Cat Scratch Fever (11 page)

A cold, lethal rage speared through Dante. His fist connected with Foster’s face before he fully comprehended he’d thrown the punch. Foster thudded backwards into the snow as a pair of gasps sprang from Jamie and Tess.

The residual knife’s edge of anger still coiled in his gut, Dante eyed the blood trickling from his father’s nostrils. “Call her that again, and I’ll do a lot more than rearrange your nose.”

Foster struggled to his feet before spitting in the snow. “If you think I’m going to allow you to marry her, you’re dead wrong.”

“You don’t tell me what to do.”

“If you want to keep your alpha status and continue leading this pack, you damn well will do what I say.” Triumph twisted Foster’s hard features. “You’re free to fuck her all you want—it won’t satisfy your mate-bond requirement.”

“There’s nothing in our bylaws that demands it be a wolf I mate with.”

A tiny fraction of the victory sputtered in Foster’s gleeful expression. Wiping the back of his hand across his mouth, he glanced at the rest of the Morgans congregated behind Dante. “They won’t accept her as your mate.”

“I’d accept Lilly before I would Anna Gifford,” Jamie piped up.

A trio of harmonizing responses echoed from the others, earning a black scowl from Foster. His hands fisted at his sides. “Hardly a majority vote. Believe me, the rest of the pack won’t be so easily swayed.” With those words of warning, he spun on his heel and stalked back to the Hummer. After banging the door shut, he gunned the engine and floored it in reverse, sending up a shower of snow on either side of the vehicle.

In the wake of Foster’s irate departure, another lengthy silence filled the void. A shiver coursed through Lilly, and Dante tightened his arm around her. He turned and caught the curious speculation of his cousins.

Damn. So much for an uninterrupted repeat performance of the hot and heavy session he and Lilly had engaged in earlier. Not masking his irritation, he journeyed up the stairs and unlocked the door. Everyone trooped inside. While Theo made himself comfortable on the couch, Jamie and Tess offered Lilly awkward hugs and congratulated her on the engagement. A grunt chuffing from Theo, he stacked his feet on the coffee table. Ignoring him, Dante ventured to the kitchen to gather beer and other refreshments for his unexpected guests. Twisting the cap off a bottle of Bud, he chugged down a much-needed swallow. Now that some of the adrenaline was wearing off from the showdown with his father, a host of conflicted emotions took root. Disbelief warred with the feral satisfaction burning in his chest. Bad as things had been between him and his old man in the past, it’d never escalated to the point of outright violence.

He should probably feel guiltier about decking Foster, but the truth was he wouldn’t hesitate to do it again if push came to shove. He wouldn’t stand for
anyone
calling Lilly a slut, much less that someone being his own father.

A scuffing noise sounded behind him, and he turned as Shane approached. His cousin eyed the bottle in Dante’s hand before grabbing another for himself from the counter and tipping it in Dante’s direction. “To your upcoming nuptials.”

Dante met the skepticism in Shane’s unwavering gaze. “You’re the one who said I need a wife.”

“Hell, I didn’t think you’d take me up on it. And you better believe I never expected the lucky lady to end up being Lilly.” Shane pointed the bottle at Dante again. “So what’s the real story here, coz?”

Dante carefully kept his expression bland. “There’s no story.”

“Bullshit. You couldn’t stand each other two days ago.”

“Maybe I was wrong about Lilly all these years.” Had he been? Truthfully, he’d been all too willing to only see what he’d perceived to be her pain-in-the-ass qualities. And mostly that’d been due to his frustration over her determination to get him to sell the land. But was Lilly’s dedication to the lynchats’ cause any different than his commitment to his pack? Not really, when you got down to it.

Shane continued to give him that shrewd look that seemed to drill right into Dante’s brain. “You haven’t mate-bonded with her yet.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m not planning to.” His thoughts veered to the unexpected mating knot he’d experienced earlier in the truck. Hell, it was plenty obvious his body was five steps ahead of the game in that regard. But the damnable part was while a mating bite was merely a symbolic mark amongst his species, a mating knot was the true hallmark of an emotional bond.

Which made no sense, considering he had no intention of letting his heart fall victim to the deception he and Lilly were perpetrating.

Shane’s chuckle jogged Dante from his silent musings. “Somehow I can’t picture Lilly letting you be on top long enough to mark her.”

Dante mentally rewound to yesterday’s wild ride in her bed. His silence must have clued Shane in on his train of thought because his cousin shook his head and laughed. “Well shit. Guess I’m wrong again.” Just as quickly as it’d surfaced, Shane’s humor vanished and was replaced by a solemn look. “I’ll support you no matter what, you know that.”

“But?” Dante prompted, filling in the tangible blank suspended at the end of Shane’s declaration.

“I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Dante took another fortifying swig from his bottle. “Don’t worry. I can handle my old man.”

“I wasn’t referring to him.” Shane’s focus drifted toward the living-room entrance. “Marriage isn’t something to play at or enter into to get out of a bad situation. You might end up in even deeper water, with no way to save yourself from sinking.”

Dante’s beer went down bitter as he stared at Shane’s profile. He didn’t know what was more disturbing—the fact his cousin had possibly seen through the charade…

Or that Shane might be right.

Chapter Eleven

The second the last of Dante’s cousins said their goodbyes and disappeared out the door, Lilly breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed into the couch cushions. Dante shot the deadbolt home. Leaning his broad shoulder against the doorframe, he offered her a wry look. “See, that wasn’t so hard.”

She snorted. “Clearly you’ve imbibed a little too much werewolf moonshine this evening.”

His incisors flashed with his grin. He strode toward her and plunked his beer bottle on the coffee table, his eyebrows cocking in challenge.

“Hmm, did your still run dry?” She bit her lip to keep her smile from slipping free.

He chuckled. “Sassy pussy. I’ll get even for that later.”

Her clit tingled at the smoky promise in his gaze. Ignoring his deliberate bait with the word pussy, she crossed her legs to ease the ache. “So do you think your cousins bought our act?”

Dante gave a negligent shrug. “For the most part. Bottom line, they’d rather you be at my side than Anna. That’s all that matters.”

Nibbling on her bottom lip, she considered his words. “You’re sacrificing a lot for them. You could have always said no to getting married and mate-bonded, period.”

“Not an option.” His tone held no trace of regret or doubt.

“It’s that important for you to be their alpha?”

“Not because I get off on a power trip, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

She scooched onto her side and tucked her knees beneath her. “Then what is it?”

Dante was quiet for a long moment. Dragging a hand through the shaggy ends of his hair, he studied the rug beneath his boots. “They need someone they can trust. Someone who will look out for the best interests of the whole pack.”

“And that can only be you?”

“It falls under the jurisdiction of my father’s bloodline. If I don’t do what’s necessary to keep the title, he has the power to overturn my rights and reassign another as my replacement.”

“Judging from your guys’ conversation earlier, I assume that by
necessary
, you mean you getting married and mate-bonded.”

Dante nodded. “The only reason he hasn’t revoked my title sooner is because he’s been using it as leverage to get me to wed Anna so he can get his damn merger.”

“You mentioned before that the merger wouldn’t be a good thing. Why, exactly?”

Lines of tension bracketing his mouth, Dante made a fist and dropped his hand to his side. “You know those two werewolves who got physical with you earlier? They’re Anna’s brothers. Trust me, despite being wealthier than God, the rest of the Giffords and their pack are no more enlightened or civilized than those pair of yokels.”

She shuddered at the reminder of her encounter at the Bowl ’N’ Brew. “Why in the world would your father want to invite them into your pack then?”

Dante’s mouth twisted into a travesty of a smile. “Remember me mentioning the wealthier-than-God part? It’d be a nice payday for good ole Foster.”

“That’s despicable.” She couldn’t imagine a parent using their offspring for their own selfish advancement. Dysfunctional as her upbringing had been, at least her mom and dad hadn’t tried bartering her off to the highest bidder. No, if anything, Rob and Chloe had given her every reason to back away from the sanctity of marriage like a vampire avoiding garlic. Still, she’d rather take that than what had been shoved down Dante’s throat. “Man, it must have felt pretty satisfying to deck Foster.”

“Yeah, it did,” Dante offered reluctantly.

Sympathy and compassion welled inside her. Unable to resist, she jumped to her feet and stood on tiptoe so she could kiss Dante’s cheek. “You’re a good man. Don’t ever think otherwise.”

He pulled back and their gazes locked. “Some would say what I’m doing is dishonest. Not exactly honorable or decent of me.”

“You’re doing what you think is best. That isn’t anything to beat yourself up over.”

“Maybe.”

“No maybe about it.” She offered him a cheeky grin. “If I say it’s so, it must be right.”

That earned his chuckle. Wrapping his hand behind her head, he pulled her flush against him. “I’m probably gonna regret admitting this, but your sassiness turns me on like crazy.”

“Really?” She wiggled. “And here I thought that was just a spare beer bottle in your pocket.”

Gusting a laugh, he hauled her into his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist and rubbed suggestively against his erection. Groaning, he cupped her buttocks and massaged her flesh through the thick wool of her slacks. “I’ve been fantasizing about this ass for the past hour and a half.”

“You don’t mind that I’ve got some junk in the trunk?”

“Shit no. I love it. In fact—”

“So help me, if you quantify that with ‘more pushin’ for the cushion’, I will refuse to have sex with you.”

“Not what I was gonna say at all.”

“Yeah? Then what?”

His eyes sparkled. “It’s slipped my mind.”

“Likely story.”

“Hell, I’m no idiot.” His lips brushed hers lightly before his tongue coaxed its way inside her mouth. He teased the edges of her teeth in a slow, exploratory glide. A moment later, he gifted her tongue with the same lush treatment until she was gasping and writhing in his arms. Without warning, he broke the kiss and set her back on her feet. “I forgot to grab something from my truck.”

She gaped at him as he pivoted and strode toward the door. “What the hell could be so important to leave me hanging like this, wolfman?”

“You won’t be hanging for long, pussycat.” With that intriguing promise floating in the air, he escaped outside. Less than thirty seconds later he returned and paused just long enough to stomp the snow from his boots before moseying toward her.

She eyed the paper bag he carried. “What’s that?”

“An experiment.” Saying nothing more beyond his cryptic statement, he snatched her hand and led her toward the hallway.

Before now, she’d never made it past his living room or kitchen. He didn’t allow her much time to sightsee though, instead striding with purpose to what she assumed was the master bedroom. Dante flicked on the overhead light, and they stepped inside the large, masculine space. He placed the mysterious bag on top of the moss-green quilt covering the enormous log bed. Once he had his hands freed, he reached for her sweater and tugged it over her head. A second later, her pants, bra and panties joined it on the floor. Despite the heat beginning to purl through her bloodstream, she shivered.

Dante stroked her arms. “Do you want to take a shower to warm up before
I
warm you up?”

“You’ve already succeeded there, but a shower does sound nice.”

He took her hand again and walked toward a doorway that presumably opened into the attached bathroom. Her suspicions became confirmed when she crossed the threshold and spotted the commode and granite-topped sink. Dante pulled back the fabric curtain fronting the large shower stall and cranked on the faucet. Soon a comforting cloud of steam enveloped the cozy space. He unbuttoned his shirt, putting to rest her silent curiosity over whether he’d join her for some bath-time fun.

Her appreciative stare roved over the sculpted planes of his chest before her hands followed suit. “I missed getting to feel all this yummy wolf meat when we were in your truck earlier.”

His lips twitched. “Wolf meat?”

“Hey, I let you get away with the pussy crack. Deal with it.”

“Fair enough, but I think you’re neglecting the meatiest part of me.”

She coasted her palm down his chiseled abdomen, following the happy trail to the waistband of his jeans. “Hmm, how absentminded of me.”

“Not to mention cruel.”

“Can’t have that.” Dropping to her knees, she inched his zipper down and freed his cock. Its fat, rosy head bobbed enticingly. Taking advantage of the invitation, she swirled her tongue over the satiny gland, leisurely licking him as if he were a tasty ice-cream cone. Dante tunneled his fingers through her hair and moaned. Encouraged by the husky sound, she sucked more of him into her mouth, reveling in the way he thickened and lengthened even more. Gliding her fingers down the column of his shaft, she traced every ridge and vein before cupping his balls. She increased her suction as she drew back toward the crown of his cock.

A shudder trembled through Dante, and his grip in her hair reflexively clenched. Glancing upward, she watched the strain tightening his features. There was something immensely sexy about bringing an alpha like Dante to the edge of control. She bobbed her head faster, giving him no quarter. Desperate grunts and groans shook from him as his knees wobbled. “Christ. Lilly, I’m gonna come if you keep that up.”