Once inside the house he followed the sound of voices to the living room. He let his gaze skip over the occupants of the room. Roxie and her mate, Beowulf, sat on the loveseat while his two brothers by blood, Skylar and Jager, sat on the large sectional couch with his brother-in-arms, Leif. From the looks of pity all his brothers gave him, Roan knew Roxie had told them about Ansley.
Roan headed over to sit down on the sectional next to Leif, but Leif held out his hands to keep him away. He shook his head. “No way are you sitting next to me. I don’t need you rubbing off on me. I’m quite happy without a mate, thank you very much.”
He rolled his eyes and shook his head before he sat down on the large armchair across from his brothers. Roan expected as much from Leif. Leif loved women too much to want to find a mate, not that he would have much choice if the right woman came along. Roan only had to think of Eli, his sister’s mate. Eli had felt the same way Leif did, but he fell hard for Saskia and couldn’t be happier.
“It isn’t as if I’m contagious, Leif,” Roan said. “And I didn’t plan this. You wait until your turn comes.”
Leif gave him a look of abject horror. “That will be the day hell freezes over. I like that I can have my fun then walk away when I want.”
Even with that type of attitude towards women, Leif still managed to get any woman he wanted—mortal and werewolf alike. “I’ll have fun throwing that back in your face when you find your one and only.” Roan turned to his other two brothers. “Well? I’m sure the both of you have something to say.”
Jager spoke first. “As long as you can keep your dick in your pants long enough to help protect Roxie I couldn’t care less.”
That was Jager—always short and to the point. His brother wasn’t one to mince words. “Thanks. I’ll try not to turn into a sex fiend.” He looked at his other brother.
“What about you, Skylar?”
Skylar shrugged. “I’m happy for you. I’m just glad it’s you and not me. I’m not ready to take on a mate.”
Roxie drew Roan’s attention her way when she quietly cleared her throat. “So, Roan, are you going back this evening to see Ansley?”
“Yes.” Not that he had much choice in the matter. As it now stood, he would probably drive himself crazy thinking about her until he saw her again.
“I thought you would. I’m going to give you one piece of advice—tell Ansley what you are before you sleep with her. From personal experience,” Roxie gave Beowulf a hard stare, “it isn’t exactly easy to accept the whole mated thing if you aren’t told what to expect.”
Beowulf pulled Roxie under his arm. “I don’t see you complaining.”
“Not now, but I didn’t take the news of you being a werewolf all that well in the beginning, if you remember.”
Beowulf turned to look at Roan. “Roxie’s right. It’s best to be upfront right from the start.”
“I’ll take that into consideration. Now if you don’t mind, could we change the subject? Talking about Ansley is making me a little antsy, if you know what I mean.”
As Beowulf and Roxie started talking about Wulf’s Den, the nightclub Beowulf owned, Roan let the conversation wash over him. With half an ear, he listened to his brothers and Beowulf talk about who would be going to the nightclub with him and Roxie that night. At least Roan knew he wouldn’t be expected to go along with them. With the mating urge riding him, he doubted he would be any good to them anyway. The demands of his body would be a lot harder to ignore until he made Ansley his. Until then, he wouldn’t be good for much of anything.
* * *
For the rest of the day Ansley found herself distracted by thoughts of Roan. She couldn’t help wondering if he would really show up when she got off work. He hadn’t exactly asked her out, just what time she got off. As the hours went by, Ansley felt more than sure Roan wouldn’t show up. Yes, he had looked at her with arousal in his eyes, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t change his mind after he had some time to think about it. By the time six o’clock rolled around, Ansley had herself thoroughly convinced Roan would be a no show. After cutting her last client’s hair, she cleaned up her workstation then headed out. Once she hit the sidewalk, she looked around. Like she had suspected, Roan didn’t seem to be anywhere in sight. Trying not to let it bother her, Ansley made her way to the parking lot behind the salon. She decided a large bowl of ice cream was in her future, along with a glass or two of wine. She’d just reached the driver’s side of her Pontiac Sunfire when a heavy hand landed on her shoulder. With a shriek, she swung around to see who had come up behind her. Her eyes widened in surprise. “Roan? What are you doing here?”
“Why do you look so surprised? I told you I would be back.”
Ansley shook her head. “No, you didn’t. You just asked me what time I got off work.”
Roan looked down at her. His brows drew together. “You didn’t think I was coming back.” He said it as a statement not a question.
“Why would I? It isn’t as if you asked me out on a date.”
He crowded her back against her car. He put his hands on the roof on either side of her, effectively caging her in. In his deep voice now gone husky, Roan said, “Well, I’m asking now.”
Ansley swallowed. “You’re asking me out on a date?”
Roan smiled. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”
With Roan this close she had a hard time thinking straight. “Are you … are you sure you want to go out with me? You’re so good looking, and let’s face it, I’m no beauty queen. You could find someone much prettier than me. Compared to you I’m—”
He cut her off with his lips. At first, Ansley held herself perfectly still, but then Roan’s lips moved on hers. His tongue swept the seam of her lips. Ansley let her eyes drift shut and opened for him. He threaded the fingers of one hand through her hair and held her in place. He pushed his tongue inside. Her hands came up and fisted in the front of his t-shirt as he explored the inside of her mouth before he twined his tongue with hers. Roan tasted of sin and hot, wild sex.
Deepening the kiss, Roan ran his other hand down her side to her bottom and hauled her closer to him. Ansley moaned. The hard length of his cock nestled against her stomach. In response, her pussy grew wet. Her nipples went taut beneath her shirt. She wanted to strip her clothes off and rub her naked body against his. It had been so long since a man had kissed her. Her sex starved body ached to have his hard cock deep inside it.
Roan placed one of his hard thighs between her legs and pushed up against her pussy. Ansley moaned into his mouth. The pressure sent shockwaves of pleasure through her sex. Using his t-shirt to pull him even closer, she kissed him back hungrily, rubbing herself against his thigh. She arched her back as his hand came up and cupped her breast through her shirt.
The blast of a car horn out on the street jerked Ansley out of the sexual haze that had taken her over. She pulled back and looked up at Roan. She sucked in a breath when she saw his light blue eyes glowed mutedly. Ansley blinked in surprise. At the sound of her sharp indrawn breath, Roan shut his eyes and rested his forehead against hers. “Just give me a second.” His voice came out in a half growl. Ansley held herself still as Roan took a couple of deep calming breaths. “Roan? Are you okay?” When he continued to hold himself stiffly, she asked quietly, “Did I do something wrong?” Roan lifted his head to stare down at her. Ansley noticed his eyes no longer appeared to glow, making her think once again she had been seeing things that weren’t really there.
“Why would you think you did anything wrong?” he asked with a scowl. “You did nothing wrong. If anything you did everything right.” He palmed one of her cheeks. “The problem is I promised myself I would take things slow with you. Take the time for us to get to know each other better. Right now it’s taking all of my willpower not to throw you onto the hood of your car and take you until you scream my name.”
Ansley’s mouth formed a round O while images of what he wanted to do to her played through her head. She could easily pi
cture herself laying on the hood of her car with her legs wrapped around Roan’s waist as he pounded into her. The images made her pussy ache and wetness leak into her panties.
With a half growl, Roan took a step back. His chest rapidly rose and fell as he dragged in deep breaths. His hands fisted at his sides. “Whatever you’re thinking about, stop it. I can smell your arousal and it’s playing havoc with what little self-control I have left. This may have been a mistake.” He took another step back. Afraid Roan would turn around and walk away, Ansley quickly blurted, “Don’t leave. Why don’t you come back to my place?”
In a blink of an eye Roan had her once again trapped against her car while he loomed over her. “I think I need to learn why you keep thinking I’m going to walk away from you. If I had my way I would take you to my bed and never let you out of it again.”
Ansley swallowed loudly. “So does that mean you want to come back to my place?”
Roan chuckled. “You do realize that by asking me to your place you’ll be playing with fire. Are you willing to risk the chance of getting burned?”
“I’m willing to risk it.”
God, she was more than willing to risk it. Just the idea that Roan wanted her made her knees go weak. Never in a million years would Ansley have thought she ever had chance with a man like Roan. He was every woman’s wet dream. He dragged a finger down her cheek. “You may be willing to take that chance, but I’m not just yet. How about we go get something to eat first? Then we can see about going back to your place after that.”
Even though she hadn’t eaten since lunch, Ansley knew she probably wouldn’t be able to eat much with Roan sitting so near. He made her hungry for other things besides food. She nodded. “All right. There’s a great steak house on the way to my apartment.”
“Sounds good to me. I’ll follow you. My car is just over there.”
Ansley looked in the direction Roan pointed. Growing up with a very unfemininelike love of sports cars that stuck with her to this day, she recognized his car. Roan’s was a Lexus IS F Performance car done in metallic grey. It had to have cost double what she made in a year working at the hair salon. It also made her Sunfire look like a dinky car when compared to his. Obviously he had money as well as good looks. After telling Roan the name and location of the restaurant in case they became separated, Ansley got into her car. She watched Roan cross over to his and get in. As she led the way to the restaurant, Ansley had to wonder when the ball would drop. It invariably did when she found herself attracted to a man. Roan seemed to be perfect in every way. It would only be a matter of time before she said or did something to drive him away. When it came to men, she tended to be her greatest enemy.
* * *
Roan let his gaze roam down Ansley’s slim, curvy body as she took the chair across from his at the restaurant. He wanted to strip her naked while he licked and kissed every inch of her. The kiss they had shared in the parking lot had just fanned the flames of his arousal to even greater heights. Her kiss had been better than the headiest wine. With the scent of her arousal swirling around them, Roan had had a hard time reining back the wolf inside him. The wolf wanted to claim her as his mate as much as the man wanted to. Somehow he had managed to hold himself back from acting on what his body screamed for him to do. He just hoped he would be able to do it again, because he had every intention of tasting every part of Ansley before he left her this night. Ansley shifted on her chair. She stared at the menu that sat on the table in front of her. Roan watched her take her bottom lip between her teeth. It made him want to replace her teeth with his own. As if she sensed him staring, she met his gaze then quickly looked back down at the menu. Roan grinned. Ansley was such a contradiction in terms. At times she seemed outgoing, while at others she came across as being shy. When the waitress came they gave her their orders. Roan ordered the largest steak on the menu and asked for it to be as rare as he could get it. Ansley ordered a salad. After the waitress left, Roan said, “You could have ordered more than a salad, Ansley.”
“The salad will be enough.” She gave him a nervous smile. He hoped she wasn’t one of those mortal women who only ate enough to keep a bird alive. He would have to break her of that if that turned out to be the case. Roan liked his women slim, but not to the point of skin and bones.
Having never really been on a date before, Roan had asked Roxie for some pointers. Being an over thousand-year-old warrior werewolf, dating hadn’t exactly been high on his list of things to do. If he needed a woman, he usually sought out werewolf females who were willing to give him a night or two of pleasure in their beds and nothing more. And he never slept with mortal women. He had wanted to avoid the hassle of having to hide what he truly was from them. The irony that his mate had turned out to be mortal, and he now had to somehow get her to accept him for what he was, hadn’t been lost on Roan.
He cleared his throat. Roxie had told him at this point on the date he should be asking Ansley questions about herself so he could get to know her better. “How long have you worked at the hair salon?”
Ansley fiddled with her fork. “Two years. I’ve been a hair stylist for five. Where I work now pays more than the first place I worked. What about you? What do you do for a living?”
Roan had to think about that one. He didn’t work per se. He’d spent hundreds of years training to be one of the protectors to the foretold one. The majority of his adult life had been spent training with a sword while he waited with his brothers and sister for the foretold one to be born. And it wasn’t as if any of them needed to work. Being alive as long as he had, a person tended to accumulate more than enough money over the years. Plus it helped that Dirk, one of his other brothers-in-arms, had a knack for investing. In the end, he said, “You could say I’m in the protection business.”
Ansley’s gaze skipped across his chest and shoulders before she looked back up at his face. “Let me guess, you’re a bodyguard. You’re certainly strong enough to be one.”
“You could say I’m a bodyguard.”
“Have you guarded anyone famous?”
“Ah … no. No one famous. Right now I’m in between jobs.” Roan hated having to lie to Ansley, but until she knew what he truly was, this little white lie wouldn’t do her any harm.
At that point the waitress showed up with their food. Roan dug into his steak with gusto. It wasn’t as rare as he liked his meat to be, but other than that, it tasted good. As all werewolves did, he liked his meat to barely touch a pan, and so rare it could practically get up and walk off his plate.
Roan lifted his eyes to see if Ansley enjoyed her salad. When their gazes collided, he felt his cock go instantly rock hard. Ansley hadn’t touched her salad. She stared at him as if she wanted to eat him instead. Just like that he forgot about his food, almost forgot where they were. With her heated gaze locked with his, he wanted nothing more than to throw her on the table and sink his aching cock inside her. Knowing if Ansley continued to stare at him in that way he would more than likely forget himself, Roan decided the hell with the whole date thing. If he didn’t get a taste of Ansley soon he would go insane. His wolf didn’t like being restrained. Having his mate nearby and unable to touch her made the wolf throw back his head and howl. Roan kept his gaze locked with Ansley’s. “How about we take our food back to your place? I’m suddenly in the mood for some privacy,” he said in a gruff voice. Ansley licked her lips and nodded. The smell of her arousal washed over him, making his cock grow even harder. Pulling his gaze away, Roan caught the eye of their waitress and signaled her over. Ten minutes later he ushered Ansley out of the restaurant while he carried their packaged food in a plastic bag. He only took long enough to give Ansley a hard kiss before he left her and got into his car. As he followed behind her, he prayed she didn’t live too far from the restaurant.
Chapter Three
Ansley checked her rearview mirror to make sure Roan still drove behind her. He was. She tried to take a deep, steadying breath, but that did nothing to stop her he
art from pounding with excitement. When she and Roan had locked eyes across the table at the restaurant, she’d known exactly what they were going to do once they reached her apartment. Her body had reacted in the most elemental way when he’d said he wanted some privacy in his gruff voice. Not usually one to hop in the sack with a guy she had just met, Ansley knew Roan would be the exception. Whenever around him, her body seemed to be in a perpetual state of arousal.
At her apartment, she stuck her arm out the car window and motioned for Roan to park his car in the visitor parking on the opposite end of the parking lot. She pulled into her space and got out of her car. She’d just closed the car door when two large hands landed on her shoulders. With a yelp she turned to find Roan standing behind her. For the second time that day he had been able to come up behind her without her hearing him. She looked around him to see his Lexus parked at the far end of the parking lot.
“How did you get over here so fast?”
“I ran.”
He must have run pretty fast to get over to her so quickly. She let Roan take her hand and lead her over to the front entrance of her apartment building. Now that she had him here, Ansley started to have second thoughts, but not about sleeping with Roan. Her second thoughts stemmed from her inviting him back to her place. Her small one bedroom apartment probably didn’t compare to where Roan lived. With her salary, Ansley had been lucky to afford this apartment and it could in no way be called fancy. More on the cheap side, it had no secured entrance or an underground parking garage. It didn’t even have an elevator since the apartment building only had three floors. If Roan noticed the lack of an elevator as Ansley led him up the stairs to her third floor apartment, he didn’t say anything. Once she had her apartment door unlocked, she pushed it open and went inside. Roan followed behind her. Ansley flipped on a light and turned to find Roan locking the door behind them. His eyes did a quick scan of the apartment before his gaze returned to her.
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