Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Jonas couldn’t resist frequent glances at his sleeping mate, though he had to be careful on the dark drive home. He had precious cargo. He’d seen her working on the party plans, even helped put it all together, but he was still amazed at the end result.
He’d watched her off and on all night. She was a sociable person, and worked hard at making easy conversation with those who weren’t such naturals at it. Most extroverts weren’t so great at that, he’d noticed.
When he turned the car off, she mumbled.
“What was that?”
“The job.”
She blinked her eyes open and stared at him.
“The job?” he asked.
“Huh?”
“Were you talking in your sleep? You asked me about a job.”
She scrubbed her hands over her face. “Oh. Sorry. I really did fall asleep, didn’t I?”
“Yep. Sit there, I’ll just be a second.”
She frowned at him so he pecked a quick kiss on her lips before getting out of the car. He hurried around and opened her door before she could figure out that she was just sitting there doing nothing.
She blinked at him some more. “Hmph.”
“Right.” He held out his hand, curling it around hers when she accepted his offer. He gave a little tug and pulled her out of the car. In the next move, he lifted her off her feet and into his arms. He waited for her reaction.
“If you think I’m going to complain, you’re wrong.” She snuggled into him.
“Good.” He dropped a kiss on her forward and walked to the door. It wasn’t exactly easy, but he thought he managed to unlock and open the door with a minimum of awkwardness and a modicum of sexy romance hero. Her twinkling eyes suggested otherwise, but she didn’t say anything, so he didn’t either.
He set her down on the bed and went about the task of getting her naked. He was proud of himself for remembering to start with her shoes. Luckily they were just slip-ons. “Now, what was that about a job?”
“Hm? Oh, that. I was wondering what you told Brenda about you working.”
He waited for her to lift her butt, then pulled her slacks down. “Well, she asked me if I was working, and I said not yet. Then she asked me what I was looking for, and I said nothing, yet.”
“That was it?”
“Pretty much word for word. Why?”
“When I talked to her, she said something like you mentioning you hadn’t been able to find work yet.”
He’d been unbuttoning her blouse but stopped at that. “Seriously?”
“Yep. With this sweet, sympathetic tone.”
He snorted. “Well, the good news is, I don’t think you have to be worried about anyone wanting to offer her a place in our pack. Nobody seemed to be impressed with her. And,” he said, holding up a hand to stop her from interrupting him, “I truly believe everyone did give her a chance.”
She shrugged out of the top. “Okay. If you say so, then I’ll believe it and let it go. Without guilt.”
“Believe it.” He leaned forward and kissed her forehead.
“Nope.”
“Nope?”
“Nope with that forehead nonsense, I seem to be finding my second wind.”
“Is that right?” He trailed a finger down her neck, across her shoulder. “You were pretty tired a minute ago.”
“True, but then my sexy mate got me naked. He should go about getting himself naked, now, too.”
“You think so?” He trailed his finger from her hip to the side of her breast, watching as her nipple started to pucker, though he wasn’t really close to it.
“I do,” she sighed. “I definitely think so.”
“Whatever you say.” He stopped touching her, backed away. She watched him closely. She might have even whimpered. He had excellent hearing, but he wasn’t certain.
He unbuttoned his own shirt, not hurrying, but not going slowly, either. When he took it off and tossed it to the floor, her gaze never moved from his body. His tidy mate was definitely in the mood if she was ignoring him tossing his clothes on the floor.
His belt soon followed, then his pants. He stepped forward so he was at the end of the bed. “Come here, woman.”
“I’m right here.”
“I thought you had your second wind?”
“That means I need to come to you? Why don’t you come over here?”
“I’ll help,” he offered, and snaked a hand out to grab her ankle.
She alternated between a shriek and a laugh as he hauled her to the end of the bed. He tugged her up until she was on her knees, then he teased her with darting kisses until she grew frustrated, grabbed his head in her hands, and kissed him for all she was worth. Just as he liked it.
He pulled her tight against him, her soft skin pressed into his aching dick. She raked her nails up his back, tiny claws digging in, spurring him on. It took a while, but he finally tore free from her kisses.
“Turn around.” It came out as a bit of a growl, but she didn’t seem to mind. She turned, then immediately looked over her should to give him a saucy grin. Damn, he loved this woman.
He set his hand on her ass and ran it slowly up her back, pushing her down. She teased him with token resistance, but lowered until she was braced on her elbows. He caressed her beautiful ass, and she wiggled it at him. He bit back a laugh and tested her wetness.
“So wet for me, baby. I guess you really do have your second wind.”
He speared two fingers into her.
“Told you,” she panted.
He couldn’t resist the temptation, so he leaned in and bit her butt cheek.
“Hey!” she cried out, but leaned back into him for more.
“Hold still now,” he said, fitting himself at her entrance. Her slick heat beckoned him, inviting him to thrust in hard and fast. An invitation he was happy to accept.
She cried out as he buried himself deep within her channel. He leaned over her, kissing his way up her back. She rose until her arms were straight, bringing her neck within reach. He sucked and nipped, not moving inside her until she was calling his name.
“Jonas, please. I need you, Jonas.”
He braced one hand on the bed beside her and brought the other to her hip, holding on as he began to pump in and out, in and out, until he couldn’t think of anything except her sweet, sweet, heat.
She came apart underneath him, around him, clenching tight as he fought to move.
Dropping back down to her elbows, she moaned his name one more time.
Standing up straight again, both hands on her hips, he slowed down, gave one last furious thrust, and released within her. “Cindy. Fuck! So sweet.”
She looked back at him, her expression pure bliss and love. “Need help lying down?”
He laughed, pulled free from her, eliciting another gasp. Putting his hands under her, he helped her back to the top of the bed, then fumbled to get the covers down so they could get underneath. “Maybe we need to plan this out better next time.”
“I think it worked out just fine.” Her voice was sleepy again as she snuggled in next to him. “What did you think of the other visitors tonight?”
“You want me to talk right now? With logic and thought?”
She giggled. Not a sound he heard from her often, so he memorized it now.
“I liked Becky and Soo a lot. Janet, not so much.”
“Agreed.”
“The Changs would be great, especially for Tasha.”
“Yup.”
“You already know that if we weren’t mated, I’d be asking Miss Latisha if I could move in with her.”
Another giggle. He was going to have to get her this tired more often, if this was his reward.
“You should get some sleep,” he told her.
“Yeah. But I like this. Building our pack. It was great tonight. It felt like we were a real pack, for the first time.”
He might have answered, but instead he just smiled when her breathing evened out into sleep.
“You know who makes the best breakfasts?” Cindy asked when Jonas had barely opened his eyes.
“Um. Not me in the next ten minutes, I hope.”
“Truckers.”
“Truckers?” He frowned, tried to engage his brain.
“Truck drivers. Well, not truckers. They might not make the best breakfasts. But they eat them. So we should go to the truck stop for breakfast.”
Ah. Okay. He glanced at the clock. Seven was a perfectly reasonable time to wake up and have breakfast. “Right. Good plan. Wait, it’s Sunday, would Olivia be working?”
“She told me she was going to go in for a half day, just while she’s getting a feel for the place and all the people. But I think not until eight.”
“Perfect. We’ll shower, call Tasha, see if she wants to join us.”
She made no move to get up. He did not attempt to change that.
“What do you have planned for the day?” she asked.
“There was that parcel of land we saw online the other day. We could go check it out.”
“That’s an excellent idea. And we can drive around, see if anything else catches our eye. After breakfast?”
“Perfect.”
She was tracing patterns on his chest again. A spiral and a J, if he had to guess.
“It’s a good plan,” she said, after a few more minutes.
“Yes.”
She still didn’t move, and he couldn’t keep from laughing.
He got up, slung her over his shoulder, and headed to the shower with her smacking his ass.
They managed to share the shower and not take too long with other activities. While she dried her hair, he answered a text from Adam. He waited until she was done with the dryer and gave her the update.
“Adam texted to say he’s supposed to come talk to us and find out our thoughts on the visitors. I told him he could meet us for breakfast, come for dinner, or we could just tell him in five seconds what our thoughts are.”
“Which are?”
“Janet and Brenda are no, everyone else is yes.”
“Okay, yeah, I guess it is that easy. What did he opt for?”
“He’s meeting us at the truck stop. Said he’s been wanting to check it out, too.”
They were on their way in short order, having decided not to be stupid adults who called a teenager at eight on a Sunday morning.
When they got to the cafe attached to the truck stop, they asked a waitress where they could find the manager.
Her look was highly suspicious as she went to a phone, keeping her gaze on them the whole time she spoke.
It wasn’t any less negative when she told them Mrs. Keogh would be a couple of minutes, and they could go ahead and take a seat in the diner.