by Vivian Arend
She frowned. “Like what?”
“Being distracted by you.”
She shook her head as they took the corner at the far end of the yard and headed back to the starting position for the second lap. “How old are you?”
He paused. “Why?”
In spite of licking her lips and sending a shot of lust through his core, the expression in her eyes was friendly, not flirtatious. “I don’t rob cradles.”
Damn it. “I’m legal in all states and provinces.”
“You’re a baby. Cute, but a baby.”
“Is that why you wanted to crawl into bed with me when we met at the top of the stairs?” She stumbled, and he caught her quickly. “Shit. Sorry, that wasn’t very polite. True, but not very polite.”
“I did not want to—”
“Careful. Maggie told me you were the most honest and trustworthy person she’d ever met. Hate to ruin your reputation.”
She growled and he grinned. Feisty wench. He liked that in a woman.
“Fine. You’re a good-looking guy and yeah, I did picture tangling the sheets with you.” Hallelujah! “But you’re too young. I’m here for the wedding and that’s it.”
TJ tried to keep the image of them naked in bed from distracting him as they walked in silence for another few paces. Unfortunately he had a good imagination.
The too-young thing he could work around. The fact she was being stubborn? Oh, he loved a challenge.
“Stop it,” she whispered. Her voice was deep and husky, slipping like a caress over his already super-sensitive nerves.
“Stop what?”
She wiggled her hand on his arm. “That. You’re…rubbing me.”
Oops. He stilled his thumb from the circles he was tracing on the back of her hand. Seemed neither of them could resist touching each other, which only made sense as mates.
A faint flush covered her soft skin from the low neckline of her dress up to her hairline, and he had to look away before he did something too wolfish like drop her to the ground and lick her until she screamed in pleasure.
“What happens after the ceremony?” Pam asked. “I forgot to check with Maggie to see if there was anything I needed to do.”
I take you home and make love to you all night long. “We head in, enjoy dinner, then I’m singing before the dance begins.”
“You sing?” There was a trace of something in her voice. Doubt?
“I sing. Are you surprised?”
“Not at all,” she lied.
TJ snorted. It was a deception he recognized easily. After too many years of being expected to screw things up, he knew exactly what someone meant when they spoke in that particular tone of voice.
“You want to join me for a few songs?” he teased.
She choked for a second. “Trust me, that would be a bad idea. In fact, for a wedding gift I’m considering swearing to Maggie to never attempt to sing in her presence again.”
“That bad, huh?”
“Put it this way, I can hit notes they haven’t invented yet.”
He chuckled and she joined him in laughing, and suddenly the wall she’d wedged between them crumbled a little.
They paced slowly, following Maggie and Erik on the final circle of the yard.
“So if you won’t sing, will you dance with me?” Surely he could keep his feet under him for long enough to dance without making a fool of himself. Of them both.
The grip she had on his arm tightened slightly. “I’ll consider it. Looks like there’s a lot of single guys around to choose from.”
Do not growl. Do not growl.
It took all his strength to fight the instant urge to claim her in front of the whole damn pack. Like hell was she going to dance with anyone other than him. “I get first dance though, you know, wedding party and all.”
“That might be…nice.”
Nice? Bloody hell.
He ignored the questioning glances his big brother shot in his direction.
Fine, maybe Pam didn’t know about werewolves, and maybe he was in for a hell of a lot of trouble figuring out how he was going to solve this mess, but one thing he knew without a doubt.
She was going to be his. Body and soul.
TJ stepped around her, positioning her at Maggie’s right hand. Pam shivered as he leaned in close and brushed his lips lightly against the skin beside her ear.
He spoke barely above a whisper. “I guarantee it’s going to be a whole lot more memorable than nice.”
Pam stood to the side, her fingers squeezing so hard around the flower arrangement Maggie had passed her she heard some of the flower stems crack.
Across from her, TJ held her gaze with his and damn, the man was enough to distract a saint. She barely heard Erik and Maggie exchange vows, she was too caught up in admiring his clean-cut good looks. Getting lost in his mesmerizing dark eyes. She wanted to interrupt the ceremony to demand he stare elsewhere, but at the same time she couldn’t help but be flattered.
Maybe a short fling wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all.
The whole service passed in a blur as they locked eyes. Inside, a flame burned, desire wrapped around her core and made her heart pound. There had to be something in the northern air causing her to react like a sex-crazed ninny.
A discreet cough brought her back to her senses, and she hurried to join Maggie and Erik as they moved down the aisle between the chairs, headed for the hall.
TJ’s warm hand slid around her waist and goose bumps rose. He ignored her wiggled attempt to dislodge him, instead tucking her tightly against his side and lowering his head until his lips hovered an inch over her ear. She waited for him to whisper something wicked, something in keeping with the heat of passion he’d been throwing at her for the past umpteen minutes.
The anticipation was killing her, and she swore her panties were wet just thinking about him saying something sexy.
“Chicken?”
Not sexy. “What?”
“Or fish? What do you want for dinner?”
She laughed out loud and relaxed against him. “You’re a goof.”
TJ sighed mightily. “So I’ve been told.”
For the next hour he proceeded to enchant her, anticipating her every need. They sat to one side of the bridal couple, and throughout the meal he touched her constantly.
“You treat all your visitors like this?” she asked. Blood pounded through her hard enough she could have just finished a marathon.
TJ topped up the wine in her glass as he shook his head.
“I can honestly say you’re the first woman I’ve ever treated this way.” He rested his arm on the back of her chair and her nipples tightened.
Would anyone notice if she crawled into his lap and sucked face with him for a while?
Someone at the end of the hall tinkled their wine glass, and the entire room joined in. Maggie and Erik rose good-naturedly and when he dipped her, kissing her passionately, the crowd shouted their approval. The whole event was exactly the kind of celebration Pam had hoped her best friend would experience.
TJ squeezed her shoulder as he stood and made his way to the front. He grabbed an acoustic guitar from somewhere and plopped himself on a stool.
A murmur rose from the crowd, and TJ grinned sheepishly.
“Yeah, it’s a new guitar, but this time it’s not my fault. A certain little boy I was babysitting thought the old one would make a dandy boat.”
Gentle laughter carried through the air as TJ tuned the strings, his fingers moving smoothly. He turned to address Erik and Maggie. “I know you requested your favourites, but if you’d humour me, I have a song I wrote a while back. I’ve been saving it for a special moment, and I think this is about as special as it can get. It’s called ‘Eternal Love’.”
He strummed a few chords before slipping into a simple melody, fingers picking individual notes to accompany his rich tenor. Their gazes met, and he sang to her.
Pam’s throat tightened. She shifted uncomfortably in her
chair as she listened to the lyrics. It was all so airy-fairy and impossible and yet—something deep inside wished it was possible for a love like he sang about to be real.
A love that lasted forever? Fresh each morning?
Bullshit.
Pretty sad thoughts to be entertaining while at a wedding.
She dragged her gaze off TJ to where Maggie and Erik sat staring into each other’s eyes. For what it was worth, she wished them the best. Maggie deserved to be happy, and hopefully Erik was the guy to make it happen.
Well, he’d damn well better or she’d rip him a new one for hurting her best friend.
Pam sighed and leaned back in her chair. She closed her eyes and let the music swirl around her. TJ’s mellow voice touched her in places she didn’t want to think about. Places she’d closed the door on, and she’d never been one to linger over the past.
Nope, get over it and go on—that was her motto. Life was for living to the max, enjoying every experience as much as possible. One day at a time.
She sat straighter and resolutely faced the singer who made her belly quiver with each new note he sang. TJ’s fingers caressed the strings, and she pictured him touching her with that same intensity, same attention to detail, and the pulse between her legs kicked into high gear again.
Holy Toledo, she was getting turned on watching the guy play his guitar.
What the heck had she been drinking? There was something going on, the way her gaze kept being drawn back to TJ, the way his voice tickled in her ears and made her skin burn. The urge to go for a little tumble while she was here increased. Maggie wouldn’t mind.
Besides, it wasn’t like she was leaving in the morning. She had her adventure trip scheduled to start in a couple days. A few nights’ excitement could be what she needed to make this a very memorable holiday.
He sang the final notes and let the tune fade away.
The rest of the guests clapped and whistled in appreciation. TJ finally broke eye contact with her and smiled out at the crowd, before motioning for a few others to join him. They picked up instruments, and the group lit into a lively tune. Chairs and tables were dragged aside, and the hall became a bustling hive of noise as everyone stepped in to rearrange and make space for dancing.
Pam moved a couple chairs before realizing she was more of a hindrance than help. She snuck to the side and watched in fascination as the room transformed before her eyes.
Up on the stage, TJ and another guitarist strummed something with a hard-rock beat, and the rhythm pulsed in time with her heart. His dark hair shone in the light as he rocked, and she wondered if it would feel fine or coarse if she ran her fingers through it.
“Did you enjoy that?” Maggie asked.
Pam jumped a little, then let out the breath she’d been holding. “Hey. Fabulous ceremony, and the meal was delicious.”
Her friend nodded in agreement. “It was good, but I meant the singing. I didn’t expect TJ to share a song he’d written himself. It was beautiful.”
“He’s got a great voice,” Pam admitted. Maggie smiled past her and Pam glanced over her shoulder to see Erik hanging back. “You guys taking off soon?”
Her friend nodded. “I wanted to make sure everything was kosher with you. We’ll be back tomorrow afternoon, and have some more time to visit before you take off on your excursion and we leave on our honeymoon.” She wrinkled her nose. “You going to be okay with us leaving you? Because I could—”
Pam slapped a hand over her friend’s mouth for a second. “Oh no, girlfriend. You weren’t about to suggest you’d stick around on your wedding night to babysit me, were you?”
“Hell, no.” Maggie grinned. “I was going to say if you wanted to you could go home early and hide. I’ve got all your favourite videos, and there’s microwave popcorn in the cupboard.”
Pam deliberately glanced around, eyeing the smartly dressed men before turning to smirk at Maggie. “You think I want to go watch Serenity for the millionth time when you’ve got this kind of a smorgasbord laid out for me?”
“They are kind of tasty, aren’t they?” Maggie turned, and they both gazed into the room.
It was a little annoying that the first place her gaze went was to where TJ stood. Shoot.
Pam ignored the blatant interest running on a constant loop in her brain and grinned evilly. “Oh yeah, and there’s one in particular who’s been making me drool all afternoon.”
“Really?” Maggie leaned closer and whispered. “Who?”
“That one.” Pam pointed at Erik, laughing out loud when Maggie elbowed her.
“Hands off, sugar, get your own Friendly Giant.”
The music started again, a slow tempo this time, and Maggie pulled Pam in for a hug. “Time for the first dance, then Erik and I are going to sneak away. I’ll see you at dinner tomorrow, okay?”
Pam kissed her cheek quickly. “Don’t worry about me. It’s not like you’re throwing me to the dogs.”
Maggie snorted loudly. “At least you know how to handle them.”
“Trust me, I can handle the two-legged variety as well as I deal with the four-legged. Now go on, your big brute is waiting, and even though I still think I could take him down, I’m going to be nice and not hurt him before you get to enjoy tonight.”
Erik held out his hand. Maggie joined him with a laugh and the two of them spun off onto the dance floor.
Pam let out a long, slow breath. It was clear they were very much in love. Maybe it would work out. The lights of the hall dimmed, and a disco ball turned on. Pam fought back a snicker as sparkles danced over the walls and the lone pair in the spotlight.
Someone stepped in behind her, the heat of his solid body hitting her back as he wrapped his hands around her waist and gently nestled them together.
TJ.
Cocky bastard, really. She debated slamming a heel on his instep, or flipping him over her shoulder, just to teach him a lesson, but watching Maggie and Erik float around the floor had mellowed her too much.
“You should be careful putting the moves on a girl like that. You might lose something important,” she warned.
He ignored the threat and rested his chin on her shoulder. The heat radiating between them tempted her. “They fit awesome together, don’t they?”
His breath brushed her cheek, warm and sweet smelling. Her mouth watered, but she didn’t want to talk romance with him.
“They look…unbalanced. What was Maggie thinking getting involved with someone so much taller than her?”
He hmmed. “They were probably thinking that when it’s right, there’s no denying you’ve found the one you want.”
Oh lordy, his thumbs stroked her waist, and he nuzzled under her ear. Did she want this? Heat flushed her. She had to decide, and quick. She could lead him out onto the dance floor and enjoy his touch in public, or they could find a dark corner and see what else came up.
So to speak.
He tugged her backward, and her body overruled her mind. They slipped into the shadows at the side of the hall, ducking behind a room divider.
He pressed her against it, his solid body very, very warm. Her heart rate increased, as did the tingling sensation between her thighs, and she squeezed her legs together to stop the ache.
Man-oh-man, his eyes were so incredible she swore he was using some kind of hypnosis. Turning away was impossible as he stared at her, tracing her hair, her face, one finger outlining her lips before he slowly lowered his head and brought their mouths together.
He brushed his lips over hers like a gentle breeze, his fingers tugging her hair to redirect the angle of her head until their mouths meshed together. Tentative strokes of his tongue moved fleetingly past her teeth. Teasing, barely giving her a taste of him before he broke away and dropped his forehead against hers.
“Holy shit, you taste good,” he panted. “Incredibly fabulous. I’d never dreamed a woman could taste like you. Or make me feel the way you make me feel.”
Screw the sweet talk.
She hadn’t had nearly enough of his kisses. She tried to regain possession of his lips. Arched her back in an attempt to press their bodies together and let her feel his muscles, his desire for her.
He groaned softly. “You’re killing me. We shouldn’t…”
She stepped on either side of his leg and pasted her aching crotch to his thigh. A short gasp escaped her as the impact made her clit throb.
“Fuck it.” TJ grabbed her butt and dragged her hard against him, wrestling control from her as this time he kissed her senseless. Sucked the air from her lungs, twined their tongues together. An almost desperate, mindless, seeking touch. He demanded her response, and she gave it eagerly. The pleasure in her sex rose like a rocket blasting into outer space.
His hands were everywhere. Skimming her torso, touching her breasts. Clutching her hips and grinding her hard onto his thigh. Excitement washed over her, the rapid beat of her pulse making her lightheaded, out of breath.
He licked a path down her neck, nibbled on her collarbone and something electric shot to her core.
“I want you, Pam,” he growled against her skin. “You’re going to be mine.”
Sheesh, that comment pushed a few wrong buttons, but right here, right now? She wasn’t about to argue with his macho-sexist statement as long as he kept doing what he was doing.
Lost beyond all reason, she teetered on the edge of an orgasm and if he stopped she would kill him. Pam clasped his head in her hands and hauled his mouth to hers as she leaned back and tried to find the final touch she needed to go over the edge.
The barrier at her back wobbled for a second, then tilted to the north. All their weight went with the wall as it tipped, crashing to the floor with them on top. She smothered her curses as the flames of desire building between them evaporated into thin air.
TJ’s heavy breathing echoed in her ear as they unwound tangled limbs. The damn disco lights flickered over them, showcasing their undignified situation. Partygoers congregated to stare with concern and offer helping hands. Pam scrambled to her feet, but all she could think about was the aching need in her core, and the sweet taste of him lingering in her mouth.