“She certainly didn’t learn to smile from Francine,” Jordan said, unable to help herself. At least this conversation felt normal.
“Hmm,” Emerson murmured thoughtfully. Her eyes slid from Jordan to Raider. The ensuing smile promised mischief. “What about you, Raider? Do you want children?”
When Jordan swallowed, her porridge went down the wrong pipe, throwing her into a coughing fit. All the little grains scratched and burned at Jordan’s throat. Raider rubbed her back as she regained breath. Eyes still watering, Jordan glared at Emerson. So much for wanting to hug her.
Raider could have easily let the question go the way of Jordan’s ill-fated bite of grains, hacked down and out of sight—but no, he leaned against Jordan, his breath tingling along her neck.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Do you?”
With a start, Jordan realized his question had been directed at her.
What the hell was he doing asking her if she wanted children, discussing such an intimate topic as though they were mates?
“No,” she said, her voice distant. She stood, avoiding eye contact with Raider. “I’ve had my fill.” With those words, she leapt off his thigh, walked to the nearest basket of dirty dishes, and deposited her bowl.
“Jordan,” Chase hissed.
She hadn’t seen him rush over. Chase’s usually smooth, tanned skin was mottled red, and his jaw was clenched. “You’re sleeping with him? Him?” Chase repeated in disbelief.
Tossing her hair back, Jordan answered, “The nights are long and lonely.”
Chase grimaced and shook his head. “I thought you were above this.”
Jordan bristled at his judgment, her mind turning feral like a bobcat confronting a hyena. How dare he speak down to her when he didn’t think twice about sharing her with his best friend? At the very least, she would have thought he was above betting on her sisters in the hollow’s stupid mating games, especially knowing that it bothered her.
Dropping her voice, Jordan pasted a sly, sultry smile over her lips. “What’s the matter, Chase? Afraid I’ll screw up your chances of winning the bet?” Her eyes flashed. “Don’t worry,” she snapped. “I have no intention of capturing the big fish. Camilla’s still in the running.”
The words felt murky as they left her lips.
“Jord—” he started to say.
But she was already storming away. He didn’t get to “Jord” her.
Raider’s eyebrows furrowed as they left the glade, and remained that way as they trekked back to the grassy knoll.
“What happened back there?” he asked.
Fire licked up Jordan’s spine. “We fucked for the first time yesterday, and now you’re asking me about children.”
“It was a rhetorical question.” Raider frowned.
“Oh, a rhetorical question,” Jordan repeated, voice lifting. She was surprised he knew the word. Raider’s parents had never struck her as the sort who would teach their strapping son big words. “And do you want children—rhetorically speaking?”
“Yes. I want children.”
Jordan scoffed. “Then it’s a good thing we’re not mates.”
Raider’s face darkened. “I suppose you still have your own growing up to do.”
A rush of indignation slammed into Jordan’s chest and lit her face like a fire. She puffed at the insult while a wry smile formed over Raider’s lips. “Not every female is cut out for motherhood,” she said.
“What about companionship?” Raider challenged.
“Depends on the company,” Jordan answered.
Raider left it at that, Jordan’s prickling irritation settling into a hard lump of disappointment. They reached the knoll and undressed in the same impassive manner as they had before lying together. Raider’s attention was focused elsewhere as he stripped and pulled away a piece of her heart. When had she become so sensitive?
After shifting, Raider waited for Jordan to take lead. Her teeth clenched when they approached the area the rabid wolf had invaded. They spent extra time sniffing around before continuing their patrol.
Zackary and Jack arrived that afternoon. Jordan was grateful Raider had returned and that it meant Zackary wouldn’t have another chance to speak to Elsie. She lifted her wolf lips in a silent snarl when she saw the brute, not breaking eye contact until he looked away. After a short exchange with Jack, she and Raider ran to Skyler Falls, and following a deep, refreshing rinse, Jordan swam over to Raider.
“Why do you want children?” She had to raise her voice to be heard over the cascade of the falls.
Raider’s answer came out effortlessly. “To be the father I always wish I’d had. Besides, I think it would be fun.” A grin flashed over his face before he dove beneath the water.
Jordan swam closer to shore, reaching a spot where her feet touched rock and she could stand. She watched the rippling water settle down in the place Raider had gone under. So he really was looking for a mate—and a family. A do-over. That was something she could understand, but would it be fun?
The memory of her mother’s laughter rose above the splash and trickle of water.
Tag, you’re it! Coreen had loved playing games with her daughters as much as she enjoyed reading them stories. She’d take them into the forest outside the den to climb trees, and to play hide-and-seek and tag. Even back then, Jordan had been fast. Emerson’s legs were longer, but eventually she’d take pity and let Camilla or Sydney tag her.
Not Jordan.
“Mom, Jordan’s waiting until I get close then running off,” Camilla used to whine.
“That’s the whole point, dummy,” Jordan had responded.
With laughter smooth as honey, Coreen had patted Camilla’s head. “Jordan can only be caught when she wants to be.”
Pride had swelled inside Jordan’s chest. Now, it left an empty ache. She was always ahead. Out of reach.
Raider broke the surface with a magnificent splash. He stood nearby, waist-deep and dripping. Water droplets glistened against the chiseled angles of his body. While he rubbed water out of his eyes, Jordan swam over and rose from the water, sliding up his body and savoring the slick muscles that rubbed against her breasts. As he lowered his arms, she threaded hers around his neck and kissed him. Rough fingers gripped her hair, drawing her closer.
Jordan launched herself against him, wrapping her legs around his torso. Lips crushing hers, Raider kissed the air from her lungs, and Jordan kissed harder, trying to steal it back. They were breathless, starved for oxygen. Jordan wasn’t sure if they were above water or below.
Above—until Raider crouched, bringing them neck-deep. His kisses were gentler, but no less hungry as he released his grasp on the back of her head and dipped his hands below water. Jordan held onto him, shivering as Raider readjusted their bodies to fit together. Then they were kissing and fucking, splashing and moaning, racing the falls as their bodies crashed together and roared before spilling into the pond.
After pulling apart, Raider ran a hand through his damp hair.
“At least we’re already rinsed off,” Raider said with an adorable grin.
He was so damn sexy, and he was all hers—not Emmy’s and not Camilla’s.
Jordan dipped below the pond’s surface to cool off her heated cheeks and massage her scalp. Moving closer to the shore, she scooped up a handful of wet sand and scrubbed it over her skin then rinsed off.
Raider went still watching her. Chest heaving, he shook his head. “I can’t think straight around you. I might have to ask Jager for a new partner.”
Jordan waded out of the water, feeling Raider’s eyes sliding over her as acutely as the droplets of water trickling down her back. Twisting her hair, she wrung out the excess water.
Raider joined her side and scrubbed his hands through his hair.
“And what would you tell him?” she asked.
“Is that all you want?”
“No, but I don’t want to scare you off.”
“You think I’m afraid of you?”
“I think you’re afraid of love.”
His words slammed into her chest like a low-hanging branch. She blinked several times before speaking.
He sighed, disappointment flickering over his face. “We should get back.”
They shifted and spent the remainder of the afternoon patrolling without incident. When dinner came around, they headed into the glade early and found a log where they could eat side by side. After dinner, they returned to the knoll and found Hudson pacing frantically back and forth waiting for them. Gina stood nearby, chewing on her lip with arms wrapped around her chest as tightly as vines.
Hudson’s head jerked as soon as he saw Jordan. He stopped his pacing and stormed over to her. Gina unfolded her arms and hurried after Hudson.
Jordan’s heart hammered. “Hudson? What is it? Did something happen?”
He and his patrol partner should be on their way to the second dinner serving, not stalking the grassy knoll.
Gina scoffed as though Jordan had asked the stupidest of questions.
Ignoring the redhead completely, Hudson took both Jordan’s hands in his and moistened his lips. “Jordan, I want you to be my mate.”
Jordan’s jaw dropped. These were the last words she’d expected to tumble from Hudson’s lips. Mates? He’d never given any indication that he envisioned settling down in the den together one day. He’d been raw after Rebecca, especially after she’d rushed into the glade foaming at the mouth and had to be put down permanently.
Jordan was saved having to respond by Gina’s outcry. “Hudson, don’t! Think of your sister.”
Gritting his teeth, Hudson reluctantly turned his head and aimed a cool gaze on Gina. “I don’t need Taryn’s approval. If she’s not happy with my choice of mate, then she’s not a very good sister, is she?”
Gina clamped her mouth shut, mashed her lips together, and stared into the treetops.
When Hudson faced Jordan again, his gaze softening, she was no readier to respond than she had been before Gina’s outburst.
“Hudson, you know how much I care for you,” she began slowly, “but as a friend, not a mate.”
Gina’s shoulders and chest relaxed as though she’d just released a deep breath of relief.
Hudson let go of Jordan’s hands and glared at Raider, who stood aside, watching with about as much patience as an owl perched up on his tree. For some reason, his calm rankled Jordan. He should have at least growled when Hudson offered to make a claim.
“Is it because of him?” Hudson demanded.
“It’s because you’re my friend,” she answered softly.
Hudson scowled. “What? I’m not mate material? Not big enough? Not dumb enough?”
Jordan snarled. Red, hot fury scorched up her spine. “You have no idea what you’re talking about,” she snapped. “Don’t attack Raider when I’m the one you’re really mad at.” How dare Hudson insult my mate?
It took her a moment to realize the slip inside her mind.
Raider took three large steps over and gave a wolfish smile. “Some might call it foolish to insult someone bigger—and much stronger—than you.”
With his jaw moving side to side as though crunching on rodent bones, Hudson’s gaze swept over Jordan. It was chilling, like a northern breeze. “Seems I am a fool,” he said.
Jordan’s heart fisted inside her chest. Words died on her lips like wilted flowers.
Hudson pivoted and stormed away, with Gina hot on his heels while Jordan withered over the spot on which she stood.
Raider folded his arms across his chest. “Go after him, if you want,” he said, jerking his chin in the direction Hudson had disappeared.
“I don’t want to be his mate,” Jordan said slowly, “but I never wanted to hurt him.”
“I think his pride hurts more than his heart. He’ll get over it.”
Jordan snapped back to life. Her spine straightened and fingers curled into fists. “Would you have gotten over it if I’d accepted his claim?”
He turned away and pressed a hand against his forehead. “I don’t know.”
A distressed gurgle clogged her throat.
Raider faced her again and sighed. “There wasn’t a whole lot of love between my mother and father. That’s not what I want. When I claim a mate, I want her to accept all of me: body, heart, mind, and soul. I want to shower my mate in affection, attention, and love. And I want the same in return.”
Longing filled Jordan’s every pore and tissue in a flash flood that nearly swept her off her feet. She wanted to reach out and grab onto Raider, to hold on and never let go, to accept and return his love for all time. It was too bad that Jordan’s instincts were to backflip into the onslaught, fight the current, and risk drowning alone rather than put herself at the mercy of a rescuer.
“Then why didn’t you claim Kallie?” she demanded. “Kallie is clearly open to giving and receiving your acclaimed love.” The truth of it burned like kindling in her gut, making it difficult to stand still.
Raider, on the other hand, had turned as stiff as a red alder.
“Weren’t the two of you fucking as patrol partners?” Jordan prodded. No, she couldn’t just swim safely to shore—she had to give herself over fully to the torrent.
Raider ran a hand through his hair, not meeting her eye. “No, we weren’t,” he answered.
Whatever guilt had been crushing Jordan’s chest loosened, chased away by the euphoric awareness that Raider didn’t sleep with whomever his patrol partner happened to be—no matter how willing the she-wolf. Jordan had no doubt Kallie would have gotten down and dirty for Raider in two shakes if given the chance.
“And you’ve never slept with any of my sisters—even in the past?”
“Never.”
“Who have you slept with?”
“Jordan.” Raider’s tone held both warning and humor.
She shrugged. A shifter who fucked as good as Raider couldn’t have been celibate long. It was a huge waste of his talents, but Jordan would have suspected to have heard about it if he had. Some she-wolf would have had plenty to brag about. It must have been a female Jordan wasn’t friends with—which meant, potentially, any single female in Wolf Hollow. As long as it wasn’t Gina or Janelle, Jordan could make peace with it. Taryn, she didn’t have to worry about. The shifter was like a cougar stalking a mate when it came to Chase. She hated to admit she was beginning to understand how the she-wolf felt.
“Jealousy is a form of love, is it not?” she challenged.
Raider’s lips curved into a smile. “Are you saying you love me?”
Jordan lifted her chin. “I’m saying I’m jealous.”
“Of?” Raider raised his brows.
“Every female who has ever slept with you.”
With one long, powerful finger, Raider motioned for Jordan to come to him. Breathlessly, she obeyed, wet between her legs within the five steps it took to reach him. She expected him to reach for the button on her jeans and tear them down to her ankles, but he placed his hands gently on her shoulders and stared into her eyes instead. “What do you want from me, Jordan?”
His gaze was so loving, so fully concentrated on her. Flowers blossomed inside her belly, petals opening to the bright warmth streaming over them.
She wanted the same things he did: affection and love. Commitment! Would wonders never cease? She wanted to claim the strong, sexy hunk as her mate.
But Raider was right. She was afraid. Afraid it wasn’t real. Afraid it wouldn’t last. Afraid she’d fuck it all up. Which is why she kept her thoughts sealed tight and went for the zipper on Raider’s jeans inst
ead.
chapter seventeen
Gina trailed after Hudson like a flame after smoke. He crashed through the bushes, flinging branches aside violently. Gina had to duck to keep from getting whipped across the face.
Two bangs of the gong signaled the official start of their dinner break. Gina doubted that Hudson was hungry. She wasn’t. But Hudson seemed to have set a crash course for the glade.
Ever since that morning, when Chase told them that Jordan was sleeping with Raider, Hudson had turned into a snarling beast, muttering and cussing all day until insisting he had to speak to Jordan. He hadn’t mentioned anything about making a claim, and it had shocked and concerned her, knowing how much Taryn hated the cantankerous she-wolf. Maybe Taryn would be relieved that it wasn’t Chase attempting a claim, but Gina doubted her friend would look at it that way.
“Of all the stupid males to sleep with—she chose him,” Hudson said bitterly. He turned around so suddenly, Gina gave a squeak of surprise and jumped back a foot. “Would you sleep with that mongrel?” he demanded.
She wanted to laugh. Hudson was as blind as his sister.
Fury sparked in his eyes, and his nostrils flared. “Well, would you?” His voice rose.
Emerson stepped out from the trees, threw her blond mane back, and glared at Hudson.
Moon above, she was beautiful—a tall, proud, blue-eyed, golden goddess.
Emerson tsked. “That’s none of your business, Hudson, and no way to speak to a lady.”
Pleasure radiated over Gina’s body. She felt light-headed and giddy, flattered and flushed. Then, she remembered that Emerson had been avoiding her ever since she’d last seen her ill. She had been so relieved when she heard Emerson was fully recovered, but whenever she tried to steal a moment to check on the blond shifter, she’d managed to evaporate into thin air. Emerson didn’t have a patrol partner, which meant she could stop by either of the meal gatherings. She’d never once come by during Gina’s meal breaks.
Hudson’s jaw clenched. “Oh, this is prefect,” he said, gritting his teeth. He looked Emerson over disdainfully. “I was betting on you to dig your claws into Raider first. Are you really going to roll over and let your sister have him?”
Mating Games Page 21