by Ruby Dixon
I shift in my boots. We’ve been doing this for four weeks. Bargaining for things I’d be giving her anyway in exchange for the sex she doesn’t want to have unless she thinks she’s using me. It’s weird but kinda hot. More importantly, it’s the only way that Alexa allows me to lay my hands on her. The look in her eyes is telling me that now’s the time to move this out of the public eye. My blood drains into my groin as I grip her elbow.
“Your office. Now.”
Her breath grows shallow.
It’s hard to walk when your dick is growing so hard that it’s tenting your jeans, but I manage it, using Alexa’s body as cover. Hopefully, it looks like she’s taking me into her office to ream me out for taking too long or cost overruns or ordering the wrong lights. Whatever the reason she comes up with, I’m just going to smile and nod.
The door barely slams shut behind me before she launches herself into my arms. Our mouths meet in a wet, hot groan. I start mauling her, pulling at her pink blouse, spreading my legs wide so I can rub my hard dick against the front of her way-too-tight skirt. She’s in the same, mindless state. She rips my shirt out of my pants and runs her nails up my chest, scratching a little too hard to be termed a caress.
Alexa’s got claws, and she likes leaving her mark. I sure as shit don’t mind it at all. Scratch me all you want, baby, but later, because I need to have my cock inside your body more than I need water, food, and air.
I spin her around. “You want those LED lights, it’s going to cost you.”
“How much?”
“I’ll let you know when you’re done paying.” I slide a hand between her legs, under her tight skirt, and drench my fingers in her cream. She’s sopping wet as she always is, ready and hungry for me.
I don’t know whether this little game we’re playing is because she needs the justification or just likes the kink. And I don’t give a damn because I’ll take whatever she gives me.
I run my hand up her spine, keeping my heavy palm in the hollow between her shoulder blades, and give her a push until she’s face down against some purchase orders and a list of award-winning books.
“I’m just using you,” she reminds me. “For the library.”
Whatever lies you need to tell yourself, I think. I could pull her skirt up. I’ve done that before, but instead, I pull it down so it binds her legs together. She wriggles her ass in front of me, and it’s one helluva lure. Maybe a stronger man than I would have been able to resist the temptation, but I slap that ass, pulling my hand up from the bottom so that the entire cheek jiggles.
If I wasn’t in such desperate need to get my dick in her, I’d bend down and bite that juicy bottom.
“I can’t move,” she complains.
Her pretty ass is exposed, the dark rosette waiting for me. Fucking her in the ass will have to wait. That isn’t the sort of thing you can do as a quickie. I cover my dick with a rubber and position the broad head at her entrance. She pushes back, as eager to cover me as I am to impale her. I use the lube of her body to slick up my finger and then circle her pretty virgin asshole.
She gasps in surprise, and her whole body tightens, her cunt walls making me choke on my next breath.
“What’re you doing?”
That’s not a no. “I’m getting you ready.”
My finger keeps circling around the tight hole, going as slowly as possible so she can’t mistake my intent.
“Not…not there?” The high end of the sentence makes it more like a question. I lean over and nip at her neck.
“It’ll be here if I want it to be here.”
She shudders and creams against my dick. I slide another couple inches inside her hungry cunt. I match the movement of my cock by pushing past that first ring of resistance with my thumb. She muffles her sharp cry by pressing her face against the desk mat. Her hands curl around the edge of the desk, and I take a moment to appreciate what a fucking picture she makes right now—all stretched out, her legs bound together by her tight skirt, her shirt hanging open so her tits rub against the papers and leather and other miscellany of her work.
I press in until my balls are pressed against her thighs, until the root of my cock is rubbing against those swollen pussy lips. She’s everything I’ll ever need. We could nest together in some hidden den in the forest, living just off of each other. I’d go out every morning to find her honey and berries. I’d lay them in the hollows of her body and eat and lick her until she forgets how to breathe unless I’m standing next to her.
I want her morning, noon, and night. This library project? It’s never going to end. I will sabotage the damn thing so I can stick around, just to be able to stand in the same room with her on a daily basis.
“You’re so fucking gorgeous,” I breathe, tangling my hand in the strands of her hair. “Every night I wait for you.” I pump again slowly, holding out against the orgasm that beats at the base of my cock. “Every morning I turn over and you’re there is a good morning.” With my free hand, I lift her ass up so that her feet are off the ground. The only thing holding her in place is my hand and my cock. “I’ll give you everything you can ever want. Just say the word.”
I don’t know if she hears me, so I tell her with my body. I love her with every stroke of my cock, every press of my lips against her neck, her cheek, her shoulder, every caress of my hand. I love her. Love her. Love her.
Chapter Eight
ALEXA
You know how sometimes you really get a craving for chocolate and you drive ten miles to the store to get a candy bar, even though you know it’s a bad idea and you’ll probably regret that candy bar later? But you still eat it because it’s so delicious and you can’t help yourself?
Griffin’s my candy bar, and I’ll be damned if I can help myself.
I pull my car up to his house. It’s late and it’s a Thursday night, so he won’t be expecting me. Thursdays, I normally have the book club meetings, but tonight Mabel Rutherford is sick and two others hadn’t read the book, so the group suggested happy hour at the bar instead. I skipped happy hour and decided to head here, to Griffin’s house.
I’m full of guilt and all kinds of weird emotions tonight. In the passenger seat of my car are a pair of heavy-duty scissors I stole from the library and an absolute bird’s nest of destroyed wiring. I’m hiding the evidence of my guilt. Sort of.
I park my car and get my overnight bag out of the back seat. Griffin has a key tucked under a flower pot on the back porch, and I take it and let myself in to his place. It’s become more like home to me in this past month than my own apartment, and I’m pretty sure I’ve slept here more than my own bed.
This is part of the problem.
I’m not ashamed to say I freaked out this afternoon. Well, okay. I’m a little ashamed. I’m also feeling super desperate and afraid. This last month has been nothing short of magical. Griffin’s been amazing, both in and out of bed. I mean, okay, I fantasized a lot about how he was in bed, and he’s surpassed every expectation. But actually getting along outside of it? I didn’t expect that. But being around Griffin is just…nice. Fun. Exciting, even when we hang out at his place. He bribes me with things for the library to coax me into spending time with him. This nice basin sink with the stainless steel faucets will look great in the new energy-efficient bathroom. Cost? One night of Netflix together. Built-in shelving with an attached ladder? Dinner out and a movie. Stained-glass cathedral window with a reading nook built into it? That one cost me a full weekend at his house, but it was so worth it.
The window is pretty nice, too.
My problem is that the closer the library add-on gets to completion, the more desperate I feel. Even though I said I wouldn’t get attached, I’ve fallen for Griffin. I live for his smiles, his bargains, the way he touches me. I’ve got it bad, and with every day of construction and the wing actually starting to look like a real library, I get more nervous and upset. Today, after weeks of watching drywall go up, his crew put in electrical wiring. Griffin had worked a
longside them, getting sweaty (deliciously so), and shot me a few hot looks throughout the day that let me know he was thinking naughty things.
Which made me think naughty things.
Which made me worry what would happen to us once we no longer had the library to bargain over.
At the end of the day, he’d sauntered over to me and leaned in. “Tomorrow, you get those LED lights like you bargained for.”
My stomach had dropped to my shoes. After the lighting, things were pretty much done. No more Griffin. No more sexy bargains. No more spending nights curled up on his sofa, a book in my lap, my feet in his lap as he watched sports.
That was how I found myself with a pair of shears at the new wing when the book club fell through. I went in and ruthlessly sabotaged wiring, trashing it and slicing cords that hung in neat bundles along the walls. I might have cried a little. Just a little.
When it was done, the electrical wiring was destroyed, and I felt…empty. I’d ruined hard work all because I’m a chicken. All because I worry that I have nothing to hold Griffin if I don’t have work for him to do.
I feel like the lowest person on earth. I need to apologize. I might have just destroyed any sort of friendship—or more—that we had together with a pair of scissors and a belly full of fear.
I have to own up to it.
So here I am, showing up with my bag and my guilt, in the hopes that he won’t hate me. That I’ll just have to bargain a bit more to make him forgive me. I can do that. Blow jobs? I lick my lips. Not a problem. Anal? I…don’t know about that. But if it’ll fix things between us? I’m game. Whatever he wants, he’ll get.
“Griff?” I call out, but his house is empty. No one’s home. I see a pair of discarded pants and a shirt next to some boots by the door, and I idly pick them up and fold them. When I find his keys underneath the shirt, I pause. He’s naked and he’s home. Somewhere. That means he’s probably shifted.
I set his folded clothing down on a counter and move out to the back porch. The breeze is nice tonight, the night air crisp. There are mosquitos, so I can’t stay out long without being eaten alive, but I sit down on the top step anyhow to wait. It feels important.
A few minutes pass and I hug my knees, scratching my calves through my work slacks. No sign of naked Griffin…or a bear. “Griff?” I call out loudly. “You here?”
Silence again. Well, of course it’s quiet. I don’t know if bears have sensitive hearing or just really great tongues. My cheeks heat at the thought.
Something crashes through the woods behind his house, and it sounds large. I get to my feet, a little anxious. If it’s a real bear and not him, I might be in trouble.
Sure enough, a moment later, a big, furry creature comes sauntering toward the house. A bear—one of the largest ones I’ve ever seen. I grab the porch railing as if it’ll protect me. “If that’s you, Griff, can you pause?”
The bear pauses, sits on its hindquarters, and then waves a paw at me like I’ve seen bears do at the zoo.
“Funny.” I take a step forward, and then pause again. “It is you, right?”
He puts a paw to his snout and pretends to blow me a kiss.
Okay, yeah. “Can I…touch you? Like this?” It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him as a bear, and I’m fascinated.
He lies down in the grass, likely to make himself less threatening, and I take a few more steps forward. I’m still cautiously slow, because it is a bear. When he doesn’t move, though, I get braver and reach out to touch one ear.
I stroke the velvety soft fur, and a groan erupts from the bear’s throat. A chuckle escapes me, and I kneel beside him, fascinated. I bury my hands in the thick ruff at his neck. The hair is coarse here, but soft over his brows. I run my fingers along his head and his body, exploring him. This is my first experience with such a big, dangerous animal. Just a perk of being the girlfriend of a were-bear, I suppose.
Then I freeze, because…I’m not his girlfriend. We just bargain for fucks. I’m human, and were-bears don’t take humans as more than a quick lay.
The thought hurts, and I get to my feet. “Thanks,” I mumble, and head into the house. I should get my overnight bag and get out of here. Coming was a mistake. Hurt and misery pour through me, and I dash through the living room, looking for my bag. It’s in the corner where I dropped it, and I grab it and head for the back door. I’ll just leave, and tomorrow, when I have a clearer head, I’ll tell Griffin we’re done and there’s no more bargaining to be done.
Before I can put a foot on the first step, though, Griffin’s there, sweaty and naked, in his human form. Bits of grass are sticking to his body, and his cock is sporting semi-wood—probably from my touching. “Where do you think you’re going?” The look on his face is playful, sexy.
It hurts to see. I clench my jaw, determined not to crumble, but it’s tough. “I’m…going home. This was a mistake. All of this is.”
His face hardens, and instead of stepping aside, he moves forward and grabs me by my arms. He turns me around and pushes me back toward the house. “Now that calls for some explaining. Come inside.”
“I really should go—”
“You just got here. You obviously came to see me—or to bargain—and you shouldn’t be disappointed.” He sounds angry.
“Griffin,” I say, wrestling out of his grip. “I can’t do this anymore.” I can’t look up into his face, because if I do, I’ll start crying or something wimpy like that.
“Do what, Alexa?” His voice is low, and it feels as if it caresses my skin.
“The bargaining for things? Using you to get more stuff for the library. I can’t play these games anymore.” I cross my arms over my chest and stare at my shoes. “It’s not right to use you like this. I can’t keep doing this. I may be human, but I have feelings, and it’s hard to stop and think that this isn’t real.”
He stiffens, and I can feel the tension in his big, naked body. “This isn’t real to you?”
I lick my dry lips and fight the urge to cry. “That’s not it, Griffin. It’s too real to me. I know I’m human and I know what I want doesn’t matter—”
He grabs my arms and pulls me against his naked chest. The sudden motion makes me look up, and his expression is so fierce. “You quit saying that.”
“Saying what?” I’m genuinely confused.
“Saying you’re human and you don’t matter. You’re my mate, whether you like it or not, and you matter to me.”
My heart thuds, then begins to beat an excited, traitorous rhythm. “Did…did you just say I’m your mate?”
His gorgeous mouth crooks in a half-smile. “Been waiting forever for you to wake up and realize it. I know you’re using me, baby. You think I care? I’ll do whatever it takes to get you in my bed and in my life. You’re my woman, and I’m your bear.”
My hands go to his chest, and I touch him, almost reverent. This is all mine? “But…I don’t understand. I thought bears didn’t mate humans.”
“Some don’t. Some of us are smarter than that.” He leans in and rubs his nose against mine, then presses his mouth to my lips in a quick kiss. “You’ve been all mine since the day we met, Alexa. Just took you a while to realize it.”
I move my arms to circle his neck, and kiss him again. There’s no bargaining for this kiss, for this affection. Just our mouths meshing together, and a sharing of pleasure. It feels…right. It feels good. “I love you, Griff.”
“I know, baby. I love you, too. Have since the moment I tasted your honey.” The grin he gives me is wicked.
I peek up at him and trace a finger against the back of his neck. “I didn’t know we were mated.”
“I know. Like I said, you can take a while to come around to things.” He leans in and nips my lower lip. “I don’t mind waiting, long as I get you in the end.”
“I don’t want you to wait any more.”
“That’s real good, cause I’m tired of waiting.” His hips press against me, and I feel his hard cock against my
belly. A hot flush of arousal moves through me, and I’m excited for what tonight will bring—more hot, delicious sex, more kisses, more everything…and not a single bargain.
I continue to stroke his neck as he leans in to nibble my ear. “Hey, Griff?”
“Mmm?”
“I…might have panicked earlier.”
He backs up, eyes narrowing. “What did you do?”
“I…might have sabotaged your electrical wiring so you could keep working on the library and I could keep you for a few more days.” I bite my lip. Admitting it sounds childish.
The grin on his face widens. “You did?”
“Yeah.”
“Just to keep me?”
I nod and avert my eyes. I’m such an idiot.
He leans down and puts a finger under my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. “That might be the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard, baby.”
And that’s when I know that not only am I his mate, but he’s mine. Because I’m never letting this man go.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Dear Readers,
I’m a big fan of Alexa Riley’s smutty novels and she loves shifters. Me too! We agreed that we would write a few shifter novellas for each other.
I wrote these five novellas and released the first four in January. This is the last of them.
If you enjoy the books, please, please leave a review. Tell me what you think and who you’re hoping to see in future books. Tell me if you want more books and what kind! I want to know your thoughts and leaving reviews helps me as an author in so many ways.
— Roo
ICE PLANET BARBARIANS (Georgie’s Story)
Book 1 – now available on KINDLE UNLIMITED! Click here to borrow.
You'd think being abducted by aliens would be the worst thing that could happen to me. And you'd be wrong. Because now, the aliens are having ship trouble, and they've left their cargo of human women - including me - on an ice planet.