Betraying the Pack (8 page)

“We’ll need to hit
a store. Those bastards pissed on everything she owned, even her fucking
shoes.”

“We’ve got bigger
problems.” Gavin relayed the events of the past few minutes as they clambered
into their own truck and sped away.

“Shit,” Wyatt
cursed. “What the hell is so goddamned special about her?”

Other than the fact she makes my heart race, my cock
throb, and my mind whirl?
“I don’t know. But we need to find out. And fast.”

Jaxon couldn’t help
stroking the smooth cheek of the female nestled on his lap. Sure, he could have
dumped her onto the seat and joined Parker up front to ride shotgun, but he
worried she’d roll onto the floor. Okay, he lied. He could have buckled her in
to keep her safe. The truth was, he just didn’t want to let her go.

From the moment
he’d first inhaled her scent in the motel room, he’d found himself intrigued—and
harder than a teenage boy with his first issue of
Playboy
. She wasn’t bimbo beautiful, like his usual conquests, but
Jaxon couldn’t say he’d ever seen a more appealing woman.

She possessed lush
curves covered in creamy skin that begged stroking. Her wild, curly hair
tumbled about her face and shoulders, giving her the look of a woman just
roused—or loved. Her bowed mouth, so full and tempting, was made to suck cock,
and he could only imagine what a striking contrast she’d make, naked, against
his own dark skin.

Shifting her on his
lap, and away from his wakening dick, he noted the mating mark on the back of
her neck, which, by its scent, belonged to Gavin. It didn’t surprise him given
how madman-like Gavin had acted since her disappearance. And where their alpha
leader went, so did Wyatt. Although, if Jaxon had him pegged right, Wyatt would
fight his attraction to Bailey tooth and nail. The man never did take the easy
way or let anything interfere with what he called his “responsibilities.”
I’ll bet he’s never tried taking on fate,
though. But you know what they say, the harder they fight, the more naked they
fall.

A snicker escaped
him, and he pretended not to see Parker’s frown in the rearview mirror. He
figured the big guy would also hone in on the action because he’d seen Parker’s
interest in her, which he found intriguing because Parker never seemed to
notice women. The thought of the lush Bailey bouncing atop the behemoth was
enough to make him go cross-eyed. He did so love a good show.

Visual erotic fun
aside, though, that made three possible mates for the human who was something
more, which left just enough room for him to complete the group—if the other
three didn’t throttle him first.

It didn’t escape
him that he drove his pack brothers nuts. He kind of did so on purpose, loving
to see the guys he’d idolized growing up going apeshit. At three years younger
than Parker, and five from Gavin and Wyatt, he sometimes despaired of them ever
seeing him as anything less than the little kid who used to follow them around.
But as his mama always told him,
“One
step at a time.”
He’d managed to get appointed to their hunting group,
slowly befriended them, and now, if the lady in question were agreeable, he’d
spend his life with them as one of Bailey’s mates.

If that happens, I wonder if I can talk them into a
fivesome? Wanna bet that particular suggestion gets my face rearranged?
A shame, though, because having
grown up in a polygamous society where the women took on more than one mate,
he’d also heard the stories of polyamorous matings, tag team sex, so to speak,
that brought all the players closer—but not touching each other. He might like
watching couples fuck, but he preferred pussy to dick.

Jaxon’s sexual
escapades, while many and varied, never got any more numerous, or wild, than
with two girls. Even he admitted it wasn’t exactly the same as a group orgy
with one woman as the focus of several guys. His curiosity wasn’t because he
was bi or interested in men at all, but because he had a bit of a voyeuristic
streak. Sure, he loved to plow a woman’s wet sex, his body heaving and
straining for that orgasmic fulfillment, but he’d discovered over the years he
also loved to watch. Nothing beat seeing the expression on her face as she got
it from behind or watching the pumping action of a cock as it thrust into a
waiting pussy, all visual pleasures he’d gotten via video thus far.

Looking down at
Bailey’s serene, drug-induced face, he wondered if he’d found the woman who
would help fulfill his fantasy, who would accept him as a man and not make him
continually prove himself like his pack mates.
A mate to love me.

“Hey, puppy, what’s
got you so quiet back there?”

“Just thinking
about how hungry I am,” Jaxon replied. “For some hot pussy pie.”

“Idiot. Don’t you
dare go getting designs on the little lady. If my nose is correct, she’s spoken
for.”

“I can smell that. So
what if she already chose Gavin? Pack law says she can have up to three more.”

Parker’s brown eyes
lifted to catch his in the rearview mirror. “And the new law states that she
gets to choose.”

“I know, which is
why I intend to court her.”

“Get in line, then,
because I know this woman is meant to be my mate, and I get the feeling,
despite his attitude, that Wyatt’s going to be vying for her attention.”

“Which leaves just
enough room for me as her fourth.”

“You’re either
brave or nuts to want to join yourself with us for the rest of your life. You
do know Wyatt’s likely to kill you if you ever step over the line.”

“Bah,” Jaxon
snorted. “He doesn’t scare me. Besides, there’s no fighting fate.” Stroking his
hand across her hair, he smiled. “And some things are worth a little pain.”

Especially when the reward is lots of pleasure.

Vivid green eyes
peered down at her, and she heard the most beautiful mulatto man she’d ever
seen say, “And some things are worth a little pain.”

Who is he, and what is he talking about?
The man held her attention, and
not just because of his mischievous smile, which widened the more he stared,
but because he made her want to do things—dirty things, like press her lips to
his, lick her way along his cocoa skin, and nibble him.

Good God, what is wrong with me?
It seemed her topsy-turvy turmoil
hadn’t ended. Along with this thought came the remembrance that the last thing
she recalled, someone had accosted her in an alley as she attempted to escape
Gavin.

Alarm made her eyes
widen, and she scrambled to escape the lap she sat cuddled on.

“Easy, sweet cheeks.
You’re in good hands.”

“More like groping
ones,” rumbled a familiar voice. Her gaze darted forward to see the giant from
before.

Turning his head to
the side, giving her his profile, one of his warm brown eyes met hers. “It’s
okay, Bailey. We took care of those rogues and got you out of there.”

“But I didn’t want
to go,” she argued in a little voice. It seemed, against her wishes, Gavin and
Wyatt had gotten their way, and in retrospect, despite the uncertainty of the
situation, she wasn’t too sure if that wasn’t the right choice. They’d not
exaggerated, apparently, the danger she still found herself in, a danger she
didn’t understand. She’d gone from no one wanting her, to too many people
wanting a piece. It made her head spin.

Having a muddled
brain, though, didn’t mean she didn’t recognize the hard ridge poking at her
backside. Worse, the stranger’s erection didn’t repulse her as it should have.
Alarmed that her slutty ways appeared to be expanding to include all of Gavin’s
friend’s, she pushed at the arms holding her.

“Let me go.”

To her surprise, he
complied, and she moved to the side, pressing herself against the passenger
door, not recognizing the scenery flying by.

“Was Jaxon
misbehaving?” Parker asked in a menacing tone.

She chewed her lip
as she darted her gaze Jaxon’s way. His eyes danced with mirth, and his lips
quirked. “No more than usual,” he replied.

A grunt sounded from
the front seat. “You can sit up here with me if you’d like. I know how to keep
my hands to myself.”

Bailey didn’t want
to hurt Jaxon’s feelings. However, she truly wanted to find out where they were
going and maybe pump the seemingly friendly Parker for information. “Sorry. You
didn’t do a thing wrong, honestly,” she claimed as she crawled through the
middle console until she dropped into the front seat.

“No offense taken,
sweet cheeks. If you change your mind, come on back, and we’ll
cuddle
.”

“Idiot.” Parker’s
rumbled curse set the handsome Jaxon laughing.

A blush stained Bailey’s
cheeks, but she couldn’t help the pleasure that swept her at Jaxon’s blatant flirting.
A girl always liked knowing a member of the opposite sex found her attractive.

But I doubt Gavin would like it.
Shame suffused her as she
realized Gavin would probably take issue with his friend so obviously hitting
on her, when he’d more or less staked her as his. That was, if she considered
the kiss he’d given her some kind of claim. She didn’t even want to think about
what the bite he’d given her meant. Although, Wyatt hadn’t found it strange in
the least, and had even encouraged it.

Some weird gang
ritual perhaps? Raising her hand to her nape, she discovered a raised ridge
that she’d bet would match one pair of cowboy teeth, but either she’d been
passed out longer than expected or she’d once again spontaneously healed,
because not only did it not pain her, but the skin, while bumpy as if scarred,
didn’t have a scabbed feel to it.

What’s happening to me?
Nothing in her life seemed normal
anymore, from the abduction to her dramatic rescue, to her second abduction by
men who could model for
Playgirl
, to
say nothing of her sudden X-Men ability to heal.
Is this all a very vivid dream? Or have I gone insane?

“What’s wrong?”

Parker’s question
took her from her musings, and she perused him as she struggled with something
to say that didn’t sound crazy.

“Where are you
taking me? And don’t you dare say somewhere safe, because I am sick and tired
of hearing that.”

His lips twitched.
“How about if I said we’re going camping with rabid squirrels?”

A snort escaped her
that turned into a short laugh. “That’s your idea of telling me the truth?”

“Actually, he is,”
piped in Jaxon, who leaned forward with his arms braced behind her headrest.
“On our trip up here, we stopped at some national park and put up some tents.
We had a few beers, shot the shit, and went to bed. Well, in the middle of the
night, something starts hitting our tents and making these really fucked-up
noises. So, we all run out to see what the hell is going in, and we see, like,
a dozen squirrels dive-bombing the tents. They no sooner bounced off them, than
they’re running up a tree and jumping all over again.”

“You’re screwing
with me,” she replied, and when Jaxon used his fingers to cross his heart, she
turned to Parker.

“For once, he’s not
exaggerating. Of course, the funniest part is when Wyatt starts freaking out,
yelling at them, and does one of the little buggers not up and jump on his swinging
dick.”

She sucked in a
horrified breath. “No! Oh my God, is he all right?” It seemed a shame if such a
fine-looking man had lost his ability to, well, please a woman because of some
freakish mishap with nature.

“He’s fine. He
heals fast just like you do. But, damn, the scream he let out when that
squirrel dug its claws in . . . I doubt he’ll ever live that down.”

“So how did you get
the squirrels to stop?”

“Tossed them some
peanuts, of course.”

Bailey couldn’t
help the laughter from bubbling up. “You guys are whacked. So with all that,
you are intending to take me back there? Doesn’t sound too safe to me.”

“Don’t worry, baby,” Parker
said with a smile tossed her way. “You can sleep with me. I’ll keep you safe.”

She couldn’t believe he’d said
it, nor the wink he gave her. “Um, I think Gavin might take issue with that.”

“You might be surprised. The
offer’s there if you change your mind.”

“And they say I’m the flirt of
the group. Parker, my man, I am so proud of you. Hitting on the lady like
that.”

The growl the gentle giant sent
Jaxon’s way did nothing to deter him from his teasing. When Parker finally
barked that if he didn’t shut up, he’d pull the truck over and put Jaxon over
his knee, silence finally reigned—if you ignored her stifled giggles, because truly,
Jaxon was quite entertaining.

“Parker?”

“Yes, baby?”

“Why is this all happening to
me? I mean, I went from being all alone, without even a BFF because she cheated
on me with my boyfriend, to having your group and those other nasty guys all
chasing me. Why? I’m not anyone special.”

“I disagree with that. I think
you are very special, and attractive. May I offer my fist so you can use it to knock
out your obviously deranged ex-boyfriend?”

A wan smile curved her lips. “I
don’t blame him. I mean, you don’t know Becky. She’s pretty and slim, and—”

“Obviously a shallow, insecure
bitch if she saw nothing wrong with touching your man,” Jaxon finished.

Turning in her seat, she fixed the
mulatto hottie with her gaze. “And how is that different from you both flirting
with me knowing Gavin’s interested?”