Downpour (Alpha Love - A Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance Book 1) (23 page)

“And you would be?” Luke keeps hold of Sofie as he turns to look at the big man behind him. Seeing the two men together, side-by-side, just highlights the differences between them and all the positives land on one side—Ashton’s.

“I’m the guy that’s going to kick your ass if you don’t let her go.” Ashton locks eyes with Luke, looking a little like he’s daring him to keep hold of her. There’s no doubt in Sofie’s mind that Ashton is just dying to do exactly what he’s threatened.

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that my Sofie has admirers wherever she goes.” Luke looks at her indulgently. “She really is something, isn’t she?” He shakes his head, like he can’t quite believe how desirable she is. “But, don’t mistake yourself for anyone important, my hairy friend. Sofie and I have an arrangement, so why don’t you just run along back to your knuckle-dragging friends?”

That’s when Luke makes the mistake, and it’s one that’s going to cost him. He turns his back to Ashton, ignoring him and edges closer to Sofie, pushing himself up against her. She can feel how excited he is as he pushes his hardness up against her. She can feel her stomach roll at the thought of what he wants to do to her, what he seems not to feel any shame about doing in front of this bar full of people.

“First of all,” Ashton grabs Luke by the shoulders and virtually lifts him off the ground to turn him around, “my name is Ashton. Second of all, I gave you fair warning, and I’m pretty sure I was speaking English, so I’m guessing you know what’s coming next.”

Sofie wishes that she could see the expression on Luke’s face as he realizes what’s about to happen. That said, much as she would like nothing better than to see Luke get his ass kicked across this bar, she knows that it would probably well and truly mean the end of things for her. Not only that but it was wrong, just because Ashton thought that he was the chosen one to mete out justice doesn’t mean that beating someone up is the best way to teach them a lesson.

“Ashton, stop.” The words are out of her mouth too late.

Sofie sees Ashton pull back his arm and, in one smooth movement, he punches Luke in the face, hard. Luke barely even has time to put his hands in front of him to take up some of the impact. He falls on the ground, hard, blood spurting from his nose.

Sofie feels her mouth drop open, and she looks at Ashton with a flash of anger in her eyes. She grabs Luke’s arms helping him to get up from the grimy floor. “Are you alright?” It’s the first thing she can think to say, despite also being the stupidest thing that she could have come out with.

“Do I look like I’m alright, Sofie? That fucker broke my nose!” Luke points at Ashton accusatorily and looks around as if he expects someone to come to his aid. But the regulars at the bar just get on with their drinks, not wanting to get involved. Ashton crosses his arms, flexing his muscles. When it becomes abundantly clear that Luke isn’t likely to get any help from the good townsfolk of Beaumont, his face goes a worrying shade of purple, matching the bruise he’s going to have on his nose the next day. “You think I don’t know who you are, Mr. Lupo?” Luke stands unsteadily on his feet, staring at Ashton. Sofie sees the expression on Ash’s face turn to surprise. “You think I don’t protect my investments?” At this, Luke looks at Sofie, and she feels physically sick that he’s clubbed her in with his possessions. “I know a lot more about you and your little band of Neanderthals than you would believe. When I get into a fight, I like to know who I’m up against. Can you say the same?” Luke doesn’t wait for a response before pushing past Ashton and heading out of the door.

The atmosphere of the bar completely changes as he walks out, as if everyone has breathed a huge sigh of relief. Sofie finally catches sight of Darwin who’s smiling to himself.

“Boss, are you alright?” She looks over at him to make sure he wasn’t too shaken up by what just happened.

“Fine, fine. Finn will wish he hadn’t missed that!” Darwin lets out a laugh, a real, gleeful laugh. “Congratulations young man—for doing something that I wish I had the courage to.” He holds out his wizened hand to a bemused Ashton who shakes it slowly.

“That was definitely not the smartest thing you could have done.” Sofie glowers up at Ashton. “Luke doesn’t like to lose, especially not in front of a whole heap of people.”

Ashton holds his hands up in surrender. “Hey, I was just keeping my promise. I said that I would never let him hurt you. What else was I supposed to do?” He shrugs like that’s an irrefutable argument.

“I don’t know, maybe not break his nose!” Sofie throws her hands up in the air. “How did he know your name? How did he know anything about you?” Luke’s words are echoing in her head.

“That’s standard Shale protocol. His father used to do something similar, but not with the same result in mind. Whenever the corporation is looking into a new drilling location, they contract PIs—private investigators—to look into the town and the people.” Darwin explains this practice as if it were common knowledge, but this is all news to Sofie, yet another dirty little secret that’s coming out into the light. “They highlight people of interest, people that might prove...problematic.” Darwin looks at Ashton as he says the word.

Lindsey appears in front of them. “You two should get going. If I know that guy, and believe me I think I do, then he’s going to be waking up every cop in the state until he finds someone to come down here and arrest you.” Lindsey looks genuinely rattled, and it’s not just from the blood spilt on her floor.

Sofie takes hold of her hand over the bar. “Tell me.” She looks into the other woman’s eyes.

But Lindsey just shakes her head. “I don’t know what I saw. I’m not sure.” Her eyes are evasive, and she gives Ashton a little shove towards the door. “Get out of here, I’ll cover for you.”

Ashton nods quickly and takes hold of Sofie’s hand, leading her towards the exit.

“Hold on.” She digs her heels in, not letting him drag her away. “Darwin, are you going to be alright here?” She looks at her boss, the man that had been her mentor, one of the leaders in his field. But right now he looks like a sad, old man, and Sofie can’t help but think that it isn’t just the divorce that has aged him like this.

“I’ll be fine, Sofie. I think you should be more concerned with your young man now.” Darwin nods towards Ashton, and it’s clear that he’s talking about Luke.

“I’ll make sure he gets back to the motel safe,” Lindsey assures her, refilling Darwin’s drink.

Sofie smiles gratefully at her and lets Ashton virtually drag her out of the bar. He holds her close to him, settling her next to him. They fit together, like pieces of a puzzle.

“What do you think he meant about knowing more about you than you think?” Sofie looks up at Ashton, suddenly afraid for him, afraid for all of them.

“He was just trying to save some face after being beat down,” Ashton dismisses Luke’s assertion. “There’s no way that he has anything on us. If he did then he would have come out with it. He doesn’t strike me as the most restrained of men.”

“You’re right. I’m sure you’re right. I think I’m just feeling a little paranoid, like I’m being watched all the time.” Sofie smiles like she knows how crazy that sounds, and Ashton folds her in his arms and kisses her forehead, making her feel warm and safe and perfectly happy. “But I’m still pissed with you,” she points out, her words muffled against his chest.

***

Luke watches them—oblivious to the fact that they have an audience—and puts pressure on the bridge of his nose to stop the bleeding. It hurts like hell, but he doesn’t mind the pain, it helps to fuel the fire of his hate.
Sofie and I are meant to be together, she knows it as well as I do
, he thinks.
This redneck isn’t going to take her away from me. Instead, I’m going to take away everything that’s important to him—every last thing. i’ll humiliate Ashton Lupo and destroy him
.

As if on cue his cell rings. “We’ve found something.” The voice on the other end is one of Luke’s most trusted investigators; he hadn’t failed him yet, and it didn’t look like he was going to start now.

“I’ll be right there.” Luke takes one last look at the happy couple climbing into the pickup truck like the Beverly Hillbillies and smiles to himself as he thinks about how the expression on that meathead’s big fat face is going to change when he sees what’s coming.

The tension between Ashton and Sofie in the truck is so strong she feels her body buzzing from it. She doesn’t know whether to kiss him or pick a fight with him over what he did to Luke, and he seems to be feeling the same way about her.

“I didn’t say that I didn’t appreciate it. All I said was that you crossed a line. You can’t just go around punching people.” Sofie rubs her temples as the gravity of what played out in the bar hits her. “Especially not people that I work for!”

“You’re telling me that he didn’t deserve it?” Ashton eyes flash, and Sofie sees that tinge of gold in his blue eyes that he seems to get sometimes when he’s angry. “Look at your wrist, his handprint is still there!”

Sofie looks down at her arm and, just as Ashton described, there it was, the red mark of a hand. Tomorrow it would be a bruise, and tomorrow she would have to face Luke and the consequences of Ashton’s form of justice.

“I told you that I wouldn’t let him hurt you and I meant it. Can you deal with that? Can you deal with someone treating you like you are worth something?” His words find their mark, and Sofie feels like she’s just been punched in the gut.

“Don’t use your werewolf mojo on me, Ashton. If you have something to say to me then say it.” Sofie looks out of the window, as he parks the car outside the house.

She feels him taking a few deep breaths. “That first time we spoke—on the ridge. I asked if you were running away from something or towards something. I think we both know what the answer was. You don’t trust people. You trusted your parents and look where that got you. But you can trust me.” Ashton takes her hand, but she’s too emotional.

“You don’t know what you’re asking of me.” Sofie slips out of the truck and slams the door behind her, heading into the house.
Why do I have to go on the defensive all the time? He’s telling me things, treating me in a way that no one ever has. Why can’t I just go with it and see where it takes me?
She leans against the kitchen counter, mentally beating herself up for being the emotional retard that she is. She hears Ashton walking slowly inside, the screen door creaking closed behind him.

He doesn’t touch her, just mimics her posture, leaning against the counter in front of her, crossing his arms, waiting.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to go all neurotic girlfriend on you.” The words are out of Sofie’s mouth before she’s had time to edit them, and she really wishes that she had. She tries to rub away the label that she’s just attached to herself by babbling. “I mean, it’s not that I don’t appreciate what you did, what you’re trying to do.”

“You said that already,” Ashton says, his voice in a low rumble. When she looks up at him, she sees the amusement playing in his eyes.

“Yeah, well, sometimes I repeat myself. That’s something you probably didn’t know about me and believe me there’s a whole lot more.” Sofie searches around to think of something that will prove how little he really knows her.

“Like?” Ashton sighs deeply, like he’s indulging her moment of madness.

“Like I’m kind of a disaster. I’ve been in my apartment for six months for Christ’s sake, and I’m still living out of boxes!” She throws her hands up to illustrate the chaos of her life.

“I can deal with that.” Ashton shrugs, like what she’s saying isn’t a big deal.

But Sofie hasn’t got to the part that neither of them has spoken about, the giant elephant in the room. “Ash, I live in DC. You live here. There, I’ve said it now, and as much as I don’t want to have the whole ‘where is this going’ talk after only a few days, that is the reality, and it’s not going to change.”

Ashton shifts uncomfortably from one foot to another. It’s the first time she’s seen him lost for words, and she really wishes that he weren’t. It’s clear that she’s not the only one who has had these thoughts, and it seems like he’s not any closer to an answer than she is.

“You want me to trust you, to depend on you. But I can’t do that. Not when our lives are so far apart. I can take care of myself. Besides, you’re not going to be around all the time to step in and save me like my own personal knight in shining armor. And I can’t expect you to be.” Sofie tries to keep the emotion out of her voice, but there’s no avoiding it. She knows that in a couple of days she’s going to be on a plane home, and Ashton will be here.

“You know that I can’t leave the pack.” The emotion in Ashton’s voice mirrors her own, and his eyes are full of pain.

“I know and I would never ask you to do that,” Sofie replies firmly. She knows how important the pack is and his position in it, and she would never want to come between him and them. She would never make him choose. “And you know that my life is in DC, my job…that’s if I still have a job after you assaulted my boss.” Sofie looks pointedly at Ashton who shows zero signs of remorse, not that she had really expected him to. In his position, she wouldn’t have either. “I’m a scientist, and there’s not a whole lot of work for people like me in Beaumont.”

Ashton nods slowly. What she’s telling him clearly isn’t news, he’s been having the same conversation with himself. They’d both just been avoiding the inevitable.

“So what does that mean?” Ashton looks at her, looking paler than she’s ever seen him.

“I don’t know.” Sofie shrugs. It was an honest response, the only one that she can give. But the idea of not seeing him, not being with him, makes it hard to breathe.

“Come here.” Ashton opens his arms to her, and she settles herself against his chest, listening to his heartbeat and feeling the warmth of his body against hers.

They stand like that, holding each other, neither wanting to call time on what they’re doing, what they’re feeling.

“So you’re my girlfriend, then?” Ashton’s chest is vibrating, as he lets out a low chuckle.

She tries to get her embarrassment under control before she looks up at him, frowning. “I was hoping that you might have skipped over that part.”

“Not a chance.” Ashton looks down at her, his blue eyes dancing. But his expression turns serious. “I don’t want to let you go.”

“I don’t want you to either,” she says in a hushed voice, as the magnetism between them ratchets up a notch. “Kiss me.” She lifts her face to his and loses herself in the feel of his lips on hers, the taste of him, and the sense of him all around her.

She runs her hands up his cheeks, feeling the bristles of his beard scrape against her soft skin, and it sends a thrill of delight through her. His kiss makes her feel as light as a feather, like she could float away. She palms him through his jeans and feels him standing to attention. She knows what she wants to do, and the thought of it makes her knees weak with desire.

“I think it’s my turn now, right?” She grins at him, licking her lips in anticipation.

“Your turn for what?” Ashton looks at her with a curious smile.

“You’ve tasted me, now I want to taste you.” She says the words against his lips, the heat of their breath mingling together. She unbuttons his shirt slowly, wanting to feel the hard muscles of his chest underneath. Her hands skim over his body, and he lets out a long breath, like he’s preparing himself.

She kneels down in front of him and gets to work on his jeans, concentrating on the buttons one-by-one. She sits back on her ankles, looking at him. His cock really is magnificent, long and hard and perfect, perfect for her. She feels the heat between her legs, as she thinks about taking him in her mouth. She’s never been this turned on before simply thinking about giving a guy a blow job. But, like everything with Ashton, this was different.

She wraps her hand around his shaft, feeling the weight of him, how swollen he is. But before she can get down to business, Ashton pulls her up to face him, as if she weighed nothing.

“You don’t have to do this.” He looks at her seriously while he busies himself stripping her down to her underwear. “Christ, what are you doing to me?” He looks down at her in awe. She’s wearing the tiniest panties possible, the black lace setting off the paleness of her skin. Her bra is completely transparent, and he can see how hard her nipples are already. He buries his head in her chest, breathing her in and his hand slips down to her panties as he touches her through the lace, feeling her slickness. “You’re always so ready,” he whispers into her ear, and she moans as he strokes her, making her pussy ache.

“Hold up, hold up.” Sofie takes his hand, stopping the perfect way that he’s touching her. “I can’t concentrate if you keep that up.” She looks at him meaningfully and slides down his body until she’s on her knees again in front of him. She knows that he’ll have a perfect view of her as she tastes him.

She takes hold of his shaft again, looking up at Ashton, making sure that he’s not missing any of this. His expression and shallow breath tells her that he’s already lost in the moment. She leans forward and licks his tip, feeling his body shudder out of need. She traces a long line with her tongue from the base of his shaft then up the underside, paying particular attention to just under the tip where all the nerve endings meet, and she’s rewarded by his groan of pleasure.

Emboldened by his reaction, she starts to take him into her mouth. She wraps her lips around his cock, taking as much of him as she can before she gags. She squeezes the base of his shaft lightly as she rocks back and forth, taking him into her mouth and licking him down to the tip.

“Sofie. Sofie.” The sound of Ashton moaning her name as he knots his fingers in her hair, guiding her to take him deeper into her mouth makes her even wetter.

She builds up a rhythm, sucking him, tasting him, and letting her tongue run along his cock. She uses her teeth, letting him feel them graze against his shaft. Ashton rocks back, holding onto the counter behind him for support. His eyes are dark with lust, and he’s breathing deeply, trying to regain some control. But that’s exactly what Sofie doesn’t want him to have. She’s in control this time, and she’s loving every minute of it.

She sucks harder, licking his swollen cock and rolling his balls in her hand, making him lose it completely. His hips start moving, signaling the release that she knows he’s desperate for.

“Sofie, you’re amazing. You look so fucking sexy with my cock in your mouth.” He’s straining to get the words out, aching with need for her. Sofie feels the answering warmth between her legs. “I’m coming, don’t stop, baby. I’m going to come hard.”

This is the part where Sofie would usually step politely away and hand the guy a tissue. Blow jobs were something she did for them, not for her. This is the first time that she wants a guy to come in her mouth, wants to taste him, to take him inside of her, any way he wants. She’s so wet between her thighs that she needs her own satisfaction, she can feel how close she is. She does something that she’s never done before. She looks up at Ashton to make sure that he’s watching and drops her hand between her legs underneath her panties, while she sucks his cock. She starts to touch herself, feeling how hot and wet she is. She strokes herself, moaning, thinking about Ashton fucking her mouth. She starts to breathe hard, ready for her own release.

Sofie feels his body jolt, and he lets out a growl as she sucks him hard, taking him to his climax. She comes hard along with him, her pussy dripping wet. He spills his seed inside of her mouth, and she swallows him, tasting his saltiness, sucking him dry until she feels his body go limp above hers.

They’re both breathing hard, still riding high from their orgasms. Ashton lifts her up again to him and kisses her hard, like he’s trying to convey something deeply important with his kiss. She feels his cock, harden against her stomach, and she breaks away, looking up at him, amused and not a little impressed.

“I don’t know what you do to me. But I need to have you, again and again. It’s never enough.” Ashton holds his face between her hands, gazing at her with something that looks a lot like love.

They make love again and again. Sofie’s need for Ashton mirrors his need for her. Neither want to sleep or to lose one precious moment of this togetherness that they share; this feeling of completeness that they only experience with each other. They finally make it to Ashton’s bed and, as the fingers of dawn stretch across the sky they lay lost in each other’s arms. They’re spent, physically and emotionally, but still as close to each other as they could possibly be. It was as if they didn’t want to let anything come between, not until they had no other choice, no time left.