by M. L. Briers
He nodded encouragement with his head and Meredith followed his lead, turning and starting back through the house.
“That’s something you’re never going to find out.” Caroline snapped at her mate.
“You might want to rethink that…” Jared said, pushing up with everything that he had left in him to get to his feet.
“Where are you going?” Caroline asked, frowning…
“Right beside you, if you budge up a little…” Jared shooed her over and she snorted her contempt for that idea.
“What makes you think I want you sitting next to me?”
“You look cold, and I’m hot…” Jared offered as he budged her over and she huffed.
“You wish you were still hot…” Caroline grumbled.
“You’re damn panties almost dropped to your ankles earlier when you saw me naked.” He said, dropping down onto the cushion beside her.
“Actually, I was wondering if anyone had an iron, wrinkly old dog…” She muttered, turning away from him a little…
Jared reached out and ran an arm over the back of the cushion behind her, and she noted it…
“We’re not teenagers and you’re not getting to any base…” she hissed.
“You sure about that?” Jared chuckled. “You kind of make me feel like a teenager again, especially my heart…”
“And then the reality seeps in and you throw your back out…” she grumbled.
“My back, your hip … it’ll sure be fun finding a position that we’re both comfortable with…” He chuckled again, deep and gravelly, and too tempting for her ears.
“Now you’re just being daft,” Caroline admonished him.
“Maybe, but isn’t it a tempting thought?” He whispered against her ear as he reached down and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her back against his chest…
“You are kind of … warm…” she offered.
“I’m hot stuff, baby, and so are you,” he whispered once more and heard her gentle chuckle as she settled a little against him.
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
~
“Let’s go, Jasmine…” Sam said; when he strolled into the kitchen and found her saying goodbye to Melody and the pup at the back door.
“Go?” Jasmine gave him a questioning look followed by the cold shoulder as she turned back away from him.
“Home,” Sam said.
“That’s a long drive…”
“Our home…” Sam countered before she could finish.
He heard her sigh and knew that she was going to put up a fight with that one too. He still wasn’t over the fact that she’d gone outside when he’d told her not to do it.
“I think you’re confusing me with someone else.” Jasmine offered, handing the pup back to Melody as the she-wolf tried not to grin like a lunatic under the full moon.
“Can we not do this here?” Sam bit back.
“Don’t mind me, we’re just leaving…” Melody offered, before she turned on her heels and started out the door … “Don’t kill each other, I kind of like her.”
“Not helpful…” Sam called after the she-wolf and heard her chuckle. It sounded like a tease all on its own.
“Neither is your attitude,” she called back, slamming the door behind her as she went.
“She’s right,” Jasmine said on a shrug off her shoulders. She circled the counter and stalked up to the coffee pot as if her life depended on it.
“And your attitude is so much better?” Sam asked, pushing his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans so that he wasn’t tempted in the slightest to reach out and wring her neck.
The woman was a nightmare…
“I never told you to stop using your … superpower!” She shot back over her shoulder.
“What are you talking about?” Sam demanded.
“You said no more magic…” She shot back on a scoff of disbelief…
“I never said that!”
“Did so…”
“Did not! You just didn’t let me finish…” Sam growled, and she spun towards him, mug in one hand, coffee jug in the other…
“Finish then!” She scowled.
“No more using magic on me. Me!” Sam shrugged…
“Technically, I didn’t use my magic on you…”
“You hit me with a broom, a bread bin, and a cupboard door, and I have witnesses!” He yanked his hand from his pocket and wagged his finger at her…
“And I have witnesses.” She mimicked him, although, she couldn’t get anywhere close to the level of bass that he had in his voice…
“That’s your come back?”
“Just pointing out how stupid you sound.” She shrugged. “And you just proved my point for me…”
“Oh, please, I’d love to hear it…”
“I didn’t use my magic on you. I used my magic on the cupboard door, the bread bin, and the broom…” she offered him a victory smirk.
“Which all ended up impacting me … literally!”
“Still not the same thing.” She turned her back on him again, filling the cup, and putting the pot back onto its warmer.
“Fine – don’t use your magic in my vicinity.”
“Big word.” She teased and his top lip twitched as he growled inwardly.
“I know a few…”
“And I know a four letter word that’s mated with off a lot – take the hint.”
“Childish…” Sam shook his head.
“Put it this way – you’d probably still be fighting those werewolves if I hadn’t used my magic in your vicinity.” She sneered.
“That’s different…”
“Of course it is, it benefitted you.”
“That’s…” he drew his head back on his neck and took in a long breath that was supposed to be calming, but it did little for him.
“Sure, deny it all you want – you’re a hypocrite.” She turned back towards him, mug in hand, and dared him to deny it with just a look.
“I want to take you home,” Sam grumbled a growl.
“I’m not a lost puppy or an easy lay…”
“You can say that again.” He grumbled.
“Oh go … bake your damn head.” She started for the kitchen door, but he took a step and blocked her way, causing her to stop in place.
“Stop running away from me…”
“Then stop damn well chasing me off.” She bit out.
Sam opened his mouth to speak, but he had absolutely no idea what to say to her. His beast grumbled within him – the wolf feeling lost too, and yet the beast was still demanding that they claim her as their mate.
“Fine…” Sam stepped aside and she didn’t hesitate in walking away from him.
Sam grumbled another growl in annoyance and placed his palms down on the kitchen counter, leaning in and counting to ten to try to calm his racing heart – but it didn’t work, so he just kept counting…
~
~
~
“You hear that?” Wade asked as he sat by his mate’s side on the sofa and reached for her hand, lacing his fingers with hers, as she craned her neck just a little and tried to hear what he could.
“No…” Meredith whispered back.
“It’s quiet…” he teased with a grin that warmed her blood.
“Did my mother and daughter leave?” She scoffed.
“Your mother’s snoring in the nook, and Jasmine and Sam have just finished arguing … again…” Wade whispered back, and at that exact moment Jasmine stalked into the room, took one look at them, snorted, and carried on going…
“Mother … step-daddy…” she bit out.
“Yeah, real peaceful,” Meredith offered back.
“They’ll be fine. I have faith…”
“You don’t know Jasmine…” Meredith sighed.
“My head strong, stubborn, step-daughter? She’s just like her mother and I’ve won you over…” Wade’s deep chuckle reverberated right through her bones, and it felt good..
“Not ye
t…”
“Just a matter of time, because I meant what I said; you’re not leaving…” Wade grinned, it was big and wide, and made her heart skip a beat…
“Prisoner …?” She took a moment to consider it. “Does that come with housework or…?”
“I’m pretty tidy,” Wade shrugged.
“Great, because I’m not, like really not, like really, really not…” Meredith warned him.
“I’m tidy to the point of neat freak…”
A little vein beneath his right eye twitched just a little, and Meredith chuckled.
“Then I guess you’ll be following me around a lot with a dustpan and brush…”
She shrugged and he groaned…
“Seriously?”
“Would I lie to you?” She asked, and he twisted his head to get a better look at her – she snapped on a wide grin and her eyes sparkled with mischief…
“I guess I can live with following you around …” he grumbled.
“Especially if I’m naked, right?” She gave a wicked giggle and the man’s hungry growl rumbled through the air…
“I say we should test that theory…” Wade grinned back, and for a moment; he looked like one of those cartoon character dogs with its tongue looped out the side of its mouth…
“I say we should sleep for a week…” Meredith grumbled.
“Want me to carry you to bed?”
“Want me to make you cry again?” Meredith tossed back and he chuckled.
“I was not…”
“Yeah, protest all you want, alpha, but there were tears…” Meredith chuckled.
Wade wasn’t about to argue. They seemed to be having a moment and he liked it a lot.
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
~
Sam wasn’t about to let his mate out of his sight again. The woman was a trouble magnet and she’d almost gotten herself killed once already – twice if he counted her mother’s driving…
He followed her scent through the house and found her sitting in the window seat just off from the front door. She turned to look at him when he strolled towards her.
“Don’t say anything, because I don’t want to get in another argument with you…” Jasmine held up her hand, palm towards him, and sighed inwardly…
The man was sex on legs, and yet, he managed to trigger that annoyance button within her every time that he opened his mouth … maybe it wasn’t all his fault, because she felt like a cat on a hot tin roof, and as fidgety as hell when he was around.
It was as if something was clawing within her; telling her to run and never look back…
“I don’t want that either,” Sam said.
“You had to go and say something…” she bit out.
“I was agreeing with you…” he offered back, slightly miffed.
“And yet, you’re still talking…” she grumbled.
She just felt so unsettled. At least if she’d been at home then she could have escaped into her bedroom and hidden under the duvet for a week or so, or maybe never have ventured out again …
Like ever – never.
She wouldn’t have minded that at all.
“Fine. I’m going to sit right…” he pointed to spot beside her and she quickly tossed her legs up onto the seat, taking all of the space… “Here…” he frowned, lowering his backside to the wooden flooring, before resting his back against the wall.
“And not say another word.”
“That’s right…” Sam said.
“And there’s two…” she bit out.
“Done talking now…”
“You need to have the last word or something?” She grumbled in disbelief, and she heard him huff as he rolled his eyes to the ceiling…
“Not at all…” He finally offered, and she tossed up a hand and let it drop to her lap…
“Is there no end…?”
Sam pressed his lips together and closed his eyes. His beast grumbled and growled, and his heart finally started to slow in a rhythmic beat that somehow seemed comforting…
“I’m done…” He said.
She couldn’t help but chuckle, but she kept it as quiet as she could so as not to encourage him. the man was a nightmare.
“Numptie.” She said as she tipped her head back against the wall again and closed her eyes – just for a second – just to be able to soak up the final, blissful peace of the moment…
“Shrew.”
~
~
~
Meredith woke up the moment that her head touched the pillow. She had the urge to flick her eyes about the room, but the moment that she met Wade’s gaze – she was lost in it.
“No punching…” Wade whispered.
“How about a zap?” Meredith offered back, still trying to figure things out, but he was there so she knew that she was safe. Even, if she wasn’t entirely safe from the man’s considerable charms…
“I figure there’s a time and place for that and this isn’t it…” Wade offered back.
“What is this?”
“You – me – a bed – sleep sounds good, right?” He teased and she giggled a little.
“Maybe sleep is overrated…”
“See just how compatible we are.” Wade growled as he followed her down to the bed, lying beside her and leaning in.
“I think I’m having a hot flush…” Meredith chuckled, knowing full well that she wasn’t, but the man was certainly heating up her blood…
“No pups then…” He chuckled, remembering the conversation that they’d had earlier.
“That’s for fate to decide, right?”
The sound of his gentle growl told her just how much he liked that idea. Pups of his own – yeah, his eyes twinkled at the thought.
“I’m game if you are…”
“You can chase it around in circles, you should be used to that given you have a tail some of the time.” She scoffed.
“Oh, you did not just insult my wolf…” Wade dropped his head on his neck and chuckled as his beast grumbled at the crack.
“Next time he pops out; I’ll throw him a tasty treat … maybe he can eat my mother…” Meredith chuckled and Wade’s head came back up.
“Damn, that’s tempting…”
“Two birds one … wolf. We can finish Jared off too when he tries to protect her.” Meredith had a wicked chuckle and he liked to hear it.
“You’re a bad woman.”
“I think we’re perfectly suited.”
“You wanna get it on?” Wade wiggled his eyebrows at her and she giggled like a schoolgirl.
“That’s your best line?” Meredith teased.
“How about …?” He considered it. “I promise you my protection…”
“Yeah, my magic’s not much good for that.”
“This house – our home…”
“It’s not like I have a perfectly good house of my own.”
“My arms to hold you while you sleep…”
“I do need a new cuddle pillow.” She gave a small shrug.
“My heart…”
“A spare could come in handy.”
“My life…”
“Little showy.”
“My soul…”
“Cut to the chase – what about that thing between your legs?” Meredith asked and Wade’s jaw dropped a little.
“Damn woman, I like how you think…” he growled.
Not giving her a second to reply as his lips came down on hers and he kissed her with so much passion that a rush of tingles swept through her body, igniting all of the good parts, and setting her womb onto disco mode, and there was even a damn disco ball to go with that tempo that was spinning lights behind her closed eyelids…
His kisses were temptation personified; a promise of something so damn good that she could hardly wait to get to the main course. She threw caution to the wind…
It’s not like I can hide my body parts … lights on or off; he can damn well see me … all of me … every nook, saggy, and wrinkled bit of
me…
I can either dress up in a damn snowsuit and cut appropriate holes in it or…
Wade’s hands started to wander over her body, snatching her attention to everywhere that he touched, brushed, gave a small squeeze, burning through the fabric of her clothes and leaving a sinful path of heat and tingles in his wake…
Oh the hell with this …
“Naked … now,” she gasped in between kisses.
His growl got a heck of a lot hungrier then. His hands got a lot busier, but that time they had purpose, stripping the clothes from her body as he kissed and tempted her into more – into being bad, very, very bad, as she returned the favour and stripped him of his clothes, and eagerly replaced them with her hands…
Wade bit out the kind of curse that would make a sailor blush when she wrapped her hand around his hard length and stroked down. He snatched her hands away from him and thrust them back against the mattress, holding her in place, caging her in with his body before she drove him too close to insanity…
“Please don’t tell me that you’re ticklish there…” She gave him a wicked grin as she licked over her lips at the very naughty thought of how she could find out.
Wade’s eyes dropped to the pink tip of her tongue as it circled over her lips and his cock twitched between them, and boy did he growl. She was certain that the windows started to rattle within the frames at the hard bass that seemed to echo off the walls and bounce right back at her.
“That’s something you can find out another time…”
Wade’s eyes were jet black and holding her spellbound as he transferred both of her hands to one of his. Then his finger went searching again, down between their bodies, until he found the sweet spot between her inner thighs…
Meredith dragged in a breath as he ran his fingertips over the sensitive silken flesh of her sex and made her hips involuntarily push up to meet his touch.
His eyes flicked downwards…
“Don’t look down…” she said in a rush…
Ok, maybe not all caution to the wind…
Wade’s eyes snatched back up to hers.
“Why?”
“I’m … a little … soft in places…” She frowned and then gasped once more as two thick fingers pushed up inside of her channel…