Josh

by Dana Archer

  “Yeah, I think I will. I’d love to see one of them shift too. That’s got to be pretty amazing. It’s too bad I wasn’t looking at your girlfriend when she turned furry.”

  Josh grinned. He should’ve guessed Zoe’s curious nature would be the best way to entice her to stay. “Does that mean you’re going to move home?”

  Zoe sighed. “I’ll try. Best I can offer.”

  And that was the most he’d hoped for.

  “Great. I have the papers for taxes, medical, and stuff already filled out. You just have to sign them.”

  Her blue eyes widened. “You’re going to pay me?”

  He looped an arm around her shoulder, gave her a quick hug, and walked with her to the bar. “That is what most people expect when they take a job.”

  “But you’re already letting me stay at your old place rent free and you feed me.”

  “You’re family. I’d do anything for you.”

  Zoe blinked rapidly and buried her face in his chest. She squeezed him tight. “Me too.”

  He rubbed her back and wondered what the display meant. “Everything okay?”

  He never got an answer. Feminine laughter carried over the crowd’s murmurs. He’d know that husky sound anywhere. He stepped away from Zoe, anxious to go to Mira, and froze. He lifted his lip in a silent snarl at the sight of the couple who’d taken a table in the shadows.

  “Well, this will be fun.” Sarcasm dripped from Zoe’s words.

  His chest rumbled on a deep guttural growl. The animalistic sound startled him, but it wasn’t enough to curb his temper. He took a step forward. Zoe tugged on his arm. He ignored her feeble attempt to stop him and dragged her a couple of feet.

  She planted herself in front of him, hands splayed on his chest. “Whoa there, big brother. Rein it in.”

  “I’m going to rip that guy’s balls off, then turn Mira over my knee.”

  “First part, no. Second part, have at it.”

  He advanced on them, rage rising until his body vibrated with the need to take out his rival. Zoe’s boots squeaked as he pushed her with him.

  “Stop! Do you want to ruin everything?”

  He glanced at her panicked face. The concern etched there cut through his fury. He forced himself to take a few deep breaths. “What do you mean?”

  She fisted his shirt in one hand and waved behind her. “If you go over there acting all territorial, she might freak. I know I would.”

  “I cannot stand by and watch Aron put his hands on her.” He took slow breaths to ease the growing rage. “I want to hurt him.”

  Zoe studied him for a long moment. Finally, she gave a small shake of her head. “You have it bad, bro.”

  “Tell me about it.” He cursed. “I’ve never felt like this. Jealous, possessive. I just know we’re supposed to be together.” He turned pleading eyes on her. “I need her. Do you understand?”

  “Yeah, I do.” She sighed. “Let me help you.”

  He’d do anything to get Mira away from her one-time promised mate. “What do you have in mind?”

  Chapter 14

  Mira swallowed down bile. She was going to be sick…again.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Aron asked.

  She plastered the practiced grin she’d used for years on her face. “I’m fine. It’s all the different smells in here. I’m still not used to being around people and their perfumes.”

  “It can be disconcerting.” He focused his brown-contact-covered eyes on her. “But you’ve seemed a little off ever since I picked you up.”

  He’d completely caught her off guard. Why didn’t men—shifters and humans alike—do what they were told? They only ever half-listened, filling in the parts they ignored with their wants.

  “You just surprised me. I didn’t expect you to walk into my house.” While she was naked. “I told you I’d meet you here.”

  He grinned. “Now that wouldn’t be very respectful. If we’re courting, we’re going to do it properly. That includes picking you up.” He leaned across the table and trailed his fingertips over her knuckles. Her belly heaved. “Will I get a good-night kiss when I take you home?”

  No. “Maybe. I’m not the same woman I was. Nor are we promised mates. I don’t owe you anything.”

  Aron studied her intently, eyelids lowered so he looked at her through his lashes. “No, you’re not. You’re stronger. Bolder. You’re unlike any female I’ve ever known.”

  “Is that supposed to be a compliment?” She asked because she hadn’t expected Aron to appreciate such traits. When she’d been younger, he’d told her not to bother training with her brothers, that it wasn’t proper for a female—shifter or human—to act aggressively. Women were to be protected and cherished, not to be able to rip a male apart in seconds.

  Aron turned her hand over. Sheer will kept it limp.

  “It is.” He inclined his head. “I’m not the same male I was either, nor can I wait for the day you look at me the same way you ogle the human.”

  “Josh,” she snapped.

  Aron rubbed circles into her palm with his thumb. “Josh wants you, but I have you tonight.” He slipped out of his side of the booth still holding on to her hand and urged her to stand. Reluctantly, she did. He tugged her body against his. With his head bent close to hers, his warm breath tickled her ear. “And when I’m done with you, you’ll want me, not Josh.”

  Her life would be so much easier if she did. Josh would be safe with her out of the picture.

  Aron led her to the dance floor. Being with him was necessary. She’d known what she was setting herself up for when she’d called him. With Aron’s scent in her lungs, she regretted her choice. Being close to him literally heaved her gut. It also didn’t help that her cats eyed him as a threat. Even reminding them Aron had been the one chosen for her didn’t help.

  Her cats had made their choice and no amount of rationalization mattered. In the end, they were animals. Prophecies and visions meant nothing to them. They’d set their sights on the male they wanted her to be with. In their primal minds, it was a done deal, and she was just being stubborn.

  Aron pulled her closer. Neither of them danced, despite the grinding music playing in the background.

  “You have matured into a beautiful woman, Mira.” He licked the rim of her ear, and she bit the inside of her cheek. “And you stir me as no other female has before. Your body, your scent, your voice…you lure me, tempt me to carry you back to my bed.”

  A roughened tongue traced a path down the column of her neck. Her breathing quickened, but fear drove it, not passion. The appearance of his primal side didn’t bode well for her. It meant she’d caught the interest of his animals too. Not good. She’d never brought forth a shifter’s animals before, not once in her three hundred years of life. If Aron’s cats set their sight on her, she’d never get free. Aron would claim her body, spilling his seed inside her and marking her womb as his.

  He’d mate her.

  Mira scolded herself. That was exactly what she wanted. A shifter mate. The quicker she picked one, the better. She had to protect Josh. The thought of hurting him sickened her. She couldn’t. She’d do anything for him, even spend eternity with a male she didn’t want.

  She swallowed hard and bent her head to give Aron better access. He took advantage of her offering. His tongue laved her, a rough lick. Rougher than before. She shivered, but not in desire. It tickled. Aron groaned and nipped at her flesh, obviously interpreting her response as approval.

  With a hard tug of her shirt’s neckline, he exposed the old scar on her shoulder. She didn’t like to think of it as a mate bite, more of a disfigurement. If her attack had happened after she’d matured, she wouldn’t have to look at the constant reminder of her rape, but it hadn’t. Edmund’s bite had been too deep for the natural ointments her mother had used to heal it.

  Aron flicked his tongue over the scar. She held still while he toyed with the entry points, nibbling and licking the raised brands. She felt nothin
g, not surprising really. The bite was meant for a mate’s pleasure, and Aron wasn’t hers.

  “When I rebite you, it’ll feel good,” Aron said as if he’d heard her thoughts.

  “If you rebite me.”

  After another nip, she squeezed her eyelids shut. It was either do that or wrap her arms around her heaving gut.

  “When, baby. Not if.”

  “Oohh, another pretty kitty.”

  Aron jerked back at Zoe’s comment and spun to face her. She grinned and openly perused him, letting her gaze linger on his wide chest and narrow hips. Her smile widened.

  “How did you sneak up on me?” Aron asked.

  “Just a gift I have.” Zoe shrugged.

  Mira had noticed the human’s approach, though. That Aron hadn’t meant he’d been too focused on her. She inwardly groaned. Not good, not good at all.

  Zoe stepped between them so they were face-to-face, Aron at her back. She winked at Mira before scowling, the fake frown ruined by the mischievous glint in her eyes. “I hope you don’t plan on monopolizing this fine specimen of a man all night. I want a little of him for myself.”

  Zoe was offering her a reprieve. Mira shouldn’t take it. She had to get used to another male’s touch, but she needed some fresh air to settle her belly. Just a couple of minutes.

  “I did come here with Aron. I shouldn’t abandon him.” She raised her brow, hoping Zoe would take the hint and push a little more. Mira couldn’t appear too eager to get away from her date.

  Zoe leaned against Aron’s chest. “Five minutes. Please?” She lowered her voice. “Consider it an ‘I’m sorry for going furry on you’ gift.”

  “I truly am sorry.”

  “I know.” Zoe offered a small smile, a real one that warmed Mira’s heart. Waving her off, Zoe turned slightly, wrapping her arms around Aron, to cuddle against his chest. “Now get out of here for a while. This one’s mine until you get back.”

  Mira rubbed at her nose to hide her smile. She liked Zoe. The same instant kinship she’d felt with both Jazz and Lena stirred to life. If anything, moving to West Virginia had given her the one thing she’d never had before, female friends.

  Zoe grabbed Aron’s shoulders, the height difference between them forcing her to lean back. “What’s your name?”

  He smiled. “I’m your owner’s older cousin, Aron.”

  “You got that backward. He’s my kitty.” Her eyes widened. “I should get tags for him so I don’t lose him.”

  Mira slipped away. She was delaying the inevitable. A shifter held the role of her future mate, not Josh. Her cats growled their displeasure. They shoved the image of her, heavy with child, and Josh rubbing her belly with love in his eyes to the forefront of her mind.

  She stopped, completely caught off guard by the picture they’d conjured. Her animals were delusional. They had to be. There was no way the image they showed her could come to be. Their species’ difference prevented conception.

  Desperation must have spurred her cats to concoct the image. Nothing more.

  She swiped a mental hand over the picture, scattering it. Her cats’ annoyed snarls reverberated in her head. She tuned them out and hurried to the door.

  Chapter 15

  With her gaze locked on the front door and her escape, Mira headed off the dance floor. A few feet from freedom, a strong arm wrapped around her waist and yanked her against a hard chest. She yelped, the feminine sound an automatic response to the male who’d caught her. Josh often made her forget she was the predator, not him.

  Josh pressed his mouth to her ear. “Going somewhere?”

  “I was…”

  “Coming to find me.” He stepped closer and slipped his other arm around her waist, locking their bodies together, his front to her back. “Weren’t you?”

  Mira shook her head.

  “Trying to make me jealous, then?”

  No, she was trying to protect him the only way she knew how.

  “I think you’re reading extra into things. I’m here with Aron because—”

  Josh nipped her earlobe, stopping her words. A flick of his tongue laved the sting. She held her breath and waited for his next move. He captured the tender lobe between his teeth and tugged. A shuddered groan fell from her lips.

  “I don’t care why you’re with him.”

  Josh’s warm breath on her neck sent shivers down her spine. Where Aron’s touch chilled her, Josh’s ignited. She burned.

  “Don’t you?”

  “No.”

  “That’s good to hear. Have you finally wised up and realized we won’t ever be together?”

  Instead of answering, Josh spun her in his arms. He lifted her, an arm around her waist.

  She fisted his shirt. “Josh!”

  “Yeah?”

  “Put me down.” Her order held no punch.

  “In a minute.” He strode down the hall. Her toes skimmed the floor.

  Josh stopped in front of his office. He adjusted his hold on her body and pushed the door open.

  Her breaths quickened. She couldn’t be locked in a room with a male who triggered her instincts. Only her conscience had kept her out of his bed.

  She shoved against his chest, barely managing to break his grip. Shocked by his strength, she stumbled back. The workouts he’d been engaging in had made him powerful. And even more desirable.

  No. She had to stop thinking about Josh that way. She knew it, but when he looked at her with those half-lidded eyes, it was hard not to fall under his spell.

  She narrowed her eyes. “We are not doing this.”

  He gripped the doorframe above her head. His plain black T-shirt stretched over bulging biceps and a chest packed with muscle. Her mouth watered.

  “Yes, we are.”

  She inhaled, needing to ground herself and gain some control over her runaway libido. His scent filled her lungs. She swayed toward him, an uncontrollable response. He smelled richer, more potent, and full of life.

  “No.” She shook her head, trying to clear it before lust drowned out her common sense. “I came here with Aron. He’s my date.”

  Josh trailed a fingertip down her cheek and across her lips. She parted them, silently urging him closer while berating herself for being so weak. He dropped his hand.

  “But I’m the one you want.” Confidence laced the statement.

  She took a step back. He merely watched her. Satisfaction flashed across his face. Seeing it left her uneasy. She put more space between them.

  “No, you’re not. I changed my mind. It’s a woman’s prerogative, you know.” She clenched her jaw to stop her rambling.

  “Liar.”

  Mira ran her fingers through the strands of her hair, hoping he’d focus on that and not the trembling in her limbs or her heaving chest. “I’m not lying.”

  Josh’s denim-blue eyes, darker in the dim light, glinted with amusement. He watched her toy with her hair for a long moment. With a smirk on his lips, he slowly perused her body. Sparks skipped across her skin in the wake of his visual inspection.

  Hunger slackened his features. He licked his lips. A smile spread over his rough face. “Shall we make a bet then?”

  “No. There’s no reason to bother with your silly games.” She huffed. “I chose Aron tonight. He’s the male I want to spend my time with, not you.”

  He laid one palm above the swell of her breast and shoved. She stumbled backward. Josh followed her, the lock clicking behind him.

  “You’re a horrible liar.” He stood with one hand on the doorknob and the other fisted at his side. “You get this little twitch by your eye and lower your gaze so you’re staring at my nose instead of my eyes.”

  Yeah, she couldn’t lie to save her life, but if she made a conscious effort, she could pull it off. She straightened her shoulders. “I’m telling the truth. I want to be with Aron.”

  With his gaze locked to hers and his chin lowered, Josh advanced on her. Blue fire burned from behind his long, thick lashes. The intent d
isplayed in his expression sent a shiver of awareness through her.

  He stopped a few feet away. “Do you think me a fool, then?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “Good.” He took a single step closer. “Because I know what you’re doing.”

  She shook her head. “You don’t know anything.”

  Another step. “Is that so?”

  She nodded.

  He took one more and kicked a box out of his way. Something rolled and shattered against the wall. His gaze never left hers. “Let me prove it to you.” He extended a hand and curled his fingers. “Come here.”

  “No.”

  He sighed but disappointment didn’t show on his face. Excitement did.

  She scrambled backward. Her legs hit his desk. He kept coming, not stopping his focused approach until his thighs bracketed hers. With his hands on the desktop on either side of her waist, he leaned closer, surrounding her with his presence and completely shattering her control.

  She trembled.

  Mira, a shifter who’d earned a reputation for viciousness, trembled for a human male. Josh wasn’t just any male, though. He was the one her heart had chosen the moment she’d looked in to his eyes.

  Josh pressed his nose to her neck and groaned. The raw sound reached deep inside her, making her lower belly warm. She grasped his wrists, neither pushing him away nor tugging him closer. His warm breath heating her skin froze her in place. Each slow exhale fanned the flames of desire she always experienced around him.

  He flicked his tongue across her sensitized skin, and a soft sigh slipped past her lips. “Josh.”

  “That’s right, kitten.” He tilted his head so his rough-cut features became her world. “Aron’s touch didn’t make you hot because it’s mine you want.”

  Kitten.

  She loved when he called her that. If any other male had used the term, she would’ve seen red. Not Josh. He cared about her, and the adoration laced in that one word made her feel special. She locked her muscles, barely managing to stop herself from snuggling against him.