Alpha’s other eyebrow went up.
“I guess what I’m saying is—”
“You’re saying you don’t think it’s a good match.”
She turned her hands over, conceding. “I hate to get off on the wrong foot, but I gotta be true to me. I don’t have it in my spirit to endure misery for the sake of tradition. My compulsion is to buck against tradition if it doesn’t make sense. I know that makes me a little defective as a wolf, and a lot pain-in-the-ass, but I’m not going to apologize for that.”
He stared at her quietly for a while—a whole minute, maybe—and rocked on his heels again. It was such a casual, playful movement for such a powerful wolf. She couldn’t really wrap her mind around it. Then again, she couldn’t wrap her mind around much about the place she found herself in.
“Between you and me,” he said finally, “all you girls are a little weird.”
“What?”
He crooked his thumb toward the silent woman on the bench. “It’s like she’s not even there, huh? Truth is, I would have been more surprised if I had fetched four completely ordinary mate prospects from the airport.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “I don’t have ordinary wolves in my pack. Why would the goddess send me women who couldn’t keep up?”
“You believe the goddess made this match?” She turned and pointed to the blond wolf leaning into his house’s doorway, whom promptly raised a middle finger in salute.
Fucking asshole. He could probably hear every word they said, and she didn’t give a single shit.
She turned back. “No disrespect intended, Alpha, but are you insane?”
“Only in the best ways. Listen,” he said gently, “I’m not going to force you to stay. But of the four matches I made today, the goddess picked two, and I picked the others. She happened to approve of them.”
“The goddess did? You can’t possibly claim that. She’s not so forthcoming, even if we hope she has a hand in guiding us.”
“Doesn’t she, though?” His voice was a whisper now. “You know our lore speaks of how fond she is of her signs. Did she send you one before you came? Maybe she put a wolf image on some unusual place, like a doodle on a dollar bill. You recall anything like that?”
Lisa’s stomach lurched. Not a dollar bill, but a travel agency ad she’d seen in the newspaper the day she saw the mate call. There’d been a yellow wolf in the logo. She forced down a swallow and put a hand over her thrashing heart. “Just a coincidence.”
“I don’t think so. Hey, I try to be a decent person. That’s usually good enough for her, so she talks to me sometimes. No one’s expecting you to submit meekly here, Lisa. No one here expects you to anything more than to give respect to the people who are owed it.”
That would be Alpha and Mrs. Carbone. The rest—her mate—would have to earn it. She was pretty sure that was what Alpha was saying.
“Run your household as you see fit. I strongly suggest you stay and examine what you have. There’s always room for change.”
“Change.” The word was like candy in her mouth—a luxury she was so rarely afforded. “You’d let me do that? Make changes?”
“I wouldn’t have brought you here if I weren’t open to them.”
“Fuck.” She’d held out a glimmer of hope that her mate would be if not easy to live with, then at least cooperative. He was going to push her past her tolerance, and she was going to be mad at herself for letting the domineering battle-ax out. She was volunteering for the sakes of her sisters, and she needed to be kind. She needed to make Alpha her advocate.
Good luck, bitch.
She let out a long, ragged breath. “At least he doesn’t smell like he’s been rolling in pot,” she said dryly. “That’s a start.”
“And he’s gainfully employed. I hear ladies love that.”
She groaned and rubbed her eyes. Shit.
She trusted Alpha—believed his connection to their goddess was legitimate—but that didn’t make accepting the man assigned to be her mate any easier. First impressions meant something to her, and he couldn’t have blown his more if he’d tried.
Still, she needed to commit, not only for her sisters, but to prove to the goddess that she could listen, even when doing so was hard.
Lisa scooped up her laptop bag and hugged it against her chest. She swallowed. “All right. I’m going to go get my bite, Alpha.”
“Thatta girl!” He gave her shoulders a little squeeze, and a trickle of energy skipped over her flesh. It felt like tickling fingers, and made her laugh out loud.
She thought it was an odd use of his power, to make her laugh. But, he is such an odd alpha.
He laughed along with her. “I’m not saying you don’t have your work cut out for you, Lisa, only that you’re the woman best equipped to do it. It may not seem like it right now, but you made the trip for Colt. You’re his match.”
“That’s what scares me.”
CHAPTER TWO
“I knew this was a bad fuckin’ idea.” Colt tore the remnants of the previous night’s pizza crust into tiny morsels, and flicked them one by one toward the garbage disposal.
He scoffed to himself. “We should have learned our lesson back in the garden, with Eve. How dare that woman show up and start slinging insults before she’d even had the chance to crack open her fuckin’ suitcase? Shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.”
He’d tried not to, but then it all became so real when Alpha had let the women out of the van, and immediately Colt’s gaze had locked on the ball-buster. Maybe it was her dark, sexy eyes, or the way her full lips tipped up at the corners. Or maybe it was because his inner wolf knew before he did that he was doomed, and his downfall was coming at the hands of that particular nag.
He rolled his eyes and stared at the empty doorway.
A couple of months before the women’s arrival, he’d scoffed when Alpha had called a meeting and broached the subject of the mate call. “It’s time,” he’d said. “You assholes aren’t getting any younger, and you don’t have an excuse anymore. Wolves take mates when they have stable homes, and you need to do it before you start acting like the animals you are.”
They’d all groaned, but in the end, three out of four men had voted yes—Beast being the only holdout, because the attack that had scratched up the guy’s face had him kind of fucked up. Colt had voted yes, not because he was so desirous of monogamy or having a werewolf ball and chain, but because Alpha was right. Alpha wolves, which each man in the pack was in his own right, needed to take mates. Colt’s own wolf was becoming harder to control. “You do it or I fucking will,” was the gist of his impulses as of late. Conceding to the mate call was his way of getting ahead of his wolf’s increasingly desperate tactics. He needed to get himself in check, or Alpha would. The pack was the best thing to ever happen to him, and he didn’t want to fuck that up.
As he glanced into the crumb pile-up in the sink, the screen door creaked open and slammed shut, and Lisa stepped into the foyer, scanning the great room and finally finding Colt leaning against the kitchen island.
Her gaze was direct and cold. That stereotype about Latina women being warm swirled right down the drain, along with a few pizza crumbs. Apparently, her culture manufactured ice princesses just as well as any other.
He gave her a little salute. “Shall I carry your bags back to Alpha’s, ma’am, or will my home be sufficient for your immoderate needs?”
She narrowed her dark-as-night eyes and put her fists on the hips that her jeans barely covered. The things must have been painted on. They dipped so low, he could have probably seen the dawn of creation if she sneezed. Jeans like those wouldn’t have been allowed at his first pack. They had “decency and modesty” standards. He scoffed inwardly. What a joke. There had been nothing decent about that pack, and modesty flew out the window the moment his father was ousted as alpha.
“I’m going to stay, and you can bite me,” she said, “but do not assume that means your home—or you, f
or that matter—are sufficient for my oh-so-immoderate needs.” She added, “Verga,” in a whisper, and strode into the adjacent room.
“Do I want to know what that means?”
“Use your imagination. It can’t be any worse than what you’re probably calling me.”
“In that case, it’s pretty fuckin’ bad.”
She shrugged and scanned the room, as if taking full stock of the chaos.
It was just stuff he hadn’t had a chance to put away yet. The pack had arrived in Norseton, and everything had moved so quickly. They’d followed a lead that the queen of the clan of Viking descendants residing in Norseton had a hit out on her, and given Alpha’s respect for the queen’s family, they’d showed up voluntarily to neutralize the threat. Of course, Alpha had hoped to squeeze permanent jobs for them out of the ordeal, because they were all so sick of the roaming. They’d been hired pretty quickly, and their housing went up within a few weeks. He’d been in his house going on five months now, but he didn’t think that was an unreasonable amount of time to still have a bit of a mess.
It looked worse than it actually was. It was three, four hours of works tops.
Or perhaps eight or twelve.
“Jesus,” she whispered. She stood in front of a leaning tower of boxes in the corner, pushing the middle one so the whole configuration was a bit more erect.
The best he could remember, they contained kitchen stuff Mrs. Carbone had ordered for him. It wasn’t like he cooked, so there’d been no pressing need to unpack them.
Lisa turned, hands on hips, and took a deep breath.
Colt ground his teeth and made a Let’s have it gesture.
“I’m a bleeder, so let’s do this in the bathtub,” she said. “If you want to brush your teeth beforehand, I won’t complain about you taking the time.”
He scoffed. Again. “Ooh la la. Should I get the lavender bath salts for you, or do you prefer to stand while I service you, princess?”
She was on him in a flash, eyes narrowed and decadent lips pulled back to show off straight, white teeth. “Excuse me? Have you forgotten I’m doing you a favor here?”
Bitch. He leaned in and put his lips right next to her ear. “Some favor.”
She closed her fingers around his nuts and gave him a squeeze that took his breath away.
“Shit!” He pushed onto tiptoes, trying to inch away from her grip.
“That usually works when I need to get a man’s attention.” Her voice was a quiet, modulated purr that confused his stupid cock. Should I get hard now? it seemed to be asking, oblivious to the pain in his nuts.
Or is it pain?
The longer she gripped him, the less sure he was. He spread his legs a bit to relieve some of the pinch from his jeans, which made her adjust her grip. It wasn’t tighter, just more complete, with her palm growing increasingly snug against his sac, and her fingertips pressing against his perineum.
He drew in a bracing breath and curled his toes in his boots. He wouldn’t let her see him out of control. He refused to respond the way she seemed to be driving him to. Oddly enough, the wolf side of his brain didn’t seem to be demanding him to lash out. The wolf was curious—wanted to see what she’d do next.
“I’m going to stand in the tub and bleed over the drain,” she said. “And if you call me princess or any other such frivolous nonsense again, I’m going to put my fingers in, on, or around things you’ll enjoy even less.” She thumped her fingers hard against his perineum, and he hissed. “Are you playing up the dumb blond stereotype, or do you actually understand me?” She gave his balls a little twist, and a defiant grin curved on her full lips.
She’s getting off on this? He swallowed hard. Why is that so hot?
Maybe it was because she probably knew exactly what she was doing, and left him no room to refuse. His inner wolf recognized that, and it seemed to make things easier. But the human male part of him—the part of him that was just an asshole—wouldn’t concede. “For fuck’s sake, I hear you.”
“I didn’t ask if you heard me. I asked if you understood me.”
“I understand.”
“Good.” With that, she unhanded him.
“Turnabout is fair play, don’t you think?” He picked her up, hauled her to the sofa, and put her over his knees. He pinned her wrists at the small of her back as she squirmed atop his lap, and pressed his free palm to her ass, rubbing it. “I’ve never been a fan of corporal punishment, but you seem to subscribe to it. I’ll happily play along. Pants on or off? Your choice.”
“If you think you’ll be seeing my ass anytime soon except for me to shapeshift, you’re out of your mind.” She squirmed ineffectually under his grip. He had her by at least fifty pounds, so she wasn’t going anywhere unless he wanted her to. “Let go of me, or so help me, I will have your balls ten shades of blue, and I won’t even have to touch you to do it.”
He let go of her then, not because he believed her, but because she asked him to. That seemed to surprise her. She took a couple of steps back and stared at him while rubbing her wrists.
“If you want to come back, you’re welcome to.” He pointed to his lap.
“If there’s anyone here who needs to be spanked, it’s you.”
“You couldn’t hurt me if you tried, princess.”
Shut your fucking mouth, he thought, even as she advanced on him yet again and gripped him hard.
He chuckled as her expression went from pissed, to confused, and then right back to pissed again.
“You’re asking for it. You’re trying to play me, and I’m not falling for it. Where’s the bathroom?”
“Well, damn. I like you getting personal with my junk. You’ve got the sweetest little hands. That might hurt a little more once your wolf comes out for the first time, but I doubt it.” He gestured toward the hallway. “Bathroom is down there. First door on the right.”
She unhanded him with a scoff and started toward the hallway.
The chick was probably going to stress him into an early grave, but he was going to have fun with her before he went down.
Is that what I’m doing? Having fun?
He stood and followed in her footsteps. He should have been angrier at how she’d touched him, but instead, he’d felt a rush of anticipation. He wanted to know how far she’d go to put him in his place. No woman had ever tried to control him before, so it was natural that he’d be a little curious. That was all.
He found her in the bathtub, shirt and bra off, and tucking a towel into the waistband of her jeans to catch the runoff, apparently.
“I don’t think this is going to be as messy as you’re making it out to be.”
“Yeah, because you’ve witnessed so many bites?”
“Enough to know.”
He leaned against the open doorframe and let his gaze track down her torso. She was fit. Most wolves were, because of their fast metabolisms, but a few women managed to put on a little extra weight in some very nice places. He’d noticed that about her ass when he’d been so lovingly stroking it. No false padding there. All real.
If he’d been slightly more animal than he actually was, he might have stripped down along with her to make her look at him. He wanted to be looked at, too, and with something other than malice. He resisted, though. First things first—the lady needed his bite to make her wolf come out. He’d have plenty of time to make her look at him later—when they were truly mates, and no other wolf would want to touch her.
“I’ve seen a lot of these,” she said. “Where I’m from, the men in the pack bite their mates in public, and maybe it’s just my particular variety of wolf, but we fucking bleed.” She held the towel over her chest and pointed to the stretch of skin between her collarbone and breast. “Come on.”
“Right down to it, huh? No foreplay? I could still get that bath salt, if you’d like. And some candles. Maybe some oils? You know, so it’s special for you.”
“Don’t try to spoil me, wolf. You wouldn’t want me to get too comfort
able here.”
Wolf. He forced out a breath and raked his hair back a little more aggressively than was strictly necessary. That word…it was like some kind of trigger. “My name is Colt, not wolf.”
“I know your name, just like you know that mine isn’t princess.”
She has a point.
Grunting, he straddled the tub’s side—one foot in, one foot out—and stretched the bit of skin he’d be applying his mark to between his fingers.
He let down his fangs, licked her smooth, tan flesh in preparation, and set his teeth into her in one quick motion.
She pounded his back with her fists. “Fuck, that hurts!”
“Mm-hmm.” He left his teeth where they were a little longer and pushed his tongue against them, making very sure that his saliva completely contaminated his bossy, would-be bride. No way she was going to be able to wash that out. She’d have his scent—his essence—in her until the day she died. No other man could come behind him and cover it, no matter how much he bit her. It was why a woman’s first mate was usually her only mate. It was also why more and more women put off taking mates for as long as their alphas didn’t force them to.
Try to get away now, bossy. He rimmed his tongue along the backs of his teeth again and lashed at her salty flesh.
Mine now.
“Gods.” She thrust her breasts toward him and let out a long hiss as she pushed her fingers through the back of his hair.
He’d heard there was no aphrodisiac quite as strong as receiving a mate’s bite, and her fertile scent seemed to support that. He pressed his fingers against her belly and inched his hand down into her waistband. If she were as wet as she smelled—fuck. He could have been inside her already.
Why aren’t I inside her?
“I think that’s good enough,” she whispered.
Just like that, his hand stopped without any instruction from his brain, and he loosened his bite. She was being his brain, apparently—telling him what to do, and he just did it. Or maybe it was his inner wolf who was just doing it. Either way, it didn’t matter. If his guess were any good, in a few minutes, she wouldn’t be able to resist him. Her wolf was going to want to be let out, but before she could shift, she’d want to be fucked. And he could fuck her so good, she’d never forget it.
Idler (Norseton Wolves Book 3) Page 2