My ears perked up hoping to learn more about Muddy. “She drinks with you?”
The woman, Laverne, went back to looking suspicious again. “What’s it to ya’? Why so curious about our gal? There was another suit snooping around here a couple days ago. Was he with you?”
So much for Brice being inconspicuous. But, in his defense, this old bird was pretty sharp. “Nope. I’m alone. And I’m simply making conversation. Is that a crime?”
“Depends. Who are you?” She put her hands on her robust hips and glared at me.
I’d come face to face with people the day after I’d just staged a hostile takeover of their company who looked at me with less disdain. “Lang. Who are you?”
“I’m asking the questions here, wiseass.”
I laughed loudly and shook my head. “Yes, ma’am. Look, this has been a lovely chat, but I’d like to get up to my room—”
“You’re stolen room.”
I sighed. “My purchased room. At quite a steep price, I might add. Now, I’m going to go find it and settle in.”
“What’s your last name, Lang?”
I pulled the strap of my bag over my shoulder and debated telling her. I had a feeling that she’d run straight to Muddy and tattle, and I wasn’t sure that’s how I wanted this whole thing to go down. I almost wanted to surprise her, but it didn’t look like I was getting past Granny Danger without playing her game a few more minutes. “Millingham.”
She whistled. “Millingham? Is that a common name where you come from, or are you the Lang-don Millingham who bought out all of those Johnson’s Five and Dime stores?”
I just shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe it’s a common name.” She didn’t buy it.
“There was a Johnson’s on my street that you, or some other fat cat who is also named Langdon Millingham, bought, remodeled, and renamed Mill-Mart.”
I nodded along, figuring I was about to get my ass handed to me. I’d revamped the old Johnson Five and Dimes so much that they were hardly recognizable as the same outdated shops they’d been before. And, I’d taken them from their quick descent into bankruptcy to a trendier, more upscale, competitive chain that was now turning a sizeable profit. “Yes?”
“Good job. They never used to carry anything I needed, and the cramped space and dingy aisles were way too depressing to navigate. Hey, there’s a girl named Lonnie that works there. We love her but her manager makes her life hell. What’s his name, Meredith?”
“Ted. Ted the dickhead.” The blue haired lady behind her dug her fists into her scrawny hips and scowled.
“Yeah, he’s a dickhead, alright, and needs to get off her back. Some of us are grateful that Lonnie reads us the fine print on the labels, and that she’s not rudely trying to hurry us along at the checkout. That manager of hers, Dickhead Ted, is always giving her a hard time for catering to us. It’s the store on Hickerton Road. Take care of her, would you?”
I was beginning to like the pushy old broad. “Yes, ma’am.”
7
Muddy
I’d taken lunch to Sonnie who was in new mommy bliss since her daughter, Honnie, had started sleeping through the night. She was still breastfeeding though, so I did my part to make sure she got her calories. As happy as I was for her, it still pained me a little to see her with her mate, Holt. I knew what the future held for me. It wasn’t a mate, or a family, but that didn’t quell the longing.
There’d been something off about Sonnie again. Same thing I’d been noticing with Carter, Denny, and Charlie, too. I didn’t know if they had an issue with me, or maybe the extra melancholy I was feeling since my return from Virginia was causing a reaction towards me, but they were definitely treating me differently. Either way, by the time I got back to the house, I was frustrated and a bit self-conscious.
When I came up against a line of the Flamingos at my front door, I felt myself deflate a bit. I didn’t feel like dealing with anything extra, but they had extra written all over their faces.
Laverne pointed to the roof. “There’s a man up there.”
“What?” I stepped back and looked up. “There’s a man on the roof?”
“Not on the roof. Upstairs. A big wig. He came in like some hotshot and bribed a room out from under some of our lesser inclined sisters.” She shook her head, sending blue waves bobbing. “He’s up there. And…he was asking about you. I think he had some other fella nosing around here the other day, too.”
Unease prickled my nerve endings. My lioness awoke from her casual nap and I sniffed the air. I’d barely noticed the scent lingering around me, but as I took a deeper breath, it was as intoxicating as it was infuriating. My blood began to boil. It couldn’t be, could it?
“Langdon Millingham is his name. You know, the guy with big bucks? He marched right inside. Something’s got to be said for a man who takes what he wants, right Meredith?”
“Oh, yes.” Meredith nodded her head vigorously in agreement, a dreamy smile playing on her lips. “I like a take charge kind of guy. Especially a strong, muscular one like that one. A man like that can toss you around in the bedroom like a throw toy. Please, Big Daddy!”
I ignored Meredith’s rather icky comment. I was seeing red. Fury flowed through my veins. Lang Millingham had a lot of fucking nerve. How the hell he’d managed to bribe his way into my house was beyond me. All I knew was, he wasn’t staying. This was my corner of the world. I wasn’t having him anywhere near me or my town.
“Muddy? You okay? Your eyes are glowing all sorts of crazy. What’s going on?”
I took a couple deep breaths to keep my lioness at bay and looked Laverne straight in the eye. “I’m going to kick some ass.”
“Need help?”
“Not even a little.” I stormed into the house and slammed the door so hard the window beside it cracked. This was not happening, I kept chanting to myself. It had to be some sort of sick prank. No way was Lang in my house.
I took the stairs, two at a time, up to the second floor, so by the time I got to the top, I was breathing heavily. I swung my head left and right. From the last door on the left, the scent of rich leather and light tobacco smoke trailed out, straight into my nostrils as if its owner had trained it like a heat-seeking missile.
The door slammed against the wall as I barged through it and stood just inside, panting and glaring. I couldn’t even describe the anger and horror I was feeling. And worse, shame. Shame because I hated Lang with every ounce of my logical brain, yet my traitorous body was coursing with raw, hot, pulsing desire that was fiercely battling the hatred. His aroma alone flooded my senses and threatened my sanity. It was enough to almost make me turn and flee the house. But, that wasn’t right. It was my house. Lang was the intruder.
Then, the man himself stepped out of the attached bathroom and a slow, lazy smile spread across his face. “Hello, Sunshine.”
Sunshine? Who the hell did he think we was? I kept my eyes on his face, glaring, while avoiding looking at his naked chest. “Get. Out.”
The smile didn’t slip, but something shifted in his eyes. “What are you talking about? You mad that I bribed the old girls to move out?”
I stepped closer. I was shaking from the combination of outrage and shock. “Lang, you are not welcome here. I want you to leave.”
He came farther out of the bathroom, revealing just how small my guest room towels were. Or, maybe they were just that small on him. Even though I told myself not to look, my eyes were magnetized and his bare thighs were steel. He was bare all over. The only thing covered was his actual pecker and, even then, I could see the tip sticking out from the bottom of the towel.
“Leave? It’s been a long time. Why don’t we catch up?”
I narrowed my eyes even further, thinking that he’d lost his mind. “There’s nothing to catch up on. I don’t want you here. What don’t you get?”
He stepped closer to me and his pecs flexed, drawing my eyes to them. He was different than I remembered. He’d always been a large man, but st
anding in front of me, he was huge. His chest was wide and sculpted, his waist narrow. His thick, powerful thighs were covered in a light dusting of caramel colored hair. He’d grown up and filled out.
His face had changed, too. What had once been boyishly charming was harder, more ruggedly handsome. His face already had a shadow of a beard on it and his sandy brown hair was cut short but stylishly. He looked wealthy and well groomed. Then, there were his eyes. Still bright blue and lined with thick, dark lashes. The laugh lines at the corners were new, but they fit him.
It was obvious life had treated him kindly. My heart ached. I shook my head and turned away from him. It was all too much. There were too many feelings and emotions that hadn’t faded in ten years. I just needed him gone before I started screaming and clawing his eyes out. Or, before I made some stupid mistake like jumping into his arms, or worse, before anyone else saw him and I had to explain the story of my past humiliation.
“Muddy. Look at me. It’s been too long for you to hide that pretty face from me.” He’d leaned in so close that I could feel his breath tickling my ear, his voice barely more than a growl.
“Stop it, Lang. I don’t want to look at you. I don’t know what possessed you to think you’d be welcome here, but you’re not. You’ve done enough damage for a lifetime. No more.”
He grunted. “I hoped we could reconnect. It’s been ten years, Sunshine. Come on.” He almost sounded hurt. I knew him better than that, though. The man didn’t have feelings.
I spun around and hissed at him. “Ten years is not long enough. A hundred years would not be long enough. What you did… there is no getting over it. Ever.”
His jaw dropped for a second. Then, he laughed like what I’d said was a joke and he’d just caught on. “You’re kidding, right?”
Kidding? I slapped him. It was an emotional response. I shouldn’t have done it, and I felt regret instantly. Not because he didn’t deserve it, but because he was the man who was supposedly my mate. The second my hand made contact with his face, the electrical current that charged between us hit me like a bolt of lightning. I sucked in a lungful of air, even as Lang grabbed my hand and yanked me into his chest.
He glared down at me, his eyes glowing brightly. Oh, shit, he felt it, too. “Is kitty showing her claws?”
I tugged to be set free, but he held me firmly against his solid chest. His muscles flexed as he wrapped his other arm around my waist and held me captive. I felt his rock-hard length pressing into my stomach.
“Let me go.” The more I wiggled, the worse it got and the harder his erection dug into my stomach.
“You’re not as meek as you used to be, are you, kitten?”
He knew I hated that. I wasn’t a kitten. I was a fucking lioness and I could rip his jerk face to shreds with my claws if I felt like it. He had some nerve. I pushed against his hold and swore.
Lang spun me around and tossed me onto the bed. I bounced, came up on my knees, and glared at him. He casually walked over to the door and pushed it closed. “I’ve missed the hell out of you.”
“Don’t you fucking dare.”
He dropped his towel, revealing his massive weapon, and moved closer to me. “It’s the truth. I’ve thought about you every day. There’s not another woman in this world that compares to you, Sunshine. God, you’re fucking gorgeous.”
I threw myself at him, fully planning to tear his face off. Only, he caught me and then I found myself wrapped around him, my arms and legs hugging his large form. Before I knew what I was doing, I was letting him kiss me. And, maybe, I was kissing him back.
8
Lang
Fuck. She tasted like heaven. Like fresh pears and everything beautiful in the world. Her lips were soft and plump as I devoured them with my own. That was where the similarities ended between young Muddy and hot in my arms Muddy, though. Young Muddy had been shy and had let me take control. The Muddy in my arms was fighting against me, fighting for control over the sparks that were burning between us.
She bit my lip and dragged her claws up my back. Her legs hooked behind my ass and she moaned as I gripped her ass hard. She’d grown up. Her ass was a handful and I couldn’t think past getting inside of her. I wanted her on all fours, with me behind her, thrusting, while her soft ass pressed against my pelvis.
I kissed her harder and slipped my tongue into her mouth to taste her again. I couldn’t wait, though. It’d been too long. Over a decade. I needed to possess her. I pushed her off of me and to the bed. Bent over the bed, I hesitated only a second before moving behind her and pulling her back against me.
She made the soft purring sound that made my dick ache and my balls clench. I reached around the front of her and yanked at her jeans. Forcing them down, over her hips and to her knees, I got enough of her uncovered so I could press her chest into the mattress by pushing on her upper back with the palm of my hand, exposing her naked bottom half. The waistband of her jeans kept her legs from being able to spread very much. Feeling completely crazed and out of control, the aroma of her sex dizzying, I held her like that, and slipped my fingers between her drenched folds thrusting two of them into her.
“Fuck.” She was tight and hotter than hell. Her body sucked me in and I couldn’t wait. “Tell me you want me, Sunshine.”
She hissed as she looked back at me over her shoulder. “Fuck you.”
I slapped her ass and felt her body clench around my fingers. “You like that?”
She pressed her hips back and wiggled into me as I did it again. “Lang, just do it.”
That was good enough for me. I pulled my fingers out and guided my cock to her entrance. Holding my breath, I slowly pushed my length into her, feeling like I was going to explode as I slid the whole way. She was too tight and felt too fucking good. I could’ve come right then, but I wasn’t going to embarrass myself.
Muddy cried out, arched her back, and balled up the quilted blanket on top of the bed in her fists.
I stayed there, deep inside of my mate, and shook as immense pleasure coursed through me. My hands gripped her hips as I tried to gain some sort of control.
“Fuck me, Lang.” Her voice was broken, a cry as she wiggled herself against me. “Just do it!”
I growled loud enough to shake the room and pulled out until just my tip remained inside of her and then I slammed back in while grabbing a handful of her ass. Looking down, I could see my cock fully immersed in her, the base wet from her juices. Doing it over again quickly became an obsession. Pulling out, I gripped her hips, then slammed back in, I slapped her ass and grabbed it, desperate to get more of her.
She threw her head back and moaned loudly, all her anger refocused. Her body clenched around me over and over again and that trick made me crazy. My wolf was howling with the need to possess her. Who’d taught her that trick? Deacon? The thought made me frantic, and I picked up my pace. I’d fuck every memory of him out of her.
I wrapped her long red hair around my hand and pulled her head back. Leaning over her while my hips drilled into her, my cock pumping past those flexing muscles. I growled into her ear and nipped at it. “You are mine.”
She reached back and locked her hand behind my neck, her nails digging into me. “Fuck. You.”
I wanted to mark her. I wanted to sink my teeth into her neck so hard that she exploded on my cock and kept coming for hours. I wanted to fuck her until she’d come so many times that she’d be ruined for anyone else.
She hissed and scratched at me.
“You will always be mine.”
I realized I must’ve said the words out loud, but I mean them. Her body tightened under me, around me, and she was coming, loudly and intensely. The sensation of her body milking me sent me over the edge. I pumped into her once more and then I was coming harder than I’d come in the last ten years of using my fist for release.
I filled her. My fingers dug into her hips, and I rolled my head back to fight the urge to sink my teeth into her neck and mark her as my own. I wante
d to more than anything, but we had to talk about it first.
Seconds turned to minutes as I slowly came back down from that high. I let go of her hips and saw the bruises already forming. I felt like shit for being so rough. I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her onto the bed beside me. Lying on my back, I stared up at the ceiling and held her against my side.
“God, Sunshine, you are incredible, and even more beautiful than you were at eighteen. I wouldn’t have thought that possible, but you are...”
She scooted away from me and kept her back to me as she stood up and worked her pants and underwear back up, over her hips. Her spine was stiff and anger radiated off of her in waves.
“What’s up?”
She turned to face me, golden eyes flashing. She bared her teeth at me and I watched as those deadly claws extended from her fingertips before she could get them under control. “Don’t. Just don’t. God, what is wrong with me?”
I sat up against the headboard. “What is the matter?”
“Are you serious? I told you to get out. I don’t want you here. Instead, you did…that!”
“We did that. You were there, too.” I shook my head. “I don’t understand. Why would you want me to leave? We’re mates.”
Her face went red and I worried for a second that she was literally going to rip out my throat. “Get the hell out of my house. I never want to see you again. Ever.”
I jumped out of bed, ready to grab her, but she was already gone. The door slammed in my face and I stood there, trying to make sense of what had just happened. We had sex. Incredible, earthshaking sex. Was it all that crazy of me to think that maybe she was glad to see me?
I yanked open the door to go after her, but she was just a trail of red hair flying down the stairs. To make matters worse, the nosy old broad from the front porch was standing in front of me, staring at my displayed crotch.
Wolf Purebred (She-Shifters of Hell's Corner Book 5) Page 4