The first time he’d met her.
This little minx just brought out something primal in him and he didn’t understand it. He did know that he hated the thread of fear in her dark gaze. “I’m not going to hurt you, but you will have to be punished.”
Lauren’s body tensed, as if she was preparing to fight him. “Punished?”
He leaned closer, still not quite touching her, but he couldn’t get enough of her scent. He hadn’t been lying when he’d told her he could smell her. It was odd that she was surprised by it. That amber and vanilla scent twined around him like a silk embrace. She smelled like sex and…his. She smelled like his. It was the only way to describe it. Six months ago when she’d showed up with her parents and pride members he’d been stunned by his raw reaction to her. He’d made a crude comment to her then too—which was why she’d told him to fuck off. She’d seemed so sweet and almost innocent. He’d been angry at himself for noticing her. For wanting her so badly he couldn’t see or think straight. Sure twenty-five wasn’t young by human standards but he was a hundred and fifty.
He’d fought his feelings for a month then had planned to go after her. But shit had happened that prevented him from chasing after her. He’d had to leave his pack’s territory to take care of it and when he’d gotten back he’d been in no condition to court Lauren.
Now she was back in his pack’s territory and he wasn’t letting her go. His wolf wouldn’t let him. In all his years he’d never fought his animal’s instinct and he wasn’t about to start now. “Yes, punished. You will remain in Kincaid territory for a week. You will stay with me, under my roof. At the end of the week—seven full days starting tomorrow—you can go home. With your brooch.” Liar, his inner wolf howled. Max didn’t want to her go home.
But he knew Grant would give her pride the jewels back. They’d talked about it last month. After some issues with rogue vampires a few months ago Grant had decided it wouldn’t hurt to be cordial to any packs or prides in the nearby area. Shifters had long lives and long memories and having a pride pissed at his pack for something that happened a century ago wasn’t smart. His alpha just hadn’t gotten around to contacting the Hayes pride because he’d been too wrapped up in his new mate.
Lauren shoved at his chest with surprising strength, the flash of anger and…hurt in her gaze cutting into him. “I’m not a whore.”
His eyebrows raised and he didn’t move from his spot, though he could feel the imprint of where she’d struck him. “I didn’t say you’d have to sleep with me. Just that you’re staying with me.” Though he did want her in his bed. In his shower, on the floor, anywhere she’d let him take her.
Confusion rolled off her in palpable waves, the tension in her compact, delicious body loosening. “You just want me to stay with you?”
He nodded and she seemed even more confused.
“Why?” Her gaze darkened as she seemed to have another thought. “I’m not going to be your freaking maid either.”
Max shrugged and struggled to verbalize his thoughts in a way that wouldn’t sound insane. “My punishment, my reason. And no, you won’t be required to do anything other than shadow me. With Grant gone I’m in charge. Take the deal or I’ll let my pack deal with you.” He wouldn’t—no way in hell would he let anyone touch her. Not that the Kincaid pack would actually do anything to her. Yeah, they were wolves, but they preferred to live and let live. Senseless violence was not tolerated and anyone with that mentality was kicked out or killed if deemed too much of a threat. Their pack had carved out a nice territory and for at least the next decade they planned to live here in peace.
“You’re not going to try to hurt me?” There was an underlying edge of steel in her voice and he didn’t miss the word ‘try’. Because a woman like her wouldn’t let anyone get the best of her. Not without shredding them to ribbons.
Angered that she would think that, Max shoved away from the desk, putting a few feet between them. Not that it did anything to lessen his electric pull to her. “Is your pride in the habit of hurting females?”
Now she looked shocked. “No!”
“Then why would you assume I would hurt you? We respect females regardless of species. Your punishment is simple. Stay under my roof for seven days, you get the jewels. And if you don’t…I won’t give you to my pack. They’d never hurt you either. I shouldn’t have insinuated that. But you’ll be sent home and won’t get your family heirloom.” The truth was in his voice and his scent.
She gritted her teeth. “You swear I’ll get the brooch? Your alpha will have no problem with this?”
Max nodded. “I swear it.”
She looked conflicted about whether she believed him, but nodded. “Fine. One week. I need to call my pride members and let them know.”
Max pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Go ahead. Do it now.” The sooner he could get her back to his place, the better. He wanted her scent invading his home, his sheets, his bed. Of course that was going to take some persuasion. He looked forward to it.
Lauren looked surprised, but shook her head. Bending down, she retrieved a slim cell from her boot. “I’ve got one.”
With her skintight outfit it had been hard to tell where she could have possibly hidden one. Turning her back to him, she made a call and hurriedly explained the situation. Max could hear a male on the other end and fought an irrational jealousy swelling inside him. The male argued with her, but Lauren was firm that the pride let her do this and not to interfere. As she spoke, he couldn’t stop his gaze from wandering over the length of her body.
Though she was petite, her body was taut and lean in the way most jaguars were. But he couldn’t see her hair thanks to that ridiculous knitted cap. When Max had scented her on that rock it was like his wolf had come alive again. Ever since that meeting with her pride he’d been edgy and moody, lashing out at random pack members.
To have her under the same roof as him was too much. While she talked, he reached out and snagged the cap off her head.
Startled, she glanced over her shoulder, but he just shrugged and tucked her cap into his back pocket. Her thick, honey brown hair fell past her shoulders in soft waves. She raked her fingers through the long tresses and turned away from him, continuing her conversation. Whoever was on the other end was annoyed, but she wasn’t taking no for an answer.
As she finger combed her hair, all he could fantasize about was what it would be like to run his own fingers through it while she was naked and on top of him, or bent over his bed or—
Lauren turned to face him, her phone call over. “It’s a done deal. I don’t have any of my clothes though.”
“What hotel were you at?”
Her lips pursed into a thin line and he realized that if she told him, he’d know where the rest of her pridemates were staying too. It would only take a few phone calls to find out anyway. He decided not to point that out.
Max scrubbed a hand over his face. He wouldn’t hurt them, but he didn’t want to get into an argument with her. “One of your pridemates can drop your bags off at my place. I give you my word they won’t be hurt or harassed. But they have to leave our territory afterward.” He rattled off the address then let her make the decision about what she wanted to do. Either she believed him or she didn’t.
Using the phone still in her hand, she texted someone with a ridiculous speed. After a few back and forth texts, she tucked the phone into her boot again.
“I’ve never seen anyone type that fast.” Her fingers had flown across the keyboard like lightning.
She shrugged. “Your generation doesn’t seem to embrace technology like mine.” There was a bite of sarcasm in her words as she insinuated he was old, and he realized it was because he’d called her a child.
Something she definitely wasn’t. She was very grown and very sensual. He just grunted and motioned with his head that she should follow him. He’d already disabled the alarm and as soon as he and Lauren stepped outside, another of his pac
kmates would be babysitting the house. Where they lived they’d never had a problem with crime of either the human or supernatural variety but until Grant got back, Max was keeping his alpha’s house under constant watch. He didn’t trust Lauren’s pridemates not to do something stupid.
He trusted her—though he wasn’t sure why—but he didn’t know her pride and it was his duty to keep the pack’s territory under control while Grant was on his honeymoon.
As they stepped outside, Max could see two of his packmates standing at attention in the lush front yard. The back was a smaller yard, a pool and the rest of the property stretched all the way to the beach where more of his packmates waited. He’d been relatively positive that Lauren would come back but he hadn’t been sure if there would be more of her pridemates with her or what their intention had been—though he’d guessed it would be about the jewels.
Even if he’d been glad to find her in his alpha’s office, it enraged him that her pride had sent her into enemy territory alone. All over some fucking jewels. Sure they were worth a few million, but she was worth more than that. If she were his, he’d never have let her do something so dangerous.
He couldn’t see the rest of his packmates, but he could scent a dozen of them nearby. So could Lauren. And he could smell her fear even though it was clear she was trying to mask it. On instinct, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they stepped off the porch and down the few stone steps.
She tensed but didn’t pull away—something that soothed his inner wolf immensely.
“Lauren Hayes is under my protection and staying with me,” he said, slightly raising his voice though everyone seen and unseen would be able to hear him. “Her pridemates are also under my protection. One of them will be coming by the condo later so let them leave Lauren’s belongings at the front gate with no hassle.” He didn’t go into any more detail because he didn’t have to.
As second-in-command, his pack would respect what he’d said. And they’d also spread the word, letting the entire pack know she would be in Kincaid territory with him. Which was good and bad. Shifters were the biggest gossips around. He knew he’d be fielding calls and drop-ins all day tomorrow with packmates wanting to get a look at the jaguar shifter who’d broken into Grant’s house. They’d want to know why the hell Max was protecting her and why she was under his roof.
He didn’t owe them those answers. Lauren was his and he wasn’t letting her go.
Chapter 3
Max opened the door to his condo then bolted it shut. Normally he left his door unlocked during the day, as did most of the pack, but after the last few hours of putting out bullshit fires for his packmates, he didn’t want to see anyone else.
Except Lauren.
She’d been sleeping when he’d left early this morning to deal with the accountant at the hotel the pack owned. He’d left a note and his cell number to call if she needed anything but she hadn’t.
Something he found disappointing. He’d been thinking about her all damn day, much to his annoyance. She’d been quiet when they got back to his place last night. Not rude or temperamental like he’d expected, but almost withdrawn instead. He guessed she was still trying to figure out what the hell he was up to by ‘punishing’ her with staying with him. Part of him had been tempted to wake her and take her with him today but he’d had too much to deal with and he could admit he was selfish. He wanted to get to know her when it was just the two of them and in better circumstances than him working.
Part of him had feared she’d split the second she woke up, but he’d been banking on the fact that she wanted that brooch too much. He’d heard through the grapevine of pack gossip that she was still here and had been taking pack visitors all day with incredible politeness.
Her scent and something that smelled incredible teased him as he headed down the hallway in the direction of the kitchen. She’d cooked? Each packmate had an ocean view and since he had the penthouse of the condominium building the pack owned, his place was a little larger than most.
The hallway emptied out into an open living room and kitchen, with the kitchen to the left. As he stepped into the normally unused room, he froze in his tracks. Bent over pulling something out of the oven, Lauren wore skimpy little shorts that rode up and almost showed the bottom of her ass. Swallowing hard, Max forced himself to look away as he stepped into the kitchen. She had to know he was there. She’d have heard the door opening and scented him. Maybe she was waiting for him to speak first.
He’d acted like an asshole last night when he’d told her his fantasies about her and he needed to get himself under control. Staring at her ass wouldn’t help him.
Clearing his throat as he stepped into the room, he tossed his keys onto the counter and headed for the refrigerator. “Something smells good,” he said in what he hoped was a casual voice as he grabbed a beer.
“I got bored so I decided to cook. Hope you like shepherd’s pie.” Her sweet voice wrapped around him, making him light headed for a moment. God, how could she have this affect on him?
Shutting the fridge, he found her slipping the oven mitts off and turning to face him. She smiled tentatively. “Listen, I know we got off on the wrong foot and that your punishment, even though it’s a little odd, isn’t harsh. If I’m gonna be here for a week, I’d like to be at least civil.” There was a question in her eyes even though she didn’t ask anything. Her cooking dinner was a sort of peace offering.
One he would gladly take. He nodded, forcing his gaze not to trail down her lean, lithe body. Despite the cooler weather she wore barely there yoga shorts and a tank top. With their higher body temperatures it made sense, plus he’d left the heat on. Her hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail with tendrils framing her face and with no makeup she looked so comfortable, like she belonged here. In his home. “That works for me. You want a drink?”
She nodded so he grabbed another beer. When he shut the fridge again he watched her moving around his kitchen with ease. She set plates and utensils out on the island before moving the glass baking dish to the cooling rack she’d set out. He hadn’t even realized he owned a cooling rack. He rarely used the room, choosing to eat at one of the restaurants the pack owned. She seemed so at home and she’d clearly figured out where everything was.
Feeling almost useless and not wanting to get in her way, he sat at the island and set both their beers down. “How’d you manage to cook all this?” He knew he didn’t have the ingredients to make shepherd’s pie. Or anything at all except maybe an omelet.
“Some of your packmates stopped by so I hit them up for ingredients. I didn’t know if I was allowed to leave your place,” she said with a slight smile but he knew she wasn’t kidding.
Punishments for invading another supernatural’s territory could be harsh or nothing at all. It just depended on the crime and the alpha involved. Since she’d actually broken into an alpha’s home, Max could have done a lot worse. Something she knew and was another reason he hadn’t worried about her leaving. She’d gotten off incredibly easy with his punishment. “You could have called and asked.”
She shrugged and sat next to him. “I didn’t want to bug you, especially since I had company from pretty much the moment I woke up. Your pack is very nosy.”
Their chairs were a foot apart, but he could feel her body heat and desperately wanted to slide closer, to inhale her sweet scent. Instead of doing what he wanted, he added a helping to her plate, then his. “Is your pride any different?”
She snorted and let out a short laugh. “No way. They’re horrible. When I go home I already know what kind of gossip will have been spread. I’m pretty sure your packmates think we’re getting mated or something. Some of those older women are ready to see you settled and call me crazy, I don’t think they care if it’s with a jaguar.” She laughed again, as if the idea was ridiculous. “They got so excited when I told them I wanted to cook you dinner.” Shaking her head, she took a bite of her meal.
He watched her swallow and trie
d to ignore the way she’d laughed about the idea of them mating. Yeah, it was uncommon but not unheard of. It bothered him that she thought it was funny, even though he knew he shouldn’t have this reaction.
“Do you not like it?” Lauren asked and he realized he was staring at her.
Clearing his throat, he turned his attention back to his plate and took a bite of his meal. It was good. Really good. Of course it could have tasted like sandpaper and he would have told her it was the best meal he’d ever had. “This is great, thanks for cooking. I don’t expect you to though.”
“I wanted to.” She shrugged again as if it was no big deal and he struggled to read her. He could scent her natural amber and vanilla as strong as anything, but normally he could read more than that with others. He hated that he couldn’t tell much about her emotions. His wolf senses were how he read people.
“Listen, I’ve got to head to The Crescent Moon Bar tonight for a couple hours.” Max normally managed there, but with Grant gone Max had divided his time between all the places the pack owned and tonight was when he visited his normal bar. He wanted Lauren with him when he went. “Come with me?”
She set her fork back down on her plate. “Do I have a choice?”
There was no sarcasm in her question. He realized she was being serious. He could order her if he wanted. His most primal side wanted to. He’d felt edgy all damn day without her—something he was still trying to understand. “Yes.”
She smiled then, a real one, the effect stunning as it relaxed her entire face. “Okay. I’ve been cooped up here all day so it’ll be nice to get out. Your pack has been really great.” She sounded surprised by that.
Relief settled through him that she wanted to go, even if it was just to get out. Tonight he had to show her that he wasn’t the asshole who’d said he wanted to bend her over the nearest flat surface and fuck her. He cringed at himself, even if what he’d said was true. Inwardly sighing, he took another bite. He just hoped he could keep his primal side in check tonight.
Claiming His Mate (A Werewolf Romance) Page 2