put the cup down on the side in front of her and eyed her for a long moment.
“Well, in that case, maybe I do bite,” she offered back with just a hint of a smirk.
“I bite,” Jake leaned towards the counter and placed his elbows down on top of it, pushing his upper body further towards her, and closing the distance between them in the hope that the mating pull would work its magic on the witch.
“Not me you don’t,” Debbie would have pulled back if she could have. He was entirely too close, but she neither wanted to show weakness nor back down to his less than subtle overtones.
“Never say never.” He had a cocky grin that she really wanted to wipe off his face.
“I didn’t say never — maybe you should clean out those big old Wolf ears of yours,” the smug grin was back.
“Maybe you want to come to the shower and do it for me?” Jake’s cocky little grin wasn’t going anywhere. It was wedged firmly on his face.
“I wouldn’t want to take Uncle Nestor’s responsibilities away from him, but you know, now that you’re all grown-up you should be doing it yourself.” Debbie’s grin widened, and she took the opportunity of the win to push back away from him on the stool.
It was true to say that he didn’t look quite so cocky anymore, and that was a good thing in her book. She knew it was too much to ask that he’d give up trying to woo her. It was in his nature. It was in his DNA.
“Now that you’re here I guess uncle Nestor can just concentrate on Aggie as all good mates should.”
“So I should concentrate on you?”
“Yes.”
“Like all good mates should?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I’ve never been one of those girls that ignores her friends when she is dating.” Debbie shrugged.
“Define ignores, because you’re all going to be living in the same house together – until we get around to building some new houses.”
“And what makes you think us girls are going to be mating with you boys?”
“Call it instinct…”
“That feminine gut instinct?” Debbie’s eyes lit up with amusement once more.
Jake rolled his eyes to the ceiling and considered that for a long moment as he tried to calm the beast within him that didn’t much care her description. He guessed it would have preferred it to be described as an animal instinct, but she was going for the low blow.
“More of a manly assurance-instinct type thing,” Jake brought his gaze back down to hers, and she felt that flash of dancing butterflies deep within her again. It was getting annoying.
“Oh, the manly type,” she chuckled. “We all know how well that goes.”
“From where I’m standing it’s looking pretty good at the moment.” He teased.
But it was the big beaming smile that broke across his face and made him look so damn sexy that pinged another round of the butterfly dance and a good jolt of excitement right to her womb.
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Debbie might have liked the feel of it, who didn’t? But she hated the fact that she seemed to have no defenses towards him.
She pulled on her magic and zapped him a good one. Jake seemed to pull in on himself as his muscles tensed, and the smile faded into a grimace as he questioned her from beneath a scowl. She yanked her magic back.
“How’s it looking now — still have that manly assurance thing going on?” It was her turn to offer him a big beaming smile.
“I’ll take that as a sign of affection,” Jake said as a low, deep growl rumbled beneath his words.
“Oh hell, sweet cheeks, you can take it any way that you like. And if you’d like a reminder — just say the word.” She gave a small muted chuckle as she wrapped her hands around her coffee mug and lifted it to her lips. She was more than pleased with herself.
~
~
~
“You shouldn’t have run from me,” Lewis tried to hold onto the growl that was desperately trying to rumble within his chest.
Mia was the picture of innocence as she turned to look at him from where she stood in the picture window of the living room.
“Technically…”
“I don’t want to hear about technicalities. You saw me. You ran. Somewhere in that witchy mind of yours, you knew that I was your mate.” He wasn’t about to fence words with her, not after she’d led his Wolf on a hunt that could have ended so badly for them both.
“Okay. That’s true. I saw you, and for some reason, I took off,” she looked as if she was considering her actions. “I don’t know why I did that.” She admitted on a rush of frustration. “I don’t even like exercise.”
“It’s not a joke.” He growled.
“I’m not laughing.” Mia frowned back.
“Not on the outside anyway,” Lewis growled.
“You know you’re not endearing yourself to me here, right?” Her back was up, and she was defensive. He could see that, and yet, the annoyance that festered inside of him just wouldn’t allow him to drop it.
“I didn’t know I needed to.”
“You have a strange way of wooing someone,” she muttered as she folded her arms and eyed him with annoyance.
“This isn’t wooing — this is trying to get through to you what a boneheaded thing it was that you did.”
“Are you serious?” She demanded. “I’m not five, and I’m not one of your pack.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Which?”
“I know you’re a witch!”
“But not five years old,” she tossed back.
Her hands had gone to her hips, and she was craning her upper body in towards him as she narrowed her eyes and offered him the kind of glare that should have been a warning.
“Then stop acting like it!” He mirrored her stance and a deep growl caught in his throat.
“You’re infuriating!”
“Says the female…” Lewis got no further.
With a small squeal of annoyance and frustration that made his eyes widen in surprise and instant regret, Mia lifted her hand and snapped her fingers, and as her magic hit his bare toes, he yelped and jumped in place.
“Well would you look at that — I thought it was just bears that were supposed to dance.”
Mia folded her arms and offered him a smug look. It didn’t bother her in the least that he was growling.
“No more damn magic!”
Mia lifted her hand and cupped her ear. “Huh?”
“You heard me. I said…” He was cut short again. He’d seen her lips move with silent words, and he’d seen one finger point in his direction, but that wasn’t what silenced him — it was the fact that his tongue seemed to have swollen in his mouth.
Lewis’s eyes widened in surprise once more. He swallowed down hard, but it didn’t help.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
~
“I’m sorry, you were saying?” Mia asked.
“I…” Lewis sounded as if he had a mouth full of cotton wool. He snapped his head back on his neck and looked around as if he couldn’t quite make it out.
“You want to run that by me again?”
The alpha tried again, even to his own ears he couldn’t understand a word he was saying. He lifted his hand and pointed his index finger at her, and when Mia raised her eyebrows back at him, Lewis snapped his hand down to his side.
“I’d say speak up, but it’s just not working for you, is it?” Mia turned on her heels and started to walk away from him, but Lewis followed on behind making grunting and growling noises as he went.
“M-i-a.” He groaned long and hard when her name sounded as if he was sucking a whole plum.
“Well, as a female I have my nails to paint — my hair to do — and maybe I should make some nice cookies,” she tossed over her left shoulder.
“That’s not…” He grumbled another growl when his words still didn’t sound right. He would love to have reached up and ripped his tongue from his mouth, but he would have been no better off. “M-i-a!”
“Blueberry, I think — no, chocolate chip — big strong men need chocolate chip cookies!” She lifted her small fists and punched the air and Lewis groaned from behind her.
Mia chuckled to herself. She strolled into the kitchen and noted Debbie sitting at the counter and Jake on the other side leaning in. There was a grunt and groan from Lewis as he saw them.
“Alpha, why don’t you tell them what you just told me?” Mia enjoyed the moment as the others turned to see what Lewis had to say.
Lewis grunted in annoyance.
“Witch,” Lewis mumbled — at least, that’s what Mia thought he might have said. With his tongue swollen like that the W could have been a B.
“Huh?” Jake said with a frown.
“That’s what I said!” Mia raised her hands and shrugged her shoulders. It was her best innocent pose yet.
Lewis muttered, grumbled, and grunted as he looked anywhere but at his brother.
“If you’ve got something to say, brother, spit it out,” Jake demanded, and Lewis rolled his eyes with a groan.
“A little hard…” Lewis tried to be understood, but when Jake twisted his head on his neck and gave him a curious look, well, the alpha knew that it was hopeless.
Mia would have to lift her magic from him sooner or later, and when she did…
“Are you eating something? Swallow first!” Jake offered back, and the alpha grunted in annoyance once more.
Lewis lifted his hand, pointed to his mouth before he pointed to Mia. Then the alpha started to mime.
Debbie started to chuckle into her hand, and Mia followed. Jake was more intent on his brother as he narrowed his eyes and tried to keep up with the man’s erratic hand signals. Lewis just grumbled and growled.
“What? The witch stole your tongue?” Jake finally sniggered.
“Trust me when I say — I don’t want anything to do with his tongue,” Mia sneered as she folded her arms and lifted her hand to her mouth to hide the big beaming smile that was there.
“Oh yes you do,” Lewis bit out.
“Huh?” Mia moved her hand from her mouth up to her ear once more, and the alpha growled long and hard.
“What the hell did she do to you?” Jake sniggered harder until Lewis snapped his attention towards the man and growled a warning.
“I’m going to kill her!” Lewis grumbled.
“You want a pillow?” Jake asked.
“I said I’m going to kill her!” Lewis lifted his hand fisted an imaginary knife and re-enacted the shower scene from Psycho.
“Well, that’s a little harsh,” Mia teased. “But at least now I know just how you truly feel.”
“Huh?” Lewis twisted his head on his neck stared back at her with surprise and then disbelief. His Wolf growled long and hard inside of him — not at her, but at him for threatening their mate like that.
“Geez, Lewis, get a grip. She is your mate!” Jake offered back in mock disgust.
Lewi
s’s words came out thick and fast, thicker than anyone could understand because of his swollen tongue. He got slower and tried to pronounciate each word — looking at each person in the room in the hope that they would understand him — each one of them shrugged in return.
Lewis tossed his hands up in the air in frustration and let them fall back to his thighs with a slap. He rolled his eyes to the ceiling and his head on his neck, grumbling, groaning, and growling in annoyance.
“So, I’m going to bake chocolate chip cookies!” Mia announced.
The sound of Lewis’s deep growl made her chuckle – she just couldn’t help herself.
Lewis folded his arms across his broad chest and huffed. He muttered curses that they couldn’t understand.
“I kind of feel sorry for the guy,” Debbie whispered as Mia started past her.
“But think of the hours of fun we can have playing charades,” Jake offered. Obviously, she hadn’t whispered low enough for his big Wolf ears not to pick it up.
“Someone say charades?” Aggie’s voice boomed out into the room as she strolled in with Nestor behind her. The alpha offered her a death glare.
“What’s got up his butt?” Nestor grumbled a growl.
“It’s more like a witch got his tongue,” Jake chuckled.
“I already told you, I want anything to do with his tongue,” Mia said with another shrug of her shoulders.
“Wait until you’re asked,” Lewis grumbled.
“What the hell have you been sucking on that you shouldn’t?” Aggie chuckled. “Because that sounds bad.”
“Ya think?” Lewis grumbled as he rolled his eyes.
“Huh?” Aggie lifted her hand and cupped her ear as the others sniggered.
Lewis growled again as he turned pleading eyes towards his mate. He lifted his hand pointed to his mouth and grumbled out a growl once more.
“But, honey, I have to make cookies,” Mia offered him a fake apologetic look.
“You do this?” Aggie demanded.
“I might have been tempted to show him the error of his ways,” Mia lifted her chin in defiance.