by Cali MacKay
“What the hell are you up to, Greyson?”
“Me? I think you already know that I’m up to no good.” The first slap fell across her ass without warning, eliciting yet another string of curses from those plump red lips of hers, as she glared at him over her shoulder. “See?”
“Are you always such a bastard?” The next slap fell quick and was followed by another, each just a little harder than the next.
“Not always.” He licked the flaming hot skin of her ass cheeks and then blew on it, knowing it’d help soothe her skin, and more than likely stoke her need for him, for his touch, for his cock, even more than she already wanted him.
She let out a luscious moan, her scent filling his head as he buried his face in her sweet cunt just enough to keep her on the edge of coming. “Fucking hell…please, Greyson…”
“Marry me, Juno.” Somehow he found the strength to pull away and get himself undressed, his cock aching to sink into her.
She looked over at him, her gaze taking in his naked form—and lingering on his erection—before finally looking up into his eyes. “Haven’t I already said yes a half dozen times? What more do you want from me?”
“Sweetheart…what I want is for you to actually mean it. If you think I can’t read you, you can guess again. I can tell when you’re feeling reasonable—and those are the times when you agree to marry me. But then you start to look panicked and skittish, and ready to run—and the fact that you’ve said you’ll marry me makes little difference.” And yet maybe that was his fault to an extent. It’s not like he’d proposed to her properly, with a ring and a grand romantic gesture. But that was just one more reason why he had to head up to his parents’ cabin. “And you know what? Maybe I’ve been going about this all wrong.”
He was taking a risk, but his gut told him that this was what he had to do. He grabbed his jeans up off the floor, and dug out his folding blade. “Hold still.” Carefully slipping the cold, sharp steel between her wrists, he cut her free. “You’re free to go, love. Let me know if I can give you a ride anywhere.”
She sat back on her heels, her flannel shirt hanging open so her pert breasts hung teasingly in full view. “You’re kidding, right? Is this some sort of trick? I get to the door and then you pounce on me?”
“It’s not a joke. You may be my mate, but what’s the fucking point if you don’t want to be here? If you don’t want to marry me and you’d rather try your luck on your own, then go for it. I’m not going to keep fighting you or keep trying to coerce you into not doing something stupid.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest and locked eyes with hers, needing her to know this was a serious decision. “I’d rather be miserable the rest of my life, drifting from one woman’s bed to the next, than have you hate me.”
She pulled her flannel shirt closed and wrapped her arms around herself, her gaze refusing to settle on him for long as her emotions clearly shifted with the change in her situation. “I wouldn’t hate you, Greyson. I get it—you’re trying to protect me. But for fuck’s sake, you’ve got to cut me some slack when it comes to adjusting to all this.”
“Cutting you some slack is what’s going to get you killed—and though I get that this is a huge adjustment for you, you need to find a way to wrap your head around it or take your chances on your own. ’Cause it’s not just your life at stake here. And though I’d fight to the death to keep you safe, we’re putting my whole pack at risk, which means I need a real commitment from you if there’s any hope of making this work and minimizing the damage.” His pack would go to war if a member of the pack was threatened, but until she became one of them, he wouldn’t have the full support of the pack, which meant that he’d be facing an attack with a lot less support—and that would only put at greater risk the people who did show up to support him.
“That’s just one more reason why I should go, Greyson. The only reason your pack is involved in this mess is because I’m your mate—and that’s a whole lot of trouble you’re asking them to get messed up in.” She shook her head as a tear slipped down her cheek. “I’m not worth the hassle—and I can’t deal with you or anyone else getting hurt because of me.”
“Juno…no one will get hurt—but only if we don’t do this in half measures.” He had to make her see that it was the lack of any commitment on her part that would be their undoing.
“Which is why I think it’s best that you take me home. I’ve got my car…I’ll just get the hell off this mountain and to a big city. Hopefully I can just disappear.” She looked so unsure and yet there was a strength and courage there—even if it was also followed by a good dose of ignorant stupidity.
“Are you sure this is what you truly want?” Fucking hell…all he could do was hope that the girl saw sense and opted for the only sane choice.
“I don’t see that I have many options.” She climbed off the bed and grabbed her clothes before heading to the master bath, leaving Greyson to curse as he threw on the rest of his clothes.
It didn’t take her long to gather up her few things as he resisted the urge to pace the floor or shake her until she saw sense. All he could do was hope that she’d realize just how dangerous things were for her if she was on her own, out in the real world. “Come on then. Let’s get you home, and keep our fingers crossed that the bears have let this go.”
“Do you think they’d do that?” She sounded so hopeful, it fucking killed him—killed him that she’d rather take a chance with her life than marry him.
“Not a chance in hell, sweetheart.”
They drove back to her place in silence, his frustration with her knotting every muscle in his body. He threw the car in park, still debating whether or not he should see her in, just to make his point—and with luck, put an end to this ridiculous charade, since he had no doubt she’d be calling him before long, as long as she didn’t get herself mauled first. “Do you want me to come in with you?”
His cold tone and the distance he was keeping seemed to have an effect on her, her mood now more somber. “I don’t want to keep being a bother, but…I don’t want to leave things between us like this. I do really like you, Greyson.”
“I really like you too, love.” He wanted to scream that she was being an idiot and taking chances with her life, that he needed her, and would be devastated if anything happened to her. And yet he knew, the only way to have her be okay with her decision to get married would be for her to come to the conclusion herself. “Come on then…let’s get you inside and on your way.”
“I don’t know that there’s a ton here that I can salvage, apart from my clothes.” Once inside, she looked around the place as tears slipped down her cheeks and she wrapped her arms around herself.
“I’ll get this place fixed up while you’re gone. That way it’ll be here waiting for you if you ever want to come back.” Which he hoped would be a hell of a lot sooner rather than later. Like in the next twenty-four hours. Or better yet, she’d skip coming here altogether and would instead just move into his place—and get married.
“That’s really sweet of you, but I won’t really be able to come back here if the bears are still hunting me. Actually…you should have it. You’ve gone well out of your way to help me, and…it’s not like I could just sell it, right? You know…what with the mountain being all shifters and stuff.” She shrugged and turned to him, still looking incredibly unsure about her decision.
“The cabin is yours and will always be yours, June bug. But…if you have any hope of getting off this mountain in one piece, you’re going to need to hurry.” It was nothing but the truth. If there were any bears in the area, they’d pick up on her scent before long.
She nodded and grabbed an empty duffel bag out of the closet, before heading up to the loft to grab her things. Greyson headed out to the front porch to keep an eye out and pick up on any scents that might drift in on the breeze. So far there was nothing much out there but the typical wildlife that normally lived in these woods, and though things felt a bit quiet, no doubt du
e to his presence, they weren’t eerily so.
He turned and stepped back inside when he heard her coming down the stairs. “Ready?”
Fucking hell…he couldn’t believe he was going to let her walk away from him. He just had to hope that her panic about getting married to him would subside in the face of real danger. And with luck, she’d figure out just how dangerous things were for her before she got that sexy body of hers shredded to a bloody pulp.
“I guess I’m ready.” Her gaze darted up to meet his, and it was clear she was barely holding it together. “Although…I don’t suppose I could get your number? You know…just to let you know I’m okay…in case you’re worried.”
Worried? He was going to be fucking out of his mind.
Greyson pulled out his phone. “What’s your number, sweetheart?” He punched in the numbers as she rattled them off, and then dialed her cell, hanging up once it started ringing. “There—now you have my number, and I have yours.”
She double-checked her cell, and then tucked it into the pocket of her jeans. “I guess I should get going then.”
“I guess you should.”
***End of Part One. To find out what happens next, continue with Part Two, which is now available for pre-order. For updates on new releases, please sign up for my newsletter. Wishing you all the best. — Cali MacKay ***
Have you read them all?
Book Series by Cali MacKay
The Billionaire’s Seduction Series
Passion
Obsession
Scandal
Temptation
The Billionaire’s Temptation Series
Seduction and Surrender
Submission and Surrender
Love and Surrender
Deception and Surrender
Ravage and Surrender
Forbidden – The Townsend Twins Series
Part 1
Part 2
The Silver Moon Pack Series
Greyson
Part 1
Part 2 (more parts soon to be added)
A Maine Island Romance Series
One Sweet Summer
For Love or Treasure
Sweet Danger
The Highland Heart Series
The Highlander’s Hope
A Highland Home
A Highland Heist
Also available as a boxset (The Highland Heart Collection)
The Pirate and the Feisty Maid Series
Part One, Two and Three only available as a boxset
Jack—A Grim Reaper Romance (prequel- For One Last Kiss