by Ruby Shae
And Lust.
And Love.
Love? Do I love him?
The crazy thought shocked her, but she couldn’t deny the truth.
Even though it had only been one night, she knew she loved Xander. She’d loved him before he’d told her about his cat—and mates, and everything else—and she loved him still.
Probably more than she should.
Ivy didn’t care.
It felt good to feel something other than anger, pain, and sorrow, and she decided to embrace it.
She placed a kiss on his shoulder, and smiled when she felt the soft vibrations instantly thrumming through his body. In return, he tightened his grip on her hand, and placed a kiss on the top of her head.
She wanted more.
With her free hand, she slid one finger under his sleeve, and pushed the material up slightly. A soft growl sounded from his chest, and she pulled back so she could look at his face.
“I want to see your tats,” she said, still playing with his sleeve.
Without a word, he straightened, let go of her hand, and ripped his t-shirt over his head. She immediately missed his warmth, but the reward was so worth it.
She’d known he was muscular, and hard all over, but… Damn!
His biceps had multiple bumps, his chest was firm, and eight pack abs led down to a chiseled waist. His jeans hid the delicious V she knew she would find when he striped, and she wanted to rip his pants off and follow the trail with her tongue.
Ivy forced her eyes back up, and focused on his tats.
The one on his bicep was four slash marks, like from the paw of a large cat, but instead of surrounding exposed muscle, they exposed the dark coat of a panther. Under the bright lights of his office, she had seen the dark rosettes on his seemingly black coat, and the tattoo had the same subtle detail.
His chest was marked in a tribal tattoo, and it extended from his collarbone to his waist down his left side. The markings reminded her of flames, and the tip of one low on neck was what she’d seen peeking out of the collar of his shirt.
He watched her like the predator he was, but he didn’t move as she traced all of the flames she could see with her finger. When she was done, she leaned forward and licked the one at the base of his neck. He growled again, and his free hand shot up and tangled in her hair.
She smiled against his skin, and kissed, licked and nipped a path up his neck to his chin. The vibrations from his chest grew louder, and when she nipped his chin, he pulled her head back and crashed his lips down on hers.
Crashed was the only way to explain the frantic, desperate onslaught of his mouth on hers, and she loved every minute of it. He licked her lips, as if trying to coax her mouth open, but he needn’t have bothered. There was no way she wouldn’t allow him entry.
His tongue slid across hers in an erotic dance she hoped was a preview of what would come later. She felt the sensations deep in her core, and her pussy throbbed in anticipation of his thick, hard cock. Liquid heat soaked her panties, and she felt like she was on fire from the inside out.
She wanted more.
Ivy let go of his hand, explored his chest and biceps. She loved the way his taut skin felt under her palms, and she didn’t protest when Xander snaked his free hand under the hem of her shirt.
He caressed her soft skin, and a second later he groaned and encircled her waist with both of his hands. Before she had a chance to protest, he lifted her off the couch, and pulled her across his lap. She had no choice but to straddle his waist, and stretch her soaking wet pussy against his thick dick.
Damn!
He was huge, and for the first time in months, the thought of getting naked in front of a man didn’t douse her in shame and humiliation. She trusted Xander, and she didn’t want to hide from him.
She leaned forward and rocked against him, grinding her pussy against his shaft, not caring about her curves, or her weight, or any other stupid thing except the feel of Xander’s body against hers.
Suddenly, he ripped his mouth away from hers and cursed.
“Fuck!”
Shame swamped her, and she immediately went cold. How could she have been so stupid? She was too heavy for him, and likely damaging his impressive equipment. Her cheeks heated, and she tried to scramble way, but his arms were like steel vices around her lower back.
When she stopped moving, his face was only inches from hers.
“It’s the phone, kitten,” he said, gently.
Now that she wasn’t consumed with lust, she could hear the moderate sounding ding of his cellphone. He had a message of some kind, and she knew he needed to answer it.
She nodded, unable to find her voice, and he kept one arm around her waist, and reached for the cell with his other hand. He read the writing on the screen, and then put the phone down.
“It’s Nox,” he said. “They found your vandal.”
***
Ivy stayed behind Xander as he walked around the side of her house, but she knew it was just a precaution. If he really thought she was in any kind of danger, then he would have made her wait for him inside the house. She didn’t know how she knew that truth—he hadn’t said the words—but she did.
After he’d read the text, Xander had kissed her one last time, and then promised to continue things after they confronted the man responsible for vandalizing her car, and trying to spray-paint the same ugly words on the side of her house.
Her ex.
The motives behind his attacks were lost on her, but Xander had been right when he’d suspected the unwelcome blast from her past. The question was: Why? The guy had broken it off with her in the worst way possible, and then, after six long months, he just happens to show up on her first date with a new guy?
Something wasn’t adding up.
Xander slowed as they approached Nox, Grayson, and her ex.
Grayson had her ex levered up against the wall with his forearm pressing into the man’s trachea, seriously cutting down his air supply by the looks of it, and Nox stood nearby the pair looking on.
Ivy guessed he was prepared to help, if necessary, but she knew Grayson didn’t need anyone’s help. The fact that he protected her so fiercely, even after her rudeness from earlier in the evening, attested to his character, and his loyalty to Xander. His actions made her proud.
The weird thought made her pause, but she ignored it. For whatever reason, Xander’s brothers felt like family, and she was glad they were on her side.
“The police are on their way,” Nox said.
Xander glanced at the side of the house, and Ivy followed his gaze.
The same hot pink spray-paint that had been on her car now decorated the side of her house, and Ivy was pissed. What the hell was this guy’s problem anyway?
She took a step out from behind Xander, and studied the loser in Grayson’s arms. She had once found him so handsome, but now she only saw what he was on the inside. The ugliness wrapped around him, dousing him in darkness, and she was happy Xander stood as a barrier between them.
“What are you doing, Pete?” she asked.
When he didn’t answer her, Grayson pressed more weight into his throat.
“Answer her,” Xander growled. “Now.”
“I don’t like seeing you with him,” Pete answered. “I was trying to scare you so you would dump him.”
“That doesn’t even make any sense,” she seethed. “We’ve been over for six months, and you ended it. Why do you care who I do or don’t date?”
“Because I still love you,” he bit out.
Xander growled, and Nox took a step forward to stand by his brother. The two men nearly blocked her out, but she grabbed Xander’s hand, and forced her way between the two brothers.
“What do you mean, “you still love me”?” she asked. “When you left, you made it pretty clear you were over me.”
“I only said that stuff about you being repulsive—”
Xander’s growl filled the air, and he took a step forward. The o
nly thing stopping him from attacking her ex was her hand linked in his, and she knew that by claiming her as his mate, or soon to be mate, he’d given her an enormous amount of power.
“I only said that stuff,” Pete continued, “because I knew it would keep you single.”
“Why?” she asked. “Why not just say, “hey, were done”? Why try to destroy me, and try and dictate how I live my life? You gave up that right, what little you had, when you let me go.”
“I didn’t want to break up with you,” Pete said, “but I had to. Every wife at the firm is short, slim and beautiful. If I wanted to advance, I had to fit in, and I couldn’t do that with you by my side. I had to find someone who fit in with what the company expected.”
She wanted to laugh, but she couldn’t. Not yet.
“So, what exactly was your plan? Destroy my self-confidence so deeply that I would never date again? And then what? A few years from now you would come back and throw me a few scraps?”
The look on his face told her that was exactly what he’d intended.
Ivy laughed. She couldn’t help it. She’d wasted a little over a year and a half of her life on this guy, and for what? He was a loser who’d dumped her because she didn’t fit into his company’s standards. Or what he perceived were the company standards. And, he’d tried to destroy her in the process. Because he loved her—but she wasn’t good enough to grace his arm at company functions.
Fuck that!
For the first time in six months, she laughed at the stupidity of it all. So much time wasted for a loser who wasn’t man enough to stand up for her, even if it was in silence.
He was nothing like Xander—or his brothers—and she was so done.
She had a life to get on with, and that didn’t include her loser ex.
“Grayson,” she said. “Let him go.”
Grayson looked at Xander, and when Xander nodded, Grayson pushed his weight into Pete one last time, and then let him go.
“Run, and he’ll catch you,” Ivy warned.
“Come near her again, and he’ll kill you,” Xander promised.
The police sirens blared in the silence of the night, and Nox took a step closer to her ex, and nodded at them.
“We’ve got this,” he said. “You guys go back inside.”
“Yeah,” Grayson added, “we’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
Ivy smiled at Grayson’s dig, and squeezed Xander’s hand. She knew he wanted to stay and wait for the police, but she really wanted to get back to what they were doing before Nox’s text.
Xander looked down at her, and she traced her top lip with the tip of her tongue. In an instant, his angry predator mode dissolved into a sexy smile.
“Okay, thanks guys,” Xander laughed. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”
Without another word, he made a beeline for the front of the house with her in tow behind him. He was going too fast, nearly dragging her across the lawn, but Ivy didn’t care.
She nearly ran to keep up with him, and laughed the whole way.
Chapter Seven
One week later…
Ivy looked up from Xander’s desk, and saw her father standing in the doorway.
“Hey, dad,” she said. “Is Patricia all done?”
Her dad’s girlfriend was getting another tat, compliments of Nox, and she’d been in the chair for about an hour. Considering the size and detail of the design, Ivy figured the woman would be done any minute. That was one of the things she’d started to learn after hanging out in the tattoo shop all week.
Among other things.
After she and Xander had escaped back into her home on the night they’d caught her ex, he’d questioned her about the final words of their breakup, and then spent hours—literally—making love to every inch of her body. Xander certainly didn’t find her repulsive, and he definitely wanted her. Even though they hadn’t completed the mating bond yet, she didn’t doubt his feelings.
In fact, she trusted him completely, and had wanted to complete the mating bond on their first night together, but Xander had insisted they wait. He’d wanted her to experience life from his side—to see all of the positive and the negative—so she could make an informed decision about being a panther shifter, and his mate, for the rest of her life.
Basically, she’d spent the last week humoring him, because her mind had already been made up, and she didn’t plan on changing it. Not even after seeing the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of being not only a shifter, but to being the new pride alpha—and the soon to be mate of the alpha.
None of it mattered with Xander by her side.
“Almost,” her dad said. “I just wanted to see you before we go.”
“I saw you when you guys came in,” she laughed, “and the four of us are having dinner on Monday.”
“I know,” he smiled, “but, dads like to check in sometimes.”
Ivy got up from her chair, walked over to her dad, and hugged him.
The day following her date with Xander had been her last at the diner, and she’d ended up leaving early because her dad had shooed her away. Apparently, her school girl giggles every time Xander sent her a text had annoyed the older man, even though he always smiled when Patricia texted him.
She knew he’d be more than fine without her help, but she doubted he’d expected her to quit so soon. Especially just to hang out with Xander all day. That wasn’t the long-term plan, but she knew that was the part her dad had focused on.
“You can check in anytime,” she said. “I know this is moving fast, but it’s the right thing. I’m happy, dad. Beyond happy.”
“So, he’s the one, huh?”
She loved that he didn’t try to talk her out of her plans, or lecture her about everything moving too fast.
“He is,” she nodded.
“Good.”
“Good?” His response had shocked her.
“Yeah, good,” he laughed. “I really like him.”
“Me, too.”
The bell on the front door rang, and Xander strolled in, smiling like a lunatic.
“Hey, John,” Xander said, stopping next to them in the hall. Even though she still had her arms wrapped around her dad, he leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. “Patricia getting her new ink today?”
“Yes, and I believe she is almost done,” her dad said. “You and your brothers definitely have talent, son. You did an amazing job on Ivy, and I love what Nox created for Patricia. I’m actually impressed by all three of you.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Xander beamed at the praise, and so did Ivy.
It had taken her almost the whole week to decide on the rose tattoo Xander had inked on the inside of her wrist. Instead of a rose in full bloom, it was a bud that was opening, and she thought it fit the next stage of her life perfectly.
“You’re very welcome,” the older man said. He kissed the top of Ivy’s head, and released her. “I’m going to sit with Patricia until she’s done, but I’ll see you guys on Monday.”
“Bye dad.”
“Bye, sir—John,” Xander said. “See you Monday.”
They both watched her dad disappear into Nox’s office, and then faced each other.
“Everything okay?” he asked quietly.
“Perfect,” she said. “He really likes you…and so do I.”
She raised up on her tip-toes and kissed his chin.
“I like you, too,” he said, kissing her lips again. “And I have a surprise for you.”
“You do?” she asked, clearly excited. “What is it?”
“I can’t say. I have to show you. Get your bag, and let’s take a walk.”
She had no idea what he had planned, but she didn’t ask questions. She grabbed her purse, grabbed his hand, and allowed him to pull her out the door.
***
Xander knew he was walking too fast, but he also knew Ivy could keep up with him—she’d proven that on more than one occasion—so he didn’t slow down.
Be
sides, they weren’t going far.
He dragged her to the vacant building beside the tattoo shop, the one she had been so excited about on their first date, and stopped in front of the door.
During the past week, Ivy had shadowed him at work, both while doing ink, and while taking care of pride business, but following him around was only temporary. He’d wanted her to learn a little bit about the shop, and the pride, but he wasn’t going to take away her dreams.
And she wasn’t going to let him.
Which filled him with an amazing amount of pride.
She’d offered him two weeks, and then had plans to start looking for a new location for her shop. He’d already planned to give her the building next to his, but when she’d made a comment about looking up the owner to see if he’d be willing to sell, he knew he had to act fast.
He’d wanted the gift to come with no strings attached, and that’s how he’d handled the deed transfer. If she decided not to mate with him, then she could keep the building, or sell it, without any consequences.
The thought of her not mating with him made him uneasy, but he refused to go down that road. Ivy had been willing their first night together, but he was the one who had insisted on waiting, and she hadn’t asked him to mark her again.
She had, however, immersed herself into his life, and it had been a long, and eventful week. She’d already seen a lot, and if she’d somehow changed her mind, he imagined she’d be gone by now.
“Xander? Everything okay?”
He looked down at his beautiful mate, and brushed a chaste kiss across her lips. Deep down, he knew the fleeting thought of her leaving was nothing more than his nerves and the impatience of his cat getting the best of him.
His panther was royally pissed off that she wasn’t officially theirs yet.
“Yeah, kitten, everything is fine. Here’s your surprise.”
He reached into his back pocket, and handed her a long envelope.
She opened the letter and read the documents carefully.
“Oh my god…You bought me a building?”
“Not a building, this building,” he corrected. “But I didn’t buy it. My father wasn’t a good man, but he was smart when it came to acquiring real estate. I own the tattoo shop, this building, that one, and those two over there.”