Chapter 10
Ford
Electricity had already scoured my veins.
All from being close to a beautiful woman I shouldn’t even consider touching.
But I was…
“To the man of the hour! Bartender, get that man another beer.”
As a guy I didn’t know raised his beer bottle, I nodded in appreciation.
Only in the last few minutes had I started to come down from the intense adrenaline rush.
“I’m good, but thank you.” I showed him my nearly full glass of whiskey, but he didn’t seem to be paying attention, trying to grab the bartender’s arm.
“Does that ever get old?”
Hearing a different lilt to Georgia’s voice brought a smile to my face. I swung my head toward her, reflecting the mood she was in and shrugging. “Honestly? Hell, no. I can’t lie. I adore the reactions from the followers. Most people are really cool about what they say.”
Although I had to admit if only to myself that a few assholes had gotten under my skin. The closer we’d come to the playoffs, the worse the nasty shifter comments had gotten.
“I’d have a difficult time under the pressure.”
I leaned further forward. “I doubt that. You’re all fire and ice, a woman who appears as if she can handle anything.”
Georgia swirled her glass of wine with one hand while dragging a strand of hair from her eyes with the other.
Even in the bar’s dim lighting, it appeared as if her skin was glowing.
She had the same serene look on her face as a dream I’d experienced.
My untamed mental calisthenics in the middle of the night were getting out of hand.
I hadn’t slept the entire night through in a couple of weeks if not longer.
“My bark is worse than my bite, unlike yours.” Her eyes popped open wide as soon as the words slipped from her mouth. As soon as they did, she broke into laughter, the sound sending a series of vibrations through every muscle.
I shifted in my seat uncomfortably, the ache in my loins having nothing to do with the hot and heavy game I’d finished only a couple of hours before.
The strange and in some ways unwanted feelings that had been shifting exponentially had been all about her.
I took a swig of my drink, allowing her to suffer in her fear she’d somehow insulted me with her comment.
In no way had she meant to do so, but I was ornery enough after the huge win to tease her relentlessly. So I did.
“You really do think shifters are lesser people. Don’t you? I mean, look at you on your high horse, acting all high and mighty. I bet you think you have a magical touch. You know, like a witch. Yeah, little Miss Muffet on her tuffet. Right?”
It was difficult keeping a straight face while tossing out bullshit, but she could take it.
Except when her face fell, her eyes filling with tears, my entire reverie faded, hitting the floor like a rock.
“Whoa. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. In case you haven’t figured it out, I tend to put my foot into my mouth.” What fun was there when she wouldn’t play along?
Damn it. A tear was sliding down her face.
I threw my head back, scrubbing my jaw. Then a dark need to protect her came over me and I reached out without thinking, swiping the single salty bead with my fingertip at the same time she wrapped her fingers around my naked forearm.
Something cataclysmic occurred at the exact same moment. Her face lit up with mischief in beating me at my own game while the touch occurred, yet a tiny, almost inaudible gasp slipped past her full lips.
A magnetic warmth swirled through me, my skin buzzing from the white-hot prickles of heat. Even low-voltage vibrations slammed the length of my spine and I sensed the same reaction within her.
She curled her fingers into a fist yet didn’t pull her arm away even when her laugh faded.
“Gotcha,” she managed.
In deciding to pass off my body’s reaction, I lifted my glass in a toast. “You are evil. Truly an evil woman.”
Shrugging, she pouted on purpose before bringing the rim of her glass to those luscious lips that I’d had the gift of tasting.
What I found so fascinating about that moment was the pit in my stomach was all too familiar, reducing me to the teenager who’d thought he was invincible. The same one who’d also believed that because I was only half human that I could fix any problem tossed my way.
I’d felt something that I’d only heard existed.
Then the amazing period of my life been taken from me because of my carelessness. Damn it. I couldn’t allow that to happen again. Not to Georgia.
Not to myself. I wouldn’t be able to take the emotional crippling all over again.
I leaned back in my seat, forcing myself to look away before I said something I regretted. Like asking her to come home with me. My eyes locked onto the television screen, the replay of the last goal being shown on rewind.
Of course she was watching me, likely confused and upset at my constant mood swings. She didn’t understand that I was doing so for her protection. After the dream I’d experienced, the man depicted nothing more than a possessive beast, the best thing I could do for her was to keep my distance.
“I’m not usually playful. Evidently my skills are sorely lacking.”
In squeezing my eyes shut, I don’t know whether I was trying to block out her beauty or just pretending like I’d done as a child when I didn’t want to face something uncomfortable.
I had no idea what to say to her, which was also unusual in that since her arrival, I hadn’t been lacking for words whatsoever.
“Your skills are pretty amazing if you ask me.” I couldn’t seem to keep my eyes off her, appreciating the way she crossed one leg over the other.
She was a woman who shouldn’t be nervous in her own skin, yet she was.
There was such a vulnerability about her that conflicted with the personality she’d let loose on me.
Plus, I’d seen tremendous hurt in her eyes that I wasn’t the cause of.
“Thanks. I’m glad the game went well.”
“What you said to me and how you handled me was the reason I played so well during the last period.”
Why was it that every time she laughed, my balls tightened?
Was I unlike every other red-blooded male when around a stunning female?
Hell, no. I wasn’t a priest, her voluptuous body calling to me.
When she’d kissed me seconds before I’d gone out on the ice to win the game, I’d felt my wolf closer to the surface than at any time when playing hockey.
He’d been controlled because the beast that had haunted me for years, pushing my personality into someone I didn’t recognize, had been offered a fix. Her.
“I’m glad I could help.”
I’d felt this level of a tethering mechanism one time in my life.
Now it was being stretched in a way that prevented me from controlling my mood or my actions.
Being so cautious and so completely uncomfortable around her had already grated on my nerves.
Tonight, she carried a scent with her that reminded me of my mother’s home.
Apples and warm cinnamon. Of course I realized she’d consumed a flavored iceplex beverage in spiced apple cider, but the fragrance lingered, which when I was trying to ignore my desire for her was about the worst thing possible.
I’d known awkwardness in my life, but around her, the lack of articulation had become an artform.
“So your family owns a sawmill?” She rolled her finger around the rim of her glass, her sudden shyness in asking me anything as surprising as the strength I’d seen in her earlier.
“Why don’t you just ask me what you want to know.
You’re curious what it’s like being inhuman.
Right? I’m sure you wonder like everyone else whether or not we eat people in our off time.
Maybe we have a grill or spit roaster dedicated to using for the humans we catch.
We all get together and have a barbeque, drinking a few brewskis while drawing straws for who eats the eyeballs. Right?”
Georgia’s stare moved from surprise at the vehemence I used to her more classic expression of absolute disdain. “Wow. How heavy your crown must be.”
The words hung in the air and I felt like a shit. “I’m sorry. You have no idea how many times the question has come up.” I’d caught the video of what she’d said to that woman, amused and jealous as if she’d been talking about another wolf.
Fucking him.
Ridiculous, but I couldn’t help myself.
“Honestly, I’ve yet to process this new reality, but I do feel bad that you and every other shifter is forced to deal with such discrimination.
However, you’re not going to have your rage bucket filled by me.
You’re doing that just fine on your own.
I was merely interested in learning more about your family, who I understand are pillars of this community. ”
I had to admit that she was the best at putting me in my place. Maybe that’s why it felt as if a weight had been lifted.
Maybe this was my cue to get her back for teasing me with such perfection. “So, I thought you’d want to be thorough in your examination.”
“What?”
“You mentioned shifters were good in bed. I’m certain you want to ensure you weren’t lying to people.
I’ll volunteer.” When I reached for my belt, I thought the girl would slide under the table.
She waited for long enough that I was about to pull my zipper down. A little tigress who refused to lose.
“Don’t you dare!”
“Gotcha. Can’t take the heat. Ms. Wallace?”
“Bastard. Just answer the question. Sawmill?” She was forced to fan her face and my balls tightened.
“You’re no fun. Yes, they do own a lucrative sawmill and wood refinery. My father took it over from my grandfather who took it over from his father. A real family business.”
“Wow. That’s impressive.” At least she tried to relax, but I gathered a strong whiff of her desire. Why was it so easy just to be myself around her?
“My summer job. We all work there when we can, although my sister was given a reprieve while attending college.”
She had another faraway look in her eyes. “Family is important.”