“Bring her by when she gets back. I’ve been saving all my root beer Jelly Bellies for her. Got an entire jar full.” I smiled a thanks as he bagged my milk and eggs for me and handed me the receipt.
I was still so focused on not allowing Alec to invade my thoughts, that I didn’t even notice him until, on my way out of the market, I bumped right smack into his wide, hard body.
He wrapped his arm around my waist to steady me and easily slipped my bags from my arms into his free hand. “In a rush?”
I gaped up at him and a breath of air escaped my mouth in an embarrassingly soft sigh. I’d just seen him earlier, but damned if my body didn’t miss him. I needed to be strong. I pulled away from him and straightened my shirt. Looking down, I swore. I still hadn’t put on nicer clothes, but I had tossed on bra. An old, shapeless bra. Alec pulled me back against his chest and smiled down at me. “You look beautiful.”
I was completely caught off guard, not just by his words, but by his actions. He was holding me in public, talking to me like we were together. A couple. Not only that, he almost seemed relaxed, and almost like a different man.
Gone was the tense set to his lips and clenched jaw of someone who was wound too tightly. In its place was an easygoing and genuine smile that stretched one side of his mouth into a slight dimple and threatened to ruin my panties.
I shook my head to clear it and frowned. “What are you doing?”
He grinned and dipped his head so he was close enough only I could hear. “I’m walking my mate home with her groceries.”
I was stunned. That was the only excuse I could give for why I let him gently goad me into walking along beside him. I noticed people looking at us as we walked and felt my face heating. All too late, I realized that I was walking down the street with an engaged man’s arm around my shoulders.
“This is wrong,” I wriggled free of his arm. “You’re engaged!”
His smile stretched farther. “I’m not.”
That stupid little part of me that held out hope jumped up to grasp those two little words. “What?”
He kept walking, forcing me to run a few paces to stay in step with him. “I broke it off with Chelsie. I was a fool. I didn’t love her. She didn’t love me, either. I was with her because of… well, it was for a business deal with her father. Which doesn’t make me sound much better, does it?”
“A business deal?”
“I’ll explain it all tonight. Is Jellybean home?”
“No.” I hesitated. “Wait. What are you doing?”
“Carrying my mate’s groceries home for her. Talking to my mate. Spending time with my mate.” He grinned. “What are you doing?”
“Baking.” I shook my head again. “A business deal? What do you mean?”
We were already nearing my porch, so he stopped next to it and stared down at me. “I was in the middle of a business merger with her father’s company. One that would certainly have been very profitable. I own a large furniture manufacturer and her father and I were going to go into a business deal together. The merger would have included his department stores retailing my furniture all across the continent. I was trying to figure out the best way to end the engagement without scrapping the deal.”
I didn’t know how to feel about that. “Your deal was more important than your mate?”
He bent down and put my groceries on the porch steps before standing up straight and pulling me into him. “No. Not ever. From the moment I saw you, you were the only thing that mattered to me. I thought maybe I could handle things with finesse, is all. Not be the asshole breaks up with someone while they’re on an engagement trip?”
“What’s an engagement trip?”
“Exactly! Thank you.”
“I was just trying to figure out the best course of action for all concerned. Until it finally sank into my thick head that I was hurting you. Fuck the deal. I don’t want to hurt you. I’m sorry, Carter. I’m so sorry. I want to make it up to you.”
My head throbbed as I scrambled to make sense of what he was saying. “So, you’re single?”
He shook his head. “No.”
I huffed out a breath and grabbed my grocery bags before rushing up the steps to my front door. It wasn’t locked, so I knocked it open with my hip and stepped inside, intending to slam the door in his two-timing face. Instead, when I slammed it, I caught his hand. Hard.
He grunted and his face darkened. I waited for him to scream at me, but it didn’t happen. He bit his lip and growled low in his throat as he waved his hand in front of him, but he didn’t scream.
When he noticed my face, he looked alarmed. “It’s okay. You didn’t mean to.”
I stumbled backwards, upset that I’d hurt him and embarrassed that my ex had left such a lasting impression that I expected Alec to scream in rage at me, or worse. “I’m going to put these in the kitchen and get some ice for your hand.”
“Carter, we have to talk.” Alec followed me through the house and into the kitchen, his steps heavy on the hardwood floor.
My mind was racing a mile a minute, trying to sort through everything he was throwing at me. He still wasn’t single. What the hell was that about?
I dropped the groceries on the counter and rushed to get ice from the freezer. Before I could even get the fridge door open, Alec was there, pushing it shut.
“Carter. I’m a shifter. My hand will heal.” He turned me to face him and brushed the stray hair out of my face. “Why did you shy away like I was going to hurt you?”
I stiffened my back. I didn’t want to talk about my ex. I was ashamed of how weak I’d been. What a bad choice I’d made. “Why are you here if you’re not single?”
“I’m not single because I have a mate. I’m yours, cupcake. Whether you want me right now, or not, I’m yours. And if you don’t want me, I promise you, I will win you over.”
My chest felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from it.
“Are you going to explain why you’re frightened of me? It’s not the first time I’ve seen you look at me like that.” His voice had deepened and waves of heat rolled off him. “I want to know everything, Carter.”
The way he said my name with his slight accent was my undoing. I wanted a distraction from the question, but more than that, I wanted to hear my name on his lips again and again.
Knowing I was weak for giving in to my bear, and my body’s demands, I caught the front of his shirt and pulled his face down to mine so I could devour him. When his mouth slid over mine, it was like everything wrong fell away and all was well with the world.
Alec grabbed my waist and spun me so I was sitting on the island, his big body planted firmly between my thighs, his erection as hard as marble pressing against me. “Carter…”
“More.” I pressed my mouth to his and silently begged him to take me. I needed to feel his body against mine. I needed to know he was really mine.
18
Alec
Fuck. I’d come to talk to Carter. Just talk. I owed her an explanation of why I’d been an awful mate. I wanted to assure her that I would do better. But, the feel of her soft body against mine shut my brain off. She touched me in a place that nothing else had ever reached. Not even the finest whiskey could make my head swim like she did. I was besotted.
I raked my hands up her sides, dragging her shirt as I went. Her skin felt like silk under my fingertips and the way her mouth opened in a little gasp sent me spiraling out of control. I ripped her shirt off and threw it away from us before kissing her again. Deep, hard, I plummeted my way into her mouth. The taste of cupcakes burst over my tongue when I did and I groaned before nipping her bottom lip.
She locked her legs around me, her heels digging into my ass, and ran her hands up the back of my shirt. Her nails raked down my back when I pumped my hips forward, growing the friction between us.
It was hot and wild, and out of control. Our teeth bumped, my hands shook, neither of us seemed coordinated enough to fully undress the other
. It was just a desperate urgency to be closer, as close as possible.
Her hands worked awkwardly at my belt, mine fumbled with the back of her bra. I was so drunk on her that I couldn’t find the clasp. Her knuckles brushed over my straining erection and I growled into her kiss.
“Need you.”
She moaned and arched into me. “Please.”
Her broken plea sent me over the edge. I ripped the back of her bra open and was trying to get it off when I heard a throat being cleared.
I jerked my head up in the direction of the sound and snarled viciously. My brain was slow to catch up to my reflexes which instinctively knew to protect Carter from whomever was in the house. I wrapped my arm around her and kept her hidden, pressed to my chest.
A man who had the same eyes as Carter was staring at me with a smirk twisting his lips. But, there was something dark in those eyes, too. “Nice to see my sister getting along with the locals.”
Sister. I relaxed slightly and hastily pulled my shirt off and slid it on to Carter. Once she was covered, my wolf wouldn’t feel the need to defend her so badly. Maybe.
Carter pushed me away and jumped off the island. She was moving away from me before she even hit the ground. “Cannon! What are you doing here?”
“Turns out grown up bears don’t do roller-coasters. Matt got sick. I got sick. Jellybean laughed.” He glanced back at the front of the house. “She’ll be in here in a few seconds. You might want to get yourselves together before then.”
Carter’s face was bright red as she sent out orders. “Turn around, Cannon. Take your shirt back, Alec. I’m going to get changed in my room.”
I got an eyeful of perfectly shaped breasts and caught my shirt as she scurried out of the kitchen. I slipped my shirt back on just as Cannon turned back around to me.
“So, Carter’s your sister, huh?”
He nodded. “I’ve got about twenty seconds before Jellybean rushes in here and saves your ass, but I’m getting this out. You hurt my sister, my baby sister, and I will hunt you down. You have never known pain like I will—”
I just smiled and shook my head. “You can save it. She’s my mate.”
Cannon’s face went slack. “That little brat.”
Jellybean ran into the kitchen, waving around a giant stuffed panda and a straw full of powder candy that was almost as tall as she was. She spotted me and her smile grew. “Alec Patterson! You came over!”
Another man slipped into the room behind Cannon, looking a little green. He still sniffed the room, though, and his eyes narrowed on me. He wrapped his arm around Cannon’s waist and nodded my way. “Did we interrupt something?”
Carter slipped back into the room, fully dressed, and rushed to grab Jellybean in a hug. “Hi, peanut! You’re back early.”
“Uncle Cancan got sick. He threw up all over a boy.” She turned to me and her little smile widened. “I didn’t throw up. I was tougher than them.”
I laughed and grinned back at her. Her exuberance tugged at a part of me that I hadn’t known existed. I’d never particularly wanted children. I never thought I’d have time or the extra energy for them. But seeing her, a little chip off my mate, sparked in me the same protective instincts for her that I had for Carter. That deep ache in my chest throbbed and I rubbed it. I wanted this little family as my own.
“Jellybean, why don’t you show your mom your new toys in your room?” Cannon kept his smile in place, but I could tell he was eager to threaten me some more. I could take it.
Carter smiled at her brother, but there was a threat of her own in it. “I’ll be right back. Behave, Uncle Cancan.”
I watched her go and bit back a grunt. The sway of her hips drew my eyes despite her brother being feet away.
Cannon wasted no time. “You’re really her mate?”
I nodded. “Really.”
“It doesn’t change anything. If you hurt her, I’ll hurt you. She hasn’t been herself lately. Are you the reason why?”
I let out a slow breath. I wasn’t going to lie. “When I arrived in Helen’s Corner, I came with a fiancée. As soon as I saw Carter, I knew I had to end the engagement. It took longer than I would’ve liked. I didn’t handle it as well as I should have. That’s all done now, though. Carter’s my mate and I’m going to claim her, as soon as she lets me.”
Cannon shook his head. “My sister is a good woman. The best. She’s better than you could ever deserve—”
“That’s for sure.”
“She’s been through a lot…”
I gritted my teeth. Picturing Carter having to go through trouble didn’t sit well with me. “We haven’t talked about our pasts, yet. I think I have an idea of what some of it might have been, though. I’ll protect her with my life. I won’t take her for granted. I know how lucky I got with her.”
“How are you going to take care of her?”
Not with a huge merger with Dames, Inc., that much was for sure. “I’m employed. I’m working on restructuring things so I can remain here in Helen’s Corner. She’ll be taken care of, though.”
“She’d better be.”
The other man rubbed Cannon’s arm and smiled at me. “Cannon is a little protective of his sister. He’s not usually such an uptight prick. Really.”
I shrugged it off. I understood. I would feel the same way and worse about anyone new coming into Carter’s life. “I’d be upset if he didn’t care about what happened to her.”
“I’m Matt, by the way. Cannon’s mate.” He elbowed Cannon. “Thanks for introducing me.”
Cannon winced. “Sorry. I was a little distracted by walking in on my sister sucking face with a wolf.”
“Where’s a wolf? What’s sucking face?” Jellybean asked her question from the edge of the hallway, her eyes wide. She looked from me to her uncle and then up at her mom, who was frozen behind her. “What’s sucking face, Mommy?”
Cannon snorted before giving in to a full out belly laugh. Matt held up his hands and shook his head. When Carter looked at me, I sent her a grin and watched as redness crept up her neck.
“Let’s go back to your room and play some more, okay?”
I’d never seen a bear move faster.
19
Carter
“They went back to Texas this morning. Jellybean wanted to go too, so they’re keeping her another week. Hopefully, they’ll be more equipped to deal with her puppy dog eyes now.”
Muddy snorted. “That’s highly unlikely. That girl could bring anyone to their knees with those eyes. You’re going to be in trouble when she gets older.”
I didn’t want to think about that. It gave me chills to think of my baby growing up too fast. I’d grown up too fast and things hadn’t gone all that well for me. I wouldn’t change the past because I ended up with Jellybean, but the journey had not been easy.
“I saw you making goo goo eyes at Mr. Patterson this morning.” She looked over at me and smirked. “He got to you, didn’t he?”
I thought about him getting to me on my kitchen island and blushed. He’d gotten to me, alright. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I wasn’t making eyes with anyone.”
“Come on. Something happened. Again. I know it.”
I was quickly getting lost in the hope that wouldn’t stop blossoming in my chest. I couldn’t help wanting more. Cannon and Matt had stayed the night, so Alec and I hadn’t been able to be alone. I’d avoided his question. Not that I would’ve known what to say. I could just imagine my opening line being something about how I was too untrusting of men to get into a serious relationship, but if he wanted to keep touching and kissing me, I would be into that.
Because, damn, I was so into that.
“Something did happen! I knew it!”
I groaned and pulled out a tray of perfectly baked cookies. They looked beautiful and the smell coming from them made my mouth water.
“Holy shit. Did he fuck you into baking better?”
I scowled at her. “You’re a pervert
.”
“You know it.” She laughed. “Now, tell me. Did he show you all of his doggie tricks last night?”
Not nearly enough of them. My body still pulsed with the unquenched need. I wanted him, and I was terrified of what that meant, but I knew I wasn’t strong enough to resist him.
“We didn’t do anything, really. Cannon and Matt came back with Jellybean and interrupted.”
“That’s the worst thing I’ve ever heard! Are you going to finish it tonight?”
That was the million-dollar question. Part of me wanted to run out in the dining room and invite Alec back to my house for the night. Then, there was another part that reminded me I barely knew him. The things I had learned about him weren’t that great. He’d cheated on his fiancée and had only been engaged in the first place to get ahead in business. Was that the kind of man I wanted?
Even as I was debating, the intense longing I’d felt the night before was ever present. But, was I falling for another man who was no good? I wanted to believe that wasn’t the case. I wanted to trust myself again.
“It wasn’t a complicated question, Carter.”
“You have no idea how complicated it is.” I started cleaning up and looked back at Muddy. “Are we sure the universe always gets it right with mates?”
Muddy stared off into space and sighed. “I think so. I think we don’t always get it right.”
There was something behind her response. Something that went deeper than just philosophizing with a friend. “I want to ask, but I’m not sure my brain can handle any more complication right now.”
She laughed. “Don’t worry. It’s not a story I’m willing to tell. We’ve all got those.”
“Let’s toast.” I stole one of the cookies and took a bite. It was good. Better than good. My mojo had returned.
Wolf Boss (She-Shifters of Hell's Corner Book 1) Page 8