Chapter 23 #2
I roll the chair in, my hands framing her hips. “I want to eat you whole.” I look up at her. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep my hands off you?”
“You’re exaggerating.” Her color’s high.
I take her hand and press it against me. “Does that feel like a lie?”
She surprises me. Instead of pulling back, she presses harder, dragging her palm down once. The breath leaves me in a rush. Then she’s gone, only for a heartbeat. Her hand returns, bolder this time, cupping me fully through the fabric before her fingers find my zipper.
“Jessa,” I rasp, my voice already rough. “What are you doing?”
Her cheeks are flushed, but her eyes hold mine with a spark of heat and mischief I’ve rarely seen. “Taking care of my lover.”
The zipper whispers down. Cool air meets fever-hot skin as she frees me, her small hand wrapping around my aching length.
I groan low in my throat, hips twitching involuntarily into her grip.
She’s warm and soft, her touch exploratory at first, testing, learning the thick vein that runs along the underside, the way I jump when her thumb brushes over the slick head.
“Fuck,” I hiss, head falling back against the chair.
Every stroke sends fire racing up my spine.
The wolf inside me lunges forward, snarling with raw need, slamming against the fragile leash I keep on it.
I want to flip her onto the desk, spread her thighs, and bury myself deep.
Instead I grip the armrests until the wood groans, fighting for control.
She finds a rhythm—slow, firm pulls that have me leaking steadily over her fingers. “You’re so hard,” she whispers, almost reverent. “All this for me?”
“Only you.” The words scrape out. I reach for her, sliding one hand under her shirt to palm her breast, thumb circling her nipple until she gasps and her grip tightens in response. “Jessa—faster.”
She obeys, stroking me with purpose now, twisting lightly at the head on every upstroke. The wet, slick sounds of her hand moving over me fill the quiet office. My breathing turns ragged. Sweat beads along my temples. The pleasure coils tight and vicious at the base of my spine.
“Look at me,” she says softly.
I do. The sight of her, flushed, lips parted, eyes dark with arousal while she works me with her hand nearly undoes me. I thrust up into her fist, chasing the friction, the perfect pressure. “I’m close,” I warn, my voice wrecked.
Instead of stopping, she leans in and kisses the side of my neck, teeth grazing just enough to make me shudder. “Then come for me, Marcus.”
The words tip me over. I come hard with a strangled groan, hips jerking as thick pulses spill over her fingers and onto my stomach.
She keeps stroking me through every wave, gentler now, drawing it out until I’m trembling and boneless beneath her.
The wolf inside settles with a deep, satisfied rumble, momentarily quieted by her touch.
Jessa grabs tissues from the desk, cleaning us both with careful, almost tender movements. When she’s done, she tucks me away and zips me up, then looks up at me with a shy but pleased little smile.
“Are you feeling better?” she asks, her voice soft.
I let out a breathless laugh and pull her into my lap, arms wrapping tightly around her.
My heart is still pounding. “Much better. You wicked, wicked woman.” I kiss her deeply, tasting the satisfaction on her tongue.
“Though now all I can think about is getting you home so I can return that favor properly.”
She laughs against my mouth, delighted with herself. I’ve never seen her this loose, this teasing, and my chest pulls tight. She’s letting me in now, and my heart lifts stupidly at it. “Later. Right now we should probably pretend to be professional again.”
I catch her wrist before she can slide off the desk. “Let me.”
“I can do it myself.”
“I know you can.” I clean her hand with a tissue while she rolls her eyes at me, then bring her knuckles up to my mouth. “I hope you’re ready for tonight.”
Her face goes scarlet. “Marcus.”
“I’m looking forward to dessert.”
She slides off the desk and steps back, tugging her shirt straight. She’s shy about all this, so I don’t crowd her.
“How did you work out it was Sloane?” she asks after a moment. The atmosphere shifts immediately, from light to grim.
“Cole and Tomas went digging into that night for me.” I straighten my tie. “They tracked down a bartender who worked the place back then. He remembered me and the blonde on my arm.” I lift a shoulder. “I wasn’t sure she’d drugged me. I was only testing a theory. Now it fits.”
“I remember her,” she says quietly. “I thought I was wrong, so I didn’t say anything, but—”
“It’s okay, Jessa.”
“But wolfsbane’s extinct.” She frowns. “You told me it only turned up again recently.”
“It didn’t only turn up.” I move to the window. “It was here ten years ago too. My brother was being poisoned with it. So was my father.”
“How can you know that?”
I don’t turn from the glass for a while. Then she crosses and stops at my shoulder.
“What is it?”
“When a shifter’s buried, no one disturbs the grave.” My voice comes out rough. “The spirit’s restless. To break that ground is the deepest disrespect.” I keep my eyes on the tree line. “I had my father’s grave opened, and my brother’s beside it.”
Her arms come around me from behind, her cheek against my spine. “What did you find?”
“Both graves were empty.” My hands settle over hers. “The bodies were taken years ago before I ever looked. Wolfsbane leaves its mark in the bone, so they cleaned up after themselves.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Two others turned up buried in the woods, their bones gone brittle with it.” My voice drops. “The poison keeps eating a wolf from the inside for years after the heart stops.”
“Who do you think did it?”
“The hunters are the only ones who should be able to touch wolfsbane.” I turn in her arms. “Which means someone on the inside is doing their dirty work. Break a pack’s leadership, and the whole thing weakens.”
“Your uncle’s the alpha.”
“He holds the title.” I shake my head. “He isn’t the true alpha, though. Only an alpha-born can lead a pack properly.”
Her brows draw together. “What does that mean?”
“The alpha comes down a bloodline.” I keep it plain. “When enough of us settle together, nature picks the strongest to lead.”
“And that’s you.”
“My father was alpha-born. So am I.” My jaw sets. “I stepped aside to raise Bella, and I asked my uncle to hold the seat until she was grown.”
She studies my face. “And now?”
“The same poison took my father.” My gaze stays on hers. “Then Daniel, once he sat in the seat in my place. Anyone who holds real weight in this pack is getting poisoned.”
“You need to know if your uncle’s next.”
“I do.” I drag a hand over my jaw. “Adrian came today to give me the evidence I need to take to him. I think it’s time I took the seat back.”
Her eyes search mine. “What about Bella?”
“I’ve got you and Mia now.” I brush a strand off her cheek. “Bella has you too.” My mouth tugs up. “She’s older now, and she’s not glued to my side anymore. She won’t be alone.”
Jessa’s voice softens. “She’s got a whole family now.” She pauses. “Do you actually want it?” she asks. “The seat.”
“I don’t much care for leading.” I lean against the sill. “It’s in my blood, though. The instinct’s screamed at me to take it for years, and I’ve held it down. It gets harder by the day now.”
She nods slowly. “How will your uncle take it?”
“Not easily.” I cross my arms. “He’ll understand, though. A pack can’t run forever under anyone but an alpha-born. He always knew the seat was mine to reclaim.” My chest tightens. “I meant to wait until Bella turned eighteen. We don’t have that long.”
“If wolfsbane kills a shifter,” she says, “why didn’t it kill your brother and your father outright?”
I’m quiet a beat. “I don’t fully understand it myself. Sloane slipped me a weaker dose, and I walked away. Maybe it doesn’t hit an alpha-born the same.” My brow creases. “Daniel wasn’t alpha-born, though, so that isn’t the whole answer.”
“Then what?”
“They gave him a tiny amount, slowly, across years.” I shake my head. “Or they cut it with another plant to hide what it does.” My mouth thins. “Now our enemies have it in hand, and they’re using it in the open.”
“So what do we do?”
“Until this is settled—” I straighten off the sill and take her by the shoulders. “I don’t want you or the girls out in public more than you have to be. You keep to work, the academy, and home.”
She holds my gaze, then nods once. “All right.”
I pull her in and rest my chin on the top of her head, thinking.
Somehow wolfsbane got onto pack territory.
Sloane’s a candidate for the inside hand, and I discard it as fast as it comes.
She’s vicious and clever, but she’d never plan a thing this size.
She had no reason to touch my father or Daniel.
Someone put that vial in her palm ten years ago, and I mean to find out who.
The drive out of town runs quiet. Mia’s asleep against Bella’s shoulder in the back, and Jessa keeps checking on them in the mirror. I’m turning up my drive when the phone goes off. It’s Adrian.
“We’ve got a situation,” he says.
“What’s going on?”
“I cornered Sloane.” He drags in a breath. “She got into your uncle’s house, Marc. She’s hurt him.”