Chapter 11 #2
Her eyes narrowed until I wondered how she could see. “Is this the way it’s going to be, because if it is, I doubt I’ll be able to take it.”
My eyes flicked to her lips and all I could think about was how they tasted. Sweet like cherries with a dash of honey.
“Then don’t. Go find someone else to pick on.” I couldn’t seem to help myself around her. She had a way of riling the beast deep within. Little did she know how truthful the statement was.
“What? Ba… You are… You are the most arrogant ass I’ve ever met.” With her phone tossed, she jerked to her feet, grabbing the box of pizza.
Her phone rang again and she all but snapped.
“Shut up!”
Hunger. Extreme hunger.
The discomfort was increasing.
Huffing, she fiddled with the same strand of hair and stormed off.
“Hey, I did save you from being trampled at the restaurant,” I tossed out as I leaned my head against the back of the couch.
“Aren’t you the big, bad hero.”
My phone rang again and I sighed, forcing myself to look.
My brother. Great. Shit was obviously rolling downhill.
A part of me knew Lily was right. I needed to get my shit together or I’d be tossed out of the last game.
Forget the playoffs. I snatched my phone as I overheard her tossing things around in her kitchen out of frustration.
As I stood, I scrolled to my Instagram account. Sure, I posted on it from time to time, usually after a damn hot game, but I couldn’t remember the last time I’d checked the comments.
Call me a busy guy.
Call me an arrogant ass.
Whatever. I just hadn’t felt the need. Besides, some fans were fucking crazy.
I shifted to the picture she’d taken of the two of us, which was actually adorable as hell. Even though she had a plastic smile on her face, her eyes were twinkling with mischief. Damn, she was a hottie. Although I had to admit the adorable schoolmarm look did fascinate me.
When I was just outside the kitchen, I found two comments that pissed me the fuck off.
Sassyblonde57: Who the hell is that bitch? Ugly.
Hotmama: Savage, you could do way better than that tramp.
I’d be goddamned. That’s what had upset her. Tension and another wave of anger rolled through my shoulders. No one talked about my girl that way.
I suddenly caught myself.
My girl.
Fuuuuck.
Lily certainly didn’t think so, even if faking our dating status.
This kind of shit she didn’t deserve. Hell, she had to deal with me. That was enough penance for her. I walked into the kitchen, stopping just inside the doorway.
The scent of her feminine wiles was stronger before, so much so as I took a deep breath, I was suddenly lightheaded. What in the hell was going on?
“Hey, you’re trying to do your job. I know that. I’m sorry. I can be an ass sometimes and that’s not cool. It’s just that when you’ve been hyped up to be this great superstar, you learn to believe the shit out there. Good or bad.”
She nodded, her arms extended to the point of snapping the wrong way. Even her knuckles were white from continued irritation. “My job. What a joke.” The moment she shifted, a stark revelation slammed into my system.
The woman was wearing my scent. Not because we’d touched before or sparred during every conversation. Because she belonged to me.
The comprehension hit me like a ton of bricks. Sure, I’d acknowledged the possibility before, but this was completely different.
Well, fuck. I looked away, placing my flexed hand across my heart. The woman was in heat. A human woman. How was that even possible? Yes, every female whether shifter or human had a distinctive fragrance when enticed by the lure of passion, but this was entirely different.
The scent much stronger.
“What does that mean? You’re highly respected in your field.” She scratched her arm furiously, pulling my attention to the red streaks she’d created from her sharp nails. Yep, she was in heat and likely had no clue what was happening.
The way she barely tipped her head in my direction caught me off guard. “I’m a librarian, Saint. I’m not a public relations expert.”
“What?” I jerked my attention back to her face.
“Yep. I know. Don’t you dare say it. Just a lousy librarian.
What good is that, but I love my job. Correction.
I loved my job as in past tense. I lost it due to budget constraints and as you might imagine, even in Chicago, finding another job in my field is pretty much impossible.
On top of that, my boyfriend who I thought might ask me to marry him had been canoodling with a woman of much better stature.
Meaning she’s marriage material and I’m not because not only am I just a librarian, but I’ve been working on a book for about a bazillion years and he thinks that’s stupid.
My dad decided to take advantage of the jobless situation by making it difficult to say no to him when he asked for the umpteenth time if I’d work for him.
For one special gig. You. My guess is that he thought creating the fake girlfriend thing would work since I’m a nobody with no boyfriend, no job, and no life.
” Now she decided to toss me another look, the force of it throwing her long hair provocatively over her shoulder.
Under normal circumstances, I’d come back with some sharp quip, a joke about librarians being good in bed since they’re so conservative on the outside, but I found myself with little to say.
A first.
She was panting, red in the face with beads of perspiration dancing across her upper lip.
I wanted to drag my tongue through the salty string.
To mark her as mine.
The desire was overwhelming.
I wasn’t used to the feeling. Dear old Dad had taught his sons how to survive in the wild, but his training exercises had been years before.
In truth, I’d ignored half of what he’d told me.
What had I needed to know about scent marking or choosing the right mate? To me, the concepts had been bullshit.
Until now.
“Go on. Make fun of me,” she continued, completely oblivious to what her body was going through.
“I’ve been doing just that because I obviously can’t get you under control.
I’m an idiot. To think you’d take any advice from me was just stupid of everyone.
You only care about yourself and that’s the way it is.
” She laughed and slapped her hand against her face. “My God. This is a disaster.”
I leaned against the doorjamb, studying her in a way I hadn’t done before.
She had delicate features, but the spark in her eyes more than made up for her diminutive size.
The girl was more formidable than any I’d come in contact with before.
Anger surged through me like a hot wave.
But not from what she said about me. I could take the jab.
Who was I kidding? I deserved every nasty thing she’d said about me. I was enraged enough my beast was rubbing against the surface. Soon, he’d be clawing until I set him free. Only if I did, I couldn’t be responsible for his actions.
That definitely wouldn’t be good for my career.
“It’s not a disaster, Lily. I’m the problem.
Not you. While I doubt any father could think someone as beautiful, accomplished, and intelligent as you are is a nobody, if he thinks that he’s a dumbass.
Being a librarian is cool. I used to spend half my summer inside the local library, the other half on the ice.
” I laughed and raked my hand through my hair.
I’d never been good at soothing anyone and was doing a piss poor job now.
“I’d give anything to be able to write a book, but as has been pointed out dozens of times, I have the attention span of a gnat. ”
Finally, she chuckled but still couldn’t seem to look me in the eyes. “Why the library? Do you love reading?”
“Well, confession. I sucked at school when I was a kid and my parents wouldn’t allow me to play if I didn’t get my grades up, so I thought I’d learn something by spending time in the most educational place I knew.
” My laugh was hollow although the summer I’d spent being punished had ended up being one of the best.
“Did you learn anything?” Her body language became less tense.
Yes. We were getting somewhere.
“Let me think. Did you know a luna moth has a distinctive lime green color, long tails that disrupt bat radar, and that the adult moths live only to mate?”
The urge to fuck her was getting stronger, less controllable.
The swing of her long hair as it swept across her back caught my attention. Somehow, the dress had ridden up on her long legs, highlighting her perfect thighs.
My mind went to every sinful place possible as I envisioned her squeezing my thighs with hers. Well, fuck me. Now all I could see was her naked body writhing under mine.
Get a grip, Savage.
“Impressive. Why luna moths?”
“I can’t forget the first time I saw one as a kid.
I thought they were so cool, but as with idiot little boys, I’d wanted to pluck the wings off the little creature.
My mother had to stop me. Let me tell you, her punishments were harsher than my dad’s.
” At least I could laugh easily around her.
In truth, being around her under any circumstances was easy.
Even if she could drive a man to drinking.
“I think I’d like your parents.”
“I’m sure you’ll get to meet them. I have a feeling they’ll like you too.” I’d never felt awkward around a woman before.
Huffing, her shoulders slumped. “Anyway, if you don’t want me as your fake… whatever then just let your coach know and I’m certain my dad can find some more suitable girl to pretend to care about you while you do exactly what you want and ruin your career at the same time.”
The hurt in her voice had only some to do with me. Maybe more than some, but this was about her deadbeat boyfriend, someone I’d like to crush between my fingers.
And I could do it too.
Another feeling of possessiveness kicked in and I dared take a step closer. Who knew. She might grab one of the long-handled knives in the butcher block and toss it at me. I wouldn’t put anything past her. “He was a moron.”
“My father?” Her armor remained tightly in position.
“The asshole who cheated on you. He didn’t deserve you.
Not a breath of air you take or the way you light up an entire room when you walk in.
He was obviously clueless that you have the greatest laugh in the world and when you look at a man with unbridled passion in your eyes, there is nothing that man wants more than to take you in his arms and fulfill every fantasy.
And there isn’t any man on this earth who wouldn’t love to have you on his arm as his wife.
That bastard was just a complete moron.”
The words flowed.
Her doubts continued.
My cravings were off the chart.
Now I was the one sweating.
Yet her features softened and for the first time since I’d walked into the kitchen, she looked me directly in the eyes. It was brief, maybe three seconds, but enough that my wolf was hungrier than he’d ever been. My skin prickled with such an intense need I feared I’d lose control.
“Thank you for that. We just weren’t compatible. I need to put the rest of the pizza away.”
“I don’t want anyone else, Lily. You’re perfect in every way.” I noticed the scratches on her arm a second time and my breath hitched.
A clear sign of a shifter in heat. I’d seen it before when a good friend had found his mate inside a dive bar. She’d been playing pool. They’d thrown darts while tossing back shots of mescal. An hour in, her arms had the appearance of wrestling with a tiger while he’d been panting like a wild dog.
I’d done best friend duties by blocking off the bathroom as he’d knotted right there.
My pulse raced from the thought. Knotting her was out of the goddamn question. I refused to be convinced she was the one.
But fucking her was something else.
A need that refused to be denied.
She nodded and sidestepped me, heading for the pizza. She even turned around so she wasn’t forced to face me any longer. Suddenly, the sound of both phones ringing brought a growl to my lips.
“Why the fuck can’t we just be left alone for one night?
One night? I would love more than anything to just let go and pretend.
You know? Like we’re really on a date and having a fabulous time.
I’d like to feel something again other than sadness and anxiety about who I am and what I’m doing.
I’d like to feel passion. Why am I not allowed to feel that crazy sense of need that grabs you by the throat and won’t let you go?
Why can’t I just be swept off my feet if only for a single night?
” Her words were spouted out of exasperation.
She had no idea what she’d just done to me or how much I craved her. The ache was real, the need all encompassing.
And I was at the point of losing my goddamn mind.
“Lily,” I growled.
“Saint,” she stated.
At the same time as she jerked the box off the table and spun around, and we crashed into each other.
Yes, the pizza was saucy as she’d called it.
As we both looked down at the mess squashed between us, the hunger furrowing inside became impossible to bear.
The moment we lifted our heads at the same time, the need became overwhelming.