by M. L. Briers
“I didn’t mean to suggest that you…”She rushed out, her eyes flicking up towards him as he softened his stance, realising that he’d made her feel badly again. Damn it. He growled at himself internally. Wincing for his own stupidity.
“Perhaps we should go back to talking about sex…”The moment he said it he wanted to bit his tongue off.
“Sex?”Macy gawked at him and he wanted to bury his head in the back garden. If only it wasn’t a useless vessel that was being controlled by his penis he might feel better right about now, but with his mate gawking at him as if he intended to throw her down on the table and have his wicked way with her… if only… he felt like a complete fool. “Wait til you’re asked.” Macy snapped and he lulled away from her, back to his side of the table.
“I meant…”He started as he slide onto his chair and she skewered him with her gaze.
“Oh I know what you meant.”She assured him. Deciding that however sexy those puppy dog eyes of his were, she still needed to focus her attention elsewhere, so a careful inspection of the kitchen was in order. The only trouble was as soon as he shifted in his seat her eyes flicked back to him, like they were a helpless pin and he was a giant bloody magnet.
“That’s the thing with us country folk, we like sex.”He offered on a wolfish grin and she took a minute to try to contain her smile, but it didn’t work.
“Don’t we all…”She offered back to him, aware of his attempt to lighten the moment with his playfulness and deciding that might be the way to go. A little flirting was never a bad thing, in fact that’s how her and Link became friends, so it didn’t mean it had to go any further…
“Good to know, stored for future reference.”He retorted and she chuckled. The sound was music to his ears and he wanted to curl up in that sound and never leave.
“That’s something that you’ll never need…”And time to bat it into the long grass, far, far away.
“Don’t be too sure. I can be very charming when the mood takes me.”He gave her his best Alpha smile. A toothy grin that seemed to light up those sexy eyes and make him even more desirable, or so he’d been told.
“I’d hate to think what that looks like.”She was beating his ego down, but very gently, just enough to put him in his place without destroying his manhood, or that’s what she liked to tell herself. But she wasn’t lying; she would hate to think what charming was on him, because then he might just be her chocolate cake, the one she was unable to resist. On the other hand he might look and act like a complete dick, which would be more helpful to her batting average.
“Would you like me to woo you, Macy?”He didn’t have a clue where to start. He didn’t normally woo women. He found he had never needed too before. His self assuredness, his natural Alpha-ness had always made women gravitate towards him.
God yes…she thought and kind of swooned internally at the idea. Taking flirting to a whole new level with him would be fun… and dangerous, very, very dangerous, she was certain of that.
“No, I’m pretty sure you can be Mr-Smooth when you want to be, but I’m not looking for Mr-Right-Now…”If I was you would certainly be on the top of the list…she added in thought only. It would be a very short list; in fact his name was the only one that came to mind, along with that hard, muscled body and his giant p….
“What about Mr Right? Do you have an eye out for him, perhaps?”He could scent her desire in the air. It called to him like a damn echo in his mind and body, pulling and tugging at his instincts to do something about it. But what? Vault over the table, drag her against him, and show her that he was her Mr-Everything? That would go down like a lead balloon, he was sure.
Mr- Right, Mr-Right Now, Mr-Sexy Eyes, Mr…Oh Lord, what was wrong with her brain? Maybe she had an itch that needed scratching, maybe she had been in the desert without sustenance for too long and here he was, offering her a lifeline, offering to bring her back to life, and mouth to mouth with him would be heaven… Damn, but she needed a cold shower and a warn bed. Then she might not want to climb over the table, drop down onto his lap, and do all of those things that very bad girls do that felt very good…
She wasn’t sure if she actually whimpered out loud, but when her eyes flicked to his and his head tilted to the right, his eyes narrowing in on her like a damn bird of prey, and his tongue moistened his lips… well, she was sure that she had. For one long moment she considered face planting the table, mortified, and then she did the next best thing…
Macy jumped to her feet and raced out of the kitchen…
‘Mine.’ His beast roared within him.
“Oh crap, no.”He breathed out as he jumped to his feet. The legs of his chair scrapped the floor as if the wood roared its protest at being propelled backwards by the backs of his knees, and he took off after her. His natural instinct to hunt her down and claim her was fighting with his humanity to protect his mate from himself…
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘Mine.’
“Don’t run.”He growled out as he burst through the kitchen door into the living room and saw her moving fast towards the hallway, just as Rick came through the door with a grin on his face.
Macy saw that her exit was blocked and turned on her heels, skidding sideways as her feet tried for traction on the floor… Rick caught sight of his Alpha’s eyes, fixed on his mate as she scurried away from him and knew exactly what was going through the man’s brain…
“Oh hell!” Rick growled out, catching the Alpha’s attention for one long moment as his mate fled up the stairs.
A moment’s hesitation was all Rick needed to launch himself towards the Alpha. The weight of his body took Rudd off his feet like an experienced rugby player, as both men twisted and turned in mid air, Rudd trying to escape the grip of his Beta, and Rick trying to keep his alpha from the biggest mistake of his life.
Both bodies crashed to the floor with a room shaking thud. Growls and groans filled the air, as the sound of an upstairs door slamming drew both of their attention.
Rudd gripped hold of Rick’s upper arms and tossed him aside as he scrambled to get to his feet, but Rick was already rolling back up and he body slammed him back down onto the carpet beneath him again…
Jack walked through the front door and propelled it backwards into her mate. She knew he was there, and she knew she wouldn’t do any damage, well not permanent damage, but still, they say it’s the thought that counts, she grinned to herself as she heard the dull thud as he caught the door, hopefully with his thick head, but she kept on going, even though she would like to have seen it for herself.
Jack’s ears caught the muffled sounds from the living room and she rushed inside, sure that it wasn’t the Alpha mating, because she’d heard enough grown men fighting over the years to know the difference.
Her eyes took in the sight of her Alpha and Rick rolling on the ground trading body blows and she raised her brows in surprise as she growled out a warning to them.
“She ran from him…”Rick growled out.
Nothing more needed to be said. Jack was on her Alpha in an instant. Straddling his waist as she yanked one thick, muscled arm back against the carpet as Rick wrestled the other to the floor.
“Need a hand?”Link mused from in front of the staircase. He was blocking the way to where he knew Macy had gone. Her heartbeat was racing like a frigging freight train from upstairs and her scent was powerful, as if she had just past that way, as he watched the Lycans subdue their Alpha.
“Mine.”Rudd growled from beneath the tangle of bodies that struggled to hold him in place.
“Not right now she’s not. You need a mood improver first.”Link informed him, watching as the Alpha lifted one arm up only for it to be thumped back into place.
“She’s my mate…”He ground out between clenched teeth. Drawing on every last bit of strength he had within him to force both his Beta’s backwards.
Link appeared in front of him just as he managed to get his whole torso off the ground to an almost sitting
position. One punch in the face and the alpha collapsed onto the floor, out for the count like a sleeping baby.
“I said we had it covered.”Jack growled up at him before she clambered off her Alpha’s body and stood toe to toe with her mate, growling up at him.
Link didn’t move. Now was not the time to back off. If he showed weakness here he would never get her approval.
“It was an executive decision. Live with it.”Link growled back down at her and saw her eyes narrow and her body snap to attention. The She-Wolf within her rearing its head at his challenge. “Macy’s safe, the Alpha’s sleeping, and when he wakes his mood will have improved.”Link finished. The curl of his lips told her that he was ready to accept anything she wanted to throw at him.
For one long moment Jack was torn between snapping out her claws and ripping into him and throwing her body around his in much the same way she had the Alpha’s, but with a far more rewarding outcome.
A low roar of frustration tore from her lips as she took one long step back and spun on her heels, stalking away from her mate, and taking out her annoyance on the kitchen door as she kicked it open and disappeared through the opening.
“That went well.”Link growled out.
“Better than you think. If that had been anyone else…”Rick shook his head and motioned that she would have cut his throat from ear to ear. That warmed his heart and brought a smile to his lips.
He nodded in appreciation of the situation. And then noted the Alpha stir next to Rick. “Think he’s been out long enough or do I get to hit him again?”Link smirked as the Beta growled up at him.
Rick could understand why Link had gone it, and he wasn’t sorry that he had, holding the man down had been akin to riding a bucking bronco, but still it was his Alpha that the vampire was taking pot shots at, surely that was wrong?
Rudd flew up into a sitting position as soon as his brain allowed and his eyes flicked open. Taking in the vampire in front of him, and his Beta at his side he blew out a long breath of awareness at just how close he had been to losing control with his mate to his wolf.
“Damn woman ran from me.”He growled up at Link and the vampire just raised his brows and nodded. “Thanks for taking me down.”He added. His hand rubbing over the red mark on his jaw as the pain started to subside.
“We really need to tell her what’s going on. Before someone gets themselves… mauled or worse.”Rick growled out. He was a young man by Lycan standards, and yet today for the very first time he felt a lot older than he looked.
“I’d like to be present for that conversation.”Link spat out. He knew Macy, and although she liked to believe in all things supernatural, he knew that when push came to shove it would scare the hell out of her to know that there was something more to the myths and legends that were alive and well and in the same house as her.
“How badly do you think she’ll take it?”Rudd thought it was better to be forewarned and therefore forearmed against any possible outcome. The last thing he needed was his mate flaking out and running again. He’d been lucky this time that his beta’s and the vampire had been there to stop him, but next time he might very well be alone with his mate and that wouldn’t end well for anyone.
“On a scale of one to ten…”Link surmised as he turned his eyes to the ceiling and pondered for a long moment. “They’ll be a tsunami on the other side of the world by morning.”Link added thinking that the far reaching ripple scenario should give them all pause for thought over how and what to tell Macy. It might not be that bad, but he wasn’t going to bet on it.
“Crap.”Rudd growled out and Rick sat back on his heels.
“Maybe the vampire should do it.”He offered after a long moment’s thought and both men turned to look at him. “Well if she freaks out you can do that thing you do…”
“That thing I do? That’s so descriptive. Don’t ever become a reviewer.”Link offered, dripping sarcasm from every word, even though he knew that the Lycan wasn’t wrong. But why did he need to stick his head in the lion’s mouth? Didn’t he have enough to cope with right now? His own mate hated him, although it felt as if she might be warming slightly, but then she seemed to be like the damn planets weather, her moods went in cycles, and nobody had a clue what she was going to do next.
“Well I suppose we could let her mate do it and hope she doesn’t run again…”Rick surmised. “And if she does run, we could hope we are there to flying tackle him to the ground before he…”
“Yeah, Rick, I get it.”Link growled out. Patience wasn’t a virtue he had ever had as a human, but as a vampire he had even less, unless it was where women were concerned, primarily Macy and now his mate, for both women he would crawl on his hands and knees around the damn planet if they needed him too…He just hoped neither one would be spiteful enough of ask it of him.
Link followed his nose and found Macy behind the bathroom door. He almost sighed in relief that she couldn’t possibly barricade herself inside that room, so if push came to shove and he needed to get in there it would just be a matter of removing the door, or punching a body sized shape in the wall if he got anymore annoyed, but he didn’t think it would go that far.
He tapped his knuckles against the hollow wood of the door. “Are you going to hog the bathroom all night?”He teased through the thin wood, easy to punch through, he thought, should push come to shove.
The sound of the lock clicking off made him smile with knowing she still responded to him, even though she had a mate now. The door cracked open and a hand shot out, her fingers wrapped around his arm and as she pulled the door open, she yanked him inside and slammed it closed behind him.
“Now you want to have sex in a toilet with me?”He teased, raising his brows suggestively and giving her a coy look and she punched him hard or hard for her, in the shoulder.
“What is it with you men and sex? And thanks for leaving me alone with that…”She bit down on a string on curse words. But it wasn’t Rudd, it was her, she was attracted to him and she’d had to get the hell out of there before she dropped to her damn knees and begged him to…
“Man.”Link bit out in mock disgust and she sighed and half heartedly punched him again. Link looked down at his shoulder and sighed.
“Keep punching me and I’m going to charge you gym rates.”He informed her, lightening her mood and bringing her hands to her hair where she lost her fingers in the silken strands and deliberately pulled and tugged in frustration.
“I loathe him…”She breathed out and when Link gave her a curious look she threw her hands up in the air and dropped them to her thighs in defeat. “Only I don’t, he’s just got something about him that’s just sooooooo…”She held that word for a very long time, her brain trying to work out why the hell she was so attracted to a man that was nowhere near her normal type, or what she would call her normal type, not that she had one… well, loser perhaps, but apart from that…
“God!”She exclaimed. “My brain hurts.”She announced to Link and he nodded in sympathy.
“I can see how it would.”He informed her taking her hand in his and yanking her in front of him, where he drew a serious look on his face, or as serious as he could manage after hundreds of years of practiced sarcasm.
“Something’s wrong isn’t it?” She asked, but didn’t wait for an answer before declaring, “I knew it. I knew there was something fishy about that man, tell me, what’d he do?”She had a million scenario’s running through her head, from hit man for the mob, he had the look of a natural born killer, she told herself, to diamond smuggler, and nothing in between was of the legally good variety.
“Well, let me tell you a little story. We may not have the camp fire and the marshmallows, but still, it’s a worthy tale.” Link prepared himself for the worst.
The high pitched scream could have shattered the windows if it had gone on for any longer than it did. It almost deafened the two Lycans and they were sitting in the living room downstairs listening to the parts of Link’s little tale tha
t they could hear. But when Macy’s scream boomed out through the house, Rudd was up and taking the stairs four at a time with Rick hot on his heels.
“Macy!” Rudd bellowed on a protective rumble of a growl and just as he went to smash through the bathroom door it was yanked open and he was propelled into the bathroom, slipping along on the damn mat on the floor until he crashed into the sink.
The long deep menacing growl tore from his lips as he whipped his body back around, snarling his anger for Link, even though he didn’t know what the hell was going on.
“We hadn’t gotten to that part yet. But ok.”Link groaned out.
Rudd’s head tore around to where her scent was fiercely fearful. He found his mate, standing in the corner of the bathtub with the shower curtain clutched to her chest like a protective barrier between her and the rest of the world.
Her eyes were wide and her face had lost almost all of its colour, and her bottom lip was quivering in fear. Rudd took a long step towards her and she yelped, so he stopped and put his hands up in front of him, showing her that he wasn’t going to hurt her.
Rudd saw the way her body was shaking. Head to toe she looked as if she’d been dunked in ice water. “What did you do?”Rudd bit out the side of his mouth towards Link and Link managed a shrug.
“She wouldn’t believe me, so I showed her my fangs…”Link offered and Rudd’s head snapped around on his neck towards him.
“What? Are you insane?”He growled and Link shrugged again. His head snapped back towards his mate as she let out the smallest whimper.
“Now she believes.”Link offered. He’d never had to persuade a human that he was a vampire before, and it hadn’t gone well…
‘Don’t be a pratt…’She’d laughed.
‘I swear it.’