by M. L. Briers
“She’s more of a cat person.” The low growl of annoyance drifted across her cheek and she ignored it.
“Are you trying to test my patience witch?”
“I wasn’t aware that you had any Alpha.”
“Poking the bear…” Cynthia did the loser sneeze, but Isabel caught it anyway and grinned.
“Elijah, not alpha. And your backside is on my work…” When he walked around in front of her, her eyes took in the casual jeans and jumper that covered his body. She wasn’t sure if she was impressed by just how sexy he looked in clothes as well as out of them, or a little disappointed that he had dressed.
“Well Alpha, if you want my backside off your work, tell us we can go.”
He reached out, grasped her hips with both hands and lifted her up in the air as if she weighed nothing at all. Depositing her on her feet beside his desk he stared down at her.
“Or I could just do that.” He informed her.
Victory point for the Alpha, she told herself as she walked behind, what she assumed was his desk, and dropped into the softness of his executive leather chair.
“Well I’m impressed. How about you, Cyn?” She shot him an innocent look, before turning towards her friend who was trying for the whole blending into the furniture look.
“Psycho…” Cynthia muttered, before turning away and inspecting a potted plant.
“Tell me about the vampire…”Elijah sat on the corner of his desk and crossed his arms over his chest in what she assumed was his way of saying he wanted answers.
“Couldn’t if I wanted too, all I found out there was your friend in the road.” She watched him narrow his eyes on her, he was trying to read her, but her shields were firmly in place. If he thought he was getting a reading he could think again.
“Drop your shield witch.”
“Drop dead Lycan.” He didn’t move. Cynthia on the other hand almost collapsed into a heap on the floor. Muttered dark curses flowed from her lips with every worried breath. The fact that she was gnawing on her lower lip did nothing to quell Isabel’s mood.
“I don’t think you appreciate where you are…”
“I don’t think you appreciate who you are dealing with.” She countered and Cynthia all but gave up. Dropping to the sofa, she rolled her eyes to the ceiling and said a silent wish for Isabel to just back the hell down for once.
“I could just reach out and snap you like a twig…”
“And with a flick of my wrist, I could have that manhood you like to go around flaunting, shrivel up and drop off.”
Cynthia groaned. It wasn’t supposed to go like this. Isabel might like to think of herself as a dominant force in the universe, but right now she was trying to face down an Alpha, and even though she was doing a pretty good job at holding her own, something had to give. She just hoped it wasn’t going to be their necks.
CHAPTER THREE
“For what you have done for my brother, I’m going to overlook the fact that you are disrespectful…”He breathed down at her like a dragon without fire and she cocked an eyebrow up at him. Disbelief played in her eyes as she pushed up slowly from the chair to stand toe to toe with the man.
“Oh, I’m disrespectful am I? That’s rich coming from you. I saved your brother’s life instead of leaving him on the road, at the mercy of the vampire that was hunting him. I tended his wounds. I brought him back to you and you have the audacity to stand there, like a bully, and accuse me of being disrespectful?” He went to open his mouth to speak, but Cynthia knew when her friend was winding up to really let rip, and this was one of those times.
Isabel held up her palm to the man to silence him, but didn’t really give him any option when she launch into another tirade.
“Not one word of thanks. Not even an offer of a cup of coffee for our trouble. What do we get? Manhandled and tossed in here to await your pleasure. Your pleasure. Ha! And you want me to respect you? Respect is earned Alpha, and right now you are very low down on my list.” By the time she had finished Cynthia’s neck had all but disappeared into her shoulders and her face was pinched into a wince that had her viewing the scene through scrunched up eyes.
Isabel stopped right there. There had been more she could say. A lot more, but she felt as if she had made her point. The man was insufferable, and she wasn’t shy about airing her feelings towards him either. Alpha’s respected a backbone, and she had managed to find hers with gusto. It was the only thing she could think of right now to get them out of this mess.
Whether it worked or not remained to be seen as he stood there, his dark eyes glaring down at her with menace. Then he did the damndest thing. He threw his head back and laughed. It was a hard and deep belly laugh that had her body responding with warmth towards him. She didn’t know why, but that sound was like a gift to her senses.
Her eyes flicked to Cynthia for just a second as her friend’s face changed into something resembling being slapped in the face with a slimy fish. She guessed his laugh affected everyone differently.
Isabel eyed him for a long moment as he tried to rein in his amusement. She wasn’t at all sure if this was a sign that the man possessed a split personality, or if having a little five foot two witch telling him some home truths really had touched his funny bone.
“You’re right. Forgive my lack of manners and hospitality. Come to the kitchen, we always have a pot of coffee brewing. You can berate me some more there.”
Isabel eyed him for a long moment. His eyes were no longer jet black, but a deep warm brown and they smiled down at her with the amusement that was still evident in the upwards curl of his lips.
To say her heart did a two-step within her chest was an understatement. When this man smiled, he really smiled. There was warmth about him now, and it was something that she couldn’t help responding too on a feminine level.
Damn Lycan’s and Vampires and the way they draw you in towards them, she told herself, hoping that was all it was, and yet, even with her shields firmly in place he was getting through her barriers.
Elijah had tried to be the big bad wolf. He needed to know exactly what he was dealing with here. He wanted her to get so mad that she would drop her shields, but she hadn’t, not completely. He had sensed more from Cynthia in that time than he had from his little Fae, and he was almost certain that the witches were not in league with the Vampire that had hunted Joshua.
He was more than grateful for that. After all, what was he supposed to do with two little witches that would bring harm to the pack, when those little witches were also mates of the pack members?
He rolled his eyes in his own mind. Joshua and Cynthia? That was a little out there. The woman didn’t have much of a backbone that he could see, she seemed to be this little witches Beta.
This one was the Alpha of her pack, and that was fitting, considering she was his mate.
Isabel eyed him with suspicion, she wasn’t entirely sure what his game was now, but it was much better than the black eyed non-fire breathing dragon impression he had been doing just minutes earlier.
“Coffee sounds good. Thank you, and see, I can say thank you.” She just wanted to score that one more point, as he stepped aside and motioned for her to go past him towards the door.
“Thank you.” He breathed the words from beside her as she passed by him. His body leaned in towards hers. His breath was warm against her cheek, and it caused a shiver to run the length of her body. Something she hoped he didn’t notice, as she hesitated in her step. Two little tell-tale frown lines appeared between her brows.
Isabel wasn’t entire sure she liked the way he made her feel. It was slightly unnerving and she couldn’t afford to be unnerved right now. She had Cynthia to think about for one thing. She had dragged her into this mess and she wanted to extract her painlessly from it now.
When her eyes flicked to Cynthia, she noted the way her friend was caught somewhere between, getting to her feet to go with her, and melting into the furniture in the hope she wouldn’t be dete
cted, or singled out for some of the Alpha’s bullish ways.
With a quick motion of Isabel’s head towards the door, Cynthia managed to pry herself out of the sofa cushions and up onto her feet. Although Isabel could tell that her friend didn’t like it.
Isabel reached for the handle of the door and found the man’s large hand was already there. Damn, she hadn’t even seen him move. Lycan’s were fast, she knew that. Knew all their little added extra’s that their heritage bestowed upon the. Speed, agility, strength, enhanced hearing, and eyesight made them all the more formidable.
She couldn’t help but wonder if her magic was good enough to take on this Alpha, if it came to it.
“Allow me.” He opened the door for her and she moved to the side so the door could be opened fully.
“Thank you.” She made a mental note to be extra polite when he did something nice. After all, she had just berated him for his manners. She didn’t need the tables turned on her.
“I wouldn’t want you to berate me again…” He was making it harder for her to ignore the pull of her body towards his when he breathed his words against her cheek like that. But she was going to give it a damn good try.
Tactics, she decided. He couldn’t get her to back down by glaring down and trying to impose his Alpha abilities against her, not when she had her shields up. So now he was trying a new tact, and damn if it wasn’t working to his advantage. Her body was responding to the masculine in him.
With a look at Cynthia, who was now eyeing her with something akin to morbid curiosity, she knew that her outer persona must have been slipping. If Cynthia could see how he affected her, then it was a good bet that the Alpha could also see it. That was a weakness that she didn’t think she could afford. Perhaps it was time to turn the tables on him.
Isabel turned to look up at him. There was no denying that the man had sex appeal practically oozing from every inch of him, and he was expecting her to respond to that as if it was out of her control, and in part, it kind of was. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t take charge of it. Own it.
She reached out and brushed her fingers, ever so slightly, against the bare skin of his forearm, exposed by his sleeve being pushed up. She was going to add a little something behind that touch. Just a little magic to make his skin tingle, but she was inwardly shocked to find that she didn’t need too. It was already there. A little spark between them that set her pulse racing and her feminine side purring, and she used that to her advantage.
“I think we can get along just fine, if that’s something you want Alpha…”She gave him her best seductive smile. One she hadn’t used in a very long time and she hoped she still had it right. From the way his nostril flared and his eyes turned a shade or two darker, she thought she just might have achieved it.
Elijah felt her touch against his skin and it felt as though he had just been sandbagged. The arousal that sat tucked within his jeans grew harder with an ache to be buried somewhere within her body. Right at that moment in time, he didn’t give a damn where. He’d take whatever she was offering him.
Every inch of his skin buzzed with a need to be touching hers. Every brain cell was centred on the press of his body inside the warmth of hers. He wanted to hear her moan with the pleasure he would give her, and he would give her pleasure. Hour’s of it, with her so very willing and so very wanting beneath him. Damn, if he didn’t want to just pull her down to the carpet right then and there on the office floor, tear off her clothes and sink inside her.
“I’d like to get along with you little Fae…”He put the sex in sexy when he breathed down at her like that, and she certainly wasn’t immune.
“Isabel…” She offered, trying to put the breathlessness into her words, even though for the most part, it was already there.
“Isabel…” When he said her name like that, all deeply seductive and very manly, she nearly lost control of her knees. She wasn’t sure who was leading who on here, but she liked it.
“My name sounds good on your lips…”She breathed back at him, and when her eyes flared just a little, he felt his shaft twitch within the confines of his jeans. Damn, he really did want to be buried within her. Now.
“I’m sure there’s a way I can make it sound even better…” That predatory grin had her inner muscles convulsing.
Looking up into the eyes of man she was sure could give her exactly what her body wanted, needed, and was practically rolling over and playing dead for right now she wanted to purr. But Cynthia’s well timed throat clearing episode had her snapping out of it. Pulling her eyes, ever so slowly, from his gaze and breaking the bond that had seemed to form between them, she wondered at it.
Elijah stared down at her with the lust that was raging within him. The evidence of that lust was aching inside his jeans. That little upturn to the corners of her lips made him want to reach out with the tip of his tongue and investigate if she tasted as good as she looked to him.
“I’m sure there is, Elijah.” It was the first time she had actually said his name, and damn, it sounded sexy when she said it. He wanted to hear her say it again and again, breathless beneath him as he stroked into her.
The growl of desire rolled through his chest, and caused her to bring her eyes up to his again. He could see just how affected by him she really was. Even if this had been a game she was playing with him, it had affected her too.
“But for now, coffee.” He motioned for them to go ahead of him. He needed to put a little space between them. He needed to remember who he was and where he was. Otherwise he just might pull her down to the floor and have his wicked way with her, and it would be wicked, decidedly so.
Cynthia had a death grip on her arm as she yanked her out of the office and away from Elijah. Thank god. Because at that precise moment Isabel didn’t think she would have been able to move all on her own. His pull was strong on her. Maybe a little too strong? Maybe she was playing with fire and about to get burned?
“What are you doing? First you poke the bear, now you’re trying to get the bear to poke you? And when I say poke…” Cynthia hissed in disbelief in her ear and she felt the fire burning in her cheeks as she shushed her. He wasn’t that far behind that he couldn’t have heard with normal hearing what her friend was saying.
Elijah smiled to himself as he overtook them with a couple of strides. Steering them towards the kitchen, he pushed the door open in front of him, and was sure he heard the two women swallow in unison.
The kitchen was packed to standing room only with members of his pack, and as they entered all conversation ceased and all eyes turned towards the Fae.
‘Behave, they saved Joshua…’ He growled out into the pack’s collective mind before any trouble could begin, and scanned the faces around him. Some eyes dropped away, some gawked openly at seeing the Fae this close up, and then there was his mother. A smile on her face and a welcome in her eyes.
“We were just awaiting news on how Joshua is doing. Thank you for what you did for my son.” Her words were warm and welcoming as she motioned for the visitors to come towards her.
As he expected, Cynthia all but balked at the idea of walking any further into the room. But leave it to the feisty little Fae to grab her arm and yank her towards his mother, right into the heart of his pack.
“You’re welcome. How is he?” The question sounded heartfelt, like she actually did give a damn, and he didn’t think that was a part of her act.
Elijah eyed the others in the room. Most of them were trying to show disinterest in the two witches.
“Joshua is doing well. He’s healing nicely, partly thanks to the balm that you applied?” His mother seemed interested to know more. Ever the pack mother, she was probably eager to find out it if was all natural or if there was a little Fae magic behind its healing properties.
“I’m glad it had some affect on his wounds. I wasn’t entirely sure it would, him being Lycan.”
“It seems to have speeded up the healing process. Without it he may have lost
a lot more blood and not made it through to tonight’s moon, and that, as I’m sure you are aware, is our greatest advantage in healing deep wounds.” She shooed the two pack members from their stools and motioned for the women to take their place. A slight rumble went through the room and Elijah frowned.
‘Those that do not live here, leave. I will inform you all of Joshua’s progress.’ Elijah noted the way that his mother was putting the woman at ease, especially Joshua’s mate and he didn’t want any ill feeling within his pack to damage that.
The sound of boots on the tiled floor echoed around the room as the back door was pulled open and his pack started to file out. Only one member hesitated, and he knew why.
Caleb had never been fond of the Fae. His parents had a run in with the local circle many years ago and had tried to start a war between the pack and the witches. If anyone was going to kick off about these two being here it would be him.
‘Be careful Caleb, Joshua will not be pleased that you have unpleasant intentions towards his mate.’ It was the one thing he knew to stop the young man in his tracks. The sound of his mother’s head practically snapping around on her neck to look at him caught his attention for just a second, but he kept his eyes on Caleb.
He’d had to put that thought out there in the collective mind, and he heard the sound of silence from the pack members that had been chatting among themselves outside.
Caleb’s eyes took a slow journey towards him, and with a slight bow to his head, the young man retreated out of the door, closing it firmly behind him.
Now he just had to deal with his mother’s shock.
‘Which one?’ Her eyes locked on his as he took a slow walk towards the counter. Motioning with his eyes towards Cynthia, his mother’s gaze fell on the woman.
Cynthia must have noticed the sudden scrutiny, because he saw her backside shift uncomfortably on the stool. A grin of amusement touched his lips.
“I’m glad I could help. I know it’s probably classed as Fae magic and that you probably wouldn’t be interested in using it…” Isabel watched the woman drag her eyes away from Cynthia and back to her.