by Bianca D'Arc
“I think she’s learned her lesson.” Jason’s relief was evident though otherwise, Sally was learning, he kept his emotions very close to his vest. “I need to talk to Detective Decker for a few minutes before we grab some dinner.”
So saying, he left the trio of women, Sally following in his wake. There was a tension about him that she hadn’t noticed, in the tumult of the situation. Could be he was having a bit of a reaction now that the adrenaline had faded. She’d been through that herself. It happened from time to time. Such was the nature of her occupation. Days and weeks of boredom interspersed with moments of sheer terror.
Somehow, she’d gotten used to it over the years and now she lived for those few moments when life and death were on the line. She wasn’t an adrenaline junkie. Not by a long shot. But she no longer appreciated the dull times. There had to be more to life than sitting at a desk or filing papers. Didn’t there?
Jason led her through the big house, down a hallway and into a private room that looked like a study. There was a desk filled with papers and a few comfortable chairs ranged in front of it. A long leather couch lined one wall, but that was all she got to see before he closed the door and whirled around, capturing her in his arms.
She found herself the recipient of a bear hug that almost bruised her ribs. He held her so tight, like he would never let go. It felt good. It was also more than a bit overwhelming.
“Jason?”
“I’m sorry, Sally. You were incredible out there. I knew you would be. I could tell you were an Alpha female, but that doesn’t mean I enjoyed seeing you in danger. Four men with rifles, Sally. Four! All trained on you.”
She could feel the slight tremble of his body against hers. It was anger at those men. His fury came through in every word he spoke, but it wasn’t directed at her, thank goodness. No, he was really pissed off at those four jerks she’d captured. She understood. It was hard to go off to take care of business, leaving your partner under the gun. She’d had to do it a time or two herself and she never liked it. Not one bit.
Sally stroked her hands down his back, gentling him.
“It’s okay, Jason. It all worked out. And in my job, this wasn’t the first time I’ve had a lot of guns pointed my way. There was a bank robbery last year involving five gunmen and I walked right into their escape path. It was a little tense before my backup showed.”
She’d thought her words would calm him; instead, he held her tighter. Damn. She should’ve realized the man had a protective streak a mile wide.
“If you’re trying to make me feel better, it’s not working.”
She heard the humorous note in his voice that hadn’t been there a few seconds ago. Good. He wasn’t the type to linger over bad thoughts. She’d had to develop the skill herself.
She smiled up at him as he released her enough to do so. His arms were looser, but he still wasn’t letting her go.
“Then I’d better not tell you about the shootout three years ago.”
“Shootout? Damn, woman. You want to get me all worked up, don’t you?” His grin told her that might be just the ticket. Getting this man worked up would definitely be her pleasure. All night long.
A flush stole over her body as her thoughts turned lascivious. This man affected her like no other. In his presence—especially in his arms—she had trouble focusing on anything other than sex. With him. Now. On the couch. On the desk. Even on the floor.
Damn. She had it bad.
“If you’re good, I might even show you my scar.” She was teasing but his eyes narrowed and his armed tightened, just a little.
“Scar? Honey, you got shot?” His gaze was intense.
“Just grazed,” she clarified. “Hurt like the dickens at the time, but I only have a tiny scar to show for it. I’m surprised you didn’t notice it before.”
“Where?” The single word held a multitude of feeling. Caring, concern, desire…it was all mixed up together in his expression and it touched her deeply.
She moved away from him and he let her go. She unbuttoned her jeans and lifted her shirt, displaying the white line that rode along the top of her left hip. Jason dropped to his knees in front of her, surprising her. His fingers traced the four-inch scar almost reverently as his breath wafted over her skin, raising gooseflesh. She would have moved away but he grabbed her hips, holding her in place while his lips touched her flesh, kissing the scar that she never really showed anyone.
To her, it was a mark of stupidity. She’d read the situation wrong and almost got killed for her troubles. It was a mark of experience, of learning. She had never forgotten the lesson of that injury. She had never put herself in the same situation again.
“What happened?” Jason spoke the words against her skin as he continued touching her, moving his hands into the open flap of her jeans. Her stomach clenched as vibrations started deep within her.
“I trusted a perp. I thought we had an understanding and I put myself in the open, expecting no more trouble from her.”
“A woman did this to you?” His hands moved lower, taking her jeans down, inch by inch. She locked her knees so they wouldn’t give out on her.
“It was a domestic dispute. She’d already shot her husband in the chest. I figured her rage was at him alone and that she wouldn’t take it out on another woman. I thought I’d talked her into surrendering. Turns out, I was almost dead wrong. She had nothing left to lose. She had already killed her kids in the other room, before I got there. The husband was the last one she wanted to take out before she committed suicide by cop. She was just waiting until she thought he was good and dead before she took a potshot at me to get the other officers to open fire. I totally misread the situation.”
Chapter Five
Jason’s hands stilled, one on her belly, under the elastic of her panties, one on her back in almost the same position. He rested his forehead against her hip for a long moment while he took in what she’d told him.
It infuriated him to think of all the close calls she hadn’t yet revealed. She alternately fascinated him and made him want to bite. In a big way. Her scent had driven him mad from the first moment he’d smelled her at that damned party. He’d wanted to take her out in the woods right then and there and stake his claim, but he prided himself on being more civilized than his ancestors.
He’d have had her this afternoon in the most idyllic forest glade he knew. It would have been perfect. Except for the cat. Though Steve’s presence had brought out a wild side to Sally that Jason hadn’t really expected.
He’d been hard for hours, it seemed. He needed to be inside her like he needed to breathe. But his best laid plans seemed to have gone awry this afternoon. Instead, he’d treated her to a day of danger and shotgun blasts. What a charmer.
And now, here he was, listening to her talk about her job—and getting shot, for Lady’s sake—while he had his hands in her pants. Something was very odd about this whole situation, but somehow, it was also perfect.
This Alpha female would come to him on her terms. If this was the way she wanted it, he’d give it to her. Any way she wanted. Any time she wanted. Any place she wanted. The big, bad Alpha male was well and truly snared.
She wasn’t a shifter, but his wolf didn’t seem to care. She had a tiny bit of wolf blood, which pleased the beast within him. There was something else too, besides the almost overwhelming scent of human female. Something magical. Something special. It was tantalizing in the extreme. Another mystery for him to solve about this puzzling woman.
“Sally, you shouldn’t tell me stuff like that at a time like this,” he warned in a gruff voice. “The wolf gets protective and wants to keep you all to himself. If he had his way, you’d be tied to my bed all night and shackled to my arm all day, just to keep you safe.”
She surprised him by laughing. “Guess we shouldn’t tell him about my handcuffs and zip ties then.”
Damn. This woman continued to surprise him.
“I can think of a few hundred good uses f
or the cuffs, but the zip ties might bite into your delicate skin. The only thing I want biting you from now on is me.” He nipped her hip to emphasize his point. Satisfaction filled him when she shivered under his hands.
“That can be arranged.” The sexy lilt of her voice made him even harder than he already was. The return of passion was as instantaneous as it was fierce. He’d never been so hot for a woman.
“Are you sure?” They both knew he was asking the big question. Did she really want this? Did she really want him? He thought he knew the answer, but it was only polite to ask.
She moaned as his hand moved downward, under the panties, finding her clit, her opening already slick with her juices. He rubbed and her knees buckled but he was there to catch her. He placed her on the wide couch which was luckily only a foot or two away.
“Sally?” he asked again, wanting her answer in words, not just a physical surrender.
“I’ve never been surer of anything in my life. Besides, I owe you for this afternoon.”
Well, that was good enough for him. He pulled her jeans and panties downward, pausing only when he encountered the difficulty of her shoes. Damn. He’d been too eager to notice he was going to have to stop to get those things off first.
She sat up and helped him, tackling one foot while he handled the other. She giggled and suddenly he didn’t feel so clumsy. She made even a tense moment like this fun. What a woman.
She removed her jacket and shoulder holster and gave them to him. He placed the gun, still in its holster, on the end table off to one side. The handcuffs in the pocket of her jacket rattled a bit when he folded it and set it down. He took a moment to place his own ankle holster, with the Magnum in it, alongside hers. They made short work of her footwear.
She then removed her shirt, leaving the bra for him to handle. No way was he leaving her in it this time, though having her slightly immobilized had been fun this afternoon. He hadn’t expected her playfulness but liked it. More than he probably should have considering she was mostly human.
But she smelled like his mate. The conundrum had kept him up half the night, thinking, until he finally decided not to think at all and just go with it. The future would take care of itself somehow.
Jason kicked off his boots and slid his jeans down slowly, enjoying the way she licked her lips when she saw him for the first time. No doubt about it, Sally was more than interested in his body. He liked that she didn’t hide her appreciation and he hoped she’d be appreciating him in the flesh, so to speak, real soon. But he wouldn’t push her. Not anymore than he already had. She had to come to him. She was an Alpha bitch, after all, even if she was only a tiny bit wolf.
When two Alphas mated, fur could fly if one tried too hard to dominate the other. His father had always said it was important to let the woman have the upper hand in sex once in a while when dealing with an Alpha female. Jason hadn’t been with any true Alpha bitches—only a handful of younger women with the potential to be Alphas. They hadn’t known their own inner strength yet and he’d been able to dominate them easily.
He didn’t think he’d have as easy a time with this woman. He’d seen the way she handled herself in the woods with those hunters. He’d seen her glee in a situation that would have sent most women running for cover. Sally knew exactly who she was and what she was capable of. She knew her inner core of strength and had been tested many times in her dangerous job. She was a woman worthy of the title Alpha, whether she could shift form or not. She’d earned it. And she lived it every day.
Jason admired her. That was something new. There were few people in this world he could truly say he admired, but Sally Decker was most definitely one of them. And there she was, lying almost naked on his office couch.
It wasn’t the best place for seduction, but he’d tried to plan something idyllic and fate had led them here instead. He needed her too badly to wait any longer. If their first time had to be in less than a perfect setting, he promised himself he’d make it up to her later. Setting could be controlled. Passion couldn’t. At least not this kind of passion between two mature Alphas.
She might not understand what that meant, but he certainly did. A mating of equals. Something he’d never experienced before, though he had looked for it all his life. He’d seen the example of his parents, before all hell had broken loose within the Pack. He remembered how it could be when two people shared their lives equally. He wanted that. Had always wanted it. He only regretted his parents hadn’t lived long enough to see him find it.
Although, he wasn’t sure what they would have said about a human mate for their son. They’d been so proud of their shifter heritage. They’d been almost snobbish about it, never mixing with humans unless they had to. Oh, they didn’t despise humans the way some of the old ones did, but they had little use for them, preferring to stay within the Pack for most of their lives.
Jason was different. His worldview had been altered during the clan war that had killed his parents. He’d seen the future and knew that things had to change. Shifters had to be tolerant of those who seemed weaker. In the years since he’d taken control of the Pack, he’d learned many things. Among them was the fact that those weaker humans had somehow managed to foment the unrest that had caused the clan war in the first place.
But how could he be thinking of things like that at a time like this? He had the most luscious woman he’d ever met, spread out, naked on his couch. Her scent washed over him like a drug. She wore only that lovely, lacy bra. Her pussy wept for him. Her heat called to him. Daring him to take her, to make her his in the most basic way.
With a growl, he tore his shirt off over his head and joined her. He’d had the couch built long and wide for those nights when Pack business kept him in his office ‘til all hours and he could only catch quick naps between crises.
This would be the first time he’d put it to such pleasurable use. He couldn’t wait.
Sally made room for him as he lay on one hip beside her. She was up against the back of the couch while he took up the rest of the cushion. It was a tight squeeze, but he wanted to give her pleasure before he sought his own. Crowding her also satisfied his wolf on some basic level. He was so much bigger than she was, it felt good to curl her into him, to surround her with his protective presence. The wolf rumbled low in his chest.
Sally’s fingers covered his heart. “I like it when you do that,” she whispered.
“Oh, baby. You haven’t even heard me growl yet.”
He promised her things with his eyes but he couldn’t be sure she fully understood. She hadn’t been born into shifter society. Who knew what she expected? He only hoped she was ready for him. He’d do his best to temper his animal instincts, but there was only so much holding back he could do.
“I look forward to it.” Her fingers traced patterns down his chest and it was his turn to shiver.
“Do you?” He stilled her hand, covering it with his own. “Things might get a little rough.”
She tugged her hand free and placed one finger over his lips, her smile still in place.
“I can defend myself, even against you, big boy. Do your worst.”
He wasn’t completely convinced of her ability to fight him off, if she felt the need, but he would be as gentle as possible. He’d watch her to see how far he could let himself go. If she responded well, he’d push her a little farther, then farther still. Judging by her earlier climaxes, she could handle more than he’d imagined when he’d first met her. He’d been imagining her beneath him almost from the first moment he caught her scent. It was his fondest dream that she could take him all the way—that he wouldn’t have to hold back. Time would tell and urgency was riding him.
“Hang on for the ride of your life, Detective.”
“Promises, promises,” she teased, but he knew it was a challenge. One he would gladly accept.
Jason climbed over her, making more room on the seat of the couch. She slid over so that she lay squarely under him. He insinuated one kn
ee between hers and she eagerly spread her legs. Damn. He liked the way she joined in and took charge.
“This has got to go.” He supported his weight on one arm and used one hand to trace the strap of her bra.
“It closes in the front. I think you were moving too fast to notice before.” A charming touch of shyness entered her tone while her eyes challenged him to do things he didn’t dare try yet. Not with a brand-new lover.
“Do tell?” He reached down and snapped the clasp open, allowing the weight of her breasts to part the cups. She was shapely enough that the cups didn’t fall off by themselves. No, that pleasure would be his and his alone.
Jason lowered his head. He had her under him and he hadn’t even kissed her yet. Was he a fool? Ah, well, that was soon rectified.
He connected with her lips, sinking his tongue inside her mouth with a groan. He might’ve growled then. He wasn’t sure. She certainly responded with all her might, joining in and tangling her tongue with his. He was quickly becoming addicted to the taste of her. Her soft breaths panting against his face when he let her up for air, then dived back in with reckless abandon. He could kiss her for hours…or years.
But her squirming was getting to him in all too delicious ways. He’d been raw with need most of the day, but he wanted to sample every part of her skin. He wanted to learn the taste of her body from nipples to pussy and everywhere in between.
He dragged himself away from the temptation of her lips to nuzzle her neck. He paused at her earlobe to nip and suck, then trailed his mouth downward to her chest. The cups of the bra teased him. It was like opening presents on Christmas morning, only much, much naughtier. He slid his tongue under the first cup, easing it away from the soft skin of her breast until he could take the fabric between his teeth. Her skin was driving him mad. Never before had he wanted a woman this badly, and never a human.