by Lynn Howard
“Do you know what you want to eat?” Carter asked her, trying to soften the moment with a forced smile.
Shawnee’s grin was back and she finally opened the menu. Carter could barely focus on the words on the laminated page. He could almost feel June shooting daggers from her eyes from across the room.
Lifting his head, he confirmed that she was, indeed, glaring hard at him, a scowl so deep on her face he wondered if it might cause permanent creases. He raised his hand to call her over. She had no reason to be so pissed at him; she’d done the same stupid ass thing he’d done.
Carter let Shawnee order first, then told June what he wanted. She barely said two words, glanced at Shawnee, then turned with her head high.
And then it hit him; June thought Shawnee was his girlfriend. She must not have noticed the way Shawnee interacted with Colton when she was there.
The second June returned to give them their drinks, Carter took the opportunity to set her straight. “I forgot to introduce the two of you. Sorry. That was rude. Shawnee, this is June. June, this is my…brother’s wife,” he said, making sure to avoid using words like Clan or mate.
June’s brows popped up to her hairline, the crease between her brows instantly smoothed, and those full lips of hers popped open in surprise.
“This is your sister-in-law?” June said, barely glancing at Shawnee as she pointed a finger at her.
“Yep,” he said, popping the p.
June’s cheeks went so red so fast, Carter couldn’t hold in the snicker. She’d assumed and was now embarrassed. And she was cute as hell with her cheeks all pink. He barely resisted the urge to reach forward and brush her hair off her shoulder. There was a part of him that wanted his mark seen. But humans wouldn’t understand why their bartender had a huge, animal bite looking scar on her neck.
And he had no right to want anyone to know she was taken. Because she wasn’t. And neither was he.
But as June turned and walked down the row to wait on someone else, Carter couldn’t keep his eyes off her plump ass swaying with each step. He’d had that ass in his hands. And he couldn’t remember shit.
Then and there, he decided he would see June naked again. And this time, they’d both remember every single earth-shaking moment of it. Even if he had to beg her.
Carter gripped the steering wheel hard enough his knuckles were white. For some reason, leaving Havanah’s caused him a little discomfort. In fact, he felt like he was having a fucking heart attack. Could Shifters have heart attacks? They didn’t get sick, but surely their hearts could stop beating in their chests like a human’s.
But he knew he wasn’t having a heart attack. He just wanted to touch June. He wanted to drag her to a back room, even a closet, and take her against the wall. Something about June made him feel insane, insatiable. He was officially addicted to that woman’s body and he barely had any memories of the first time. It must’ve been good as hell if he’d marked her. And vice versa.
Shawnee huffed out a sigh as she sat with her arms crossed.
“I take it Colton knew exactly why you wanted to have breakfast with me,” Carter said, glancing at her as he rolled to a stop light. He was taking her to Moe’s for work. And then he’d head back home and spend the rest of the day alone until they all decided to meet up at Noah’s bar.
She shrugged but didn’t say anything else.
“I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Shawnee, but…don’t. Just don’t.”
Shawnee finally turned to frown up at him. “What? Don’t find you a mate? Don’t make sure my brothers are happy? Don’t keep my lioness from going crazy with the need for cubs? You realize if there aren’t some children around soon, I’ll be the one that has to get pregnant.”
Carter snickered but didn’t outright laugh. “Why would you have to get pregnant if Hollyn doesn’t have kids. Or if Luke or I magically find our mates and choose not to have kids.”
Carter was almost forty. And if he remembered right, so was June. He really had no desire to start from scratch middle-aged.
“Because my lioness is driving me crazy!” Shawnee said, throwing her hands in the air as if it should be obvious.
“I thought you and Colton talked about having a family.”
He pulled his truck into the gravel parking lot of Moe’s, put it in park, and turned to look at her.
She was chewing the inside of her cheek. “You realize it’s highly likely I’ll have multiples. You ever seen a woman pregnant with twins? Triplets? Quadruplets? It’s miserable.” She was back to pouting with her arms crossed. “And I’d have to stop working. It’s not like I can enroll the cubs in daycare. My luck, they’d Shift into their animals their first day there.”
“You know we don’t tend to Shift until puberty,” Noah said.
“Like I said, it would be my luck.”
Shawnee climbed down from the truck and slammed the door so hard the vehicle rocked. Good thing his was a work truck and beat up or he’d have been pissed.
Carter rolled down his window. “Hey,” he said. She stopped and looked back at him. “Even if you have multiples, you know there are enough people who would dote on you. And I’m sure Nova, Callie, Peyton, and Lola would love nothing more than to play with your babies a couple days a week so you could still work.”
A ghost of a smile appeared on her lips and she looked to the side like she was thinking. When she looked back, her smile had grown. “Thanks Carter. You’re the best Alpha.”
As she stepped into the bar, Carter yelled, “I’m not your Alpha.”
He knew there was no use, though. They all looked up to him. Maybe he should tell them about what he’d done. Then they might finally believe him that he wasn’t the best choice to lead their rag tag group.
Putting the truck in reverse, Carter looked behind him as he backed up and headed home. He could still use a little more sleep. He was more than just physically tired; he was mentally exhausted, as well. If he hadn’t known as a fact June was a Shifter he’d have wondered if she might be a witch. Because he definitely felt like he was under her spell.
As he drove toward home, he passed Havanah’s. Carter rubbernecked as he passed the place, wondering which of those cars was hers.
He should text her, tell her it was great to see her. Ask her if they could hang out again. Or maybe he’d come up with a reason to go to Havanah’s again when she was working. He’d been there plenty of times, but they usually sat up in the restaurant area. Had she ever waited his table and he’d never noticed her? No fucking way. He’d remember someone like June. Her body reminded him of that model…oh what the fuck was her name…Ashley Graham. Round and lush and so fucking curvy. Only June had bigger tits. And longer hair. And was way prettier.
“Fuck,” he growled out as his truck hit the first foot of gravel leading to Blackwater territory. Obsessed. He was fucking obsessed.
He had to get her off his mind. And finding ways to run into her again wouldn’t exactly help. Maybe he should let Shawnee set him up with someone to keep his head occupied with someone other than June.
Who was he fucking kidding? Neither of them remembered marking each other, but there was only one reason their animals would’ve allowed it when they were so out of their head; they were fucking mates.
There had been stories of males forcing their marks on females as a claim, but this wasn’t the same thing. They’d done it to each other. At some point last night, their animals had taken over and pushed them toward a life together.
And that might just be the scariest thing he’d ever faced.
Chapter Three
June went home after her shift and immediately got into a hot bubble bath complete with candles. Her feet throbbed, her back ached, and her mind was a jumbled mess. Seeing Carter so soon after the incident - as she’d begun to call it in her head - had been jarring. When she’d spotted the short, pretty redhead beside him, her anger boiled. How dare he fuck her, mate her, all while he had a girlfriend who had no idea June was
carrying her man’s mark.
But it had turned out to be one of his Clan brothers’ mates. Relief washed through her so fast she’d been dizzy. The humiliation of not only jumping to conclusions but also the immense amount of jealousy and protectiveness surprised June. Hopefully, Carter thought all the anger was because she thought she’d been used to cheat.
The two of them stayed at the bar top at Havanah’s for close to an hour and June fought herself to talk to him, reach over the space separating them and touch him, anything to leave her scent on him. Instead, she’d checked on him a few times and stole glances his way every chance she got.
The man was a hunk. More than a hunk. He might have been the hottest man she’d ever seen. Definitely the hottest man she’d ever slept with. She wasn’t naïve; she knew what she looked like. Instead of a size four, she sported a size fourteen. And she wasn’t cute and petite like the woman with him, Shawnee. At five-foot-ten, she tended to tower over almost every woman she encountered. It had been difficult to date with her size, both height and weight.
But even at her height, Carter was a good six or seven inches taller than her. She’d originally figured he’d had sex with her because she’d made it easy for him, plus he’d been as drunk as she was. Yet, she’d caught him more than once checking out her butt or boobs. Even if she was a little on the plump side, Carter was obviously attracted to her.
When the water grew cool and the bubbles all died down, June climbed from the tub and pulled the drain. She’d hoped to find a trailer with a garden tub, but the single wide was the only thing she could afford, just like the rest of her tiny Pride. Oh well. It got the job done, even if she did have to bend her knees the whole time.
As June rubbed the scratchy, no longer soft, been washed too many times towel across her body and wrapped it around her middle, she couldn’t stop her mind from going to Carter. Like it had since he’d left that morning.
What was he doing right now? Had he thought about her anymore since he’d left after breakfast? He’d asked for her number. Did he plan to use it for anything more than a booty call? And honestly, would she be pissed if that was all he wanted from her?
She knew the answer to that; she’d take Carter naked any day. Maybe she didn’t remember all the sex, but she’d gotten an eyeful of what he had to offer when they’d discovered their marks. And she’d seen the lust in his glowing eyes when he’d taken in her naked body.
Just thinking about it made her body warm and her lady parts ache. She was half-tempted to pull out her favorite battery-operated toy before bed. But that wouldn’t sate her need. It would only give her momentary relief. No. What she needed was someone tall, thick, and occasionally furry.
Chuckling to herself at her little joke, she tossed the towel into the hamper then stood in front of the tall mirror hanging from her walk-in closet. She was thick, there was no doubt about that, but she was strong. And she was healthy. Her mom used to tell her she had a woman’s body and birthing hips. At the time, that had rubbed June the wrong way. She’d felt like her mom was telling her she was fat in a nice way. But as she turned side to side, she had to admit – she was kind of hot.
Jackson hadn’t thought so. He’d told her time and time again that she could use to lose a few pounds. She could count on two hands how many times they’d had sex in the last six months. And she didn’t remember screaming his name the way she’d screamed Carter’s last night, not a single time. In fact…she couldn’t remember ever actually orgasming with him either. As she chewed on her bottom lip, she tried to remember the last time she’d had an orgasm during sex with any of her boyfriends.
None. She’d literally never had an orgasm during intercourse. Yet, Carter had brought her three freaking times.
“Ugh!” She groaned, throwing herself backward onto her bed with a bounce. She wished she could remember every single detail. Like what kind of sounds did Carter make? Was he a grunter? A moaner?
Nope. June sat up quickly and jerked on a pair of pajama pants and t-shirt. She did not need to be thinking about Carter when she was naked. It made her want to touch herself while thinking of him.
June pulled the covers back and crawled into the cool bed. Her place was always on the chilly side, but she used a bunch of blankets to stay warm, especially since the weather was getting cooler every day. October would be over soon. And she hadn’t even decorated for Halloween. Why bother? Wasn’t like anyone other than her Pride sisters would see her place. They didn’t get trick or treaters or really any company unless one of them happened to be dating.
Like last night.
Well. She hadn’t really been on a date, but still. She’d technically had company. Shoot. What if they’d been super loud and Constance and Carol had heard everything. She’d never live it down. Whatever. It had been Constance’s idea to get Jackson out of her head. Carol would give her shit, though.
Rolling onto her side, June cuddled one of her six pillows to her chest and closed her eyes. Just as she was drifting off with thoughts of Carter filling her weird, not-quite-asleep dream, her phone buzzed on her nightstand and jerked her awake.
With a groan, she reached over and grabbed her cell, bringing it to life.
What r u doing? the text read.
June frowned at the phone and then checked the time. It was almost eleven at night.
Who is this? she sent back.
She watched the conversation bubble as the person wrote back.
Carter. From last night. And this morning.
Oops. She hadn’t saved his number. Honestly, with as quick as he tried to get through her front door this morning, she really hadn’t expected to hear from him again. And she sure as hell hadn’t expected to see him sitting at her bar.
Sorry. Didn’t save your number this morning, she wrote back.
Ouch. And he sent a crying emoji. Okay. That was kind of cute. A few seconds went by before the bubble appeared again. June pictured his big thumbs typing out a message. Maybe he was lying in bed like she was. Oooh. Maybe he wanted to sext her.
Is it too late?
For what? she sent back.
To talk. Did I wake you up?
She typed out a few things but kept deleting them. I was just thinking about you. Delete. Wanna have phone sex? Delete. I thought about you in the bathtub tonight. Delete.
Finally, she sent, No. I was awake. It was only a half lie. She wasn’t fully asleep when he’d texted.
And then the screen went blank again like he wasn’t sure what to say. Or maybe he was doing like she’d done and writing several dirty messages before deleting them again.
Do you remember much from last night?
June groaned in frustration, from not remembering, from him bringing it up, and from the pressure growing down below. Just knowing he was on the other side of the conversation was enough to make her body come to attention.
A little. Not much. I definitely remember coming, though. But she kept that to herself.
I cant remember much at all. Another span of empty conversation. And then, Id love to see you again.
That statement could have so many meanings. He’d said he didn’t remember much. Did he mean he’d love to see her so he’d have a memory of being with her? Did he want to do her again? Or was he asking her on a date? And did she actually want to date?
She was still hurt from being dumped by Jackson. His cruel parting words still echoed in her mind. But she’d barely thought about him all day. She’d been too preoccupied with Carter.
Thumbs hovering over the screen, she tried to think of something cool to say, something that would make him want more. Of course, she came up blank and did what she usually did and said what was on her mind.
For a date? Or friends with benefits?
A few seconds passed and then, Both?
That didn’t really clear it up for her, but she sent a winking emoji and set her phone on her nightstand. She hadn’t agreed to anything and she hadn’t rejected him. She wasn’t sure what she
wanted, exactly. She wasn’t sure she could take another rejection, not after having her heart stomped on so recently.
Maybe they could just hang out. She could always use another friend. But how could they be real friends when she was already picturing him naked? Friends with benefits was always a lie to her. You can’t truly be friends with someone you constantly see naked. One way or another, someone was going to get their feelings hurt.
Her phone buzzed on her nightstand again. She grabbed it and was smiling in the dark before she even read the message from Carter. That wasn’t good. She really didn’t want him to make her smile like a teenage girl with her first crush.
Can I call you tomorrow? he asked. That was more date talk than booty call talk. And again, she found herself wanting to cut this off before it went too far. From the tingling in her mark from Carter, she had a feeling she wouldn’t survive a breakup with him.
June stared at the question so long her eyes began to burn. She’d literally stopped blinking and held her breath as she ran over every reason why she should stay away from Carter Simpson. The ache between her legs hadn’t ceased. In fact, it had only grown since she’d been talking to him. One taste and she was addicted.
Yes, she replied, then set the phone back down. When it buzzed again, she forced herself to roll over and ignore it. She wasn’t sure she could handle much more without touching herself.
****
What the fuck was he doing?
Carter tossed his phone onto the bed beside him and lifted both arms over his head. He needed to stay away from June, but there was this fucking rope pulling them together. He needed her like he needed air and that shit scared him. He was hooked on her body. He needed more. He was pretty sure he’d never find the kind of ecstasy he had with her, even if he had almost zero memory of it.
But if his animal had broken through to latch onto her neck, that must’ve been some mind-blowing sex.
She’d said he could call her tomorrow. When he’d sent good night through text, she hadn’t replied. She was done with the conversation.