by Eve Langlais
Well, yes, as a matter of fact she could. She could help him by letting him gather her into his arms, bend her back, and plunder those luscious lips and maybe nibble on that throat, have a little suck at the skin. Perhaps leave a little bite to mark the spot.
Bite.
Now, most men might have shied away from wanting to leave a permanent mark on a strange woman. But this woman was his. Earmarked by fate. Handed to him wrapped in track pants and a T-shirt that read, Mine. Okay, so it actually featured a princess making a rude gesture. In his mind though, he could totally picture it.
He might have stared overlong without talking. His brothers weren’t there to slap him and tell him to stop freaking out the pretty girl. It caused her brow to knit, adding to her cuteness.
“I said can I help you? On second thought, I don’t care why you’re here. Whatever it is, I’m not interested.” She went to slam the door, and he snapped out of his stupor long enough to insert a hand in the door.
Crunch. Apparently his fleshy doorstopper wouldn’t stop her from slamming his fingers. Repeatedly. And when he didn’t remove them, she threw herself against the door in an attempt to ram it shut.
Ouch. Not something he uttered aloud. Hello, he was a bear, not a puny man.
“Are you done trying to amputate my fingers?”
“Take. Them. Out. Then,” she huffed as she kept pushing at the door.
“Not until we talk.” And maybe kiss. He wasn’t averse to groping either.
“I don’t talk to crazy dudes at my door.”
“I’m not crazy; I’m Greek.” The statement gave him plenty of leeway to behave. Such as playing the part of arrogant alpha male.
“Go away.” She reared back and thumped the door.
She’ll hurt herself. He couldn’t allow that. He withdrew his fingers and the door slammed shut. A loud click sounded as it was bolted too.
A grin stretched his face. Playing hard to get. He loved a challenge.
Knocking, he waited. And waited. When she didn’t reply, he leaned close. “I know you’re there. I can hear you breathing.”
“You cannot.”
Actually, he could, but he could see why a cute little human like herself wouldn’t understand his special power.
“I am sorry if I startled you.” In his defense, she startled him first.
“Apology accepted. Now go away.”
“I can’t. I need to talk to you.” Talk, touch, taste. Possibly in reverse order.
“I have nothing to say to you.”
“I disagree.” They had many things to talk about, such as where they’d live after the wedding, how many cubs they’d have. He was thinking a half dozen but was open to more if she insisted.
Another knock only netted him some heavy breathing. Hers not his. She too found this whole courtship exciting.
Since she didn’t seem inclined to open the door, he pulled out his lock picks. It might seem like an odd thing to carry around, if you didn’t know his family. Usually he’d have even more tools, however the airport frowned on so many things these days; crowbars, machetes, blowtorches. Explaining he had to use them in his quest for new flavors of honey, straight from the hive, failed to sway them.
The basic lock didn’t take long to pick and keeping the tips of his tools in the hole meant she couldn’t reengage it. A twist of the handle saw the door move only an inch before she slammed against it.
“I’m coming in,” he announced.
“Oh no you’re not,” she snarled.
Did she dare him?
I accept.
Palms against the painted panel, he shoved it open with ease. It wasn’t just his bear that was strong. Ark worked out too, and had the muscle to prove it. What he lacked, though, was a certain finesse with women.
The brute strength, while effective in gaining him entrance, had the unfortunate effect of sending the woman—his mate—stumbling. He could hear his mother now. “Is that how we raised you?” Followed by a whack with her dish towel. “To bully women?” Snap. “The shame.” Yes the shame, because he’d just mistreated the woman he would spend his life with.
“I am terribly sorry.”
“You will be,” she snarled.
So cute. Everything about Jade was cute.
And just who was Ms. Jade Cadeux? He knew the basics; age twenty-seven, born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, but moved to New York City after the death of her mother. The only reason he knew that much was because she’d been arrested for possession of an illegal substance at eighteen while still living in Canada. It was enough to require a fingerprint on file that drew up her record with border services. A fingerprint that matched a partial print on the card he’d received.
One thing was for sure; he’d never met her before. When Stavros had emailed him a picture, Ark had not felt a spark of recognition. He blamed it on an awful DMV mug shot. Yet now, in person, while his bear might be grumbling and mumbling this woman belonged to them, the man did not recall a single thing about her at all, which meant he wasn’t her baby daddy … if she was even pregnant. He eyed her flat belly with skepticism.
“Get out,” she yelled.
“Or else what?” he asked, shutting the door, narrowly missing the first shoe aimed at his face and snatching the second midair. “You have excellent aim.” He wondered how she’d do at plate tossing. It was now a yearly event at Aunt Karina’s summer barbecue, and it was time someone dethroned his cousin Mabel. “I get the impression you’re a tad agitated.”
“A tad? I am very agitated, you thug,” she huffed. “Get out of my apartment. Right now. Or I’m calling the cops.” She whirled and darted for a cell phone lying on a living room table.
“Is this how you want the story of how we met relayed to the children?”
“What children? Stay away from me, you psycho.” She brought up the phone, and her fingers scrabbled on the screen to enter a passcode.
It took but a moment to stop her from dialing, his large hands circling her wrists and prying them apart, forcing her to stop her frantic actions. He wasn’t quite sure how to calm her. When his mother got mad, his father bought her something. He’d not thought to bring a gift. Perhaps he could use words? That doctor on TV was always going on about talking. “I think we got off on the wrong foot.”
She stomped his foot. Since hers was bare, it didn’t do much.
“This might seem sudden, but if you hear me out—”
She kneed him but hit his thigh. His poor woman wore herself out trying to fight her probably overwhelming attraction to him. “You are going to hurt yourself. You need to calm yourself, koukla.”
“I’ll calm myself when you’re out of here,” she said with a snarl as she wrenched at his grip.
Much as he’d like to hold her forever, he let her go. Best to not overwhelm her with his magnificence too quickly.
“Why would I leave when you dared me to come? I got your card.”
“Card?” She froze. Brown eyes peered upward at him. “What’s your name?”
“Arkadios Pietro Matis. But my friends call me Ark.” And the women call me Dios, god, but that wasn’t something he felt he should share. Especially since his seduction days were now over. He was in the presence of his mate, the only woman he’d ever touch again.
“You know about the baby.”
“You mean there really is a baby?” His brows rose. It couldn’t be. For one, he was always so careful with his paramours. Not to mention he usually remembered sleeping with them. He didn’t recall this lady at all. If she did indeed carry an infant, it wasn’t his.
Which obviously put him in a big dilemma, especially considering the cards she’d sent to the other possible fathers. Most of them were related to him. If one of them were the father of her cub, then …
We’ll eat him. End of problem.
Seemed simple, but he could just see his mother having a fit over getting rid of one of his many cousins.
He could always send a message to Stavros and ad
vise him to tell the others she and the babe belonged to him. I will be her baby’s daddy.
Eep.
Who made that sound?
“Yes, there really is a baby. It’s why I sent the card,” she stated with an eloquent roll of her eyes.
“It was very unexpected.”
“Which explains why you’re here all pissed off.”
He arched a brow. “On the contrary, I am not angry in the least. I am delighted to have found you.” It called for a hug.
She danced out of his reach. “Good for you because I’m a little freaked out that you just showed up.”
“I’m spontaneous.” And he had long arms, which meant he got his bear hug. He lifted her off the floor and she sounded quite breathless when she said, “Put me down.”
“But I’m happy to see you.”
She pushed at his grip. “Would you let me go?”
No. Even he knew better than to say that out loud. “Yes I will let go, but only if you promise not to call the police.” His uncle might be a lawyer, but he charged an exorbitant fee whenever Ark needed help avoiding jail time. Uncle Jorgi didn’t believe in a family discount.
He deposited her again.
The fear in her subsided, and she angled her chin as she said, “Behave yourself or I’ll have your ass put behind bars.”
Such spunky spirit. Such a good match. He could see them having fun together. “Having me arrested will delay the wedding.”
Her mouth rounded. “You’re planning to get married because of the baby?”
“There is no other choice.” Even without the baby, he would marry her. She belonged to him.
For some reason those words, despite the lack of romance, softened her features. “I knew Ruby was wrong. Contacting you was the right thing to do. But just so you know, you don’t have to get married. It will be enough if you’re there for the baby. Maybe toss a couple bucks in each month to help out with costs.”
“Money is no issue.” The family had more than enough. “And I will be a part of the child’s life.” As if he would do any less. Family was everything, the one motto he and everyone else, except for maybe his crazy cousin Cole, lived by.
“You’re not what I expected. Then again, I guess I didn’t really know what you’d be like.”
“What did you expect?”
Her lips twitched. “I didn’t expect you to show up.”
“Expectations are a dangerous thing.” And anticipation was pure torture. All he wanted was to draw this woman into his arms and plunder those lips.
“So I guess if you called in some favors you know who I am.”
Of course he did. You’re my mate. But he managed to hold those words back, given she regarded him still with suspicion. He’d have to sweeten her up first.
With honey.
Mmmm. Honey. The kind drizzled on her skin needing a good tongue lapping.
The door behind him suddenly opened and he whirled to see a woman with similar features as his mate, her hair loose and straight. Her features a little rounder, hair a little curlier, and sporting a giant pregnant belly.
The earth tilted and he heard himself query as if from far away, “Who is that?”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” gasped the woman he still held, the woman his gut still screamed was his mate. “That’s my sister, you asshole. The one you impregnated.”
A roaring noise entered his mind at that point as she continued to yell at him. She also resumed stomping his foot with her bare feet and trying to kick his shins.
He managed to ignore that craziness because, in that moment, only one thought kept paw-slapping him over and over. What cruel joke had the universe played? The woman he might have impregnated was the sister of his mate?
Talk about a honey of a clusterfuck.
CHAPTER 4
The big dude, Ark as he called himself, still sat on the couch staring at Ruby’s belly. He bore the look of a man struck with a wrecking ball.
“And you think it was me.” The third time he’d asked.
“Actually not just you. I never got the name of the guy I was with that night.” Ruby folded her hands over her belly. She bore a fierce, unapologetic look. “He hit the party dressed as a hot god and I was a kitty in heat.”
“Ruby!” Jade couldn’t help but exclaim, her cheeks hot.
“Well I was. I was horny and had a one-night stand. Get over it.”
“It’s not right,” she mumbled, aware of how she sounded but unable to stop herself. Jade had this funny belief in only being with the right man. A man she loved. It was why she’d been with only two guys in her life, and only after a long period of dating.
“You’re right. It was bad. Soooo bad,” her sister purred.
Jade cleared her throat and tried to bring them back to Ark and the fateful party. “So you don’t deny you were at that Halloween party, the one out in Beverly Hills?”
His brow furrowed and his shoulders sank. “Yeah. I was there.”
Her heart almost sank too. For some reason, despite knowing who this playboy was—the possible father of my sister’s kid—she couldn’t help her initial reaction upon seeing him. Instant molten attraction. Then annoyance as he’d manhandled her—gently manhandled she might add. Not once during his imprisonment of her hands had he ever actually exerted any pressure, and this despite her savage attempts to maim him.
The man oozed virility. She hated to even mentally admit it. Dude was totally not her type, and yet, at the same time, he was. Big, over six feet by a few inches. Like a giant tower—that I totally want to invade—with thick arms, a solid trunk, and powerful-looking thighs clearly defined by his khakis.
He possessed a swarthy complexion, with dark hair, thick brows, and stark features, very Mediterranean-looking and hot.
He was also extremely off-limits.
This could be the guy who impregnated Ruby. And the sad thing about it? Neither remembered a thing about the other.
“Did you hook up that night?”
He shrugged. “Yeah. I mean I guess.”
“I guess?”
“Most of us were pretty wasted.”
“Ditto what he said,” Ruby added, raising her hand. “Those gelatin shots were wicked good.”
“The tequila was even better,” he added with a shared grin.
Jade frowned at them both. “Can we stay on track here?”
“As my koukla wishes. I was there at that party, drinking heavily, which is why parts of the evening are a blur. But if I did get frisky, I guarantee I wore a rubber.”
“They’re not foolproof.” Jade couldn’t help but play devil’s advocate. “And you were dressed as Zeus.” Or as Ruby recalled, big-built dudes wearing togas, white wigs, and giant bushy white beards.
“Me and my cousins. We do it every year. It’s a family joke on account we’re Greek.”
“And do all of the men in your family not call a girl the day after?” Jade arched a brow.
He scratched his head. “Why would they?”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“You haven’t met my cousins. And I will add that I would never stoop to writing a number on my hand. I use my cell phone to store numbers.” He waggled it.
She held out her hand. “Let me see it.”
“Why?”
“To see if it’s in there.”
He handed it over. Even typed in the passcode for her. It took her but a few minutes to eye him. “It’s nothing but guys in there. Are you gay?”
“No.” He barked the word, but it didn’t change her appraising look. He grumbled. “My turn to ask questions. Such as, why are you only contacting us now and not earlier in the pregnancy?”
“I wasn’t planning on contacting you or any of the others,” Ruby admitted with a roll of her shoulders. “But Jade thought the daddy should know.”
“She did, did she, and why is that?” He narrowed his gaze on Jade, seeming inexplicably annoyed, which she couldn’t figure out.
W
hen he’d first arrived, he seemed all gung ho about doing the right thing and taking responsibility. Hell, he even said he would marry her sister. Now he acted as if he wanted nothing more than to find a way to ensure he wasn’t the daddy.
“That baby needs support.”
“So it’s about money?”
“No. It’s about doing the right thing for that child and giving it a father.” Jade crossed her arms. She missed out on having a daddy growing up and she didn’t want to see it happen to her nephew.
“Stavros was right. You want a daddy to pay child support.” He shook his head. “I’m going to need a paternity test, of course, to determine who the child belongs to before we do anything.”
“Are you going to tell the other guys?”
“Of course. They’ll probably also want to meet Ruby. Perhaps they will recall a certain night spent with a mocha kitten.”
The compliment didn’t sit well with Jade. “And if they don’t?”
“Once we prove via DNA this isn’t a scheme to get money then—”
She sucked in a breath. “Are you accusing us of blackmail?”
“Actually the correct term is ‘extortion.’”
“Get out.” She sprang from her chair and pointed to the door.
“Don’t worry, koukla. I am not shocked by your savvy financial sense. Rather pleased. My family doesn’t always obey the letter of the law either.”
“We are not crooks and we want nothing to do with you or your cousins if you are. Ruby was right. Contacting you was a bad idea. You need to leave.”
Instead, he leaned back and folded his big arms over his chest. “I don’t think it’s up to you to order me out.”
“My name on the lease. My rules.”
“Possibly my baby.” He pointed to Ruby’s stomach. “That trumps all your excuses.”
The reminder of what he might have done caused something in her to snap. She threw a remote. She didn’t even remember grabbing it. But he saw it coming and snatched it in midair.
“Are you going to throw things every time I say something you don’t like?”
“Probably.” Some people counted. Others screamed. She threw stuff, mostly shoes now since she no longer owned any knickknacks and she kept the knives in a childproof drawer. It took paying out of pocket to replace three cell phones to teach her to throw shoes instead of smart devices.