Chapter Twenty-two #2
He dragged the tip of his nose along her cheekbone. ‘You’ve got to stop doing this.’
She blinked. ‘What?’
‘Tempting me to fuck you out in the open.’ He cupped her hip, his warm lips grazing her cheek as they slid to her ear. ‘I only have so much restraint.’
‘Don’t blame me if your cock is hard.’
‘Who should I blame? It ain’t your fault that you stroll around looking like every man’s fantasy, I get that – you would no matter what you were wearing. But you knew if you put on that dress I’d remember what happened the last time you wore it.’
She almost shivered on recalling ‘the last time’. Her dress had ended up hiked around her waist as he’d fucked her against the wall – he hadn’t even properly closed his front door he’d been on her so fast. ‘Maybe I want a repeat.’
Something wicked seeped into his eyes and pooled there. ‘Oh, you’ll get one.’ He opened the passenger door of his truck, lifted her by her hips and set her on the seat.
She batted away his hand when he went to put on her seatbelt. ‘We’ve had this conversation, I can—’
The weight of his lips on hers silenced her. His tongue slipped into her mouth, tangled with her own and swept her into a maelstrom of carnal sensation.
There was a click, and he pulled back. Among the heat in his eyes was a pinch of amused satisfaction.
And she realized he’d taken care of the seatbelt situation while she’d been distracted.
‘You’re an ass,’ she told him matter-of-factly.
His massive shoulders gave an uncaring shrug as he closed her door. Moments later, he was beside her.
Using magick, she wrenched at his seatbelt and wrapped it around him until yet another click sounded in the small space.
His brows lifted, mirth still a flickering flame in his gaze. ‘Thanks, baby.’
There he went with the ‘baby’ again. It made her belly clench.
He switched on the engine and drove down the dirt road which cut through the land that Millicent had willed to him. ‘How did your day play out?’
‘Work. Lunch with Paisley. Whipping up more potions. That was pretty much it.’ She placed her purse between her feet. ‘What about you?’
He shifted gears. ‘Me and a bunch of my clan were hunting in Bloodhill until a couple of hours ago. Then it was a matter of delivering the meat and scrubbing myself clean in the shower.’ He tossed her a sideways glance.
‘I suppose you decided to leave out the part where Kerr had to hurry along CeCe’s friends,’ he added, his tone hard but casual.
She shrugged. ‘It wasn’t worth mentioning. They were just staring.’
‘You and I know what it means when werewolves stare like that. They’re making it known that you’re on their shitlist and warning you to watch your back.’
Yes, she did know that. However . . . ‘I’m not worried.’
‘That isn’t the point. You’re mine. I don’t like anyone thinking they can act that way toward you.’ His voice roughened with irritation and possession. ‘To add to that, I’m their Alpha. They should have too much respect for my claim to you than to behave that way.’
Sensing just how deep his annoyance ran, she guessed . . . ‘You had a little talk with them, didn’t you?’
‘Not because I think you need anyone else fighting your battles for you. In fact, I can’t think of a single person who needs that less than you do. But, as I pointed out before, they should show more respect, given who you are to me.’
‘I get it.’ She nibbled on her lower lip. ‘I hope you don’t think I should behave “respectfully” toward them if they ignore your warning and come at me.’ Because that wouldn’t happen.
He shot her a grave look. ‘If they ever come at you – which is unlikely – do what you have to do.’
Surprise pricked at Emberlyn. As their Alpha, he’d be instinctively protective of them.
For him to basically give her the go-ahead to deal with them as she saw fit, he was essentially prioritizing her welfare over theirs.
And damn the bastard for that, because it only made Paisley’s suggestion to keep him all the more attractive.
‘You watching the game Friday?’
Assuming he meant the high school football game, she nodded. Each clan had their own team, as did the coven. ‘Me and the twins always attend together.’ She and Paisley would cheer and boo and pretend they knew stuff about football.
‘You should come with us. All three of you.’
She felt her brow pinch. ‘Who’s “us”?’
‘Me, Logan, Kerr, Crew and a few others.’
Well, that would be new. Emberlyn and the twins usually straddled the edge of the spectator crowd, never part of any groups. ‘I suppose we could meet you there.’
‘Or I can pick you up.’
‘I usually give the twins a ride.’
‘Crew can do that. Then you can ride with me.’ It was a pressing suggestion.
‘Does it really matter if you and I arrive separately?’
‘No, so it’ll be easy for you to agree to shake things up,’ he cleverly replied. ‘It makes sense. Crew lives closer to both Paisley and Kage than you do, and the shortcut I can take through this land to your house makes it a quick drive.’
Very true, but she sensed that that wasn’t his sole reason for ‘suggesting’ this. ‘You like driving me places, don’t you?’
‘Yeah,’ he easily confirmed. ‘It’s one of the ways in which male werewolves like taking care of who belongs to them. You should know that already.’
She had known that. She just hadn’t thought it would apply to him – they hadn’t been involved with each other long, and they hadn’t agreed on anything permanent. Yet.
‘Plus, it means I know you’re safe.’
She felt a brow inch up. ‘Are you implying that I’m a bad driver?’
‘Not at all,’ he assured her. ‘I’m protective.
You know that. Right now, you have trouble coming at you from several angles.
It makes me antsy. I like to have you where I can see you.
Also, while I don’t anticipate you having a road accident, I prefer driving you places because my truck can better sustain a hard impact than your car. ’
‘Don’t be so sure.’
He cast her a quick frown. ‘What does that mean?’
‘My car is protected by blood magick. It’s tougher than a tank. Maybe I should pick you up instead.’
His shoulders lifted and fell. ‘Whatever you want. Makes no odds to me as long as you’re not alone.’
A crackle came through his truck’s communication radio.
He picked up the walkie talkie, pressed down on the side button and put it to his mouth. ‘Problem?’ He released the button.
Another crackle. ‘Yeah,’ Kerr replied. ‘Your aunt Yvette called. A fight broke out at her diner. I figured you’d want to deal with it.’
Ripper’s face firmed. ‘Call her back; tell her I’ll be there in two minutes.’ He set down the radio and gave Emberlyn a quick look. ‘Gotta make a pitstop.’
‘No problem.’ She wasn’t surprised he’d want to deal with the situation himself, given that it involved his aunt.
Ripper took a turn that led to the town’s neutral territory and drove straight to the diner. He whipped his truck into a parking space, his alert gaze taking a moment to scan the many other vehicles and the people loitering outside.
As Emberlyn unclicked her seatbelt, he cast her a quick frown. She squinted. ‘You’re not going to ask me to wait here, are you?’
‘I could, but something tells me it’d get me nowhere,’ he muttered, exiting the truck.
The man was not wrong. She collected her purse, swung open the door and allowed him to help her slide out of the vehicle.
He curled his fingers around her wrist in a move that felt protective . . . like he didn’t want to have to wonder where exactly she physically was at any point.
Planting a hand on the door, he effortlessly shoved it open and tugged her into the diner. Aside from the banging, cursing, yelling and crashing coming from the restrooms, it was relatively quiet – every patron and worker was silent, on their feet and nosily straining to hear what was going on.
The crowd parted to allow them through, nodding at them in respect.
In the men’s bathroom, they found one of Carver’s sons exchanging blows with a member of Shane’s clan. And they’d made a mess.
A stall door was hanging on one hinge. The hand towel dispenser was on the floor. The trash can had been knocked over, and litter was strewn across the tiled floor.
Ripper released her wrist, his hard gaze fixed on the wolves. ‘Enough.’ The word was a harsh, growl-edged whip that sliced through the air, heavy with a pure Alpha power that stirred up her magick.
The brawling males paused, their shoulders drooping . . . as if the power in Ripper’s voice had crashed down on their shoulders like a heavy and encumbering weight.
‘Both of you back up,’ he ordered.
They did, panting and a little unsteady. Both sported cuts, swellings and the beginnings of bruises.
‘The fuck is going on here?’ Ripper demanded, looking from one male to the other.
They glared at the floor, silent.
‘I asked a question. Someone had better fucking answer it.’
Carver’s son, TJ, raised adrenaline-glazed eyes to Ripper.
‘I was about to leave the bathroom when Benny accused my dad of being in on what happened to Lincoln. I told him that was bullshit. He laughed, called my dad the coven’s pet dog and said a whole bunch of other crap.
I threw the first punch, I’ll admit it. But he started in on me for no damn good reason. ’
‘Oh, come on,’ Benny appealed, turning to Ripper, ‘we all know that Carver’s in league with Reena.’
Ripper glared at him. ‘We don’t know shit. You don’t know shit.’
‘She does,’ said Benny, pointing at Emberlyn. ‘She’ll tell ya I’m right. Carver’s part of it, ain’t he?’
Emberlyn lifted her shoulders. ‘I can’t say for sure, so I’m not going to. I don’t lay accusations at people’s feet unless I have proof of guilt. Do you have proof? I’d love to see it.’
Benny’s jaw hardened. ‘I don’t need evidence—’
‘Sure you do,’ she contradicted. ‘Otherwise, it’s just speculation.’
TJ nodded curtly in agreement while Benny flushed.
Ripper advanced on the latter male. ‘I don’t care what you choose to believe – that’s between you and you.
And if you want to voice it to Carver or one of his wolves, that’s your prerogative.
’ He lowered his face toward Benny’s, his eyes boring into his.
‘But you don’t air that out here, in my aunt’s diner. ’
‘I-I am sorry about that p-part,’ stammered Benny. ‘But I’m not sorry about what I said.’
‘Which is why I ain’t sorry I punched you,’ TJ told him. He refocused on Ripper. ‘It wasn’t cool of us to throw down here, though – I’m sorry for that. I’ll clean up and pay for the damage.’
‘You both will,’ said Ripper. ‘I don’t care that he threw the first punch, Benny. You tossed the first verbal hit, and you had to know it would result in a fight.’
The restroom door creaked open, and Shane breezed inside. ‘One of my wolves called.’ He took in the entire scene. ‘Give me a rundown, would you, Rip?’
Ripper relayed everything to the other Alpha, who was quite clearly peeved at his wolf for starting shit here of all places.
Shane scowled at Benny. ‘Once you’ve cleaned up, you’ll be leaving with me – and you won’t like what’s coming next.’
Carver turned up soon after. There was a lot of blustering and cursing from him when he heard what Benny had said to his son. Emberlyn suspected the only reason the Alpha didn’t fly at the offending wolf was that Ripper would have flipped.
Once the restroom was set to rights and the brawlers left with their Alphas in tow, Yvette sought out Ripper and gave him an affectionate smile.
‘Thanks for stepping in, darlin’. They weren’t going to stop any time soon.
’ She looked at Emberlyn, her smile widening.
‘I keep telling my nephew to bring you here for dinner. You might as well stay and eat.’
Ah . . . but that would be something close to a date, and he might not want to—
‘I was gonna say the same thing,’ said Ripper, turning to Emberlyn. ‘You up for it?’
She felt her lips curve. ‘I’m up for it.’