Prideless

by Kasey Belle

  “Are you asking me or telling me?”

  “Telling.”

  “Looking, huh? Looked more like critiquing, to me. So, what’s going on? You didn’t look to happy at what you were seeing.”

  Damn, the girl was like a hungry dog with a bone. Shelly sighed. She knew Fee wouldn’t let it go without Shelly telling the truth and Fee knew when she was lying. Fuck a duck!

  “Kell’s friend just called.”

  Fiona’s eyebrows flew up. “Really? Hmm.”

  “Yes.” She glared at her best friend. “He’s said he’d call around noon and if it was okay he would head over.”

  “And?”

  Shelly rolled her eyes. “And… he sounds so freaking hot. I...” She shrugged. “I thought I would you know, make an effort, just in case he is.”

  Fiona looked at her as if she had sprouted an extra head. “You are going to “make an effort” for some guy just because he sounds hot? Miss ‘I don’t date because I don’t need a man.’ You, Shelly the Super Virgin, is primping for a stranger?”

  “I, uh, it couldn’t hurt, right? It’s stupid I know. You’re right, who cares.” She shrugged, Fiona was right. She was not acting like herself.

  Fiona smiled, though it looked a little sad, and shook her head. “No. It couldn’t hurt and it’s not stupid. I can’t wait to meet this guy. I like seeing you this way. I hope it works out for you.”

  Shelly’s eyes filled with tears. How inconsiderate could she be? It had only been a month since Fiona lost David and she was still reeling from the loss. “I’m sorry Fee.” She sniffed. “I suck as a best friend. Here I am going on about this Max guy, who I don’t even know, and you just lost your one.”

  Fiona crossed the threshold and hugged her. “Don’t do that. Just because I am sad, doesn’t mean you can’t be happy. I want you to be happy.”

  They held each other and cried.

  ****

  Max ended the call, laid his head on the back of the hotel couch, and growled. “Doll? You called her doll? What the fuck, Max? If that son of a bitch Kell knew, I am going to gut him.”

  He looked down at his cellphone and pulled up Kell’s information. When Kell answered, he didn’t waste time on pleasantries. “Did you fucking know? If you fucking knew I am kicking your ass.”

  “Hello Max. How are you?”

  “I’m fucking serious, dog.”

  Kell chuckled when Max growled. “Aww, are you purring at me?”

  “Answer the fucking question.”

  “I would answer the fucking question if I knew what you were fucking talking about. I am not sure what exactly it is, I was supposed to know.”

  “Fiona’s friend.”

  “Shelly?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What about her? Have you seen her? Is she okay? Wait. You’re already in New Orleans? I didn’t think you would get there for a few more days.”

  “No I haven’t been over there to meet her yet. She says she fine. I got here early. So you didn’t know?”

  “Again, know what?”

  Max sighed. “She’s my mate.”

  His confession was met with silence.

  “Hello?”

  “Yeah, I’m here. Are you sure? I mean, you said yourself you haven’t met her yet.”

  “As sure as my lion can be. I talked to her on the phone. My lion recognized her. I didn’t even know that was possible.”

  “Wow. Congratulations.”

  “Are you not listening? Do I sound happy?”

  “Why wouldn’t you be happy Max? You found your mate.”

  “Gee, let me think. How was it you described Shelly? Oh yes, sweet, innocent, and twenty-three. I’m a loner. I’m rough, never been innocent, and old.”

  “You aren’t old Max. You are only a couple of years older than I am. That would make you only about seven or eight years older than Shelly. That’s not a huge age difference. If, the Fates picked her for you, then she is exactly who you need.”

  Max shook his head. “You don’t get it.”

  “You’re right, I don’t. You found your one. Don’t throw away the gift, some of us are never lucky enough to find.”

  Properly put in his place, Max took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “Look man, don’t dismiss her. Hell, you haven’t even physically laid eyes on the girl yet. Give it a chance.”

  “She’s gonna take one look at me and run.”

  “Naw man, I think she’ll want to scratch your belly and have you purring in no time.”

  Max snorted. “Smart ass.”

  “When you heading over there?”

  “I told her I’d call around noon. She said Fiona was sleeping.”

  “Good. Fee didn’t look to good the last time I saw her. I’m worried about her.”

  “Yeah, I got the feeling Shelly was too. I’ll give you a SITREP when I get clear.”

  “Thanks man. If you need to talk, you know where I am. Just, don’t do anything rash.”

  “Yeah, I hear you. Later.”

  Fuck! What was he going to do with an innocent girl?

  His lion snapped and growled at him, “She is twenty-three. That is not a girl.”

  “She’s innocent and sweet, as well, let’s not forget that. The way Kell described her, she’s probably a virgin.”

  His lion’s eyes glowed with satisfaction and possessiveness. He hoped she was a virgin. “Good, we won’t have to kill anyone for touching her. She would only belong to us.”

  Max wanted to deny the sentiment, but he couldn’t. The thought of having a mate no man had ever touched sent a wave of possessiveness through him as well. He also felt a need so acute, it made him uncomfortable. He didn’t want a mate. What did he have to offer her? He wasn’t an active duty Marine anymore, but he still thought like one, still felt like one. The war still lived inside him, and it always would. He would always be the elite soldier the Marines trained him to be. Always ready to defend and kill for his country. How could a sweet innocent girl want a hardened killer like him? He was also an alpha lion without a pride, nor did he want one. Yeah, this was going to work out well. Especially when he told her, he didn’t want a pride, and he willingly put himself under another alpha’s rule.

  His lion roared. “We are not under his rule! We will not subjugate ourselves to Alpha St Pierre. We want to live in his territory so out of common courtesy we will follow his rules. We will not join his pride, nor will we bare our neck to him.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Max sighed. Sometimes he was just so very tired.

  “She will want us. You will see. We are tired because we don’t have a mate. Even though we have no pride, we are still alpha and alphas need mates. I know we said we would never have one, but it gets harder to be alone with each passing year.”

  His lion wasn’t wrong. He knew part of the desolation he was feeling was because he didn’t have a mate. Once he confirmed Shelly was his mate, and she didn’t run screaming in fear; he would let the Pride alpha know his stay in St. Pierre territory will most likely be permanent. He allowed himself to hope now that the thought of a mate had taken root and his lion’s words had penetrated his lonely soul. Maybe, history wouldn’t repeat itself. Maybe, the woman he believed was his mate wouldn’t run away, but accept him, his lion, their baggage, and lack of social skills, with open arms.

  Chapter 2

  Shelly was putting the final touches on her make-up when her cellphone rang. Her heart thumped loudly when she saw the number belonged to hot sounding Max. She cleared her throat and tried to sound casual.

  “Hey Max.” Okay so casually in lust was the sound she was going for. She rolled her eyes.

  She could have sworn she heard him growl. “Hello Shelly. Is now a good time?”

  To do me? Oh yes! She needed to stop saying shit like that in her head before she blurted it out her mouth. She cleared her throat. “Now is fine, Fiona’s up and preparing to feed Emma Grace.”

  “Uh, maybe I should wait then.�
�

  “Why?”

  Max cleared his throat. “I don’t think she wants a strange man in her house while she is, you know?”

  Shelly giggled. She couldn’t help the need to tease the man a little. He sounded so serious. He was definitely a Marine. “Emma Grace will be drinking from a bottle, not Fee’s you know…boob.”

  Was that noise growl or a groan this time?

  “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” He hung up the phone. She stared at the dark screen.

  “Okay, see you then.” She quipped.

  She walked into the kitchen where Fiona was making up a bottle for Emma Grace. “I heard the phone ring. Was that your mystery man?”

  Although Shelly could still see the sadness in her friend’s eyes, she was happy to hear her making an effort to tease. She wanted to cry at how good it was to see a glimpse of the old Fee, but that would just set them both off and puffy red eyes did not make a good first impression.

  “It was.” She smiled and blushed. “I know it’s stupid, but there is just something about his voice.” She shrugged.

  Fiona shook her head. “I thought we established it’s not stupid. I hope he is what you want him to be. I can just see the headlines now; Shelly the Super Virgin, no longer needs a man. Super Virgin now able to leap tall penises in a single bound.”

  Shelly stuck her tongue out at her friend. “Stop calling me that. I don’t need one. Tall penises. Really?”

  “You want one. I thought it was ingenious.”

  “Maybe I want one, and it was sort of ingenious. The last boyfriend I had, was Jimmy Martin in high school.”

  Fiona snorted indignantly. “Yeah and he turned out to be a tool.”

  Shelly could only nod. There was no point in arguing because Fiona was right. She refused to have sex with Jimmy because she had plans and an accidental pregnancy wasn’t one of them. Plus, she didn’t feel he was deserving of her body. Boy was she right. He told everyone she put out even though she had barely kissed him, asshole. “I was too busy getting my degree to date in college. Truth to tell, I didn’t want another repeat of Jimmy. None of the guys I knew felt right.”

  Fiona tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. “And this Max guy feels right?”

  “Maybe. I don’t know. He just sounds so hot and mature.”

  “Like old guy mature?”

  “Noooo. Just like he has all his shit together, not like a college frat boy. You know what I mean?”

  “I think so. So when is Mr. Hot Sounding Mature Guy going to be here?”

  “He said, fifteen minutes.” Shelly giggled remembering their conversation. “At first he wasn’t going to come when I told him you were getting ready to feed Emma Grace. He thought he was going to see boob.”

  Fiona snorted. “What is it with men? They are all, Oh look at that hot girl, in that tiny bikini, with the big chee-chees. I want to motorboat those. You attach a baby to a boob and it’s, Uh, I probably shouldn’t look at those, you know because it’s awkward with the baby in the way.”

  Shelly laughed at her friend’s irreverent humor and imitation of a man’s deep voice.

  “Seriously.” Fiona looked down at her chest and pushed her boobs together with her arms. “I mean yeah their big, soft, and well, pretty damn spectacular, but I don’t get it.” She shot Shelly a quick grin and held her arms out to her side. “Okay, this is ‘no baby’.” Then Fiona took Emma Grace from her carryall and cradled her in her arms. “This is ‘with baby’. You would think, they would look better with E.G. next to them, because she’s adorable. She accentuates them.” She lowered Emma Grace. “No baby.” She pulled the baby to her chest again. “Baby.” She did this a few more times until Shelly had to beg her stop. Shelly had tears running down her face. She needed to get her mirth under control and reapply her make-up.

  Fresh eye make-up and fourteen minutes later they heard the distinctive rumble of a Harley coming up the street. Oh my god that was a sexy sound. Shelly’s heart started to beat faster and she could actually feel her pussy get wet. As the bike got closer, and the rumble grew louder, the more turned on she became.

  Fiona covered her mouth and snickered. “Co wee girl! You should see your face. You need to go change your underwear?”

  Shelly felt her face flush. Feigning a confidence, she didn’t feel, she lifted her chin in the air and looked down at Fee. “I am not even going to dignify that with a response.”

  That just made Fiona laugh harder. She stopped laughing as they heard Max pull up in the driveway. She looked at Shelly with wide eyes and eyebrows halfway up her forehead. “You are wearing underwear, right?”

  It was Shelly’s turn to giggle. “Yes, Miss Bitch.”

  Fiona acted as if she was looking at Shelly’s butt. “I don’t see any panty lines.”

  “It’s a thong.”

  “Riiiight,” Fiona said nodding her head, “Sure.”

  “I am, and it still counts as underwear.” Shelly stuck her tongue out at Fiona. They heard heavy booted feet walking up the porch steps and then the doorbell rang.

  ****

  Fiona was looking at Shelly as she stared at the door, but didn’t move from her seat on the couch. She wanted to laugh. It was about time her bestie had a crush on a guy, even if it was only his voice. Shelly turned and looked at Fiona; her eyes were wide with fear.

  “I think I’m going to be sick.”

  “You aren’t going to be sick, Shell. Go answer the door.” She looked down at the baby in her arms. “I can’t get it. I have my arms full.” She grinned at Shelly.

  “God, you are a bitch.”

  Fiona just smiled.

  The doorbell rang again.

  Fee shrugged. “Go, before he pulls a Kell and kicks the thing in.”

  Shelly took a deep breath and wiped her palms on her jeans. Fiona rolled her eyes as she watched her beautiful blonde friend take slow measured steps towards the door. Shelly jumped when Max pounded on the door.

  “Jesus fucking Christ, answer the door already. If he breaks my door I’m telling him, you took an extra hour getting ready to meet him, because he has a hot voice.”

  Fiona laughed when Shelly practically ran to the door, flung it open, but that was all Shelly did. Shelly didn’t say hi, come in, or fuck off. She just stood there with her mouth hanging open, staring at the man standing on Fiona’s porch.

  ****

  Shelly knew Fiona was serious, so she didn’t even stop to think. She just raced to the door and opened it. She really wished she would have prepared better, because, Co wee, he was hot as hell! She had to force herself to breathe and swallow, but she couldn’t make herself blink. He was about a foot taller than she was that made him at least six-five. He had short, dark coffee brown hair, cropped close around his ears and nape, but longer on top. His eyes were an unusual color. A ring of dark brown encircled the outside of his iris. The iris started out as a golden amber and blended into copper that surrounded his pupil. They were warm and mesmerizing.

  She made her way down his face to his straight strong nose and high cheekbones. Scruff covered the skin above his upper lip, square jaw, and chin. His lips were full and looked soft and oh so kissable. His bottom lip could almost be described as pouty. His neck, what there was of it, was thick and muscular. She watched his Adams’ apple move up and down as he swallowed. The tight t-shirt he wore showed off his muscular traps and deltoids, and it pulled tight across his chest and biceps. His right arm sported a full sleeve tattoo, but on his left arm, the ink went barely past the short sleeve of his t-shirt. Was that a work in progress? Was he going to have a full sleeve there as well? God, he was lickable. She let her gaze wander down to his washboard abs and lean waist. When she got to his extremely large and hard cock, she froze. She wanted to look away, really, she did, but she couldn’t. There was no way that would fit without hurting her, not with all the lube in the world. She jumped when he cleared his throat and her eyes flew up and met his heat filled gaze. Oh, shit! She b
linked rapidly to stop the embarrassed tears from forming. She was mortified. She had basically eye fucked a perfect stranger while he stood in her best friend’s doorway.

  Chapter 3

  Max’s heart rate accelerated when he turned on to Fiona’s street. The closer he got to the house the faster his heartbeat. By the time, he pulled into the driveway he felt light-headed. He turned off the ignition and took a moment to calm down. Face planting on the concrete was not on his list of awesome things to do today. That would really impress his mate. He took a few deep breaths, forcing oxygen into his lungs. When he felt sure he wouldn't high five the driveway with his face, he got off is Harley and walked to the door to meet his fate.

  His enhanced hearing picked up voices coming from inside the house. It was hard to tell if the women were talking or arguing. He made his way up the walk to the porch steps. The closer he got to the door, the easier it was to hear them. He raised his fist to knock when a familiar voice and eight words froze him in place.

  “I am and it still counts as underwear.”

  What? What still counts as underwear? Why, the hell was Shelly talking about underwear? What kind was she wearing? When could he relieve his curiosity and find out? Oh, man, his cock felt like it was going to bust through his zipper. Even though he knew it would be a wasted effort, he took a moment to adjust his raging hard-on to a less noticeable position. He looked down and groaned, yep wasted effort. He knocked on the door and prayed she wouldn't notice the two-by-four in his pants.

  “I think I’m going to be sick.”

  Great. His mate was physically ill at the thought of meeting him.

  The beast inside him growled. “She doesn’t know she is our mate.”

  “You aren’t going to be sick, Shell. Go answer the door. I can’t get it. I have my arms full.”

  “God, you are a bitch.”

  Holy shit! That was Shelly. He thought she and Fiona were supposed to be best friends. Max hoped he didn’t have to break up a catfight. He pounded on the door again, hoping to stop that shit before it got started. When no one answered, he rang the bell.