by Vivian Wood
One of the things he found hardest in his post-Army life was the task of being still; in the service, there was always something to be done. If you weren’t racked out for the night, you had a long list of shit that needed doing. He liked to stay busy, because a moving target is safer than a sitting duck. Here, though, everything was waiting rooms, sitting areas, long lines, and people with infinite patience all standing around. Just standing, sipping their Starbucks, waiting for life to happen.
Luke hated it.
He released the breath he’d been holding, telling himself that he needed to sleep. Really, actually sleep, not just lay in his darkened hotel room with all his clothes on in case… He shut the thought down before it started to get crazy. Nothing was going to happen, he was just exhausted.
The last few days had been a whirlwind of long car trips, plane flights, waiting in airports, and many terse conversations with his old unit commander Stephen Collinswood. Stephen had retired before the unit got transferred to Jordan, and he was now living in Seattle with his wife and two kids. Stephen was one of the few friends Luke had that was both alive and not still enlisted. He was also a wolf shifter, which meant he understood some of Luke’s weird civilian life issues. Therefore, Stephen was Luke’s defacto confidante.
Stephen also worked for the Seattle Police Department, which meant that when Luke had decided to track down Aubrey, Stephen was Luke’s first phone call. Stephen took pity on him and given up her Alpha’s information, though he’d refused to hand over anything personal like her address.
The day before, Luke had been out at her Alpha’s house, with mixed results. James Erikson wasn’t the most friendly Berserker on the planet. In fact, he reminded Luke of his own father. Luke had laid out his attempts to locate Aubrey, promised that he had the best of intentions, even given his father and Stephen’s names and phone numbers as references. Erikson was closemouthed and skeptical, despite apparently having agreed to the whole forced-mateship issue.
Just as Luke was about to cut his losses and try something else, Erikson had said that he thought Aubrey worked at “some homeless shelter, some women’s rights bullshit”.
At least it gave Luke a place to start. He clambered out of the bed and toed off his shoes, then stripped down to his boxers. One of the most amazing things about being stateside was the ability to sleep mostly nude, and he tried to take advantage of it. Well, on the nights where he felt calm enough to undress at all, that was.
Turning off the light on the night stand, he splayed out on his back and stared up at the ceiling. His mind drifted back to Aubrey. She’d looked so hot the other night, all done up like that. She’d been dressed very innocently, and damn if it didn’t make him wonder what she had on underneath. When he’d stripped her back in San Diego, she’d worn this sexy red bra and lacy black panties.
He shifted on the bed, his hand wandering down to rest on top of his hardening erection. Luke closed his eyes and remembered the way she’d shivered when he’d peeled off her dress, more from excitement than the cool air against her skin. And her skin…
Aubrey was nothing but amazing, unblemished peaches and cream from head to fire-engine-red-tipped toes. Luke liked women in every shape and size, but he especially liked a woman with curves like Aubrey’s. Some guys talked shit about bigger girls, but Luke liked a nice, plump ass and big tits, liked a woman that he could spread out and fuck hard.
Thinking about that, picturing her naked and ready for him, Luke pushed his boxers down his hips and took his cock in his hand. He was already so horny that a single pump of his fist made him suck in a deep breath, his cock twitching under his fingers. He was going to have to temper himself a little bit now, if he wanted to last more than half a minute. Thinking about his girl, though… She’d been so perfect, driving him crazy.
With Aubrey, he hadn’t felt the slightest need to hold back. When he’d got her out of her dress, he’d pulled her tight against his body and kissed her hard, testing her. She was so sensitive, responding to every flick of his tongue against hers, every movement of his hands over her hips and sides. But she’d given as good as she got, scraping her nails over his scalp and shoulders, nipping at his bottom lip, moaning into his mouth when he’d slipped his hand down and brushed his fingers over the front of her panties.
When Luke thought about touching her hot, wet slit for the first time, he groaned. He’d laid her back on the bed and stripped her bare, cupping those big tits of hers in his hand, biting, licking, and sucking her petal-pink nipples until she was rocking her hips and panting for breath. Then he’d pressed her knees apart and teased her, touching her hip bones, her inner thighs, and her mound. By the time he’d run a single fingertip up and down her pink folds, she’d been so wet for him.
Luke pumped his fist faster and harder, feeling his balls tighten up.
He fast-forwarded the moment in his mind, thinking of when he’d had her on her hands and knees, spread and ready to take him deep. He’d plunged into her channel, the tight heat gripping him like the finest glove. Just like now, he’d been forced to keep himself in check, to rein in the orgasm threatening to overtake his body.
Then she’d started talking to him, encouraging him.
“Fuck me, Luke,” she’d panted. “Yeah, take me just like that, right there. Oh god, make me cum, Luke!”
And then she had, clamping down on his cock as she screamed his name…
Luke lost control of the moment, bowing up off the bed as he came. He pulsed his seed into his hand, crying out as he pictured Aubrey taking his cock, covering him with her hot cream, begging for more. At last he collapsed, shaking, struggling to breathe.
It took him a full minute to get up and wash himself off. He glared at the bed before climbing back in, realizing that thinking about his time with Aubrey had made him feel less alone for a few minutes. Now, of course, it was back in full force.
Wrapping himself in the comforter, Luke closed his eyes and forced himself to relax, to let sleep overtake him. His last thought was that one day soon, he might not be sleeping alone anymore.
13
Four
Luke pulled his black rental sedan up to the curb on Mission Ave. in the quiet downtown area of Sunnyside, California. He checked the piece of paper sitting on his passenger seat, making sure address scrawled across it was correct. Checking out the numbers on each side of the street, he soon spotted a squat, drab brick building halfway down the block. There was nothing on the outside to indicate the contents, except a small bronze plaque bearing the address. One last glance at the piece of paper affirmed that the building was indeed the Sunnyside Women’s Center, Aubrey’s current place of employment.
Behind the boring brick was a top secret women’s shelter and resource center for victims of violence and domestic abuse. While the trail of breadcrumbs leading to the shelter had been few and far apart, Luke had found Aubrey’s name on the list for a number of charity events, and never as a patron. The realization that she might be working for a non-profit rang true to Luke’s memories of Aubrey.When he’d been with her back in San Diego, she’d mentioned wanting to do more for her community, specifically for women trapped in unsafe homes.
Luke followed the trail, finding several shelters who were beneficiaries of the galas and auctions Aubrey had attended, cross-matching charity names with shelter locations. Luke had spent the morning narrowing down the list of possibilities, then calling and trying to get an appointment with Aubrey at all the places on his list. Women’s shelters had crazy tight security, so the going was tough, but one secretary had slipped up and responded to Aubrey’s name.
Now he stood outside the Sunnyside Women’s Center, hoping he wasn’t going about things all wrong. Before he could chicken out, Luke stepped up to the steel-reinforced security door. When pulling the handle revealed that the door was locked tight, he pressed an unmarked buzzer on the right side of the door frame. There was a mechanical whirring sound, and Luke looked straight up into a set of security camer
as that swiveled his way. He stepped back and kept his face tilted upward, trying not to look menacing. It was hard to look innocuous when you were over six and a half feet tall with dark hair and a full beard. Bear shifters didn’t come in smaller sizes, nor did they generally walk around with dazzling grins.
He must have passed the inspection, because after a moment the door buzzed and the locks clicked open. He pulled the door open and entered a white-tiled room where two more security doors flanked a reception desk behind bulletproof glass. He stepped up to the glass, leaning down to peer at the young blond girl who stared back at him. She reached out and pressed an intercom button before speaking.
“Can I help you?” came the tinny sound of her voice.
He leaned down toward the speaker on his side and pressed the button.
“Uh, yeah. I called about making an appointment with Aubrey Umbridge,” he said.
The girl gave him a long look, then shook her head.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know that I can help you.”
“Can you ask Aubrey to come up? She’ll want to see me,” Luke said. He kept his face smooth and blank, hoping not to scare the girl into raising the alarm. He wasn’t here to hurt or scare anyone, but he wasn’t exactly here with Aubrey’s approval, either.
The girl pressed the intercom button again.
“I’m sorry, I can’t help you. I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” she said.
“Ma’am, I promise you that Aubrey knows me. I’m only here to see her. We, uh, we’re friends,” he said, giving her a look that intimated a very personal situation.
“I can’t—” the girl started the same rote recitation again, but then a door in the office opened and Aubrey walked in. The young blonde turned around, eyes growing as big as dinner plates. Aubrey’s mouth opened, probably a greeting of some sort, but it only took seconds for Aubrey’s gaze to snap upward.
The way her eyes narrowed and mouth thinned made Luke think she was even less pleased to see him than he’d suspected. Aubrey looked back at the younger woman, giving her a reassuring smile and a pat on the shoulder. The blonde stood and gave Luke one last suspicious glance before vacating the office.
Aubrey stalked up to the window and leaned down to the intercom, the dark red curtain of her hair swirling around her curvy frame as she reached out and pressed the intercom button with a single scarlet-tipped fingernail.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, her emerald eyes snapping with emotion.
Luke stepped forward, his lips turning up at the mere closeness of her. He pressed the intercom and leaned down.
“I’m here to see you,” he said.
She scowled and leaned forward again, her low-cut black cotton dress giving him a glimpse of creamy, bountiful cleavage. Luke looked her right in the eye and gave a soft growl, knowing that she would read his body language even if she couldn’t hear his vocalization. He saw her tense, repressing a shiver, and his bear grumbled with pleasure. She still reacted to him physically, at least.
“I don’t know how you even… God, how the hell did you find out that I work here?” she demanded.
“I know people,” Luke said with a shrug.
Aubrey covered her eyes with a hand for a moment, seeming to struggle with something. Curiosity, perhaps. Anger. Hunger, if Luke was lucky. After a moment she looked at him and leaned in again, pressing the button to make herself heard.
“Look, I don’t know what you’re doing here. I don’t know what you want, and I don’t really care. You need to leave. This is…” Aubrey paused and waved a hand to indicate the shelter, “This is not the kind of place where men can show up, trying to hunt down women. It’s like, the opposite of that.”
Luke winced and nodded, having anticipated her reaction.
“I know. I thought it would be better to show up here than at your house.”
Aubrey’s mouth bunched into a displeased bow.
“Uh huh. That’s not comforting. What is it that you need, exactly? Because you have exactly one minute before I call someone to escort you out,” she snapped.
“I want you to go on a date with me,” he said, keeping it simple.
Aubrey’s mouth opened once, then closed. Her surprise was charming, and it made Luke grin.
“You…” she started, then stopped. “You tracked me down at my place of employment, at the underground women’s shelter, I might add… You did all this to ask me out?”
“Yep,” Luke agreed, his grin growing broader. He was watching her body, noticing how her breaths were coming faster, how the skin on her neck and chest had begun to flush pink, how she was digging the nails of one hand into an innocent steno pad lying on the desk. She really did respond to him so beautifully, just like she would when they finally f—
“You have to leave,” Aubrey said, slamming a stack of files onto her metal-topped office desk with a bang that made Luke jump. When he looked up at her, she seemed distressed and confused. Not exactly the passionate welcome he’d wanted, but…
“I’m leaving my card here, so you can get ahold of me if you want,” he said, putting it on the counter.
When she banged her hand on the glass window, her frustration evident, Luke raised his hands in surrender and stepped back. He gave Aubrey one last, long look, admiring the heaving of her chest and the way she flushed under his inspection, before turning and pushing out through the security door.
Once he was back out on the street, blinking into the bright afternoon sun, Luke grinned once more.
“That coulda gone worse,” he said, nodding to himself.
After all, he thought as he walked back to his rental car, at least Aubrey had reacted to him. She clearly had some kind of feelings toward him, otherwise she wouldn’t get so wound up at the sight of him. He pushed down the little voice in the back of his head, the one that said that he wasn’t the first man to enter the Sunnyside Women’s Center looking for a woman, thinking those same kind of thoughts.
But unlike those psycho loser ex-husbands, Luke cared about Aubrey. He’d never hurt her before, and he never, ever would. He wasn’t a rocket scientist, but he knew a good thing when he saw it. And Aubrey….
Damn, but Aubrey was amazing.
Whistling, he pulled his car away from the curb and headed back to his hotel. He had some more planning to do, it seemed.
14
Five
Tuesday
Aubrey climbed out of her VW Rabbit and stepped into the parking lot of ThanksALatte, her favorite coffee shop. Early morning light filtered through the clouds, promising another twenty four hours of gorgeous weather. Normally this was Aubrey’s favorite time of day, early enough to relax in the peace and quiet, to reflect a little on herself before her busy day ahead.
Well, not today. She’d been wound up about Luke’s visit all afternoon the day before, and she’d tossed and turned half the night. Now she was a cranky, exhausted hot mess. Aubrey flung open the coffee shop’s front door, wincing when it banged against the wall, and stomped over to the register.
“Tall skinny chai, hot,” she mumbled to the young guy working at the register.
“Aren’t you Aubrey?” he asked, giving her a bright smile.
“Uh… yeah…” she said, frowning at him.
“Cool! Your drink has been paid for already. All your drinks for this week, actually. And whatever else you’d like,” the kid told her.
“Is that right?” she asked, crossing her arms.
“Yeah. Some big dude came in here this morning and asked us to run it all on his card,” the cashier replied.
Aubrey snorted, ignoring the guy’s confused expression.
“Fine. In that case, give me ten coffees and five lattes. Along with my chai, that is,” she said. “And you can expect the same order every day this week at the same time, until Luke says otherwise.”
“Uh, sure. Right away,” the cashier said, calling her order out to the barista.
“Great. My office is going to love t
his,” Aubrey told him.
With that, she left a five dollar bill for tip and stalked over to wait at the other end of the counter, shaking her head.
15
Six
Wednesday
Aubrey pulled into the parking lot of her apartment building after work, still pumped up from the four coffees she’d consumed throughout the day. She hopped out of the car and tried not to skip to her front door, skidding to a stop when she spied a long white box propped against the door. It was wrapped in a velvety scarlet bow, with a card taped to the top. She leaned down and picked it up, heading inside her apartment. After dropping her keys and her purse on the kitchen table, she couldn’t resist prying open the box.
Most of the box was filled with a gorgeous bouquet of blood-red roses and pure white baby’s breath, all wrapped in a gauzy piece of fabric. Aubrey bit her lip, resisting any reaction. She’d never gotten flowers before, so of course she felt a little flutter of excitement. It was nothing to do with Luke, just a generally happy feeling.
Looking in the box, she fished out a DVD and a plain white piece of paper with a note on the front. The note read:
I seem to remember you saying that you liked romantic comedies. This movie comes highly recommended from my mother. Please enjoy it with my compliments, and don’t be surprised when the door bell rings. You deserve a night to relax. Don’t forget to put the flowers in water.