Emerald: Rare Gems Series - Billionaire Wolf Shapeshifter Romance (5 page)

“What sort of classes is she taking that puts her in that sort of harm?” Annabelle looked at him oddly, and he started to tell her that he was just concerned.

“Emerald isn’t a student. Oh no. She’s a teacher. And she’s only at this school to help out over the summer. Some of the students can only pass to the next grade if they take a few more classes. She’s helping out the district because they don’t have a lot of teachers that are able to work through the summer months.” Jul nodded, embarrassed that he’d thought her just a kid. “Emerald is the youngest, but she’s in her mid-twenties. Good girl too. And if this man hurt her in anyway, he’ll pay. We don’t like when someone messes with family.”

“I’m sure he will.” Jul moved to the deck again when the phone rang. He was sort of uncomfortable at how close this family was. It was great, he knew that, but he’d never had that kind of relationship with anyone other than his parents. When the door behind him opened, he looked at Jade.

“You’re freaked out, aren’t you?” He shook his head. “Yeah, you are. And I don’t blame you. We’re a bit much for even our kind.”

“Our kind?” She nodded and sat down on the seat that surrounded the deck. “I’ve been hearing these cryptic things for the past few days. I’m not sure that I’m supposed to understand most of it, but I don’t. What do you mean, our kind?”

“I’m not sure what I can tell you. I think we all just assumed because of someone that works for you that you know what we are.” Jul sat down and shook his head. “Do you have a secretary or an assistant that works closely with you?”

“Yes. His name is Colby Bass. He’s worked for me for years. What does his employment with me have to do with this?” Jade looked out over the field and pool behind the house, and he did as well. The wolf playing in the yard startled him at first, but the longer they watched him, the more he could see that the large dark wolf was having fun.

“What if I told you that the wolf out there is only partly wolf? That the rest of him is human?” She turned to look at him, and he could see that she wasn’t kidding. “There are all sorts of us around you all the time. A great many in this house alone. If only you want to take the time to get to know us, you’ll know what I’m talking about.”

“What do you mean?” He leaned forward in his chair and waited for an answer. She looked at the wolf again, and Jul felt his heart pounding in his chest. He had no idea how much longer he would have waited if not for the car pulling into the drive.

“That would be Emerald. She’s going to be very upset when she gets here, so don’t take offense if she snaps a little. We’re all a bit cranky when we’re cornered by a human.” When she stood up to leave him, he said her name. “We’ll talk more, I promise, but for now I’d like for you to keep an open mind. There are things going on right now that, even if I explained them, you wouldn’t understand.”

She left him there with that hanging between them. He had no idea, not the slightest clue, what the hell she was talking about, and wondered if he should move out. But as he sat there thinking about all the places he could have been laid up, he saw a man coming out of the woods pulling a shirt over his head. His skin tightened when the man turned to him and waved. It was Allen Henson.

“Boy.” Jul nodded. “You enjoying your talk with Jade? She can be a pistol when she needs to be. Sometimes I just pat her on the head and go on about my business. You might want to do that on occasion just until you get used to her.”

“She told me that some wolf out there was human too.” Allen stared at him for several seconds before he leaned down and pulled his shoes on. Jul watched him tie them up and then lean back in the chair.

“That would be about right,” he nodded. Jul had no idea what the fuck was going on, but he felt like he was on one of those shows where they brought out the camera and told you it was all a joke. “She tell you what we were?”

“No. Should she have?” Allen nodded and Jul watched the man pull his sleeve up. “Please don’t. I have no idea what you’re about to show me, but right now, I don’t think I can handle it. I’m…I think I’m slightly freaked out that I’m believing her. I’m not sure what I’m believing, but I’m thinking it’s something big.”

“You don’t want to run when one of us shows you what we are. It might prove to be a little on the dangerous side if you do. We like to chase.” Jul stood up and then sat again when Allen told him to. “Just take a few long slow breaths and you’ll be just fine. Come on now, breathe.”

“What are you?” Jul looked up at Allen when he didn’t answer. “Don’t show me. Just tell me what you think you are, and I’ll nod and believe you.”

“Wolf.” Of course he was, Jul thought. But he nodded anyway. “I know that you don’t believe me and that’s okay. But if you work with Blair and Sapphire, they’re gonna tell you anyway. No secrets with them two. You’re going to be fine as long as you keep breathing, all right?”

“I don’t know if I want someone…I can’t have….” Jul let out another breath when he started to feel light headed. “You really believe that?”

“I am and I do.” Jul stood up again and this time Allen let him. He was making his way to the door when Allen spoke again. “There is no reason for you to be afraid of us. We’re not going to harm you in any way.” If he’d thought to assure Jul, he’d failed terribly.

Just as Jul was stepping into the doorway, a bundle of a woman came out and hit him full force. As they fell backward onto the decking, he heard her cursing, and was wondering if she would mind teaching him a few of those when he was suddenly airborne. He landed in the pool, the soaking woman right beside him. Good Christ, a sea nymph had just tumbled into his life.

“Don’t you fucking watch where you’re going?”

Jul wanted to reach out and push the hair from her forehead so he could see what color her eyes were. Right now he’d bet they were sparking off fire, she sounded that pissed off.

“Are you deaf? Where were you going in such a hurry?”

“Into the house. I was trying to get away from Allen.” He looked at the deck and noticed how far he was from it. “Did you fly us out here?”

There had to be ten feet between where he’d tried to go in the door to where he was in the pool. Watching the woman get out, her clothing clinging to her skin like it was a part of it, had his cock waking up. He’d not had this kind of reaction to a woman in a very long time.

“Are you on drugs?” He shook his head as he tread water, looking up at her. Jul ran his eyes slowly down her body and felt his entire being charge up. Christ, this was a full package, make you beg kind of woman.

He wanted her, and right now. Her dark nipples were hard against the light fabric of her blouse. The bra she was wearing was lacy, and hid very little from his view. Her belly was flat and looked tone and fit, and her legs, long and muscled, were outlined in the tight dark pants she wore. Jul wondered if she wore matching panties to the bra she had on, and wanted more than anything to find out for himself. But it was her furious face that had him wanting to beg her for a taste of her. She looked like she could tear him apart, and he wanted to see that fire come out when he was between her thighs.

“Are you enjoying what you’re looking at?”

Jul grinned. He couldn’t help it. She was gorgeous, and he wanted to pull her back into the pool with him and show her just what he was looking at and what it was doing to his body.

“Yes. Very much so. Want to come here and let me show you just how much I am enjoying it?” The laughter from the deck made him remember Allen. He watched the woman as she glared harder at him. Then she looked down at her chest and covered herself up. “Well, that was completely uncalled for. You were making my day. Move your hands and let’s have another look before you run off.”

Her low growl had him thinking of the big wolf, and he looked into the yard again. When he looked back, not only was she gone, but Allen was standing there with a towel. The old man was laughing as he helped him out of the water.

“You sure do know how to make a first impression.” Jul took the towel and dried off. “She’s spitting mad right now, and when she calms, she’s gonna come gunning for you. Emerald don’t take well to people laughing at her.”

“She’s beautiful. And her anger only made her lovelier.” Allen nodded and told him to go on up and change. Dinner would be in about an hour. Nodding, he went to the door just as he thought of something. “You were kidding before, weren’t you? About the wolf?”

“Nope.” Jul watched him carefully for any sign of insanity. “You go on up now. And get yourself ready. We’ll be having a nice talk after dinner.” He laughed that special kind of laugh Jul had noticed that Allen had for his grandson Carter, full of humor and fun. “Go on now. Annabelle will be mighty pissed if you’re late to dinner. She’s looking forward to having all the family at the table tonight.”

Chapter 5

Emerald pulled out pants and a shirt from the drawer. She was so pissed that her head was pounding from it. The nerve of that jerk looking at her like she was naked. Looking down her body, she realized that she almost was and pulled her blouse from her body again. How stupid did she have to be to toss them both into the pool wearing her favorite panty and bra set? When the door opened behind her, she didn’t even bother turning, knowing it was one of her sisters.

“I’m fine, for the millionth time. He only tried to break into the school. He didn’t hurt any of us.” The soft moan had her turning. “What do you think you’re doing in here? Get out.”

The man had taken his shirt off and it hung limply in his hand. The towel hung loosely over his right side, but otherwise hid nothing from her view. This man had to have been sculpted from marble. And maybe he might have been given an extra dose of sex appeal, because he was reeking of it.

“This is my room.” He took a step toward her, and she backed up until her body hit the dresser she’d been going through. “And those are my pants and shirt. Not that I mind you having them on that luscious body, but they are mine. I have an idea…would you like for me to help you undress so you can put them on? Later?”

“You stay back.” But of course he didn’t. When he was only about a foot from her, she felt her body respond to him as if he were touching her. And when his hand that had the shirt in it stretched toward her, Emerald felt her breath catch. “You don’t want to do that.”

“Oh, but you’re very wrong about that. I want to touch you more than I want to breathe, and I need to do that too.” His finger moved along the front of her blouse that she’d opened but not removed. “I was wondering if your panties are the same lacy material as this is.”

He slid his finger along the curve of her left breast, then over the right. Her heart was pounding so hard she was sure he could see it. As her blouse draped down over her shoulder where he’d moved it, he leaned in and licked the same path that his fingers had taken. Emerald wanted to pull him closer, but he nipped at her breast and she moaned.

“I’ve never wanted a woman like I do you. I want to taste every part of you and then take you over and over again until neither of us can move.” He made his way up her throat to her mouth and kissed her gently before pressing his body to hers. She felt the thickness of his cock, the length of him as he rocked into her. “Say you want me. Tell me that I can taste you.”

“Please.” He took her mouth then, ate at her as his tongue danced along her until she was sure there was no part of her mouth that he’d not explored. His hands cupped her ass and she was lifted up, her legs wrapped around him as if it was the most natural thing in the world. They moved then. She had no idea where, nor did she care, but felt the bed touch her as he laid over her. He was rocking to her softness more now, faster and faster, as her body built up for a release.

“Come for me. Let me taste your flesh while you come for me.” His fingers pulled and tugged at her nipples, bare now to his touch and gaze. Even as he made his way back down, she knew that the moment he took her into his mouth, the second he bit down on her breast, she was going to come. And when he did it, laving her nipple with his tongue before nipping at her, Emerald covered her mouth with her hand and screamed as she came for him.

Her body was taut with need. Even with the climax he’d given her, she needed more. Her body rolled up to meet his as he rode his hips into her over and over. When he moved down her body, pulling at her pants, Emerald helped him. She needed something from him, and knew that he was going to give it to her. As soon as she lay bare before him, she covered her pussy with her hand and her breast with her arm. He pulled them both away as he looked at her. His face told her he was pleased with what he saw, and her juices heated up for him.

“I’m going to eat you. I have to taste more of you.” Emerald nodded and tried not to be embarrassed when he pulled her legs apart and looked at her so intently. “You’re so wet. Dripping with need. I want to fuck you, slam deep into your depths, and empty myself into you. But the thought of drinking deeply from you, lapping at your pussy until you fill me, makes me harder than I’ve ever been.”

She didn’t want to beg him to do just that, but she might have had he not lowered his head to her pussy and blown over her clit. Emerald moaned and nearly screamed when he took her clit into his mouth and nibbled on her. She was so close to coming right now that if he nipped her again she was going to pass out with it. His fingers entered her then, touched the spot inside of her that no man had ever touched before. Emerald screamed out her release, her body bowing up and falling twice more before she begged him to stop.

He looked down at her as he moved up her body. Reaching between them, Emerald cupped his cock in her hand and watched his face as he rocked into her palm. The thought of him doing the same thing to her body, him moving in and out of her pussy, had her body aching to feel him. The need to have this man take her was making her wolf snarl against her skin. When he lifted his head from her throat, she knew that he’d felt it too.

He looked…afraid. She wanted to reassure him, but his scent hit her. Emerald pulled him closer to her face and inhaled deeply at his neck as she held him. When he lifted his head again and looked down, Emerald knew who he was to her.

“Please get off me.” He only stared at her and she shoved him off her. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? I don’t even know you.”

“Julius Whitney. And what was that?” She started to get up off the bed, suddenly embarrassed with her nudity and him being partially clothed. But he pulled her back and she was flat on her back again. He held her hands above her head as he looked down at her. She could see how upset he was, but he was being extremely gentle as he held her. “I asked you a question; what the hell was that just now?”

“The sex? I’m pretty sure you know what it was. And I’m not telling you again to get off me.” He rolled to his back and watched her. “I don’t want you to touch me again. No matter what.”

“Sure thing, lady. But you might want to tell your own body that. You were just as hot to have me as I was you. But at least you got some relief. I’m as hard as stone and want to fuck you.” She turned to look at him and could see the budge in his pants. It was mouthwatering to see him lying there that way, his pants undone and his cock, just the tip of it, peeking from the top. While she watched him, he slid his hand over his length, and she moaned when it danced just a little, the fluid at the tip sticking to his skin.

“Come here, Em. Come here and let me take you.” Her body responded to the seductive tone and the purr of his voice. She took a step toward him and then another, until she realized what she was doing. “Don’t stop. You want me to fuck you as badly as I want to.”

“No.” He grinned at her and opened his pants more. His cock was bigger than it looked, thicker than she’d imagined, and she wanted him. He stroked his cock, using his own juices as he laid back. The look on his face was one of pure sex, and she wanted to taste him as he had her.

“Ride me.”

She wanted to. More than anything, Emerald wanted to slide over him and take her pleasure from him. But he was her mate…she’d almost figured that out too late, but the thought of just running her tongue over him, tasting the creamy juices dripping from him, had her licking her lips.

“I can’t.” He stood up then, his pants falling to the floor. As he stepped out of them and kept coming toward her, Emerald could only think of one thing, and that was him. But instead of taking her to him, pulling her body to his, he moved to the bathroom and closed the door. As soon as she heard the shower go on, she wondered if he was taking a cold one, because she needed one too.

Grabbing up her clothes, she dressed quickly. Before the water turned off, she was out the door and halfway down the stairs before she thought about what had just happened. Her mate. She had found her mate.

~~~

The water was hurting him, it was so cold. But his cock didn’t seem to care how cold it was. Jul knew that the only way he was going to get any relief was to go and find the woman and take her hard. It mattered little to him right now if she was in the bed or the floor. The thought of fucking that woman was making him hurt. Wrapping his hand around his cock, he slowly moved up and down his shaft, thinking about how she’d tasted.

“Christ.” He came almost immediately, his cum splashing against the tile wall and dripping down even as he knew that it wasn’t going to satisfy him. He was still hard, his balls full of his release as if he’d not just jerked off. Jul fisted his cock again, thinking of the way her breasts had tasted, the way her pussy had felt in his mouth, how tight she was around his fingers, and he thought about her pussy strangling his cock as he came a second, then a third time. He was leaning against the shower wall when he started to laugh.

“What the fuck is wrong with me?”

He had no answer and washed himself up as he stood there thinking. Turning off the water, he dried himself with the thick towel hard enough to redden his skin. The bullet wound had bled a little, but when he pulled off the tape and bandage, he couldn’t believe how much it had healed. Jul was coming out of the room when he remembered the way her body had…it had turned into something else.

“Nah, you were just horny. That’s it.” But he couldn’t let it go, couldn’t stop thinking about the wolf in the yard, the man who had come out of it. And the woman who had looked like she was on the verge of becoming a wolf as well. Jul was halfway down the stairs when he heard her voice.

“I fucking have no idea what you’re talking about. I do not have a mate.”

Jul entered the kitchen just as Blair started to speak, and all eyes turned to him. He had never felt so much like a bug pinned to the wall as he did right now. He looked at Allen when he started to laugh.

“You?” Allen was pointing at him and laughing so hard that Jul wanted to turn around and go back to his room. “It’s you? Damn boy, you didn’t waste any time, now did you?”

Jul felt his face heat up, and he looked at Em. She’d gone pale and he took a step toward her, only to have her back up. When Blair stepped between them, he had the overwhelming urge to hit him out of the way, and took a step back when the feeling seemed to consume him. He’d never felt this way in his entire life about another human being.

“You have any idea what you’ve done, do you? Or what this all means to you and her?” Again his face heated up and he tried to look away from the imposing man. “Jul, did you have sex with Emerald?”

“Fuck you.” Blair stared at him for several second before he turned to Em. She looked like she wanted to murder him and Blair both, but right now he’d do just about anything to have everyone get out so he could find out what the hell was going on.

“You have to tell him.” Em shook her head and glared at him. “You can’t simply leave this alone, Emerald. You know as well as anyone that it doesn’t work that way. You have to tell him what’s going on.”

“I do not have to tell him a damned thing. And as far as us having sex, it did not happen.” He started to tell her she’d had sex while he’d had his with his hand, but he closed his mouth when she looked at him with that glint her eye that told him he was as good as dead if he did. “He and I just kissed, that’s all.”

Allen snorted and Jul looked at him. There was something in the way they were all treating this that had him walk to Em and pull her into his arms. He’d only meant to hold her, ask her a few questions, but the moment he touched her and she moaned, all bets were off.

She clung to him even as he wrapped his arms around her body. Taking her mouth seemed the most natural thing in the world to him, and he kissed her hungrily, eating at her mouth until he found that he needed all of her. Before he could act on that, pull her up and sit her on the counter, someone touched him from behind and he heard Allen speaking softly.

“You might want to rein that in a tad there, boy. You ain’t in the bedroom right now.” Jul moaned as he lifted his head. Her taste still lingered on his mouth as he kissed her again. When Allen spoke again, telling him that there was family in the room, Jul could hear his humor, and that made him smile down at the woman in his arms.

“I can’t get enough of her. Touching her, tasting her.” He didn’t look away but he continued talking to Allen. “What’s wrong with me that the thought of not having her is making me crazy with lust? And not just crazy, but damned near insane with the need to have her?”

“You’re her mate. You know what that is?” Em stiffened in his arms, and he had to hold her tightly or she’d escape again. And right now, the thought of not touching her was making him as crazy as touching her was. Jul wanted her that badly. “Jul? Do you know what it means?”

“Not a clue.” He let her pull from him a little, but he didn’t let her go. Jul wanted to tell them all to go to hell or anywhere that would leave him time with her, but he needed answers more than he…no, he needed her.

“I’m a wolf.” He looked at her, then at the rest of them, hoping for someone to tell him it was a joke. “The least you can do is look at me when I’m talking to you. I said I’m a wolf.”

“I’ve heard this before. I still don’t believe it, but Allen told me the same thing.” He looked at Blair before continuing. “I suppose you’re one too.”

“Yes. The head wolf. Alpha.” Jul nodded, and he looked at the rest of the people in the large room. “We’re all wolves, shifters, or vampires. Sloan and Opal are vamps. We have a panther wolf in our pack, and there are a few other species as well.”