Wolf at the Door: Salvation Pack, Book 1 (18 page)

“Well?”

Louis shrugged again. “Gwen wanted to work. I was helping her find the boxes with her stuff.”

“I saw what you were doing. And it had nothing to do with helping her with boxes.” The only thing saving Louis’s ass was that Gwen had pushed him away. Nor could he smell her arousal. That sweet scent belonged to him.

“He was helping me with boxes.” Gwen stepped forward and stood between him and Louis. It should have been laughable, this human female trying to separate two full-blooded werewolves. Instead, it was touching, adorable really. And Louis should thank his lucky stars that Gwen wasn’t a vindictive woman. It wouldn’t take much to start a real fight between them at the moment. Most of the female werewolves he’d grown up with would do it in a heartbeat while they sat back and enjoyed the carnage. Instead, Gwen was doing everything in her power to defuse the situation.

“I know what he was doing,
chère
.” Jacque reached out and pulled her closer to him, settling her against his side. “And if he knows what’s good for him he won’t do it again.” This was Louis’s last warning.

“You can’t blame me for trying.”

And that was the hell of it. Jacque couldn’t blame his brother. They both knew the chances of finding a mate, a woman who was compatible with their unique biology, was slim to none. Sure, they could all scratch an itch at any local bar on a Saturday night, but that wasn’t the same. Not at all.

What Jacque had found with Gwen was rare. Her every touch soothed the beast within him, made him feel whole in a way he’d never known. Now that he’d experienced it for himself, he couldn’t understand how his father and some of the other males from his former pack could treat their women like they did. They should be cherished and protected, not harmed in any way. In the same vein, the women should understand and respect the power they yielded, using it to build their relationships instead of turning them into a battleground.

“Will you two stop it.” Gwen stepped away from him and glared at them both. “I’m not some bone for the two of you to fight over.”

“Not a bone, no,” Louis agreed. “But you’re certainly worth fighting over.” He lowered his voice, his words filled with sexual promise.

Jacque’s hackles rose protectively and he growled, barely keeping his wolf from lunging at Louis’s throat.

“Oh, good grief. Save it, will you.” Gwen poked Louis in the chest with her forefinger.

She might look like a piece of fluff with her tousled blonde hair and baby-blue eyes, but his Gwen was tough. Jacque was suddenly more amused than angry. Louis looked confused, not sure what he should do. His brother backed up a step and hit a pile of boxes behind him.

“You’re a great kisser.” Jacque scowled at her pronouncement, the urge to hit his brother rising up within him again.

“There’s more where that came from,
chère
.” Louis smiled and shot Jacque a smug look.

“But,” she continued. “It didn’t do anything for me.”

Louis’s smile disappeared and he swallowed hard. “Nothing?”

“I’m sorry.” Gwen’s expression changed, becoming almost sad. “You’re a really wonderful guy, Louis. I like you, I really do. But I don’t feel anything more than friendship for you.”

Gwen wondered when her situation had changed so drastically. She never imagined she’d be trying to keep her two abductors from fighting, let alone trying to spare the feelings of one of them. If anyone had told her this a few days ago she’d have laughed in their face and told them they were out of their ever-loving mind. Life was confusing as hell.

The sadness in Louis’s eyes almost undid her. He truly liked her. He wasn’t simply doing this to get under Jacque’s skin or to taunt him in any way. He really wanted her.

It left her feeling slightly uncomfortable. She wasn’t some femme fatale. She was just a normal woman who’d had her share of dates and relationships, but she’d never had to beat back male attention.

“I’m sorry, Louis.” She hated the fact she was hurting him. It wasn’t in her nature to be cruel, but that was how she felt at this moment and she didn’t like it at all.

“It’s okay,
chère
.” Louis reached out and touched her cheek. Behind her, Jacque gave a low growl but otherwise didn’t move. She was grateful for that. She’d been so afraid they were going to fight over her and she couldn’t have stood that. They were brothers and friends, their bond tight. She would have hated to be the reason that bond broke.

Louis dropped his hand back down by his side and looked behind her at his brother. “It won’t happen again.”

Gwen wanted to protest that it was her he should be talking to, but she held her tongue. She wasn’t dealing with regular men here. These were werewolves and their testosterone level was off the charts, not to mention that she didn’t fully understand their predatory and possessive nature. Maybe the only way the two brothers could be okay was if Louis gave his word to Jacque. Maybe that’s the way it had to be.

Even as she tried to understand, Gwen wanted to scream that just because she’d had sex with Jacque didn’t mean she belonged to him either, not in any way. But she’d keep that little discussion between them. No need to tell the others more than they needed to know. They might think she and Jacque had slept together, but unless one of them confirmed it, all they had was supposition.

Okay, so it was all semantics, but she didn’t care.

Unable to resist any longer, Gwen glanced over her shoulder at Jacque. He stood in front of the open door, legs spread wide and arms crossed over his chest. He too was wearing jeans and boots, but he’d topped them with a tight black T-shirt that hugged his shoulders and biceps. He was quite an imposing figure and he made her entire body tingle from her scalp to her toes.

Louis eased past her and stopped in front of his brother. Gwen wanted to hit Jacque for not saying anything to put Louis at ease and to assure him he’d let this incident go. Jacque stepped back, making room for Louis to pass. Just when she thought Jacque was going to let his brother go without a word, he swore under his breath, hooked his arm around Louis’s neck and pulled him close.

Watching the two brothers hug and pound one another on the back made her heart clench. The acceptance and love the two shared was an unbreakable bond, the likes of which she’d never known.

Her mother had not been a demonstrative woman, bitter after her husband left her with a six-year-old daughter who didn’t understand why her daddy wasn’t living with them anymore. Gwen flinched inwardly at the memory. She’d been abandoned by both parents that day—physically by her father and emotionally by her mother.

Gwen had no idea where her father was and even if he was alive. She no longer cared. Her mother had allowed Gwen to live with her until she’d turned eighteen. For her birthday that year, she’d gotten a packed suitcase and a kick out the front door. Last she heard, her mother had relocated to California. Gwen had no desire to search for her.

But what Jacque and Louis shared went deep.

Gwen sucked in a deep breath, trying to steady her fractured emotions as the brothers broke apart. Jacque wrapped his arm around Louis’s neck and rocked him from side to side in a mock headlock. Louis laughed and the two touched foreheads before stepping back.

“Why don’t you get some rest? You were on patrol most of the night and this morning.” It was more an order than a request, but Louis nodded.

“See you later, Gwen,” Louis called as he sauntered down the hallway. He opened the door to his room, stepped inside and closed the panel behind him, leaving her alone with Jacque.

She wasn’t sure what to say after the emotionally charged scene, but Jacque beat her to the punch. “Which boxes do you want?”

Pulling herself together, she pointed to the ones on the left. “I don’t know where anything is so I’ll need all of these.” She hoped that having some of her stuff around her might help her to feel more grounded, more like herself.

He pulled two of the boxes off the top and indicated with a jerk of his head that she should go ahead of him. She reached for a box but he eased in front of her, blocking her from taking it. “You’re still recovering. I’ll carry all the boxes.”

She stepped back and held up her hands. “Hey, you want to be the beast of burden, who am I to object?” He studied her for a brief second and then smiled. Oh, baby, that smile should be illegal. It made her want to strip him naked and take him to bed. Her body heated in agreement, taking her from normal to total arousal in less than two seconds. What was it about Jacque LaForge that pushed past all her defenses and made her forget common sense?

They’d had sex without a condom and they needed to talk about that.

“Gwen?” His smile slid away and quickly turned into a frown.

She spun around and headed to the office with him hot on her heels. The large desk was obviously his. She thought about taking it over for about five seconds and then decided not to push her luck. There was a console table shoved against one wall that would do. “Put them over there. I’ll set up here if that’s okay?”

Jacque set the boxes on a chair next to the table. “Wherever you want is fine with me. I can send one of the men out to get you a desk if that would work better for you.”

Gwen had no doubt he meant it too. One thing she was quickly learning about Jacque and about all of the men here was if they said something they truly meant it. They weren’t just giving it lip service.

“That’s fine. No need in spending money on a desk you won’t need when I’m gone.”

Jacque’s hands curled into fists and his lips thinned. He whirled around and stalked from the room. “I’ll get the rest of the damn boxes.”

He hadn’t liked hearing about her leaving. Too bad. She couldn’t put her life on hold forever. But as she watched him leave, she wondered how long it would take her to get over Jacque and if she ever really would.

Jacque muttered a few choice words under his breath as he loaded up with a couple more boxes. If she thought he’d just let her pack up and leave when this was over she was sorely mistaken. He carried the boxes into the office and paused when he got a good look at Gwen bent over, searching through one of the boxes that she’d moved to the floor. She shouldn’t have lifted them, should have asked him to do it for him. She wasn’t completely recovered yet, as much as she’d like to think she was. That fired his temper, which was already on edge after the incident with Louis. Seeing her with her cute ass in the air while she searched through the boxes sent his libido soaring. The combination was like touching oil with fire.

The tight, worn denim she wore outlined her heart-shaped ass and he wanted to strip the jeans from her body, bend her over again and take her from behind, letting her pussy squeeze his cock tight as he fucked them both to oblivion. His dick jerked against his zipper. He was constantly hard around Gwen. A fact none of the others had missed.

“You should have left that for me to do.” His voice was more a growl of displeasure, but she simply smiled at him.

“I’m not completely helpless and I’m feeling much better.”

That was beside the point. He wanted to do things for her, take care of her. He spun on his heel and left her to her unpacking while he dragged in the last box. Gwen already had her laptop on the table and she was staring at the wooden top as though trying to figure out how to arrange her things.

He set the box on the floor. “That’s the last of them.”

“Great. Thanks.” She pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes and her gaze flicked away. That wasn’t like Gwen at all. She was straightforward, telling him exactly what was on her mind even if it wasn’t something he wanted to hear.

“Gwen? What’s wrong?” He frowned and thought back, trying to figure out what might have brought on this sudden change in her demeanor.

She sighed and raised her eyes to meet his. “We can’t do what we did last night, or early this morning, or whenever it was.” She rubbed her face, looking weary and out of sorts.

Every muscle in his body tensed and his wolf howled in protest. “What do you mean?” He was afraid he knew exactly what she meant, but he wanted her to clarify it. If she thought they weren’t having sex again, she was sorely mistaken. The chemistry was too intense between them. He was beginning to know her body well and could easily seduce her.

But he wouldn’t. He swallowed a whole litany of swear words as his intellect bypassed the much smaller brain in his swollen dick. Gwen had to come to him freely or it meant nothing. As much as he wanted her, it was her choice if she came to him or not.

She picked at the hem of her sweater. “Unprotected sex.” Her cheeks flushed as she continued. “A baby isn’t what either of us need right now. The situation between us is—” She broke off and shrugged.

Relief flashed over him and his wolf calmed somewhat even as a shaft of pain shot through him. The thought of Gwen being pregnant with his child, her belly swollen with life, struck a deep, elemental cord with him. He wanted a child with her, even though he knew it wasn’t likely to happen. Half-breeds did exist out in the world, but it was very rare indeed. A baby would also be a tie to her, one that could never be broken.

He should be happy she wasn’t saying she wouldn’t have sex with him again, just unprotected sex. But still, a baby with her blonde hair and his eyes, or maybe his dark hair and her blue eyes would be a rare gift. Boy or girl, he didn’t care. But it wasn’t going to happen. His wolf howled within him, a long sorrowful sound, as if the creature also mourned the child who’d never even existed except in his hopes and dreams.