The Big Alpha in Town

by Eve Langlais

  “I like it.” Her response was genuine and Owen’s chest swelled with pride. “It’s the perfect house. Doesn’t leave much of a footprint.”

  At just under seven hundred square feet, that was the truth. His mate smelled of the forest and it shone in her eyes and complexion. She seemed to be a force of nature herself. Again, Owen wondered what type of creature had he claimed? Sprite? Nymph? Sylph? They were all creatures who lived close to nature. Even the fae had a kinship with the earth that surpassed his own. What he didn’t know about her didn’t matter right now, however. All Owen knew for sure was that she was his. For tonight, that was enough.

  * * *

  Mia didn’t mind small talk, but she had other things on her mind that had nothing to do with Owen’s quaint cabin. Not that she didn’t like it—in fact, it was absolutely perfect—but they were wasting precious minutes that they should have been spending getting each other’s clothes off. Owen killed the engine and she took it as a sign to get out of the pickup. She didn’t look back as she headed down the path that had been recently cleared of snow and made her way to the front steps of the tiny porch. A smile curved her lips at the sound of Owen’s door opening and closing and the rapid crunch of his footsteps as he hurried to catch up to her. She wanted him ready. Eager. Which was why she’d made a point of remaining silent as she stroked him through his jeans during the drive here. Empty words were a total mood killer. Mia would rather talk with her hands.

  She stopped at the front door and waited. Owen had no choice but to press his chest to her back as he reached around her body to unlock the door and let them inside. His heat permeated the layers of clothes that separated them, and once again, Mia couldn’t help but marvel at the warmth he threw off. She had a feeling he could easily survive a blizzard wearing nothing more than a smile.

  The door swung wide and Mia stepped inside the modest cabin. Her preternatural vision didn’t need light to take in her surroundings. The place was exactly how she’d expected Owen’s house to look, though she wasn’t sure how she’d known such a thing. Masculine. Understated. Not a bachelor pad by any means but it wasn’t a pristine showplace either. Homey. Comfortable. The sort of place Mia would be at home in as well.

  Stop it! She wasn’t here to assess the place for a move-in. She had one job to do and only one. It wouldn’t matter if the place was a palace or a shack. Besides, Mia didn’t plan to be here much longer than the night. Her stomach tied into a knot at the thought of walking away from Owen. She hated the connection she felt so easily and so quickly with him. All the more reason to leave as soon as possible. Mia couldn’t afford attachments of any kind. She’d fought too long and too hard for her freedom to be tied to anyone or anything right now. Hit it and quit it. It was the only way.

  Mia turned to face Owen. More than ready to get the show on the road before she had another attack of conscience and lost her nerve. She grabbed him by the lapel of his coat and pulled him to her as she worked down the zipper in a mad rush to get his clothes off.

  “Not here.” His voice rasped with restraint as he reached out to stay her hands. “Let’s go to my bedroom.”

  Mia didn’t need a slow, practiced seduction. She’d already told Owen she was a sure thing. She couldn’t allow him to do anything that would endear him to her more. He was already starting to worm his way past her all-business, crusty exterior. Still, she didn’t want to turn him off with her impatience. Her gaze wandered to a set of stairs to her left that led to a loft. “Up there?”

  Owen nodded. “Yeah. I need to get you upstairs. Now. I’m dying to fuck you.”

  Now we’re talking. Mia could spare a few extra seconds to climb the stairs to the loft. A rush of excitement coursed through her veins. Not only at the prospect of achieving her goal, but at the thought of having such a fine specimen of a male between her thighs. Mia knew any number of females in her band who would have considered Owen a prize. And at least for tonight, he belonged to her.

  Rather than turn, Mia kept her gaze locked with Owen’s as she stepped backward toward the staircase. He mirrored her movement, one step forward for every one of hers back. His hands moved to her waist and a feral light shone in his eyes as his thumbs brushed upward, beneath the hem of her shirt to brush against her bare skin.

  Mia shuddered as the back of her calves met the first step. Owen’s grip on her tightened. He lifted her as though she were nothing more than a feather, and Mia could either dangle there or wrap her legs around his waist. Honestly, it wasn’t a tough decision to make. Her arms went around his neck as her hips gave a gentle thrust. The hard length of his erection brushed against her core and Mia sucked in a sharp breath as the contact fired against sensitive nerve endings.

  Power surged within her, a magic unique to nymphs as they became swept up in passion. The residual effects would last for days afterward and Mia would be riding quite a high. All thanks to the magnificent werewolf currently carting her up the stairs. She’d owe him more than he’d ever know.

  Owen continued up the stairs as he lowered his mouth to hers for a ravenous kiss. His tongue thrust past her lips, demanding that she answer with equal fervor. No problem there! Mia kissed him as though she were starved for him, her mouth slanting over his as one of her hands moved from the back of his neck to dive into the locks of his hair. Her fingers curled into a fist around the strands and Owen gave an approving grunt. His progress stalled and he turned to press her back against the wall as he ground his hips against hers. Who needed a bed? Mia wouldn’t say no to being fucked on his staircase up against the wall …

  “Gods, you drive me crazy.” His mouth moved to her throat and he nuzzled her there as he inhaled a deep breath. “Your scent. Your taste. Your skin…” He let out another indulgent moan as he continued to thrust against her. “I’m out of my mind with fucking want.”

  That made two of them. Mia didn’t know how much more over the clothes action she could take before her head exploded off her shoulders. Need built within her, a storm that refused to calm. Her brain buzzed as a dizzying wave of euphoria swept over her. Tremors rocked her from head to toe, the intensity of sensation was unlike anything she’d ever felt.

  “We can take care of that want right here and now, Owen.” Gods, she wished he would. “It only takes a second to get our pants off.”

  A low growl gathered in his chest. The scent of his arousal bloomed around her and Mia was positively drunk on it.

  “In good time.” The heated promise made Mia’s stomach do a pleasant backflip. “I’m going to take my time with you, Mia. The sun will be high before I’m done with you.”

  Any other time, Mia would have gladly surrendered to the werewolf’s pace and let him spend hours seducing her. Unfortunately, she didn’t have that kind of time. “Get me to your bedroom, Owen.” Mia needed to do whatever it took to speed things along. “I need you inside me. Now.”

  He turned and took the last three stairs in the space of a second. Maybe her powers of persuasion weren’t as rusty as she’d thought.

  CHAPTER 4

  Owen didn’t need to be told twice. Instinct overrode common sense—or any sense of decorum—as he took the last three stairs in a single leap. Mia wasn’t interested in a slow seduction or a long courtship, and as far as Owen’s wolf was concerned, that was A-okay. The animal’s only priority was laying claim to what was theirs. The quicker, the better.

  He put his boot to the bedroom door to kick it ajar.

  The mate bond eliminated the need for seduction and courtship. It was immediate. Intense. A call that demanded to be answered. Owen wished he knew whether or not Mia recognized their bond in the same way. She had to have, though. He refused to believe otherwise. She wouldn’t be here with him now, begging for him to take her if she hadn’t.

  “What are you?” He had to know that much. He had all the time in the world to learn more about her. But his curiosity on this one issue needed to be sated. What was this beautiful female his wolf had claimed?


  Owen’s shins met the bedframe and he stilled. He kept his mouth near her ear and breathed in the intoxicating aroma of her natural perfume. Mia’s fingertips teased his hair where it met the nape of his neck and a pleasant shiver traveled the length of his body.

  “Does it matter?” Her guarded tone caused his gut to knot up.

  “No.” That was the truth. The mate bond was absolute. It wouldn’t matter who or what she was. Still, he craved to know some small thing about her. Anything. “You know what I am, though. Don’t you?”

  “I know.” Her voice was a husky murmur that banished his earlier worry. “Werewolf.”

  Most supernatural creatures possessed physical traits that identified them to one another easily. Their scent, mannerisms, the way their eyes changed … Mia was a mystery to him, though, and it bothered him more than it should have. His inability to recognize her by scent, or sight, or by the spark of magic that might have clung to her, was an affront to his usually keen senses.

  “Tell me.”

  “We’re surrounded by miles and miles of forest.” Mia’s mouth brushed his cheek as she spoke close to his ear. “What do you think I am?”

  “You’re not fae.” Owen knew that much. He was certain he would have sensed it. “Not sylph.” They could become one with a passing breeze and there was nothing gossamer about his mate. “I’d know if you were a shifter.” He nuzzled her neck and took a deep breath. “You smell like the forest.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  The smile in her tone encouraged him. He’d heard stories about small bands of wood nymphs that still populated remote wilderness areas. For the most part, they were thought to be reclusive. Forest sirens who lured hikers and hunters to their deaths in much the same way mermaids were thought to tempt sailors to their ends. Could it be that Mia was one of those elusive creatures? Owen marveled at the possibility.

  “Wood nymph?” He was only partly kidding as the words left his lips.

  Mia’s answering silence sent a shiver over his skin. “Bingo.” She pulled away to study him and her brow furrowed. “Does that bother you?”

  She could have been a damned yeti and his wolf wouldn’t have given a single shit. “No.” All that mattered was that Mia was his. “Why should it?”

  Her expression changed to one of relief. “Good. Now, that’s enough talk, don’t you think?”

  Hell yeah it was.

  Owen deposited Mia on the bed. His brain fought with his body as a million thoughts assaulted him. Would she be okay with living here with him? Would she adapt to pack life? Did wood nymphs have an opinion one way or another in regard to werewolves? What did the details of their mate bond entail? Was there a ceremony? A ritual? Some act that was needed to solidify the bond? His body—hell, his wolf—didn’t care about any of those nonessential details. His sex drive didn’t care if they’d be required to stand under a full moon and drink from a cup that had collected the dew of the first fall morning or any other crazy shit.

  None of that mattered. Not now, anyway.

  Mia’s gaze met his and Owen’s breath caught as she discarded her jacket and peeled her sweater off. She tossed both garments to the floor and reached around her back to unfasten her bra. She didn’t waste any time as she freed the clasp and pushed the straps down her shoulders to reveal the perfect roundness of her pert breasts. She fell back onto the bed and kicked off her boots before she planted her feet on the mattress. Owen stared, transfixed, as she thrust her hips up to unbutton her jeans. She slid them down her thighs, along with her underwear, leaving her completely naked except for her socks.

  A grin tugged at his lips as he admired her. “You planning on leaving your socks on?”

  Her soft laughter rippled over him. “I thought I’d leave you something to take off of me.”

  She lifted her legs, toes pointed toward his chest, to drive her point home. The sweet scent of her arousal drove Owen so mad with desire, he wasn’t sure he had the presence of mind to perform the simple act. His gaze was drawn instead to the glistening flesh of her pussy and Owen let out an almost tortured groan. She wanted him to reach for her socks, but his hands went to his jeans as his fingers fumbled for the button and then the zipper.

  “I’ll make it fair and leave my socks on too,” he said with a sheepish shrug as he kicked off his boots and yanked his jeans down over his thighs. He shrugged off his coat and reached behind his neck for his T-shirt as he pulled it over his head and discarded it on the floor with the rest of his clothes. “I don’t want to waste another second.”

  Passion sparked in the depths of her forest-green eyes. “Perfect. I don’t think I can wait another second either.”

  There was no reason to wait. Owen was more than anxious to claim his mate.

  * * *

  A riot of butterflies swirled in Mia’s stomach. You would have thought she was some untouched virgin, experiencing passion for the first time. Seduction was her freaking wheel-house. Inborn. A part of her very nature. Owen made her feel as though she knew nothing about raw sexuality. This was uncharted territory, and her own sudden insecurity rattled her. She had no control over the situation or even her own damned emotions. She swallowed down the lump in her throat as she took in the magnificence of Owen’s naked body. For the first time in her existence, a male had managed to leave her speechless.

  He let out a nervous chuff of laughter and the sound vibrated in a pleasant ripple over Mia’s skin. A rush of wet warmth spread between her thighs as Owen reached out and let his palms caress a path from the tops of her thighs, down the length of her still extended legs. Her lids drooped at the sheer pleasure of his touch and she extended her arms high above her head as she stretched out on the mattress. “What’s so funny?”

  “Just a little blown away by my good luck.” Owen’s low response ended on a deep growl that caused Mia’s stomach to clench with lust. “You’re fucking perfect.”

  As a wood nymph, sensuality sort of came with the territory. Mia wasn’t vain, but she also knew her very biology made her alluring. Somehow, though, it meant something to hear Owen speak those words. They weren’t empty flattery, or a statement of fact. She was perfect to him. As though he saw her differently than anyone else ever had or ever would.

  Warm emotion blossomed in Mia’s chest. Tonight wasn’t about that, though. She couldn’t afford to lose herself to Owen or anyone else. She compartmentalized that shit and focused on the task at hand. “You’re the one who’s perfect.” It wasn’t a lie. She couldn’t have asked for a more perfect male to spend the night with. “I want you so bad, Owen. I can’t wait anymore.”

  He needed to know it was okay to answer to his desires. Mia was more than ready to answer to hers.

  Thank the gods, her words were all the encouragement he needed to move forward. Mia came up on her elbows as Owen lowered himself to her. She scooted up on the bed to give him room to work and he prowled up the length of her body, looking every bit the predator that he was. A thrill raced through her veins as his mouth captured hers once again in a ravenous kiss that left her breathless and shaking. Her knees fell open as he settled between her legs and she drew in a sharp breath as the hot, swollen head of his cock probed at her opening.

  “Gods yes, Owen. Now. I need you.”

  His hips pressed forward in a single, desperate thrust. Mia drew in a sharp gasp that ended on an indulgent moan as her nerve endings fired with pleasure. He stretched her, filled her. His body fit so perfectly with hers that a shudder racked her body from head to toe. Owen’s panting breaths teased the hair at her temple as he stilled, as though just as shaken as she was by the intensity of sensation.

  “Perfect.”

  The word was almost indiscernible. He brought his head up to look at her and his eyes glowed in the darkness with a feral golden light that made him look every bit an animal. His lip pulled back as his jaw clenched and Owen pulled out, only to thrust home once again, this time with more purpose. A tremor shook him and his brow furrowed as though in pai
n. Mia knew exactly how he felt. She’d never known such all-consuming want. A sense of desperation overtook her and she thrust her hips up to meet his.

  “Don’t stop.” Her lips could barely form the words, she was so gone with desire. “I need you hard and deep.” She needed him to banish the sensation of gnawing want that threatened to swallow her whole.

  Owen let out a low groan that echoed perfectly how Mia felt. He pulled out and thrust again, just as she’d asked, nearly jarring her with the force. She responded with a moan that was more relief than anything as her back arched off the mattress.

  “Is this how you want it?” He repeated the motion, coaxing another, louder moan from her lips. “Do you like that, Mia?”

  “Gods, yes.” She couldn’t say more than the two simple words. Her arms went wide and she gripped the coverlet in her fists as though to anchor her to the earth. Her chest heaved with breath as her legs hooked around the backs of Owen’s thighs in an effort to encourage his vigorous thrusts. It seemed she couldn’t get enough, would never be satisfied, and it only made her that much more desperate to find release.

  Owen braced one arm beside her as the other went around her. His muscles grew taut and every hard inch of him brushed her body as he continued to thrust. Unintelligible words left his lips, mingling with each groan of pleasure. His breath came in ragged pants that brushed her skin like wind carried from a wildfire. Sweat beaded her skin from the intense heat of his body and her own moans became desperate whimpers as she released her hold on the coverlet to grip his shoulders.

  Gods, if she didn’t come soon, Mia worried she might die from want.

  Her clit throbbed in time with every wild beat of her heart, the blood rushed through her veins to drown out the sound of her own moans, and her muscles tightened with every vigorous thrust of Owen’s hips. Her nails dug into his skin and she gave an approving moan that only seemed to spur him on. He liked a little pain with his pleasure and it only served to heighten her own enjoyment.