by Casey Morgan
Oh God!
I took a deep breath.
Professional, I am professional.
I closed my eyes briefly.
“Fine,” I agreed.
This way I could always direct him to be as far away as possible from me.
“Grab the two muffin tins from the drawers by the fridge and grease them with butter. You can work over there.”
I pointed towards the far side of the island.
Mason nodded and got to work. By the time Mary came in at ten-till-six, we had two trays of muffins in the oven, our breakfasts eaten, and we were both making batches of doughnuts.
I directed Mason to stay on his side of the room and I kept to mine. It was working, sort of.
Mary came in, tying her green flowered apron, and looked us both over. Her blue eyes went a little wide at the sight of Mason baking, but she seemed to accept it quickly.
“Mrs. Henderson is already outside,” she told me. “She needs a whole rack of something to take for her class today. I guess they all did well on their spelling tests and she promised to bring in a sweet treat.”
“A whole tray?!”
This was a great way to start the day. However, apple-carrot muffins would not do for a class of fifth-graders.
“Ask her how long she has? I can have a tray of banana-chocolate chip muffins cooked in twenty.”
I pulled the tray of freshly baked healthy muffins out of the oven, pulled one and thrust it at my friend.
“Give her this and make coffee.”
Mary stared down at the muffin in her hands.
Her little body was shaking a bit.
“You want me out front… to deal with the customers, alone?”
I looked over at Mason, who was busy mixing batter— his large arms flexing— and decided that I was okay with the idea of him being back here all day. I took a second to step forward and put a hand on Mary’s slim shoulder.
“You can do it. Just for a little while. Okay? I need to be back here baking. Just let me know if you have any problems.”
She was still shaking, but she nodded once and headed back upfront—the muffin held tightly in her hands.
Mason and I were alone again, and I was happy to find myself in that predicament.
Chapter Eleven
Mason
The doughnuts I made were great, but my first batch of sugar cookies burnt. I was so excited to pull them out of the oven, but when I did, the bottoms were black and crusty.
Here I thought I was helping but really, I was just making things worse. I sighed and used a hot pad to get them on to the cooling rack.
Celeste came over and looked at the cookie sheet. She frowned and bit her lip. We had been having a good day working together.
She seemed to have forgiven me for my refusal last night and was happily giving me instructions. She was really a strong girl and I respected her.
Taking a spatula, she raked one of the cookies from off the sheet and took a bite. I watched, with too much interest, as she brought the cookie to her small mouth and wrapped her pouty lips around it.
“Well, they still taste good,” she said, in between bites. “So, it’s not a complete loss. If we had more time I would have you scrape the backs, but as it is, just start a new batch and put those in Tupperware. Mary will take some home and you and I will have a treat for later.”
I watched as her mouth formed the word treat. I loved how her lips formed Ts. It made me want to slide my cock in between them and give her a different kind of treat.
Lost in my dirty thoughts, I stared at Celeste’s lips for a second too long. When I met her eyes, she was giving me an odd look— one eyebrow raised. It must have been so obvious that I wanted her, and she was clearly confused as to why I had pushed her away.
She’s only human, I reminded myself, for the fiftieth time that day. You cannot be happy with a human.
Her little pink tongue darted out and swept over her lips. The movement brought my eyes right back to them and again, I was mesmerized.
She had done it on purpose, I knew, but still it was hard to look away. I wanted to feel the pillow-like softness of her lips on mine and on my cock, which was starting to ache.
She had kept to the opposite side of the kitchen for most of the day, but it was still full of her presence and so was my brain. Celeste was constantly bending down with her round ass in the air, to check things in the oven.
Her hips swayed and bounced as she stirred bowls or beat eggs. Every movement she made while doing her job was one that I wanted repeated while my dick was nestled in between her legs.
She licked her lips again. My body moved towards hers against my will. I was reaching for her face.
One of the double doors swung in and we jumped apart. Mary came in jumping up and down, a notepad clutched in her tiny hands.
“You will never guess what!” she shrieked.
It was the loudest noise I had ever heard her make.
Celeste leaned back against the counter and crossed her arms in front of her chest. It was a move that was supposed to look casual, but really, she was coving her nipples that were so hard they were poking up against the fabric of her pink sweater.
Mary looked between us and started to back out.
“What, Mary?” Celeste barked. “What is your news?”
Given the go ahead, Mary became animated again and started bouncing.
“Well, you know how Mayor Hendricks has that policy where he is trying to help small businesses?”
Celeste nodded. She was still frowning, obviously annoyed at her friend’s interruption.
“Well, his office just called,” Mary continued, “and they are ordering Valentine’s Day baskets from the Crescent Moon!”
Celeste blinked at the other girl and brought her hands up to her face.
“Oh my God! How many did they order? Five? Ten?”
“Fifty!” Mary yelled. “And they are announcing it on the local news tonight!”
Mary bounced around the room like a squirrel. Celeste dropped her hands to her sides and looked down. She was in shock. Tears were leaking down her cheeks.
“Celeste?”
I reached out a hand and almost took hers, but, remembering at the last second that Mary was there and that I couldn’t have Celeste no matter how much I wanted her, I held back just a few inches.
“Celeste, are you alright?”
She looked up at me. Her icy-blue eyes were wet, and she was visibly weeping with joy.
“Mason. Mason, this changes everything. That order alone will get my family out of the red. We won’t be stretched and starving. It might even be enough to move the bakery— that is, if I can convince my father.”
She wiped her face and rubbed her hands on her little white apron.
“We’ve got to get to work on the baskets now. I had ten ordered already, and now we have fifty more. We’ll have to be baking cookies all day for the next few days. But I know we can do it in time. Mary, find the heart shaped cookie cutters!”
The two women started flying around the kitchen. Cookie cutters were found and dumped into the sick to rinse off.
Celeste started looking at their supply of food coloring and taking notes for a shopping list. I watched, suddenly feeling out of place and in the way.
“Celeste,” I begged. “What do you want me to do?”
“Bake cookies!” she barked, like it was the dumbest question in the world.
The bell for the front door dinged. Celeste stopped in her tracks and we all turned towards the double doors. Mary was holding three containers of eggs and two bowls in a very precarious grasp. Celeste eyed her and then turned back to me.
“Or better yet, go help that customer,” she ordered.
I wiped off my hands and headed up front. They hadn’t taught me how to help customers but how hard could it be?
The three men waiting for me were not customers. They were gangsters and they were up to no good.
One was sitting
on the counter and trying to open the lock on the pastry case. He was a compact bald man with a snake tattooed on his neck.
His thick, fat fingers and the half-fingered leather gloves he wore were making it hard for him to get the lock open. He was cussing under his breath.
The other two men were lounging at a table. A tall man with a long black ponytail had his muddy boots on the tabletop. The third was sitting, leaning back with his hands behind his bald head.
All three turned to look at me.
“Who the hell are you?” the man with the snake tattoo asked.
I grinned and pulled myself up to my full height.
“I’m the new protection here, boys,” I told them. “Your services will no longer be needed or paid for. Southland is no longer welcome at The Crescent Moon Bakery.”
My announcement brought the two gangsters at the table to their feet. They were clad in black jeans and thick leather jackets that had plenty of room to hold weapons.
If I had my werewolf ability to smell, I would have known if they held guns or knives, but that ability was gone. I would just have to be on my guard.
The shortest man jumped off the counter and walked backwards to join his other friends. He and the other bald man surrounded the man with the pony-tail—he was their leader.
Ponytail Man stepped forward.
“Where is the old man? I want to talk to Mr. Blenko,” he demanded.
“You beat the crap out of him yesterday, remember?” I sneered. “You won’t ever see him or talk to him ever again.”
I leaned up against the counter, getting closer to them while still keeping the barrier between us.
The three of them exchanged looks.
“You’re just one man,” Ponytail Man said. “I’ve got a whole gang. You’ll never be enough to protect this place.”
I leaned forward more and woke my wolf. Alphas were hard to disobey; we had a magical ability to influence and dominate.
My wolf roused himself and looked out of my eyes—probably making them glow amber a bit. He saw prey and was pleased.
“He’s from The Grinder, Dominic,” the man with the snake tattoo whined.
The leader, Dominic, looked me up and down.
“You one of Terrell’s crew?” he asked. “We have a deal with him. You best be heading back to your bar.”
“I don’t know Terrell and you don’t have a deal with me.”
I pointed my thumb towards my chest.
I found a tiny piece of muffin that had broken off onto the counter and flicked it at them. It hit Dominic on his shirt. He looked down, annoyed.
He brushed off the crumb and pulled a Glock from his jacket. He put his finger to the side of the barrel and pointed the gun down.
I didn’t flinch. I wasn’t surprised. I rested my hands carefully on the counter before me. If he was so stupid as to point the gun at me, I would be over the counter and in his face before he could breathe and before he could shoot.
“Look, Son,” Dominic said.
He used a tone that made him sound exhausted.
“I suggest you leave and let the adults talk. Mr. Blenko owes me money. He pays today or I destroy this place.”
The small man besides him put his thumb to his chest.
“Yeah, we’re going to burn it down,” he laughed.
“Going to bake the bakery!”
He and the other bald man chuckled.
“What’s going on?”
Celeste peeked her head through one of the double doors. I turned and looked at her just as her eyes went wide. She moved around the door and came up behind me. I tried to keep myself between her and the men, but she moved beside me.
Snake tattoo elbowed the other bald man.
“Check out her muffins. They’re the best I’ve ever seen.”
Both of their eyes looked away from me and fixated on Celeste’s chest. I knew he wasn’t talking about baked goods.
“Damn, Big Dog,” the other man commented. “You weren’t lying. That’s the biggest handful I’ve ever seen.”
I glared at them both and they shut up.
“This is getting too out of hand,” Dominic announced, pulling the attention back to himself. “Get me my money, bitch!”
He pointed the gun right at Celeste’s head. My sense of hearing wasn’t damaged, so her sharp intake of breath pained my heart.
My hands grabbed the edge of the counter. The wood almost splintered under my grasp.
My wolf was out, and my hands partway shifted into claws, which pulled at the wood. I swung my legs over the counter, hitting the ground hard and fast.
Going with the momentum, I brought my hand up and caught Dominic by the neck. My whole weight was behind me when I slammed him into the wall. The two other men were pushed to the side. They fell into the furniture.
The gangster’s throat was warm, and it quivered under my hand as he gasped for breath. It was so delicate; one movement of my wrist and it would snap.
Dominic’s arms dangled helplessly at his sides. He was still in shock. Werewolves move very fast.
I wanted to snarl or howl, but I knew Celeste was still behind the counter watching.
“You will leave and never come back,” I ordered.
My voice was low, and it rumbled. I could see the reflection of my glowing eyes in his. I was glad Celeste was at my back.
Big Dog jumped to his feet and ran at me. I grabbed his arm with my free hand and pushed him.
As he fell forward, I wrenched his arm behind his back and pulled. His shoulder popped and the joint broke. He grabbed at it, screamed, and fell to the floor.
Dominic gasped and wiggled in my grasp, but my hold was solid. The other bald man found his feet and attacked. He jumped on my back and wound his hands around my neck.
His weight was nothing to me. Never dropping Dominic an inch, I pulled the other man’s hands from my throat. As he fell, I brought my foot up and slammed it into his leg. The bone snapped. He huddled on the floor with Big Dog.
It was over; I just needed to give a final push. I pulled Dominic down and dangled him in front of my face, so close our noses were almost touching.
I let my wolf fill out my face, forcing my eyes to glow further and my teeth to elongate. The man’s eyes went wide with fear.
“I gave you an order,” I growled. “If I see you back here, ever, I will kill your whole gang.”
I kept my voice low, as to not frighten Celeste.
“Get lost. This is my turf now!”
He nodded. I dropped him to his feet. He helped his friends and the three of them hurried out into the street. They looked back several times, eyes wide. I smiled at each of them, letting my fangs show.
When I turned back to Celeste, my face was human again. I gave her a big smile, one that she returned.
“Let’s get back to those cookies!” I told her.
She nodded, but still seemed frozen to the spot. She must have been in shock.
I put a hand gently on her shoulder and guided her towards the kitchen.
Chapter Twelve
Mason
My pulse was still rapid at the end of the business day from the fight with the Southland Gang and I couldn’t get my inner wolf to calm down. The fight had awoken the beast in me, and I wanted more. I wanted blood or to hunt—something to placate my wolf and calm him down.
Celeste fluttered around the kitchen putting up cookie sheets and whipping down the counters. Her ass swayed as she walked. It was very noticeable and very distracting.
Part of me wondered if she was doing it deliberately.
I knew she wanted me, but was I going to give in and take her when it would only be a night or two and that’s it?
No, that would be wrong. Maybe with another human girl, but not her.
Celeste was so innocent, and her family was so religious. Things had gone too far between us already.
I should never have put my hand on her in the first place—although she did kiss me first. The ta
ste of her perky, pink lips had been so good.
They were soft and full. So pouty, and I was sure they would look perfect sucking my cock.
Oh God!
I shook my head and pulled my hands down my face. Lust was taking over, and I needed to put some distance between us before I did something stupid.
“Mason? You okay?”
I looked up at the musical way she said my name. Her voice was so light and soft with a tiny bit of breathiness. Everything she said sounded like poetry.
I realized I was staring and also that I was still pulling on my face. I probably looked like the monster I was.
Celeste raised an eyebrow and put a hand on her hip—hips full and round and just made to carry my children. I dropped one of my hands and found it moving towards her against my will. I was going to pull her close and feel that curvy body pressed against mine.
“Fuck,” I said out load and then jumped at the sound of my own voice.
I snatched my hand back and ran it through my hair. Her eyes widened.
“I’m still amped up from the gang being here.”
It was a partial lie that I hoped would explain my odd behavior.
She eased her stance and pulled herself up to sit on the counter. Her feet dangled a bit.
“I can’t thank you enough for that. That was so scary. And if you weren’t here, we likely wouldn’t have made it out alive.”
Celeste dropped her head, managing to look relieved and exhausted at the same time.
“It’s no problem,” I told her, glad that she didn’t seem to have seen me partially turn into a wolf. It was good that my back had been turned to her when that happened. “We had a deal and I’m just living up to my end of the bargain.”
“Do you think they will come back today?” she asked.
“No, I don’t. Gangs like that tend to plan something in retaliation. They will be back, but I don’t think until tomorrow or later this week. That way we will think that they are gone, and things are done.”
She nodded at my words and frowned a bit. Hunching forward, she put her hands on the counter. Her sweater crinkled, showing me a bit of her ivory breasts beneath.