“That’s none of your damn business, but it sure as hell doesn’t involve shoving your fangs into someone’s throat.” And my sex throbbed at the mere thought. I hated the consequences on a major level, but I’d had an amazing time. Damn it.
“You sure as hell weren’t complaining about it at the time.” His eyes narrowed as he propped his hip against the table ledge and folded his arms.
I arched an eyebrow at him. “At the time, I was more worried about the other part of your anatomy you were shoving into me.”
He snapped back, “I can put that part back in if it’ll make you happy.”
Yeah, I was not letting my mind go there at all. That’s what had gotten me into this in the first place. “No, what would make me happy is to undo this mess.”
“We’re mates, Pixie.” Regret softened his gaze. He shoved his hand through his hair, sifting the light smattering of silver with the darker strands. “We’re meant to be together. I sensed it.”
Sucking in a deep breath, I tried to be reasonable about this. “Look, I get the whole mating instinct thing with wolves. In the abstract, yeah, but I get it. That doesn’t mean I have to go along with it like some helpless little sheep.”
“Does that make me a wolf in sheep’s clothing?” He snorted.
I pointed to his jacket and smirked. “Well, it does look like you’re wearing a wool suit.”
“Ha. Ha.” He rolled his dark eyes, and I had to fight not to laugh. This was not a laughing matter.
I paced another little circle in front of him. “Hey, you brought it up, not me.”
“Pixie—”
Stopping, I rubbed my fingers over my suddenly throbbing temples. This just couldn’t be happening. It was surreal. I shook my head at him. “Look, just stop it okay? This isn’t what I want, and Alpha or not, you can’t force me to want it.”
The look in his eyes gutted me. I wanted to take it all back, to soothe that heart-wrenching pain from his dark gaze. Instead, I forced myself to turn away. One night of sex—even great sex—did not obligate me to be his little woman. If I’d thought the other men in my life wanted to tie me down and control me, I could only imagine what an alpha male Alpha wolf would do.
Thanks, but no thanks.
Chapter Four
I worked late that night, as if to prove to myself that I was not bothered at all by this Malcon issue. It was business as usual for me. A knock sounded on the front office door and I glanced at the clock, quarter to eight. My assistant had gone home hours ago. Who could possibly be at the door?
I really should have suspected Malcon, but I was stunned to see him when I exited my office and spotted him standing outside the big glass window that looked out onto the elevator bank and hallway. For a split second, I considered leaving him out there and ignoring him, but the Alpha was…alpha, stubborn and persistent enough to harass the building’s maintenance staff to let him in. Or, hell, he was a werewolf. He could just break the door down if he wanted and not even break a sweat.
Damn fanged people. Damn alpha males. Damn it.
Flashing him a dirty look, I walked up to the door and flipped the big lock. His grin was nothing less than wolfishly predatory. Moving with that startling speed of his, he pulled the door open before I could change my mind and lock it. Smart man.
As soon as the door swung open, I smelled Chinese food. My stomach rumbled, reminding me I hadn’t eaten since the bagel I’d inhaled on my way to pick up Stephen and his mates.
“You have food.” My tone was almost an accusation, but it was annoying that the man was a walking temptation on every possible level.
“I thought I should come bearing gifts.” Malcon shifted the jacket he had draped over his arm to reveal a black cloth grocery bag for me to peek into. His discarded tie was stuffed in there with the containers of delicious-smelling food.
I looked back up at him, crossing my arms. “How did you know I was still here?”
“Oh, come on. You don’t really expect me to reveal my sources, do you?” The smile he gave was enigmatic.
I snorted and didn’t bother to favor him with a verbal response. He stepped through the door, and I had to either end up plastered against him or get out of his way. Deciding discretion was the better part of valor, I moved aside and locked the door behind us. He followed the light from the reception area into my office and I trailed behind him, not really sure what to do at this point. I’d never had a one-night stand get out of hand before. That’s why they were one-night stands. Not that I’d had that many, but enough to know this was not normal.
While I hovered near the door, he sat on my couch and set the little white cartons on the glass coffee table. Then he dug out a couple of sets of disposable chopsticks and offered one to me. “Have some lo mein, it’ll settle you.”
“I’m settled enough,” I grumbled, but my stomach was about to eat itself now that it realized there was food in the vicinity. I plucked the chopsticks from his hand without touching him, snagged a container of fried rice and sat cross-legged on the floor next to the low table, glad I’d worn slacks today. He slid off the couch and sat on the floor across from me. Our knees brushed, and I ignored the sizzle of awareness that went through me.
He speared a potsticker with one chopstick. “How was your day?”
“Fine, except everyone wanted to ask about my mating.” The smile I gave him was acidic.
Sighing, he winced. His voice was soft. “I’m sorry, Pixie. I thought you felt this connection too. Maybe not to the level that I did—do—but I hope you’ll believe I thought you were willing.”
“I believe you.” The expression on his face was beyond sincere. “That doesn’t mean I’m willing now or that I ever will be. I’m not even willing to consider it.”
“Why not?”
Because he sounded genuinely curious rather than pissed off or offended, I answered him. “I don’t do fetters. I don’t like to tie myself down. I did it for Stephen when our dad died, but that wasn’t a choice. Not really. He’s family. But choosing to tie myself to one man or one place for the rest of my life? I can’t imagine how that would make me happy.”
“There could be a guy out there who will give you the freedom to be yourself.” He offered me a carton of noodles and exchanged it for the fried rice. His gaze met mine for the briefest moment. “He might even like you just the way you are.”
We both knew he wasn’t talking about some guy in the abstract, but Malcon in particular. I swallowed, smiled and winked playfully. “Nah. Such a paragon of virtue and tolerance doesn’t exist.”
He laughed and let it go. A sigh of relief whispered out of my throat. The undercurrents running through this conversation were enough to drag me under, but I had to resist the pull. Sighing, I set aside the food, my stomach turning. Tension made knots of the muscles in my neck and when I rubbed them, I hit the mate mark and jerked at the touch on such sensitive flesh. My body reacted and it made my stomach twist tighter. I wasn’t afraid of Malcon, but I didn’t like the pressure to be something I wasn’t, to accept something I hadn’t chosen for myself. My business didn’t run itself, and I couldn’t afford to lose focus. This was the life I’d chosen for myself, not being some Alpha’s mate.
I looked over at him and saw that he’d stopped eating as well. I offered a weak smile and pushed to my feet. “Don’t stop on my account.”
“I’m finished if you are.” He rose with me, and I felt his gaze on me as I walked over to pack my briefcase and purse. “Let me walk you out.”
“That isn’t necessary, but thanks for dinner.” I glanced up to see that he’d approached while I wasn’t looking and was within arm’s reach. That made me nervous. “It’s not like this is a date or anything.”
Stepping well into my personal space, he lowered his head until his mouth was a hairsbreadth from mine. “Yes, it is.”
“And you’re not getting laid tonight.” I narrowed my gaze at him, but there wasn’t an ounce of conviction behind my words.
<
br /> His breath brushed over my lips. “That’s a shame.”
“Malcon…”
“Pixie…” His voice was a low rumble that made my insides melt.
I tried to put a little more power behind it this time. “I’m not kidding.”
“You can’t blame me for trying to change your mind, can you?” He gave me a brilliant, beautiful smile and winked. “You would do the same.”
I cracked up because he was right, and he caught the sound of my laughter in his mouth. Pleasure crashed over me so fast I gasped, and he plunged his tongue between my lips. I quivered with indecision for all of a millisecond before I twined my fingers through his hair and met his tongue with mine. A hot rush of sensation swamped me tonight as it had last night. I hadn’t just imagined how good it had been, but this time it felt so much more meaningful.
Nothing and everything had changed since last night, and it freaked me out so badly I pulled back. My body screamed a protest at the loss of contact, and I squeezed my eyes closed. Malcon’s hands cupped my hips, and I could feel every impressive inch of his cock through our clothing. I wanted him inside me again, but my mind warned that it would just complicate everything. Lust sluiced through me in a hot wave when he moved one hand around to my ass and the other up to palm my breast. I whimpered and broke under the force of a need that was far stronger than my willpower to resist. Really, how much more complicated could it get?
He scraped a claw over my nipple and the additional slide of my silk blouse over my breast made me sway toward him. Moisture dampened my sex, and it clenched on an emptiness that I knew he could fill. My breath sped to little pants, and I stared up at him. “I want you.”
“I know. I can smell how wet you are. The scent of you is beyond intoxicating, Pixie.” He groaned and slid his palm around to the open V of my shirt. His mouth met mine in slow, drugging kisses that only whetted my craving for him. His fingers slid over my back where my wings would be if I let them out. I had to concentrate not to have them break free. Fire licked at my flesh everywhere he touched me and goose bumps shivered in the wake of the flames.
My hands slid over him, too, moving without direction from my mind. Up the ridges of his ribs, around his shoulders, down the muscles of his back until I cupped his firm ass. He jerked against me, shuddering at my touch. I felt his cock expand where it pressed into my belly. God, I needed him inside me, needed the hot glide of his hard flesh within my wet flesh. He eased my blouse over my head and had his hands on my bare breasts before it hit the floor. I tugged his shirt out of his slacks. I wanted him naked now.
“Off,” I demanded, and the universe answered. A hum of magic and Malcon’s clothing lay in a wrinkled pile at our feet.
He blinked. “Holy shit.”
I didn’t bother responding, and instead busied my hands with touching as much of him as I could reach. I almost sobbed on a frustrated breath when he set his hands on my shoulders and held me away from him. “Now, Malcon. No teasing.”
“What do you think I’m trying to do? I can’t do that naked magic thing.” Hell, I wasn’t even sure I could do it again, but the naked magic he could do worked well for me. He spun me around and bent me over my desk the same way he had with his chair last night and relief wound through me. He didn’t bother trying to undo the complicated clasp on my belt, just used his werewolf strength to pop the thick leather in half. Then he reached around my waist and unfastened my pants. He shoved my slacks down and I stepped out of them and my heels.
“Damn.” He spun me around to look at me. His dark gaze burned my body as he took in my thigh highs and total lack of any other underwear.
I caught my lower lip between my teeth and shifted from foot to foot. Shyness wasn’t natural to me, but I had to admit I was a bit unnerved by the intensity of his stare. It was a little worshipful and a lot possessive.
He lifted me off my feet and set me on my desk, the cool glass against my overheated skin making me arch in reflex. “Lean back.”
I fell back on my elbows as he pulled my ass to the very edge of the desk. Grinning at me, he draped my ankles against his shoulders, and ran his tongue around the very edge of the lace on my stockings.
The lace rasped on my sensitized skin and his breath cooled the moisture his tongue left behind. I shivered and moaned, “Malcon.”
“I can’t wait, baby. I’m sorry.” He sank into me in one slow push, his fangs bared as he growled low in his throat. His dark eyes had burned to ice blue, the wildness within him peering out at me.
His gaze locked with mine, and I couldn’t look away. I felt more naked than I ever had in my life, my heart hammering. Some connection had snapped between us that hadn’t been there before. I refused to let my mind define it, but it made the sex deeper, more intense than it had been. He started moving inside me, his movements hard and fast and deep. The angle was perfect, the way he held my legs made him hit just the right spot inside me to have me quivering on the orgasm within moments. Still, I couldn’t look away from his eyes, and I could see the pleasure there, the way he savored my reaction, the way he didn’t hide anything from me. Gone was the cool man in the boardroom this afternoon. This was the real Malcon, half-untamed and all wolf. It was a fucking turn on that he didn’t play games with me. I loved it, wanted more of it, moving with him as he moved within me.
“I’m going to come,” I gasped.
“Thank God.” He slid one hand down my leg and stroked my clit in time with his deepening thrusts.
Sweat beaded on my skin, making me shiver. Contractions thrummed in my sex, building until I couldn’t hold back any longer. My torso arched off the desk, and I cried out his name. My sex clenched around his cock so hard it was almost painful, the ecstatic rush obliterating everything except him.
“Pixie,” he breathed, closing his eyes as he came in hard jets of fluid. He swallowed, leaned forward to brace his hands against the desk and let my legs fall to the sides. His gaze met mine, the irises ebony again. “How can you just walk away from this, Pixie? It’s too good.”
I sat up and cupped his jaw in my hands. He leaned into my touch, his gaze softening in a way that made my insides tremble even though I knew they shouldn’t. I sighed and shook my head. “What am I going to do with you?”
“I’ll tell you what.” His hand slipped up my back to tangle in my hair. “Let me see you for say, a month, and give me the chance to change your mind about the mate thing. If not—no harm, no foul. It’ll give me the opportunity to figure out what I’m going to tell my pack in the meantime.”
“What do I get out of it?” I tilted my head, shivering as the movement made his fingers slide through my hair.
He pursed his lips as though thinking hard, then he smiled and arched an eyebrow. “Orgasms on call.”
A giggle bubbled out before I could stop it. The thought of having an Alpha at my beck and call was laughable, but the thought of Malcon at my beck and call made the laughter fade as a throb of renewed heat went through me. It wasn’t a bad deal. I knew he wouldn’t convince me to be his queen, but I liked him enough to want to help him out with buying time to come up with a suitable explanation for his pack. It was startling to realize I did like him, even after so short an acquaintance.
I bit my lower lip and narrowed my gaze at him. “There’s no crying foul in this offer, right? You won’t consider me going out with you or sleeping with you as leading you on when I say no in the end?”
“If you say no, then no.” He dropped a quick kiss on my mouth, sucking my lower lip between his teeth. “I’m going into this with my eyes open and so are you.”
“Then you have yourself a deal.” I leaned back, held my hand out for him to shake and watched that little smile of his play over his lips as he folded his fingers around mine.
Then he reeled me in until I was pressed flush against him, and we both groaned. His cock thickened and he thrust it to the hilt within me again, his mouth descending on mine.
I stopped worrying about the
future to enjoy the moment with the sexiest man alive.
Three weeks later, Malcon was still on the campaign and gaining ground, I had to admit. I was nowhere near giving in, but every moment I spent with him made me like him more, want him more, crave him more. My heart jumped when I saw him each evening, and it saddened me to leave him every morning. I counted the hours to when I got to see him again like some teenager with her first crush.
It scared the shit out of me.
I should call the deal off, tell him no, and move on with my life. I knew it. I’d even tried to make myself say it more than once. So far, I was pathetically unsuccessful. I didn’t want to stop seeing him, and that complicated the shit out of everything. That was exactly what he wanted. The problem was, things were going smoothly. Nothing had been tested and crumbled under pressure, so it was all shiny and pretty and new. I wasn’t running from coast to coast like I had so often. Wolf pack politics and business were good. We were good. When the brown stuff hit the fan and splattered the way it inevitably did, he would try to fence me in the way every other male had. So, while I was letting myself enjoy the moment, it was with the slight dread in the pit of my stomach of waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Sucking in a deep breath, I refocused on the quarterly reports in front of me. I had a boatload of meetings tomorrow, so I had to get a bigger boatload of paperwork done tonight. I should be relieved by a break from Malcon, but I wasn’t.
An hour later, my cell phone vibrated across the surface of my desk and made me jolt. My heart raced, and I pressed my palm to my chest. I pushed the button on my cell phone that transferred the call to the Bluetooth in my ear. “Hello?”
“Hey, Pixie.”
A smile automatically curved my lips at the sound of his voice. “Hey, you. What’s up?”
“Not much.” I could hear an answering smile form on his handsome face. “How late are you working tonight?”
“Late.” I looked at the stacks of paperwork that covered every available surface in my office. I sighed. “Very late.”
Crazy Little Thing Called Love Page 3