by Mason, Marie
“Hi.” She looked out of her small cubicle to make sure no one was watching. It wouldn’t do for her fellow workers to see her drool into the phone.
“I’m glad you answered, baby.”
The endearment made her feel as if she’d been sprinkled with stardust. Alive and excited. Crap, how did she cave so easily?
Then she frowned, Quinn Blackwood was the type of man who handed out more endearments than the Easter Bunny gave out chocolate eggs. You are nothing special, Paige. Yeah, they’d had a good time—try still pussy-clenching—good time. For one night. So maybe it could be two, if you don’t blow it, that throbbing piece of womanhood urged. Blow, sex. Quinn’s cock. Paige Matthews, get your mind out of the gutter. “Whatever.”
Quinn laughed and Paige let a smile lift the corners of her lips. She did sound like a surly teenager. “I told you I’d call you, Paige. I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner.”
She wasn’t about to tell him she’d waited anxiously all day and had planned on having a Ben and Jerry binge once she got home.
“I had to go out of town this morning, so we can’t go out tonight.”
“Really? Isn’t that excuse number forty-eight in the bro-code book?”
“Paige.” Mr. Growly of last night was back and dang if her body didn’t respond. She had to clench her thighs together against the rush of desire spreading through her.
“Listen to me. It looks like I’m not going to be home until very late Saturday night. Come to dinner at my parent’s house on Sunday.”
Paige’s heart skipped a beat. It quickly settled back down. Deb had invited her to Sunday dinner before. Quinn’s invitation meant nothing. “I don’t think so.”
“Monday?”
“I’m busy.” Paige didn’t allow herself to hesitate. She’d find something to do even if it was cleaning out her kitchen cabinets.
“A date?” His voice was rough as if he didn’t like the idea of her going out with anyone else. She’d never inspired jealousy in a man before. If that, indeed, was what his tone was implying. When she didn’t answer he gave a little chuff.
“Tuesday then.”
“No.”
“Wednesday? It’ll be our one week anniversary.”
She rolled her eyes even though he couldn’t see them. No man celebrated a one week anniversary. Plus, it implied either desperation—which she was pretty sure he wasn’t—or manipulation. Either way, she wasn’t falling for it. “No.”
“Give a guy a break, Paige.” His tone sounded strained. She was proud of herself when she didn’t give in to her impulse to tell him she’d go out with him wherever and whenever he wanted.
“Lunch then. Any day next week.” Before she could answer, he continued. “Hell, I can already hear the ‘no’. Monday. You’re having lunch with me Monday, Paige. I won’t take no for an answer. I really want to see you, baby.” His voice dropped an octane and her nipples tightened against the lace of her bra. “I need to see you.”
She chewed on her fingernail, careful not to ruin the polish. “Look, I had a good time last night—”
“Me too, baby,” he broke in before she could finish.
“It was just a date.” Yeah, that’s what she’d had, a blind date with a bear. Nothing more.
“It was more than a date, Paige, and we both know it.” His tone was hard and commanding. And sexy. “I made you come just—”
“Quinn!”
“It was a date I want to repeat. I want to give you an orgasm with something besides my mouth. Or at least my mouth on a different part of your body. I bet you taste so fucking sweet.”
Her body trembled at the naughty images his words evoked. She was torn. Quinn was looking for a mate. She was looking for something long term, but she wasn’t his true mate and there was no way this would lead to anything but heartbreak, for her.
“Just another date, Paige. Another date with a bear,” his tone was coaxing. “Say, yes.”
Her inner self—the one that longed for love—beat back her logical self that said the bear shifter would wind up breaking her heart. “Yes, I’ll have lunch with you Monday.” Maybe a few days away from his magnetic energy would give her some perspective on the feelings he aroused.
The remainder of the week and the weekend went by slowly. Achingly, frustratingly, slowly. By Saturday afternoon, Paige was cursing herself for being a fool. If she hadn’t been so stubborn she would be seeing Quinn tomorrow.
Today, instead of inviting Ben and Jerry over again, she’d invited Betty. Just as she was scraping the brownie batter into the pan, her phone rang. No doubt it was Deb checking on her once more. “I told you, I don’t want to come over.”
“You damn well better not be going over to someone else’s place.” Quinn’s voice came over the line loud and clear.
“Quinn.” She hoped he couldn’t hear the rapid increase in her heart rate. “I thought it was Deb.”
“What’s my sister been nagging you about?” He tried to hide the relief in his voice that she hadn’t been going out with someone else. No way, no how. She was his, every luscious inch.
“She said she’d go bar hopping with me.”
“What!”
“And she said she’d get Ryland and Ryker to be my dates.” Wow, Paige thought, she’d never really heard a bear roar before, but that’s exactly what Quinn did. She held the phone away and hoped she hadn’t suffered any permanent impairment.
“Paige. Paige.”
She eased the phone back against her ear to hear him calling her name. “That was some, umm, roar.”
“Don’t you dare go out with my brothers. Or my sister for that matter.”
“And why can’t I go out with your brothers? They’re very good looking.” It was really kind of fun to tease the bear. The possessiveness she heard in his voice had her stomach clenching. She’d never really been wanted. An orphan before she was ten, she’d been an only child. Her father and mother had also been only children. She’d spent six months in a group home while the state had tracked down a great aunt on her mother’s side who had finally agreed to take custody of her. She shuddered, thinking about that time in her life. It had been awful. Now, to have someone actually seem to care about her was wonderful. Her last two boyfriends—make that her only two boyfriends—had never expressed that much concern about her, much less jealousy if another man had looked at her. At times, she’d gotten the impression that both had wished someone else would come along and take her off their hands.
“Paige, let me make something very clear to you.” Again, that gravelly voice that did things to her insides she couldn’t explain. “You are mine.”
Paige’s heart stalled then galloped at full speed. A minute later it slowed down to a realistic rhythm. “Quinn, I’m not your mate. You don’t have to pretend.”
“What the fuck?” She heard noises in the background that sounded like large, angry males. “Damn it, I’ve got to go. The Council has reconvened and I need to be in there. We have to talk, Paige.”
“No, we don’t, Quinn. I know where I stand and I’m okay with it.”
“Paige—”
“Go to your meeting. I’ll see you Monday.” She hung up on him, a growl echoing in her ear.
Quinn couldn’t believe the woman had hung up on him. He heard his name being called again and glanced over his shoulder. The members of the Council were entering the chamber room. The evidence he’d presented hadn’t been the best. A human court of law would never have let the complaint go this far. As Marcum had pointed out to the Council, anyone could have sabotaged the concrete mix. While they believed Quinn when he said jackal shifters had been on his property, again, there was no way of knowing which jackals. The scent had certainly not belonged to Marcum. The man was too smart for that.
As everyone poured back into the meeting room, he wished he’d taken Ryker’s advice and let Ryland handle this. If he had, he could have already had Paige. Many, many times.
“Mr. Blackwood, we’re ready t
o begin.” The chairman of the Council, Larson Hart, called him to the front of the room. The man was a wolf shifter who ran a large pack in California.
“Mr. Marcum.”
Quinn tried not to sneer as the other man stepped forward.
“While this Council agrees that something is going on at your construction site, Mr. Blackwood, you have given us no hard evidence that Mr. Marcum is responsible.”
Quinn knew it had been a long shot to convince the Council to punish Marcum. That didn’t mean he had to like the Council’s ruling. “There were jackals on the site. The consequences of sabotaging the concrete mix could have resulted in harm or even death. To humans.” He wanted to hammer home that point. If a shifter owned construction company had caused the injury or death of a human, it would have given some humans another weapon to use in their prejudice campaign against shifters.
“We fully understand the implications. We suggest that you obtain better security on your site.” This from the hyena representative. Hyenas were just a step above jackals on the shifter food chain.
Quinn’s chuff of warning was acknowledged by Hart. He’d met the man before and liked him. He was fair and dealt out justice swiftly. Right now, however, he wasn’t Quinn’s favorite man.
“Mr. Blackwood this Council does not find sufficient evidence to support your claim of sabotage by Mr. Marcum.”
The jackal shifter smiled at Quinn and he had a difficult time holding back his bear. He’d gain nothing by shifting and tearing out the man’s throat. He’d be put down and Marcum would have won. Besides, he now had the safety and well-being of Paige to consider.
“However, Mr. Marcum,” the chairman continued, “this Council rules that since you, in the past, have boasted that all jackals in Atlanta are part of your pack, you will make restitution to Blackwood Brothers Construction for the cost of replacing the concrete. And the cost for any delays that may have caused Mr. Blackwood.”
“Now wait just a damn minute.”
The wolf didn’t allow Marcum to talk. “The judgment of this Council if final. If there are rogues in your territory, I suggest you take care of them.” The wolf smiled letting everyone in the room know he was a true predator. “If not, the Council will have no choice except to back the Blackwoods and allow them to deal with any jackals they find on their property. Anyway, they deem fit.”
Quinn hid a grin and breathed a sigh of relief at the Council’s findings. Now he could go home and love some sense into his foolish mate. There was no doubt she was his true mate and it was about time she realized it.
CHAPTER FOUR
Paige parked her car in front of the official looking trailer of Blackwood Brothers Construction. Painted on the side was the company logo, a large grizzly standing on its hind legs, roaring. She shivered. Was that how Quinn looked when he shifted? Judging by his size while in human form, it wouldn’t surprise her if he stood over nine feet and weighed over a thousand pounds as a fully shifted bear. Should she be afraid? Now that she’d had a taste of him, she wanted another. And another. And another. She nibbled on her fingernail as she contemplated what to do. Go or stay.
In the passenger seat was a red tote containing the food she’d made for lunch. After Deb had called on Sunday and coerced the information from her that Quinn had finally called and asked her out for lunch, Paige had asked her what his favorite foods were and spent Sunday evening searching the internet for salmon recipes.
Today, she’d left work early enough to go back to her apartment and grill it just before their date. Hopefully, it had stayed warm in the heated carrier.
“Hello.” She jumped in her seat as a voice sounded outside her car door. Even though her window was rolled up, she heard the deep, masculine voice clear as a bell. It was one of the twins. She couldn’t tell which one. Only Ryland had ever visited Deb at the office, but she’d only spoken to him once.
The man was as big as Quinn, but not as handsome, at least not to her. She knew many, many women would find the man adorable. His hair was a light brown, lighter than either Deb’s or Quinn’s. With his sunny good looks, he reminded her of a surfer, happy and carefree. Maybe that was the difference between the brothers. While this man looked adorable, Quinn’s expression was more somber and serious. Before she could protest, he had the driver’s side door of her car open and she was standing beside him on the graveled lot.
“Hello,” he said again. “I hope you’re here to see me. I think we’ve met before. My name’s Ryland.”
Quinn’s bear stirred inside him as he heard a car pull up outside the trailer. The animal had been restless all morning, impatient for Paige to arrive. He pushed away the reports he’d been working on all morning. An inspector was coming by sometime this afternoon for an impromptu review of their records. He rose from his chair and walked to the window. As he stepped outside, Quinn watched as his brother helped her from the car. The bear inside him rose on its hind legs at the sight of another man’s hand on his mate. It was already agitated that the woman didn’t carry his scent to warn other unattached males away. Furious with the man that she didn’t carry their mark. Under his breath, he muttered something rude and succinct. He felt like an adolescent again, trying to deal with hormones that had suddenly gone haywire. He’d been all fingers and thumbs the entire day and twice had to remind himself to pay attention to his job.
Even though the man touching his mate was his brother, a man who would protect the woman with his last dying breath, all the bear knew was another male was poaching on his territory. Ryland was the same age as Paige. Not that age mattered to a shifter, a true mate was a true mate. Quinn was older, harsher than his younger brother. Maybe too dominate for her.
No one in his family could be called homely and his twin brothers were the best looking of the Blackwood siblings. Of course, his little brother might not look so good to a woman without his front teeth he thought darkly.
As he walked toward the talking couple, he wondered if Paige knew twins ran in bear shifter families. He imagined her belly swollen with his cubs and he hardened thinking of planting them inside her. Then his knees threatened to buckle when he thought of her giving birth to two shifter bear cubs. She might be a curvy woman, but she was still human. A frail, tiny human. That thought was beginning to haunt him.
“Paige.” The rumbled sound of her name had both of them turning around. He knew his tone carried more than a hint of aggression. When he was close enough, he placed himself between her and his brother. His bear was trying to break through to protect its mate, to claim its mate. So close, he could feel the heat of the animal against his skin.
When Ryland folded his arms across his chest, Quinn knew his brother wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. He made a quick introduction. “Paige this is my little brother, Ryland. Paige, this is Ryland.” The words my woman were left unsaid. His tone and stance pretty much said it all.
Ryland just smiled and continued to stand there.
“Don’t you have somewhere you need to be?” He wanted his brother gone and Paige in his arms.
“Not really.” Again, the imitation of a statue.
He let loose a little roar. His brother, also being an apex predator, responded to the challenge with a roar of his own before smiling. He knew why Quinn was acting like the territorial grizzly that he was. His mate was in the presence of another unmated male. He hadn’t wanted to introduce her to his family this way. The Blackwood bear clan could be a little overwhelming.
“I can come back later, if this is bad time.” Paige spoke breaking the unspoken challenge between the two males.
“No!” they both cried out in unison, causing her to step back.
“Shit.” Ryland immediately lost his challenging stance. “I didn’t mean to scare her.” His voice was so low only Quinn heard him.
Despite the sincerity of his apology, Quinn wanted nothing more than to take off Ryland’s head and hand it to Paige as a trophy. “Lot of good that does me now.”
Ryland e
ased himself away from the couple. He wasn’t stupid, he saw the killing glint in his brother’s eyes, knew the restraint, brother or not, it was taking the other bear not to shift and pound his ass. It didn’t, however, stop him from yanking his brother’s chain one more time before he left.
“It was a pleasure meeting you, Paige. If you ever get tired of big brother here, let me know. Ryker and I would be more than happy to give you some double pleasure.” With a wink, he was gone, the sound of Quinn’s low-throated snarl filling the air.
Once he had his bear tethered again, Quinn turned to Paige. Immediately his cock became untethered, springing to life. “Hi.”
She didn’t return his greeting and his heart plummeted to his feet. If his dickhead brother had messed this up for him, they’d still be looking for pieces of his body a year from now.
“I’m glad you decided to come.” Quinn eyed her compact car and frowned. “Do you mind if we take my truck. This seems a little small.” He smiled as he said it, not wanting to hurt her feelings. The car was cute, just not big enough to hold a bear shifter with any amount of comfort.
“I brought lunch. I thought maybe we could eat here since you just got back and might not have a lot of time.”
“Baby, I’ve got all the time in the world for you.” Quinn flashed her another smile and Paige thought she’d melt into a gooey pile of desire.
He spied the tote in the front seat and opened the door, pulling it out. He brought it to his nose and groaned. “Salmon. My favorite.” His eyes skimmed over her. “Well, my second favorite thing to eat.”
Paige blushed a fiery red.
He just grinned at her embarrassment. “Are you afraid of heights?”
“Umm, no.”
“Great. Wait right here.” He put the tote on the hood of her car and hurried away, taking the steps to the trailer two at a time. He was back as speedily as he’d left, a large blue blanket in his hands. “I have something I want to show you.”
Paige laughed softly. How could she not? His upbeat personality was contagious.