I sat on the couch and curled my feet under me, getting comfy.
“Here you go, dear,” Iris said. She put the tray with the soup on my lap. “I hope you like it, but don't force yourself to eat it if you don't.”
“Really.” Zane walked in and sat next to me. “Don't worry about hurting Mom's feelings. Her cooking is an acquired taste.”
Iris swatted at Zane, but she was smiling. “He's right, I'm afraid.”
With both their gazes firmly planted on me, I felt pressured to both eat and like the soup. I lifted a spoonful to my mouth, blew on it, and ate it. Thankfully, it was delicious, salty and warm and yum. My stomach grumbled for more. “It's perfect,” I said. “Thank you.”
Iris' smile widened. “I'm so glad, dear. Let me know if you need anything else.”
She whipped out of the living room, leaving me and Zane alone for about two seconds before Axel and Julie joined us.
We all ate in silence for a few moments. “How bad is it?” Zane asked.
Axel looked up from his food and shot a look my way. “It's bad, man. Maybe we could talk about this later?”
Zane tensed and I could feel another fight brewing. “It's fine,” I said. “I don't need to hear this.”
“It's not fine,” Zane said. “Did you know Abby has a ton of business experience and she's got a degree in business? She could help us.”
Axel shook his head. “We can't risk telling her too much and having it get back to Leopold.”
Zane leaned back and rested one ankle on his knee, his plate of food resting on his flat abs. He looked relaxed, easy, but he was rippling with tension, his expression hard. “It won't be a problem because she is never getting anywhere near Leopold ever again.”
“I'm with Zane,” Julie said. “We could use someone with business sense to offer advice.”
Axel turned and looked at her, his expression pathetic, like a dog who's been unexpectedly kicked by its owner. “I'm not trying to be a dick, Jules. I'm trying to do the right thing for the pack.”
Julie sighed and patted his shoulder. “I get that, babe, but there's not going to be a pack at all if we don't figure out how to generate some income and fast.”
“You don't have to tell me anything,” I said. “I know enough. You're broke. Leopold and his vamps have taken steps, like closing Zane's yoga studio, to force the pack out of this territory. Does anyone know why?”
Axel glared at Julie and Zane like he was daring them to speak.
“Our best guess,” Zane said, glaring right back at Axel, “is that the vamps want the wolves in the pack, not the territory. They prefer wolf blood for some reason. They figure if they make life difficult enough for us, we'll be desperate enough to do whatever they want us to do.”
“To be their blood bags,” Julie said. “But I swear something else is going on. The vamps I fought were stronger than they should have been. Like maybe wolf blood actually gives them more power.”
“Except we've never seen that happen before,” Axel said, apparently accepting that he wasn't going to be able to keep me out of the loop. “None of their motives matter if we can't figure out how to make some money.”
“I don't understand,” I said. “Didn't you just film a reality show?”
“We didn't get paid for that,” Axel said, his brow twisted in confusion.
Julie didn't look confused. “We didn't pick up any sponsors, either.”
“Really?” I said. “But you have a huge fan base, right? I mean I've seen stuff on the news. Your show did amazingly well.”
Julie shrugged. “We've got people who love us, but we've got an almost equally large number of people who despise and fear us. We're a risk for sponsors.”
I nodded, thinking it over between bites of soup. “So, you need to go to your fan base. Come up with your own products that will appeal to fans of the show and sell to them.” I looked at Axel. “Don't you weld amazing artsy fartsy stuff?”
Axel scowled. “I weld huge hunks of manly metal into manly objects and animals.”
Julie snorted. “He can only create them so fast, what with running a pack and being so manly. We've sold everything he's made. The money didn't go very far.”
I yawned, exhaustion overwhelming me. “You need to raise your prices on that stuff. How much do you charge now?”
“Sweetheart,” Zane said. “We can talk about this in the morning. You're exhausted.”
“Just this one thing,” I said. “And I'll go to bed.”
“Two hundred for the big pieces, one for the medium, and the small ones go for anywhere from twenty to fifty bucks.”
I just stared at him for a moment, sure my exhaustion was affecting my hearing. “I'm not an art expert, but that sounds stupid cheap. I could sell your sweat-soaked t-shirt on eBay for two hundred.”
Axel grimaced. “I don't want to rip people off.”
I yawned again and looked to Julie for help. She shrugged. “I already told him he wasn't charging enough.”
“You're only ripping people off if they have no other options but to buy your stuff. I'm going to do some research on what that sort of stuff typically goes for and we can meet to discuss it tomorrow.”
I didn't wait for an answer. I kissed Zane's cheek, stood, and went back to his room. I collapsed on the bed and fell asleep to the sound of Axel, Julie, and Zane's muffled voices from the next room.
CHAPTER NINE
“Hey, sleepyhead,” Zane said when I walked into the kitchen the next morning. He was seated at the kitchen table, and he was filthy. There were twigs in his hair and dirt streaks on his face. His left eye was purple and swollen shut. “You hungry?”
“Starving,” I said. “Are you okay?”
He waved a hand in dismissal. “Axel needed to work off some of his frustration on me.”
“Because of me?”
“You and the fact that Julie is a month away from pushing out his kid and the pack's broke. I was an easy target, because I didn't bow down to him like I should have.” He stood and pushed back his chair. “Sit. I'll make breakfast.”
“You should go to bed. I can handle making my own breakfast.”
“You don't cook.”
“I'll just have cereal.”
He sighed and put a hand over his face like I'd said something insane. “Cereal, she says.” He dropped his hand and looked at me. “I don't keep that processed crap in my house, sweetheart.” He turned to the stove and started pulling out pots and pans. “I'd take you to the diner, but it's closed on account of the town being broke. You'd have liked it. Lots of cheese and bread.”
I took a seat at the table and watched as he moved around the kitchen, finding the fixings for a breakfast of grits, eggs, and toast. He hummed while he worked, though he moved stiffly enough that it was clear Axel had put a hurting on him.
Finally, he put a plate in front of me and sat with his own plate.
“How was the run?” I asked.
“Amazing. I wish you could experience it with me.”
My heart sank. He should have a girlfriend he could experience a pack run with. And he would. “When you settle down with another wolf and get married, that's something the two of you will be able to do together.”
“Or I could turn you,” he said.
My stomach roiled and, for a moment, I thought he was serious. It sounded so much like something Leopold would say, some sick attempt to own me, to make sure I never left.
“Shit,” he said. He pushed his plate away, picked me up and sat back down with me on his lap. “I'm sorry. I would never do that to you.”
“Why would you even say that?” I was shaking and my eyes burned. Why the hell was I so emotional?
He sighed. “Because I've been up all night and had my ass kicked. And because it hurt that you could imagine me with someone else when the thought of another man touching you makes me want to break a window with my fist. I reacted badly and I'm sorry.”
Complicated. This is why I never should
have slept with him. “I don't enjoy thinking of you with someone else, Zane, but it's reality. I'm moving to Denver and you should be with a wolf.”
“I don't want to be with a wolf. I want to be with you. Wolf-human relationships work out great. We could even have kids.”
“Zane—”
“Maybe I'll move to Denver with you. I could get a job teaching at a university there and—”
I spun in his arms and pressed my lips to his to get him to shut up. He gripped the back of my head and kissed me back like he was starving for me. I straddled him and moved against him, going from worried about leading him on to only being able to think about sex in all of five seconds.
I bent my head and nipped at his collarbone and he groaned. He gripped my hips and slammed me down hard over his crotch. A move that had me moaning and him gasping in something not at all like pleasure. “You're hurt.” I tried to get off his lap, but he held me in place.
“I heal quick.”
“I'm not saying we shouldn't do anything,” I said. “Just, let's get you cleaned up first and then we'll find a softer place to—”
“Yep.” He stood with me in his arms and hurried back to his bedroom and the master bath. “Sounds good to me.”
He set me down on the tile floor and reached into the shower to turn on the spray. “Get naked,” he said. He leaned against the sink and watched as I pulled off my t-shirt and sleep pants. Then he dropped to his knees and pressed an open-mouthed kiss to my lower belly. He slid a finger into my core and groaned. “You are so fucking wet,” he said. “I need to taste you.”
“Later. First, get in the shower and get clean.”
He bent his head, like he was going to go ahead with his plan anyway, but I dodged and hopped into the shower before he could get me. I stood under the warm spray and let it caress me. I was finally feeling like myself again and it felt amazing. “You should probably get the sticks out of your hair before you get in here,” I said. “I don't think they can go down the—”
Zane grabbed me and tickled my ribs until I was shrieking for mercy. “That's what you get for denying me,” he said, his breath on my cheek, his cock hard against my back.
I dropped to my knees, spun and had my mouth on him before he knew what was happening. He hissed in a breath. “Ah, fu… Right there, I'm…“ I almost laughed at how lost he was to the sensation. I had planned to tease him and not follow through, but his reaction… It made me want to find out how wild I could make him.
I pumped him with one hand and twirled my tongue around him as I sucked. He kept speaking, but the words became less and less intelligible until he said, “Aw, shit. I'm gonna… I can't… Sweet…”
I knew what he was trying to say, but I didn't give him any relief and he pumped his hips, pushing himself deeper into my mouth and then he came hard. I swirled my tongue over him one more time, pleased with the aftershocks and shudders, before I released him and stood. “Now, let's get you clean,” I said, like I wasn't nearly a puddle on the shower floor from how insanely turned on I was.
“I can't… Legs weak…”
“That's okay, baby,” I said. “Lean against the wall and I'll take care of you.”
“Pretty sure you already did that,” he said, his words finally intelligible, but breathy. He used one hand braced against the shower wall to hold himself up while I shampooed his hair and lathered every inch of his glorious body with soap. By the time I was done, he was hard again and I was on fire.
Once the last bit of soap was rinsed from his body, he grabbed my waist, lifted me and carried me to his bed, still dripping wet from the shower. He tossed me on the bed, dropped between my legs and put his mouth on me.
His tongue. And what he did with it. I couldn't even think straight. He teased and pleasured me until I reached a screaming climax. While I was basking in a pleasure haze, he stood and got a condom from the night stand next to his bed. He put it on and thrust into me, sending shards of pleasure exploding through me so fiercely it almost hurt.
I opened my eyes as he moved inside me. He met my gaze and the look in his eyes, the connection between us, it was too much. It was amazing and wonderful and utterly terrifying, because I could feel myself slipping away as I drowned in him. I let my eyes drift shut, needing to put some distance between us.
“Open your eyes,” he said. “I've got you, Abby.”
I kept my eyes closed, because I didn't take orders from him and because I couldn't handle the overwhelming emotions rioting through me.
He stilled above me. “Abby. Please.”
I opened my eyes and a smile lit his face. “There she is.” He thrust into me and his expression heated and filled with wonder. “So good,” he said. “You feel so fucking good, Abby.”
He brought me to another climax before he took his own. He kept his eyes on mine the entire time. Even after he'd pulled out and dropped down next to me, he kept looking into my eyes. It should have been weird and uncomfortable, but it felt just right. I never wanted to stop looking into his eyes and that's why I had to.
“You should get some sleep,” I said, looking at the wall behind his shoulder.
“Nap with me.” He grabbed my chin and turned my head until I was looking at him again. “Stay with me today.”
I squirmed, needing to get away. “I've been in bed most of the past thirty-six hours. I need to move.”
He didn't argue or even frown. “I don't blame you. If you want to go somewhere, you'll have to take Aron or Payne with you. When I wake up, I'll give you a proper tour of the town.”
“Okay,” I said. He rolled off the bed and went to the bathroom to clean up. I followed him in so I could get a proper shower and, by the time I was done, he was sleeping so hard, he didn't move when I kissed his cheek and tiptoed out of the room.
I paced the house, trying to think of a way to pass the time that didn't involve staring at a T.V. screen. Aron was on guard duty, but he said there was no pharmacy in Mule Creek. I wasn't yet desperate enough to ask him if he knew where I could get contraceptives or the morning after pill, I figured I'd just ask Zane when he woke up.
I borrowed Zane's laptop to do some research for Axel about his welding art. That took me all of twenty minutes.
After some more pacing, I found myself in Zane's yoga basement. I stood in front of the mirror and did a couple spins. When I was a kid, my grandmother had paid for me to have a year of dance classes. That ended when she passed away and my parents used the money she'd left us to buy me a beat-up car, one they couldn't afford to maintain or insure, for my sixteenth birthday.
I already knew Zane didn't have any music other than hippy, meditative crap and I wasn't going to dance to that. I closed my eyes, heard a song I'd danced to more than a hundred times on stage, and started to move. With each step, peace washed over me. Peace and strength. This would be okay. I'd figure it out and I'd keep moving. I'd take care of myself, as I always had.
I danced until the song in my head ended and then I danced some more. I danced until I was panting and worn out and feeling completely like myself again. Zane was fun. He was a sweet guy I'd always think of fondly, but I had bigger dreams than a love affair and getting trapped in another small town.
I didn't think about his offer to go to Denver with me. I pushed it to the dark corners of my mind where I could ignore it and pretend he'd never made the offer.
I trotted up the stairs, sweaty and smiling, and found Julie Jacobs in my kitchen. “Hi,” she said, her cheeks pink. “I knocked, but no one answered. I figured I'd just come in and wait for you, but I can go if—”
“Stay. I could use the company.”
She relaxed into her seat at the kitchen table, a steaming mug clasped in her hands. “I boiled some water, if you want tea.”
“I'm good.” I filled a glass of water and took a seat at the table. “You must be really close to Zane to take over his kitchen while he's sleeping.”
She smiled, not at all put off by my choice of words. �
�Not really. I mean I know him well enough, but I wouldn't say we're close. I would go into anyone's kitchen and make tea around here. Especially when they're all sleeping after the pack run.”
“Because you're the alpha's wife?”
“Because that's the way the pack works,” she said. “If you lock your door or get annoyed by pack members barging in whenever they feel like it, everyone starts whispering that you've got something to hide.”
“That's obnoxious.”
She grinned. “Totally.”
“So, we could go into any house we wanted and snoop around and no one would complain?”
She considered. “It's kind of an unspoken rule that you don't snoop. Besides, you walk into the wrong house and you're likely to see something you can never unsee. The pack is pretty free and open with sex.”
“Yet, you walked in here.”
Her grin widened. “That's why I knocked. If you were in one of the main rooms getting your freak on, you would have heard me.”
I pulled in a deep breath and steeled myself. Julie was probably the best person to ask. “Do you know where they sell contraceptives around here? Like a morning after, Plan B kind of thing?”
She rubbed her belly. “You sure you're asking the right person?”
“There's got to be something,” I said. “The town would be overrun with babies otherwise.”
She frowned. “Babies are treasured by the pack and there aren't many of them because it's harder for werewolf women to conceive than it is for human women. I've honestly not seen anything in town for preventing pregnancy.”
My stomach dropped. I could not get pregnant. Inconveniently falling for a guy who'd hold me back was one thing. I could walk away from him. I couldn't walk away from a little baby.
Stripped (Wolves of Mule Creek #2) Page 16