The Wolf's Mate Book 4: Michael & Shyne (19 page)

She hugged her best friend tightly, holding onto his lean frame.  He'd been there for her when no one else was.  She was sure she could live without a lot of things, but not having Trav as a part of her life wasn't going to be one of them.

"Love you," she said, giving him an extra squeeze.

"Love you more," he promised, kissing the top of her head.

Although inwardly distraught, she kept her emotions in check and filled up the silence in the car by asking Tina about being a wolf and growing up in Allen.  By the time she pulled her car up in front of the trailer, she'd learned a great deal about Tina and pack life.  She was so thrilled to be able to share in this new life with Michael and his family.  They had opened their homes and hearts to her without question, simply because Michael had chosen her.  She'd never been so humbled.

Tina helped her carry her things into the house and said goodbye.  Standing in the kitchen, she stared through the open doorway into the bedroom where her suitcase and bags waited to be unpacked.  Michael wasn't due to be home for an hour, so she decided to take the opportunity of the quiet of the trailer and curled up on the bed and had a nice, private, self-pitying cry.

A half hour later, when she had put aside her hurt feelings and shaken herself from her grief, the front door slammed open, and Michael called her name with a worried tone.  His heavy boots thudded towards her when she called out to say she was in the bedroom.  He appeared in the doorway holding a gallon of chocolate ice cream and two spoons.  He smiled in a lopsided way.  "My mom called.  I thought you'd like to eat something chocolately?"

If she wasn't already in love with him, she would have fallen completely head over heels right at that moment.  Sitting up, she smiled and held her arms out for him.  He joined her on the bed, and after a few spoonfuls of slightly melted ice cream, they put it aside and made love.  Later, when they stood naked in the kitchen eating leftovers from the fridge, she said, "You must think I'm a total disaster."

He stopped mid-chew and looked at her.  Swallowing, he put down the drumstick and wiped his mouth with a napkin.  "What do you mean?"

"Everything that's happened because you met me...I'm like a bad luck magnet."

He tsked and pulled her into his arms, "Sweetheart, you're not a disaster or bad luck.  I wouldn't change anything since we met."

"You were drugged and kidnapped."

"I got you."

"I punched you in the nose!"

Chuckling, he tilted her chin until she was forced to look into his beautiful eyes.  "Do you honestly think I regret meeting you, loving you?  I'd walk on broken glass to have you, sweet.  Anything that happened is done now, and all we have to look forward to is our future."

She chewed on her bottom lip and said what had been bothering her, "I haven't ever lived more than paycheck to paycheck.  The severance is enough to carry me for a bit, but unless I can get out of my lease —"

He silenced her worries with a kiss, his thumb stroking along her jaw and his fingertips playing across her neck.  Slowly he pulled out of the drugging kiss and wrapped his arms around her tightly, molding her to his body.  "Feel these arms, baby?  I've got you.  No matter what."

She had never been so thankful in her life for being fired.

* * * * *

Friday night, she was supposed to go with Michael to the bar for his shift.  His parents were taking over the management of the bar, with the members of the new house band handling the actual running of the bar itself.  Before they left for Jake's, Michael had gone totally caveman about her wardrobe, insisting that the skirt she wanted to wear was far too short, the top too tight, her boobs too big.  She'd tried not to find it funny, but he was positively determined to cover up as much of her skin as he could.  In the end, although she had enjoyed teasing him, she settled on a Michael-approved pair of Tommy jeans with a black fitted top with a sweetheart neckline.

In the parking lot, he pinned her against the door and began kissing her neck, sucking her flesh into his hot mouth hard enough to leave marks.  He pressed himself against her, and she felt the evidence of his arousal against her belly, but all he seemed to want to do was give her hickeys.

Her nails dug into his shoulders, and she pushed him away so she could look at him.  Her body throbbed as much as the bruises on her neck.  "What are you doing?"

His hands played across her shoulders as a myriad of emotions flickered through his eyes.  "Truth?"

Nodding, she promised, "Always."

"There are going to be a lot of single males in there, human and wolf.  We're not fully mated yet, I haven't marked you, I..."  His voice trailed off, and he seemed to be struggling to find the words to say.

She thought she understood.  "You want to make sure that no one lays a finger on me."

He nodded and dropped his head with a sigh.  "I don't like that you've had to see the more dangerous part of my life already, but being in a place like this, it's making my wolf go nuts.  I don't ever want you to be afraid of me."

She ran her fingers across her heated skin, where he'd bruised her.  "I'm not afraid of you, Michael, and I won't ever be.  You're mine and I'm yours, and anyone that's stupid enough to try anything is going to get my right hook."

His eyes were glittering with amusement when he met her eyes.  He touched the bridge of his nose, wincing dramatically, and told her he still had flashbacks about her fist flying at his face.  The heaviness of the moment was lifted, and they kissed once more before heading into the bar through the back entrance.

Michael situated her on a stool behind the bar before heading off with his father to get stock for the night.  It was still early, and there were only two bartenders getting the prep work done.  She recognized one of them from the band, and the other she thought was human.  Around the bar, Tina and another wolf from the band were cleaning off the tables and straightening up.

She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see Michael carrying two boxes of liquor on one shoulder.  His muscles bunched nicely under his tight dark blue t-shirt, and her gaze wandered immediately down to his belt buckle and then lower.  He was simply irresistible.  Deliciously male and all hers.

"Stop that," he growled with a low voice, startling her from the sexy daydream involving him and not a stitch of clothing.

"Stop what?"

He put the boxes on the counter and moved to her, inserting himself between her legs and pressing his hands against the back wall on either side of her head.  "Stop thinking whatever naughty things are running through that gorgeous head of yours.  I can smell how turned on you are from halfway across the bar."

He was chastising her, but there was pride underneath that.  How very
male
of him.  Folding her arms, she said, "You're the one that horned me up in the parking lot.  I can't help it if I'm thinking about you being naked."

He dropped one hand and fingered the bruises on her neck.  "I'd love nothing more than to bend you over the bar, baby, and take you until your throat is raw from screaming out my name."

Swallowing, she lifted her eyes until she met his, the blue flickering like a fire lit them from within.  "I would totally let you do that."

He barked out a laugh and placed a kiss to her mouth.  "I love you, sweetheart.  Don't tempt me into doing something we'll regret in the morning.  We only have to be here for a few hours, and then we can duck out, okay?"

"And then you'll make sure my throat is raw tomorrow from all the screaming in pleasure?"

Smiling, he leaned down and licked the shell of her ear.  "That's a promise."

She shivered and tried to turn her sexy thoughts to less sexy things, like counting the people that came into the bar or the number of beers ordered, but all she could really think about was Michael.  It was so strange to be utterly consumed by him, but she was.

She'd never seen him at work, but he was efficient and thorough.  Although she remembered him saying he didn't care for the job, he clearly took pride in it.

The band TrayneWrek took the stage for their sound check.  The bar was about half-full, and it was only eight thirty.  According to Michael, the bar was important to their pack because it allowed them to keep an eye on each other.  Mixing alcohol with werewolves could apparently lead to problems, and if they were out in other towns where the police may not be as forgiving, then they would have problems.  Here, in this small space, problems were set aside, and they all looked out for each other.

Every few minutes, Michael's gaze would find hers as if he was checking to make sure she was still there, still sitting where he wanted and not getting into mischief.  The problem with that scenario was that she was growing bored, and boredom for her led to...mischief.

Deciding to have some fun teasing him, she slipped off the stool and headed to the bathroom.  She passed a group of already giggling and probably drunk girls in the narrow hallway that led to the bathroom and found it empty.  In the far stall, she toed off her shoes and stripped her clothes off.  After redressing in only her jeans and top, she tucked her bra in one pocket and her panties in the other.  Now...she just had to decide how to make him aware of what she'd done and see just how far she could push him with her teasing.

Body tingling in anticipation, she strode from the bathroom, intent on making Michael melt from the inside out.

Chapter 12

One minute Shyne had been sitting on the stool behind the bar, one leg crossed over the other, and her fingers drumming on her thigh.  The next minute...where the hell had she gone?  His wolf snapped in his brain, and he spun with a snarl, intent on tearing the bar apart to find her, to make sure she was safe.  Although it was well known within the pack that she belonged to him, the bar was swimming with humans, and even the best behaved male wolf could be a real beast when alcohol loosened his control.

As if she hadn't just made him have a mini heart attack, Shyne strode casually from the back hallway towards the bar, her hips swaying seductively from side to side.  His wolf sat down and whined, and he felt his human side wanting to do the same. She was just too beautiful for words.  The dim lights of the bar lent a golden glow to her skin and made his mouth water with the thought of tasting her.  Just before they'd come that night, he'd been buried tongue-deep in her core, licking up every drop of her tantalizing cream.  In her presence he felt like a starving man in front of a buffet, wanting to gorge himself on every tasty morsel.

She ducked under the counter, and he met her as she straightened, boxing her against the bar with his hands on either side of her.  He eyed her carefully, noticing how positively wicked she looked, as if she was mentally stripping him in her mind.

"It would have been nice if you'd told me you were leaving," his voice came out on a growl, any attempt at soothing the words with a mild tone out the window.

Her lush mouth quirked up at the corner, and her brow lifted in a dare.  He felt her push something into his front pocket slowly but was unable to tear his eyes away from her chocolate depths.  She broke the eye contact first, blinking innocently and patting him on the ass.  "I'll be good from now on."

He grunted, fairly certain that her idea of being good was going to be the death of him.  She ducked under his arm and went to sit back on the stool.  He watched her as he reached into his front pocket and felt satin.  All the blood drained from his face and rushed to his groin as he fingered what he was certain were the barely there panties she'd put on earlier.  Had she....?  For the love of all things holy, she was panty-less and horny in a bar full of wolves that could smell desire like a fat kid could smell cake!

Unsure of what to do, because the wolf in him wanted to rip her jeans off and plunge into her and his human side wanted to do just that same thing, he was momentarily distracted when Fritz came over and rapped his knuckles on the counter.  As Michael turned away, he caught the corner of her mischievous and triumphant smile and let a low growl slip from his clenched teeth.  She was walking a fine line with him, and if she wasn't careful, all her teasing was going to get her nothing but lots of hard, screaming sex.

"How's mated life going, Fritz?"  He managed to put a smile on his face that he didn't really feel and greeted the young wolf.

"Great!"  He chattered away happily as Michael picked up a mug and began to polish it, just to have something to do to keep his hands busy.  Fritz was telling him how much they were looking forward to taking over the bar and working together as a family.  He was about to ask what time the band was going to start their session when Shyne made a squeaking sighing noise, and he looked back in time to see her stretching.  When her hands clasped above her head, she pulled them back slightly, and the motion caused her breasts to push outwards.  His gaze zeroed in on the clearly braless peaks that he'd come to love so much.

Good night, you could see her nipples as clear as day!

The crash as the mug dropped to the floor and splintered apart brought him back from the edge, and he cursed and gathered up the largest pieces.