Denying the Alpha

by Sam Crescent

  Now that her good mood was officially ruined, she sighed and took her coffee back into the house. She may as well get to work.

  She was just coming back downstairs, happy to have distracted herself and gotten the bedroom walls painted, when a knock at the door startled her.

  Shit, that must be Emmett.

  As much as she hated to admit it, Dani was looking forward to seeing him. There was something about him that intrigued her, aside from his handsome face.

  “Hi.” She smiled as she opened the door and grabbed her keys.

  “Hi.” His grin was enough to knock any woman off her game, but then it slipped a little as his head tilted and he looked closer at her. “Are you okay?”

  Dani didn’t want to know how this man, who was practically a stranger, could see that she was still upset from Andy’s call, but nonetheless, it warmed her that he would even care enough to inquire.

  “I am, just wasn’t feeling great this morning.” She shrugged it off as she locked up the door behind them.

  “Are you sure you want to come? I can go myself and bring the wood back if you’d like to stay and rest?”

  “Nope, I’m fine.” She could tell he didn’t really believe her answer, but he was a smart man and let it go before holding the truck door open for her.

  Dani watched him out of the side of her vision as he drove them deeper into the woods. She had to admit there was something about Emmett that seemed to fascinate her—and that just pissed her off. He was a figure of authority and had a presence that felt like it filled up the entire room, and she was barely just out of a dysfunctional relationship with a controlling asshole. It would be extremely stupid to get entangled with another alpha male.

  He’s not even that charming, is he?

  The lie fell flat in her head, but it was all she had at the moment. He turned onto a narrow road that was barely cleared enough for the truck to get down and soon a run-down cabin came into view as he pulled up and parked.

  “I’m going to go see what we’ve got that might work. Why don’t you stay put? I think it’s going to rain by the looks of those clouds.”

  “I can help, you know.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m no carpenter but I can manage to pull off some old wood.”

  “Just let me see if there’s even anything here that will match what you already have, all right?”

  “Okay,” Dani relented, but only because he was doing her a favor in the first place. She watched him as he grabbed a few tools from the bed of his truck and walked into the cabin, noting the way his jeans hugged his ass, despite herself. A few minutes later, she got bored and got out of the truck to investigate the surrounding yard. Dani could hear him doing something inside so she popped her head around the corner to see him prying boards out of the corner of the room.

  “This stuff looks like it will match great!” She crouched down to get a closer look at the small pile of wood that was forming. “I’ll start hauling it out to the truck.”

  “I can do it in a bit. The wood is pretty rough,” he answered back. “I thought you were waiting in the truck?”

  “I’m not a pet, Mr. Mayor … I don’t just wait where you put me.” She gave him a pointed look before grabbing a piece of wood in each hand and turning to leave.

  Dani heard him curse before he was following her. He gently took the wood from her hands and put it into the bed of the pickup, and then he turned grabbed her hands to examine the palms.

  “Did you hurt your hands?”

  She could see the actual concern on his face and it sent a little thrill through her, not to mention what the feel of his rough, warm hands against her own skin was doing to her.

  “I’m fine, really, Emmett.”

  His gaze met hers and he seemed to realize he was still holding her hands. He let her go and sighed before stepping back.

  “If you’re going to insist on helping then at least wear some gloves. You’ve already got a few splinters in your skin. Unless I can convince you to get back into the truck?”

  “Nope, I insist.” She snatched up the gloves he offered and immediately went back for another load of wood.

  “You don’t follow directions well, do you?” He chuckled from behind her.

  Dani paused for a moment before looking back over her shoulder at him. “Nah, I’m much better at giving them.” She was smiling when she continued on toward the cabin, and she could have sworn she heard him mutter, “I’ll just bet you are.”

  Chapter Six

  The sky opened up just as they were hauling the last of the wood back to the truck, and in the matter of seconds it took to put a tarp over the contents of the truck bed, they were both soaked through. Emmett tried his best not to stare at the way Dani’s white tank top clung to her curves, teasing with a bright-blue lace bra underneath—but he was only a man, and damn.

  “Is the hardware store still open?” She broke the slightly awkward silence in the cab. “I could use some more putty … if you don’t mind stopping.”

  He quickly checked the time. “I don’t mind. We should just make it.”

  Five minutes later, they pulled up to stop in front of the store. “Let me just run in and grab what you—”

  “No need,” she interrupted him with an impish smile, “my house, my putty.”

  Emmett had a hard time pretending not to be amused. This little gal was confounding his bear at every turn. He realized now his instincts were driving him to take care of her, more so it seemed than the rest of his pack, but Dani seemed to have some serious control issues and he wondered what that was all about. What he thought was being polite and gentlemanly, she certainly took in another way.

  Her eyes locked onto him as she jumped back into the truck, putty in hand.

  “So, Martha tells me she sent my dinner with you?”

  He shrugged as he put the truck into gear and headed back to her place.

  “I thought perhaps we could eat and then I can help you with the walls. Looks like you have a fair amount of work on your hands.”

  Emmett suspected her first instinct was to decline, but by the grace of the Goddess, she nodded slightly instead.

  “Okay, thank you. That’s really nice of you.”

  It wasn’t the most enthusiastic acceptance to a date he’d ever had—and though she may not know it yet, it was a date, but he’d take it.

  Emmett was more than happy to let her pick the music as they worked. His belly was full of Martha’s fried chicken and Dani’s sweet scent filling the room had his other half rumbling with contentment. It was tough to keep his mind and eyes on his work, however, with her bouncing and singing along in those tiny shorts. The humidity after the rain was almost stifling, even with leaving all the doors and windows open. Her dark auburn hair was curling every which way it could escape her ponytail, and there were smears of white putty on pretty much every inch of her body. In all honesty, she was a hot mess. And he fucking loved it.

  He grabbed a couple of ice-cold bottles of water out of the cooler and went over to her, quite simply because for the life of him he could no longer stay away.

  “Thirsty?” He offered her one of the bottles.

  “Thanks.” She accepted with a shy smile, and he inched even closer, his bear in full stalk mode.

  ****

  Dani watched the muscles in his neck contract as he took a long drink of water. The more time she spent with Emmett, the more he seemed to weasel his way past her guard. She didn’t know if it was the heat or the humidity, but something was definitely getting to her. Her body thrummed with an energy she’d never felt before.

  Suddenly, his gaze captured hers and no matter how she tried, Dani couldn’t manage to pull herself away from those intense brown eyes. She could feel him moving closer and closer, and something in her responded as she slowly backed up until she felt the cool wall against her shoulders. He groaned when she licked her lips, and then in a sudden move, he lunged, his mouth diving at her own, claiming it in a savage kiss that she was
helpless not to return with the passion that surged up inside of her.

  “Wait!” Her panting was loud even to her own ears as she struggled to push him away, not because he wouldn’t cooperate, but because her own legs refused to unwrap from around his waist and relinquish their prize. “We shouldn’t be doing this … we don’t even like each other.”

  “Well now, love.” He continued to trail kisses along her collarbone in the most distracting way. “It should be fairly obvious I like you just fine.”

  He punctuated the statement with a roll of his hips that had his deliciously hard shaft rubbing against her in all the right places.

  “In fact, I more than like you, Dani.”

  “But we fight like cats and dogs…”

  He chuckled. She must have missed the joke.

  “Nah, that’s not right at all.”

  “Since you’ve been here, you’ve mentioned my ‘sharp tongue’ at least three times.” She groaned as his huge hands cupped both her breasts, kneading to perfection.

  “That’s because I find myself thinking about your sharp tongue all fucking day … I think about you running it all over my body, one spot in particular.” He looked up with a cheeky wink.

  Dani managed an eye roll, and that had him pausing for a moment.

  “You’re a strong woman, Daniella. But I don’t want you to think for even one second that I don’t like that about you. I fucking love that about you. You’ve been busting my balls since the moment you strolled into town, and it makes me harder than anything ever has.”

  He moved against her again, causing a whimper of need to escape her throat.

  “You are glorious in your ferocity. Don’t let anyone ever try to tell you different.”

  The only thing Dani could do was blink at his words. The warmth that bloomed inside her as he stared directly into her eyes was nothing short of life-changing.

  Chapter Seven

  Emmett finally must have said something right because he saw the moment that she made up her mind to let go and let this fire between them rage as it will. She threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled his head back up to meet her mouth as her legs wrapped tighter around him. He could feel the heat of her sweet folds against his aching cock and his hips moved against her as he explored her mouth with his own.

  Goddess, she tastes perfect.

  Like honey and sunshine, and his bear wanted to roll around in her scent until it was permanently combined with his own and became a part of him. Her small hands tugged at the bottom of his shirt, and he eased back just long enough for her to pull it over his head and let it drop to the ground.

  “Are you sure about this?” he growled out in between kisses.

  “No, but right now, my body doesn’t care one bit.” She drove her point home by biting the side of his neck, causing him to grip the luscious curves of her ass even harder. “Take me upstairs, Emmett.”

  She didn’t have to ask him twice. Emmett lifted her fully and turned to make his way up the stairs while Dani continued to kiss and nibble along his neck and ears. He pried her arms from around his shoulders and laid her down on the edge of the bed before stepping back to take a look at her.

  Sweet Goddess, she was glorious. Her lips were swollen and wet from his kisses, and that wild mane of red hair now loose from its binding was spread around her head in a halo of fire. Her breasts heaved as she watched him right back, and the desire coming off her in waves was almost palpable, making any thought aside from satisfying this woman inconceivable.

  “Mmm, let me see you,” she whispered before she bit her lip, her hands coming up to tease at her breasts.

  Emmett couldn’t tear his gaze away as he unsnapped his jeans and let them fall to the floor, his cock throbbing with desire as she looked her fill. He wrapped one hand around his aching flesh, using the moisture gathering at the tip to ease the way as he slowly stroked himself, letting Dani see exactly how much he needed her.

  “Fuck,” she groaned, “that’s so sexy. I want you, Emmett.”

  He watched as she quickly shimmied out of her top and shorts. The evidence of her desire soaking through the bright-blue cloth of her panties broke his control and he pushed her up the bed so that he could settle himself between her splayed thighs.

  “Yes,” she moaned, her hands gripping his hair as he nuzzled against the wetness before trailing the flat of his tongue along her covered folds.

  “You smell so fucking good, Dani,” he murmured in between licks until finally he gripped the sides of her panties and ripped them free of the flesh that was taunting him. “I’m going to feast on you until you come all over my tongue.”

  “Oh, God.” Her breathless answer spurned him on as he watched her undo the clasp on her bra and toss the material away, revealing her perfect breasts tipped with rosy little nipples that made his mouth water even more.

  “Pinch those nipples while I eat at this juicy little cunt.” Emmett ran his thumbs along the now exposed folds of flesh, slick with her honey. “Show me what you like.”

  ****

  Dani followed his commands, trailing her hands up to her sensitive breasts. She pinched her nipples between thumb and forefinger, starting off firm, imagining it was Emmett’s rough hands on her flesh instead. She gasped as a bite of pain made her realize she was squeezing harder than she’d ever done before, but when a bolt of pleasure followed immediately on its heels, she smiled. Knowing that Emmett would be the kind of lover to push her beyond anything she’d experienced before.

  He lowered his head and the tip of his tongue ran circles around her aching clit while he gently pushed two thick fingers into her wet channel, twisting and twirling as he forged in and out. She closed her eyes and imagined how incredible that thick, long cock was going to feel as he worked himself inside of her, gasping as he suckled and licked at her most sensitive flesh.

  “Faster, harder, please, Emmett.”

  He answered her pleas with a groan of his own before he stroked into her at a furious pace, but it was the bite of pain as he sucked hard on her clit that brought her screaming around his fingers. Dani’s hands reached out for him, nails digging into his shoulders as the pleasure moved through her in a rush.

  She felt him place one last kiss against her swollen flesh before slowly moving up her body, kissing and nibbling as he went, his talented hands caressing every inch of her skin like a prayer. The look in his eyes as he leaned in to kiss her was so intense, it felt like he was staring into her very soul. But despite his raging need, when his lips met hers, it was gentle and soft. The salty tang of her own flavor only heightened her renewing desire, and she wrapped one leg over his thick thigh in an effort to pull him closer to her.

  They both groaned when the heat of his rigid shaft slipped through her soaked cleft, and he stroked himself along her flesh several times before slipping a hand down to notch the thick head of his cock against her opening.

  “Open your eyes, baby,” he whispered, “watch me as I fill you up.”

  Dani stared up at Emmett, not really understanding what this was that was happening between them. She barely knew him—and yet, something about his body joining to hers felt like … coming home. Even Dani knew that was ridiculous, but just for this one moment, she let the fantasy and whimsy overtake her. For just one moment, she imagined what life would be like if this beautiful man belonged to her, and she, in turn, belonged to him. In those seconds, as he moved inside of her inch by inch, Dani felt as if a bright light was blossoming deep in her chest. As if the very sun itself were rising inside of her soul. As if, after a lifetime of darkness and loneliness, she’d suddenly found her place.

  Chapter Eight

  Dani gasped as he finally slid all the way home. The warmth of her body rippling around his cock was the most intensely pleasurable sensation Emmett had ever experienced. Not only that, but he was now more than ever convinced this incredible woman was his fated mate. It was simply not possible to feel as connected to her as he felt in this mo
ment, and not have it be a gift sent straight from the Goddess herself.

  He began to move inside her, long, slow strokes in and out, never looking away from her beautiful face. Emmett wanted to catalog every single expression of pleasure and longing, and he tried to remember every move that had her gasping for breath or moaning low. He wondered if even a lifetime with this woman would ever be enough. Perhaps, if he spent the remainder of his existence trying to please the Goddess, she might grant him a chance to reunite with his beloved in the next life as well? It was a worthy goal to strive for.

  Neither of them spoke as the passion grew more insistent and their bodies strode toward bliss. Faster and harder, they clung to one another, desperate to find their release.

  “Emmett!”

  Finally, Dani called out to him as her body contracted and tightened around him, sending him tumbling straight into an orgasm after her. The rush of pleasure moved out from his groin to reach every extremity, leaving him blind in the moment of pure ecstasy.

  Their breathing was loud and harsh as he fell to the bed on his side, taking her with him in his arms. Emmett never wanted to let go of this woman, for even a moment.

  “Wow,” she whispered, still panting, “That was … incredible.”

  “It was.” He gently leaned in to kiss her lips, “You are incredible.”

  He felt her smile against his mouth, and he wondered what he was going to do next. If she were a shifter, she would know immediately how blessed they were to have found one another, but humans were different.

  “I’m just going to close my eyes for a minute,” Dani whispered, and seconds later, her breathing told him she was already asleep.

  He watched her for as long as his own eyes would stay open, imagining their life together, and he prayed to the Goddess that she would help him convince Dani to stay here in Hillion Falls. Emmett simply had to have faith that fate would find a way.