Unexpectedly Mated (BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance): An Alpha male. A curvy but sassy BBW. A trip to Sin City neither will ever forget. (Sassy Mates) (3 page)

“Don’t get dressed, we can still play a while.” He grabbed his erect cock in his hand and jerked. “I still didn’t get to see your pretty lips around my dick.”

Brain dead. Yeah. She had gone abso-freaking-lutely brain dead. She couldn’t remember shit past the fact he was jerking himself. He grinned and told her to suck his cock. If that didn’t make a woman forget everything, she didn’t know what did.

She shook her head out of its summer residence in the gutter, and tugged at the yoga pants under his ass. “I don’t think so,
mutt.”

What she needed to do was go home. Her mind
turned into a mess and now some new emotions tugged at her chest. She so didn’t have time for that shit. Sex? Oh yes, she could do that with Jake any day of the week, rain or shine. This stuff that warmed her belly and turned her heart in flips was new and freaked her out. He frowned, moved and let her grab the pants.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded jerkily. God, don’t let her cry. What the hell was wrong with her? She had amazing sex and now she wanted to bawl like a baby. There had to be something wrong with the forest. No way had she ever had that happen before.

“You’re not regretting this, are you?” Jake’s voice sounded almost angry.

“No. I just think this is something new.” True. She and Jake had never done anything more before having this truly amazing night of wild— holy shit was that wild —sex. For them to go this far was like going down the rabbit hole. She had to adjust.

He nodded,
his gaze intent on her. “I’ll take you home.”

She dressed in a rush and grabbed the camera and tripod. “No!” She inhaled
. Christ, she still smelled sex all around her. She’d never think of the forest without this popping up in her head. “You’re clearly needed here. Don’t go on my account.”

“Nic...”

She shook her head again. “Really. We’re okay. It’s no biggie. I’ll see you around.”

She turned around and rushed down the path that led to her car, ignoring his calls to her.
There was an immediate need for space. Lots of space. She needed space to remind herself Jake the womanizer was only good for short bouts of sex. Other thoughts would get her into trouble. The whole love and marriage thing was for her friends. Nic would need to figure out what the hell love was about before she decided if that was something she wanted to try. As of the present, no way.

“Are these not
the most beautiful color?” Barbara had a peep toe sapphire blue satin heel in her hand.

The
shoe addict inside Nic wanted to snag the beauty out of Barbara’s hand and claim it for herself. “They’re gorgeous. You have impeccable taste.”

Barbara’s throaty chuckle turned more than a few heads in the vicinity.
Her blue eyes sparkled with delight. For being one of her best friend’s mother, Barbara blended right in with their group. Even though she happened to be a lot older than them, she looked fantastic. She had enough sass to keep her kids on their toes, along with the rest of Nic’s friends. Barbara slipped a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. “Cut it out. You sound like my husband. And he only says that when he’s referring to my taste in having him for a mate.”

Nic grinned
while she eyed the blue shoe. She mentally willed Barbara to put it down. Instead of shopping with any of her other friends, she preferred to hang out with Barbara because she understood Nic’s love for shoes. Plus, they had similar tastes. Whenever Nic shopped with Emma or Jordan she’d end up with a new pair of trainers. And if she was out with Karla then she’d just add to her flip-flop collection. “Men are like that. They love focusing on what they want.”

Case in point:
Jake Wolfe aka The Womanizer. If she caught him going around her house again without having the balls to knock and talk to her, she’d get her damn fence electrified. Never mind that it was a wooden picket fence. Maybe she’d ignored his calls for fear of what he’d say, but that didn’t give him the right to stalk her. And so what if she acted like she wasn’t home whenever he left a message saying he’d come to talk to her. It had been eight long weeks since the scent ceremony and she still avoided him unless they were in crowd.

Barbara gave her a once over and then frowned. “Got something on your mind?”

Oh no. She really didn’t want to discuss Jake with his mom. As cool as Barbara was, talking about Jake with her would be way too weird.

“No, I’m okay.”

Barbara shrugged and placed the shoes in their box. She handed them off to the person assisting them. “I’m taking these.”

Damn! There went her getting those shoes. She glanced down at the gold strappy sandals she had in her hands. They would be perfect for whenever she went on vacation or something. Except she hadn’t been
on vacation in years. In fact, she should go visit her sister Leticia. The poor girl had been texting her nonstop about her new job and wondering when she’d come to visit.

“You know
…” Barbara cleared her throat, understanding lighting her eyes. “Jake isn’t a man-whore, not really.” Her face must have spoken her non-verbal shock because Barbara burst into giggles. “I mean, sure he has a club like Mase, but he’s still a wonderful man. A faithful man.” Then Barbara patted her on the shoulder. “That’s not just the mother in me talking.”

“Mason doesn’t own a strip joint,”
Nic grumbled unhappily. She wasn’t a jealous woman. Okay, maybe she hadn’t been in the past. Things changed. She’d changed. Now, she disliked thinking of Jake in that club filled with cougars and hot young things doing everything in their power to grope any sexy man. Why did she have to like the one Wolfe brother who had a bunch of horny women paying shifters to strip for them? He was in that club every night with a bevy of single and married women all trying to paw at him. Just thinking about it made her want to scream.

They strolled to the checkout counter where their boxes of shoes were already being held. Barbara turned to her, her blue eyes searching for something in Nic’s face. “Are you all set
for the wedding?”

“Sure, as ready as we can all be, right?” She shrugged and bit her lip.

Jordan, one of Nic’s closest friends, was getting married to Barbara’s son Aric. Though they’d been in love with each other for years, they’d put their feelings out there a few months back. Ever since then, everything that could have gone wrong did. Poor Jordan had been attacked multiple times and to make things even worse, their attempt at a bridal shower had gone awry when Aric had to fight the son of another Alpha. The other man had been trying to get his hands on Jordan. Shit had literally hit the fan.

“Maybe we should consider doing something away from here, you know?” Barbara asked, her gaze meeting Nic’s. A flash of worry dashed through her blue eyes. “I think Jordan could use a break. She might be all up in arms about taking care of herself, but no woman wants her wedding to be surrounded by death.”
Barbara handed her card to the cashier and smiled. “Put it all on this.”

“What are you doing?” Nicole shrieked. “I can buy my own stuff, Barbara. There’s no need to spend your money on me.”

Barbara gave a graceful nod. “I understand that, but I wanted to gift these to you. I haven’t met anyone with tastes so similar to mine and someone fun to shop with.”

She
folded her arms over her chest. “That’s all fantastic and great. If you want to get me something, buy me lunch, all these things are worth a fortune. I know I’m expensive.”

Barbara
lifted a hand to Nic’s arm and squeezed. “Then you’ll be my expensive date for today. I want nothing in return but for you to enjoy yourself.”

Nic grumbled a sigh. “You’re one very hardheaded woman.”

Barbara’s tinkling laughter filled the quiet store. “Now you really
do
sound like my husband.” She sobered quickly and frowned. “Am I going to have to pull teeth to get you to tell me what’s wrong with you and Jake?”

Nic blinked. That was so not what she wanted to talk about. At all. Not Jake. He
inhabited a place in her head where she didn’t know what to do. “Um…well…”

On their way to Nic’s car, Barbara twined her arm with Nic’s and leaned in. “
I can tell something’s wrong. Let me help you.”

Nic slipped into the open driver’s side of her gold Camry with a wince. Should she be talking about her issues with Barbara? She was Jake’s mother for cripes sakes. She glanced at her dashboard, nervous to even
turn to Barbara. She wouldn’t be able to open up if she met the other woman’s very intuitive gaze. “It’s not Jake, honest. I just don’t feel comfortable having a…” A what? They didn’t really have a relationship. That’d been the main argument between Nic and her emotions. He hadn’t even bothered to ask her about a relationship. Sort of assumed they were in one. Meanwhile, she didn’t know how to handle the growing feelings that seemed to take hold inside of her. She wanted it to stop. “I don’t think we’d work out. He’s surrounded by women day in and day out.” She growled the words, fingers tight on the leather of the steering wheel.

“You’re judging him based on the clients that visit his establish
-
ment,” Barbara said softly.

It wasn’t that she disliked strippers
, especially male strippers? No way. But Jake brought out the insecure side of her. Nic knew she had a pretty face. Her full-figure got her more than a second glance. Enough that she’d modeled for plus-sized magazines and designers when she’d been back home in her late teens. But it was her mother and step-father’s thirst for fame, attention and money that had pushed her out of it. She’d been more than happy to leave the drama and the arguments over
her
money behind.

So here was Jake,
Living La Vida Loca
. Something she would not normally care about with any man. Except Jake had changed her. And she was having a hard time adjusting. Jake lived a very carefree life. He hadn’t mentioned a relationship to her once in all the years they’d been quietly flirting and hinting at their mutual attraction. He pretty much goaded her whenever they were together and told her how much he wanted her, but never more than that. Sex sounded great. No, sex with Jake sounded awesome!

What woman would say no to sex with one hot as hell shifter? Not Nic, that’s for sure. She
wasn’t stupid, but did she want more from Jake? With more came complications, though. There was the fact he seemed to be the only Wolfe brother who wasn’t really interested in settling down lately. Even Mason had the most overprotective streak this side of Blue Creek. Not that Emma seemed to care one way or another. Most of the time she only had complaints about his overbearing ass. So when Nic had finally had sex with Jake during the scenting ceremony, and he’d been all growly and dominant, she’d put her foot down.

No way in hell was he going to start that shit now that they’d had sex
when he’d never even asked her out on a date. If he thought she’d be doing what he wanted he could take his furry-ass and go home. Which he had. And now she missed the annoying man-whore mutt.

The problem was, she had to figure out what she wanted
before she allowed him back. Would she let herself listen to the emotions that pushed at her heart, or did she want to keep things strictly sexual?

“I’m not judging him. Okay, maybe a little, which I’m not trying to do. But I can’t stop the feelings of insecurity when it comes to Jake, his whole
lifestyle and the business he owns.” She sighed and dropped her forehead to the steering wheel.

“It’s okay, Nic.” Barbara’s soothing tone only added to her misery.

“No it’s not. I’ve never been insecure about anything but it seems with Jake…I can’t help it. I’m so confused. I want to figure it out, but my heart is feeling all these weird new things and they scare me. I don’t understand why one minute I think of him and I want to cry and the next I want to smile. I feel like I’m losing my damn mind!”

Her stomach burned with fear of what
happened inside her heart. She finally met Barbara’s gaze.

Barbara’s sympathetic nod didn’t help. “It’s called love. Have you ever worried about any prior boyfriend’s communication with other females?”

Thinking back, she’d never been the slightest bit insecure with any previous relationship. Not that there had been many. Especially once she’d met Jake, but the few boyfriends she’d had were very social and constantly surrounded by women. That never bothered her then. So why now? Why him?

“No. It’s him. This is the first time this
has happened to me and I don’t really know what to do. And I don’t like it.”

A knock sounded at her window. The
valet made signals to let her know it was okay to go. She slipped on her sunglasses and then drove them toward Barbara’s house.

“You should talk to Jake. He might come off as a guy who doesn’t want any responsibilities but that’s not the case with any of my boys. They all know when it’s time to stop the games and represent for the women they love.”

Did Jake love her? He’d never spoken of love. In fact, she’d never spoken to any man of love either. Nic wasn’t used to open displays of affection. Hell, she wasn’t used to
any
kind of affection. Her family didn’t do that. When you had money, you were expected to behave in a particular way. Hugs and kisses didn’t go with the cool composure her family was known for.

“Enough about me and my confused personal life,” she mumbled. “When you said you felt Jordan needed a break, you gave me a great idea.
I think I know the perfect place.”

“Oh?” The blue in Barbara’s eyes turned bright with excitement.

The only place she could think of for them to relax, have fun and where she could see her sister at the same time. “Vegas, baby.”

“
Yes!” Barbara squealed like she’d just won a prize. “That’s perfect! We can have a whole girl’s week away from here and maybe allow her to relax a little. With Ellie arguing with Caleb over wanting to help him, things are a bit tense all around. I think if we all get her to join us for a few days she might lose some of the anger and frustration from his rejection of her help.”

That’s right. Her friend Ellie had mentione
d that she wanted to help Caleb. In the past eight weeks, things had gotten so tense everyone was on high alert. So much had gone on and it didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. If shit kept up this way, the next thing she might hear about is Emma turning into the Hulk or something. There was never a dull moment in Blue Creek.

First the scenting ceremony that had apparently given all of her friends the hottest sex of their lives, not that anyone was complaining over that. Then Aric and Jordan mated.
Quickly followed by Ellie and Jordan’s multiple attacks. The same that pushed Caleb Rahound to want his uncle Rocco out of the way in order to gain the Alpha position of his pack. Karla and Nate found out Karla was pregnant. Then they mated and nobody knew heads or tails of anything. Life took a one eighty all over.