Chapter 5 Monster
FIVE
MONSTER
As quietly as possible, Monster untangled himself from Carys and got dressed. He had club business that was a priority over the hot little number in his bed. He wanted to get back to her as soon as possible.
Me too. Ulf growled in his head.
A complete sentence. A whole thought. Zero hesitation between words, which was his normal speech pattern.
Is she … Monster let the thought trail off. No way. He would’ve felt it, felt something. Besides, they weren’t meant to have a mate like other wolves were.
Don’t know. Not sure. Just, she’s … different.
Monster missed the words Ulf was saying and instead focused on the fact that he was saying them. He looked down at the silver, still firmly in contact with his skin.
Are you okay?
Yes. No. I’m tired.
Monster understood that, could hear the energy it took for Ulf to fight the effect of the silver.
But I was awake, aware of her.
For a moment, Monster hoped. Dared to dream that maybe Ulf wasn’t as defective as he’d once been. Maybe he was growing from the more time he spent with a pack, as it were.
Maybe more time with Carys would help.
But then he felt words like blood, tear, never again float through his thoughts and realized, hope was a cunt.
His attention turned once more to the woman in his bed. Fuck, he wanted more nights with her, more days. Hell, more dinners. While he wasn’t cut out for the mate thing or the ol’ lady thing, he could do the repeat thing. The girlfriend thing.
A smile quirked up the corners of his lips as he stroked her messy, short hair. He snatched one of the cuffs from the nightstand before leaning down. He whispered in her ear, “Pixie, do you need the bathroom? I’m going to be back in about three hours.”
Carys shook her head and made a sleepy sound.
Three hours his ass. Nothing ever took three hours, but it was a lie for him.
To ease his guilt of tying her to his bed without being able to reach the bathroom.
“Okay,” he said while cuffing one wrist to the bed frame on the lower hook eye so she wouldn’t be stretched uncomfortably.
His hope was she could go back to sleep, and he could wake her when he returned.
Well, that didn’t happen, she spoke before he made it to the door.
“Wait. Are you just going to leave me like this?” Her sleepiness was replaced with disbelief.
Turning back to her, Monster was at a loss how to explain the overwhelming thought that she might leave. He sat back next to her and stroked her cheek tenderly. Ulf practically purred as he slumbered.
Monster would file that away to examine later.
“Pixie. I have club business that requires all my attention. If I am wondering where you are, I’m distracted.
Distractions lead to mistakes.” There, that was true and didn’t make him sound like a lovesick puppy.
“Give me a few hours?” He pled more than ordered.
“If I’m going to be too much longer than that, I’ll make … arrangements.”
“Be my good girl and go back to sleep, and I’ll wake you with my tongue.”
The way her breath hitched had him wanting to shuck his clothes and climb right back into bed with her.
“I’ll make you a counteroffer.”
The gleam in her warm brown eyes almost did him in.
There was just enough light spilling in from the night-light in the bathroom that he could see, and man, what a sight.
Monster pulled the sheet down and appreciated the glow of her skin.
Sucking one nipple into his mouth, he teased it with his tongue until she moaned.
Regrettably, he pulled away. He had to get going.
“Hit me with it, Pixie.”
“I’ll indulge you this time, for three hours only.” She leaned up and gave him a quick kiss. “Next time, you indulge me.”
The last was said uncertainly. His little pixie thought he’d say no, ha.
“I thought you’d never ask.” He smiled down at her with a wink, then headed for his door before he heard her add, “Only until six. If you’re not back by then …
” She left the rest unsaid, but he knew she’d be gone if this mission took too long.
Carys alluded to obligations last night but never told him what she did for a living.
He assumed she must have a shift coming up, especially after her parting words.
With her taste still on his tongue, he headed to the common room. Ghoul and Bulldog were waiting for him.
“Ready?” he asked and strode toward the door.
Bulldog piped in, “Look at that, Ghoul. Someone more excited than you to get his hands dirty.” Monster heard Bulldog slap Ghoul’s back. “Ha. Never thought I’d see it.”
“He’s not excited about where we’re going so much as what he’s coming back to,” Ghoul said cheerfully as they loaded into the nondescript sedan. It would draw less attention than the rumble of Harleys rattling the windows of suburbia in the wee hours.
“What do you know about what I left, asshole?”
The only person around when he’d arrived last night was the prospect at the gate and Golden inside. Neither of them would’ve run their mouth.
“Oh, Monster, you have the tongue of a god,” Ghoul said in a falsetto voice. “Yes, fuck, yes. Right there. I’m going to come. Ahhhh.”
Bulldog burst out laughing at Ghoul’s impression.
“I mean, shit, man. Respect,” Ghoul slapped his own chest. “I love a screamer. I call dibs when you’re done. I’ll lay down my charm and see if she wants to give another brother a ride.”
Normally, Monster would’ve joined in the merriment. Even high-fived his brothers and bragged about how good he gave it to her. Everyone knew he was typically a one and done. A three-peat if she were irresistible and had zero expectations.
The thought of Ghoul being with Carys raised Ulf to his full height inside him. But even more annoying was that he’d heard her in a moment that was theirs. Again, not something that had ever bothered him before. Hell, he and Ghoul had shared women.
Before he could voice his objection, Ghoul spoke again. “Oh, maybe you plan on hitting it again because it was that good. I’ll happily join you.”
“The fuck you will,” Monster roared before he even realized he was speaking.
“But—” His brother’s words were cut off by their Vice.
“Back off, Ghoul.”
He felt more than saw the unspoken exchange between his Vice and SAA.
It took a moment for understanding to dawn on Ghoul, but it was the wrong understanding for fuck’s sake.
“Oh, shit. Sorry, brother. I didn’t realize she’s your—”
“She’s not. I’m just … not done with her yet.”
Even as he spoke the words that branded her as common pussy to his brother, it felt wrong.
“Whatever you have to tell yourself to sleep at night, brother. I’ll say no more.”
Monster wanted to protest, but he didn’t get a chance before Ghoul was speaking again.
“I thought you said Ulf couldn’t mate. And if he could, I thought the silver kept your wolf suppressed enough to not—”
“You’re literally saying more,” Monster accused.
As a mountain lion, Ghoul wouldn’t have the same drive as wolves did toward one person, but he respected the bond.
Ghoul threw his hands up in surrender, and they drove in silence … for a few moments anyway, until his Veep spoke up.
“Is it a possibility, Monster?” The bear pitched his voice low.
“No,” his knee-jerk response was out before Bulldog’s last syllable died.
“Are you sure? Because it sounds like a distinct possibility,” Bulldog quickly added.
“Don’t bite my head off, Brother, but I have to say I’ve felt Ulf more in the last ten minutes than I have in the years we’ve known each other.
” Bulldog’s eyes shifted to his wrist where the silver band sat.
“Even with that, he feels more … present. Grizz feels it too.”
Being the only bear among wolves, Bulldog had senses about them that they themselves did not. Bulldog said it was because his bear had heightened senses where wolves were concerned because in the wild, a bear could be taken down by a determined pack.
Therefore, Bulldog’s words carried a weight that settled directly in Monster’s brain.
“Fuck me, I don’t know,” Monster muttered more to himself than the other two men in the car.
“Since I met her, I’ve been all twisted up, but Ulf is having complete thoughts.
I asked, and he doesn’t know if she is, but he said she’s different.
He even managed to stay present for her.
” His voice was low and trailed off, but he knew they’d heard.
Luckily for him, neither asked follow-ups.
It gave him a moment to quiet his thoughts before they arrived at Cliff’s.
They parked on the street a bit away. Before exiting the vehicle, Bulldog spoke.
“Might I suggest at some point removing the cuff when around her? Just to see if anything sparks for Ulf. I can be there to handle … things if it goes south. Think about it.”
His Veep clapped him on the back. “But put a pin in that for now and clear your minds. We’ve got an asshole to scare the shit out of.”
With that, they made their way quietly through the neighborhood and to Cliff’s house. “Let’s go in through the garage.”
Most people didn’t realize how easy it was to pop up a garage bay door and work on entry behind a curtain of privacy. Plus, nine times out of ten, the interior garage door wasn’t looped into the alarm system.
They secured entry in under five minutes. “Good old Cliff, one of the nine,” Monster muttered to himself.
Winding their way through the modest-sized but garishly appointed home was easy. They just followed the strong smell of obnoxious cologne toward the back of the house.
There were three closed doors along the hall leading toward the one that was ajar, which one hundred percent was where Cliff was racked out and snoring.
Bulldog signaled for them each to take a room. Once cleared, they padded into Cliff’s room.
“Would you look at that,” Ghoul said in a whisper. “I’ll never look at red satin the same way.”
Cliff was asleep on a waterbed. A freaking waterbed, wearing red satin pajamas.