“Why?”
“I’m a bitch like that.”
He persisted, “Let me in, Jaime.”
Ignoring the tug in his voice, she brought her index finger to her chin. “Now let me think…I’ve fed the cat, been to work, done my laundry, attended the baby shower…Sorry, but it seems that my schedule doesn’t include talking to you. Bummer.”
A huge grin spread across Dante’s face. He shouldn’t like her attitude, but he did. “Don’t make me push my way in, baby. You know I will.”
The stubborn set of his smooth jaw told her that he meant every word. Releasing an exasperated sigh, she turned and walked inside, leaving him to close the door behind him. Jaime watched in bemusement as he wandered around the room like he owned it. Typical dominant male.
Oddly, her wolf liked having him in her personal space. Well that’s new . Her wolf was usually too territorial over her space to be okay with that kind of thing. All shifters were territorial, but not as bad as Jaime’s wolf.
“I like it,” said Dante as he took in the rustic look of the room and the warm feel created by the natural, woodsy colors. Jaime was clearly a messy person—something he would imagine drove Grace crazy when she came inside to clean—but the room was somehow inviting, calming. The white canopy bed caused a series of erotic images to flick through his brain. Not helpful.
“So you wanted to talk.”
He turned back to Jaime and was momentarily distracted by the way she was biting on her lower lip. Christ, that mouth. He wanted it again. He remembered how soft it was, how—
Enough. “Yes. It was an interesting conversation we had last night. I hadn’t been expecting to end up flat on my back. That’s some strength you have. What was it you said after calling me a son of a bitch? Oh yeah, that’s it. You said that if you want to fuck someone that you goddamn motherfucking will. Huh.” His wolf growled at the memory. “You even punctuated that by slamming the car door.” As he took a step toward her, a stifling sensual need assailed Jaime, twisting her insides.
Crap. Her body was now officially in “Must Have Dante” mode, and it would only be a matter of minutes before he sensed it. Damn it, why did his voice have to be so sexily gruff? And did he have to be so incredibly masculine? And why, oh why, couldn’t his self-assuredness piss her off instead of causing fluttering sensations in her stomach?
This whole thing sucked. Didn’t every girl imagine that she would one day manage indifference around the guy with whom she had been infatuated? Frustratingly, Jaime’s body was not on the same wavelength as her mind; her nipples had tightened painfully, her breasts were aching, her clit was throbbing, and she was so damn wet it wasn’t even funny. It was almost as though her body was submissively readying itself for him.
“Nothing to say to that?”
“What can I say?” she said meekly as she lowered her eyes. “PMS is a bitch.”
“The submissive act isn’t going to work with me any longer. Dominant vibes were washing off you in waves last night. Yet now I can barely sense your wolf. Maybe you could explain to me just why that is.”
“Maybe you could just go home to Olive Oyll and eat some more spinach.” There was that cocky grin again that tickled her in all the right places.
“Why can I barely sense your wolf, Jaime?”
She had to refrain from backing up as he continued to move toward her. The predatory look on his face and the stealth in his slow steps made her feel like she was being stalked. Her wolf liked the way he prowled toward her, liked being the sole focus of his attention.
“Jaime,” he drawled warningly, continuing to close in on her. “Answer me.” Again she ignored the pull in his voice, but it proved impossible to ignore the carnal hunger circulating through her system. And he was standing oh so close to her bed…She imagined herself on her hands and knees, clinging to the silk sheets, while he took her forcefully from behind.
“Don’t look away from me.”
She snapped her eyes back to his. “Why, are you going to do a trick?” He didn’t want to smile, but he couldn’t help it, damn it. He gave the smart-ass a look that swore reprisal. “Oh, baby, if you—” Catching a faint hint of her arousal in the air, he halted. Fuck.
He couldn’t help inhaling deeply; the mix of the pure, tantalizing smell of her arousal together with her own unique scent was like a punch. A low growl rumbled out of him. It was definitely a mistake taking her scent inside him like that; knowing she was so wet and primed for him had his painfully hard cock throbbing.
His wolf strained toward her, wanting at her again. Hell, he wasn’t the only one. Calling on every ounce of control he had, Dante remained where he was. He couldn’t pounce on her; he couldn’t let himself have her, no matter how badly he wanted her. He had enough reasons to ignore his hunger for her, and he silently recited each one of them to himself.
As she watched Dante sense her arousal, Jaime inwardly cursed herself. She would have expected him to be wearing one of his cocky grins. To her surprise, there was no grin, no smugness.
Instead, pure male need blazed from his eyes. Not that she could take it as a compliment—the scent of a mature female wolf’s arousal would have undoubtedly stirred his wolf and interested his body whether Dante wanted it to or not. Still, his reaction thrilled her wolf; the animal wasn’t interested in the facts surrounding the situation, she saw only a strong, dominant, aroused male who would take care of her own arousal quite nicely.
Yeah, well, her wolf would have to be disappointed, because Jaime herself was interested in the facts surrounding the situation. This was a male who had made it quite clear that he didn’t want her. This same male had not only been shoving his nose into her business, he had actually marked her when he had no goddamn right or reason. Possibly worse than all that, Jaime wanted him regardless.
“Answer my question.” His voice was taut with the feverish lust that was pounding through him.
“I don’t have to tell you a fucking thing.”
Of course the word fucking had Dante’s brain going back to its favorite subject—the idea of fucking Jaime. More fantasies began playing around in his head, making his balls ache. “Why are you being so secretive about this? Just answer the damn question!”
“Or what? You’ll tell Trey? Go ahead.” She waved a hand at the door. “Go on, go tell him.” He probably should. No, he definitely should. But Dante knew that Trey would decide to banish her purely for lying about her wolf’s dominant nature—there was no room for deception in a pack. While Dante understood that, he wasn’t comfortable with the idea of Jaime being banished. Not until he knew exactly why she had lied. Jaime wasn’t a vindictive, disloyal person. If she was trying to keep her wolf’s true status a secret, there had to be a very good reason. “I can’t help you unless you’re honest with me.” He growled when she arched an imperious brow at him.
“Did I ask for your help, Popeye?”
In two strides, he’d covered the space between them. “Stop being so fucking stubborn and tell me,” he ordered, all Beta now. The scent of her arousal swirled around him, blending with his own, making him close to drunk. The obstinate, challenging, hotheaded female was actually able to shrug off his order, and God help him, he found it sexy as fucking hell. All he could think about was stripping her naked and fucking her raw, fucking her into submission. His usually iron control was now papery thin, all because of this woman. “You don’t even know that you’re doing it, do you?” She double-blinked, confused—fully proving his point. She had absolutely no clue what she did to him, no clue just how hard he had to fight not to pounce on her and ravish her. If he didn’t leave this room right now, she soon would.
Reminding himself of all the reasons why he couldn’t have her, he stepped back. “Don’t think this is the end of this, Jaime. I told you yesterday that I won’t stop harassing you until I get answers.” He thought about apologizing for what had happened last night, but he wasn’t sorry—not even about marking her, oddly enough. So he turned on his heel and forc
ed himself to leave before he dove on her again.
Deciding that she had definitely never met a male stranger than Dante, she stared after him as he waltzed out. His natural cocky swagger should have annoyed her, but damn if it didn’t have her stomach clenching in need again. Jerk.
Although Jaime was eager to know what had Shaya in such a state that she was chugging down a glass of vodka like it was ice water, she didn’t prod her for answers. She simply sat on the bar stool, waiting patiently for her to speak. Sensing that she and Shaya had needed a little alone time, Gabe had taken Hope onto the dance floor. He was good like that.
“I know I said I’d tell you, but I’m not sure I want to talk about it,” Shaya eventually said.
“I think you do. I think this is eating at you.”
Shaya offered a sad smile. “That’s almost the exact same thing that Marcus said.”
“Marcus is the one who has you upset?”
“No, no, definitely not. The shameless flirt guessed there was something upsetting me, and he wouldn’t stop hounding me until I told him.”
Jaime recalled seeing the two of them going on private strolls around pack territory together.
She had wondered if maybe they scratched each other’s itch occasionally, but apparently, it was something much more important.
“I’m glad I did tell him. Without having him to talk to, I’d have lost it. He’s the only one who knows. If I tell you, you have to keep it to yourself. I mean you keep it from Gabe, and Dante, and even Taryn and Trey. I know that’s not a fair thing to ask, so if you’re not comfortable with it, we won’t talk about it.”
Jaime wasn’t in a position to judge anybody for keeping secrets from their Alphas. Even if the idea had made her feel uncomfortable, she still wouldn’t be okay with leaving Shaya to deal with whatever this was alone. Sure, Shaya had Marcus, but sometimes a woman needed to talk to another woman. “You have my word that I won’t repeat a single thing you tell me.” Shaya slumped over the bar. “I know who my true mate is.”
That had Jaime raising her eyebrows. “Is he in the pack?”
“No. None of those guys would ever walk away from their true mate.”
“So he knows who you are? I mean, he knows you’re his mate?”
“He knows.” She took another swig of vodka. “I know it’s really unusual for someone to pick up on it within minutes of meeting someone, but I just knew. Maybe it’s because I was so eager to find him after seeing Taryn so happy with Trey that I was open enough to sense it. I saw a flash of recognition and then shock cross his face. I saw the way he watched me like a hawk. There’s no way I’ll believe he doesn’t know.”
“You didn’t try to talk to him?”
Her chuckle was humorless. “Oh I tried. You should have seen the way he looked at me. Or should I say, he looked through me. He’s made it obvious that he doesn’t want me.”
“He said that?” Jaime was ready to kill the guy already.
“That’s the thing, he said nothing. He doesn’t talk to me. Whenever he comes to our territory, he pretty much overlooks my presence. I don’t even stick around when he’s there anymore. I figure there’s no point if he’s only going to ignore me. It hurts, you know. It really fucking hurts.” Jaime could only imagine. “Why not tell Taryn?”
“She’d demand to know who he is, break his nose, and then force him to claim me. I want him to claim me because he wants to.”
“Maybe there’s a good reason why he hasn’t claimed you. Maybe you could try to talk to him again.”
“Give him a chance to dismiss me again like I’m a piece of shit on his shoe? No thanks. I’ve got a pretty good idea why he doesn’t want me. He looks down on me.” A surge of protectiveness shot through Jaime. “Why would he look down on you?”
“Because I’m submissive, and he’s so not.”
“Why should that be an issue? Just because you’re a submissive doesn’t mean your mate can’t be an alpha male.”
Another humorless chuckle. “He’s not just an alpha male. He’s an Alpha of a pack.” Shock made Jaime’s eyes widen. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope. So you see the problem.”
Yes, she saw the problem. Alpha pairs of a pack were exactly that—a pair of Alphas. A submissive wolf could never hold the position of Alpha female and would be constantly challenged if she tried. Trey’s mother had been an exception, because no one had envied her position as Rick Coleman’s mate, but she had never had the respect and support of the pack as every Alpha female should. Jaime wanted to say something comforting, but unlike her brother, she was so bad at this. “Oh God, Shaya, if I knew what to say, I’d say it.”
“Thanks. The whole thing would be a lot easier if he didn’t visit the pack.”
“Why does he visit?”
She shrugged before taking another gulp of vodka. “I’m guessing it’s to talk business stuff with Trey.”
“He can do that over the phone. Not many packs socialize with other packs. You don’t think that maybe the reason he goes is to see you?”
“If it is, he’ll be disappointed, won’t he? I’ll never be there when he is. Not ever. There was one time when he showed up out of the blue. I hid in my room.” After a short pause, she added, “I’m thinking of leaving the pack.”
Jaime twisted fully in her seat, gawking unattractively. “What?”
“Believe me when I say that I love it there, I really do. It’s so different from my old pack—
tight and family oriented and supportive. But it’s not a safe haven for me, because he goes there. He can invade my home whenever he likes, and that taints it. If things get too hard…I don’t see what other choice I’d have. No matter how bad things get, I’d never leave Taryn while she’s pregnant. I want to be there for the birth. But after that…Well, we’ll see.”
“Where would you go? Back to your old pack?”
“I’d go where I’d never have any chance of bumping into him. I’d make a place for myself in the human world.”
Jaime gawked again. “You can’t be serious. Shaya, the lone-wolf lifestyle is no joke.”
“No, it’s not, but there’s no room for me in the shifter world if I can’t have my mate, is there? I can’t exactly have a real relationship with another shifter. Even those who aren’t yet ready to find their true mate still want to find them eventually.”
“It doesn’t mean you can’t find a shifter who cares for you enough to imprint on you.” Shaya placed her empty glass on the bar and turned in her seat so that she was fully facing Jaime. “Let me ask you this: My mate might not want me, but do you think he’s going to let anyone else have me?”
“Hell.” No male would be okay watching his mate with someone else. An Alpha male? There was a pretty good chance he would kill any male who touched her, whether he wanted her for himself or not.
“My only chance of finding any kind of happiness with someone would be to leave the shifter community behind, leave him behind. Find a nice human guy who doesn’t come with baggage like Alpha shit and true mate bonds.”
“I hate to say this—really, really hate to say this—but you’re right, getting out of here does sound like the best option for you. I gotta say, though…Running from him wouldn’t be a good thing.
Running from a predator is like waving a red flag at a bull.”
“Yeah,” allowed Shaya, her voice so small and sad, “but if I told him I was leaving my pack, he’d try to stop me because it would suit him to know where I am and that I’m not with anyone else.”
“You’re probably right. Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“Is it Nick Axton?” she asked cautiously. It wasn’t such a hard guess, since he was one of the very few Alphas who visited.
Shaya’s expression morphed into one of sheer, unadulterated pain. She sighed heavily.
“Yeah.”
“Can I kill him?”
“I’ve been tempted to do it myself plenty of times. Oh God, l
isten to me whining. I’m letting him depress me. I promised myself that I wouldn’t.” She jumped to her feet. “Come on, time to dance.”
“Dance?”
“Yes. You know how much I love to dance. Besides, if I don’t stop dwelling, I’ll end up crying. Now come on.”
Nodding, Jaime simply followed Shaya to the dance floor. Then, like Shaya, she gave herself over completely to the music, letting it invade her body, charge her soul, and steal all other thoughts from her mind.
Dante had just sunk two balls, leaving only the eight ball, when Marcus came inside the game room eating a bag of chips. Glancing around, Marcus asked, “You guys haven’t seen Gabe, have you?” Like Dante, Trey, Trick, Tao, Nick, and his bodyguard, Derren, all shook their heads. Dante leaned down, getting himself in position to pot the black.
“He went out with the girls,” revealed Dominic.
Distracted, Dante missed the black completely. “Which girls?” Delighted that he now had the chance to pot the black first, Dominic smiled widely and bent over the pool table. He took his shot and then scowled at Dante when he scooped up the black, holding it hostage. “Hey!”
“Which. Girls?”
Dominic rolled his eyes. “Jaime, Shaya, and Hope.”
“Shaya?” echoed Nick, earning curious looks from everyone.
Dante demanded, “Where are they, Dominic?”
“Why, what’s the big deal?” But Dominic knew exactly what the big deal was. Dante wasn’t in the mood for his little “let’s see how far I can push my Beta” games right now.
“Where are they?”
Dominic sighed. “The Rouge Bar.”
Twenty minutes later, with Nick, Derren, Tao, Marcus, and Trick close behind, Dante edged through a mass of gyrating bodies. His eyes scanned the bar intently, searching diligently for the reason he was in this damn place. He didn’t much like it here. It seemed that there was always trouble at some point between packs.
When he reached the far corner of the dance floor, he stopped dead as a sight captivated every muscle in his body. A female moving so in sync with the music, like her entire self, right down to her soul, was attuned to the rhythm. Jaime. Her slender figure was sensual, graceful, and spellbinding. As usual, the temptation to have her slithered over every inch of his skin, taunting him. No, haunting him.