Arctic Winds (8 page)

The only dark thought marring her morning was the depth of the attachment she felt toward Jason. She tried to tell herself they were only having fun but, looking back, she had been kidding herself since the beginning. Everything in her was drawn to him. He made her laugh and made her fox want to curl up against him and settle in. But settling in was dangerous. She had to keep reminding herself of the facts. Getting comfortable was dangerous. She knew he couldn’t be interested in more than a casual relationship with her. He was the Premier of the pack and therefore would have his pick of the alpha females, and would most likely choose the strongest to mate with.

She wondered if she should end things before they got too serious. It was the logical choice, but her fox cried at the thought. Samantha couldn’t break things off, but she could try and shield her heart as much as possible. She’d enjoy Jason for however long he was willing to give her, but she’d never tell him how deeply she felt. By hiding the depth of her emotions, she would at least retain her pride, even though her heart might be a lost cause, because the more she thought about it, the more she realized it was already his.

The day passed by fairly quickly and by closing time, Samantha was tired, hungry and desperately needed a shower to wash off Jason’s scent. As the day wore on, she had to endure countless comments from the other shifters who came in to get coffee and obviously smelled Jason on her skin. The more subtle of the pack had winked at her or gave her a knowing look, but she also had to endure the females of the pack who made snide comments to her. Samantha’s head throbbed with the beginnings of a headache.

* * * *

Jason paused in the entrance of Books and Crannies. He softened as he gazed at Samantha puttering behind the coffee bar. She really was beautiful, a soft and feminine beauty that made him want to pull her into his embrace and nuzzle her neck. What affected him more than that, though, was her caring and giving nature.

He frowned as he saw her tilt her head to one side and massage her neck. Ethan mentioned something had been bothering her earlier when he had come in for a cup of coffee, but Jason hadn’t thought too much about it. When he dropped Samantha off this morning, she had kissed him passionately and smiled before hurrying inside.

Jason shook his head and strode toward the counter. Samantha opened her eyes and despite the weariness Jason could sense, a smile lit up her face. He loved how open she was with her emotions.

Jason leaned over the counter and placed a quick kiss on her lips.

“How was your day, baby?”

“Better now. How was yours?” She rolled her shoulder as she spoke.

“What’s wrong with your neck and shoulder?”

“Oh it’s nothing. Just a small headache.”

“Have you taken anything?”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll take something later.”

Jason came around the counter and pulled Samantha flush against him. His lips pressed against her temple and he stood there for a moment savoring the feel and scent of her in his arms.

“Let me take care of you, little heart. How ’bout we order some Chinese food and I give you a back massage while we wait for it?”

“That sounds heavenly.” Samantha breathed out as she clutched his shirt and nuzzled his chest.

“Aw, isn’t this cute,” a snide female voice sounded behind them. Samantha jumped and tried to hide her face against him. “Jason, shouldn’t you be dealing with real women? I can make you forget this nobody even exists.”

“Cynthia!” Jason exclaimed, shocked by such rudeness from one of his pack mates. “What the hell is wrong with you? Apologize.” Jason’s voice deepened with the force of his command.

Cynthia flinched at the authority in his voice as if receiving a blow.

“Sorry, I guess.”

As far as apologies went, it was pretty lame. Jason was on the verge of commanding a better one when Laurie joined them.

“Get out of my store.” Jason had never heard Laurie’s voice sound so cold.

Samantha tried to pull away from Jason’s grasp, but he held firm and turned to look at his sister as she spoke. “Jason, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute before you drag Samantha away.” There was an odd gleam in Laurie’s eyes. Whatever she wanted to discuss, Jason had a feeling he wasn’t going to be happy.

“Samantha, why don’t you run up to your apartment and grab a change of clothes and anything else you need for the night. You won’t need any pajamas,” Jason murmured in her ear before she could pull away. Her smile dazzled him, but Jason could see the sadness lurking behind her eyes.

Jason turned to Laurie as Samantha left. She eyed him shrewdly. “Listen, I hope you’re as serious about Samantha as I think you are.”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business, Laurie. I appreciate you looking out for her, but what’s between Samantha and me doesn’t concern you.”

“I just thought you’d like to know that pretty much every single female in the pack came in here and gave her a hard time today. Most of them were incredibly rude and some downright cruel.

I even heard a few people call her a whore.”

Jason felt his face mottle in anger, and he wondered why Samantha hadn’t told him herself.

He needed to make sure his pack understood how important Samantha was to him. He would not accept this treatment of her. And he needed to find out why Samantha hadn’t told him anything about it.

* * * *

Samantha moaned into the pillow as Jason’s hands ran up her back, pressing in all the right places.

“God, your hands are amazing.”

Chuckling quietly, Jason leaned down to nibble on her ear. “Anytime you want my ‘amazing’

hands, they’re at your disposal.”

She shivered under his hands as they pressed into her naked back. He licked around the rim of her ear, causing another delightful shudder to work through her.

“Tell me, little heart.” Jason paused and nibbled down the back of her neck, placing a love bite hard enough to leave indents on her shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell me what happened today at work?”

Jason felt Samantha stiffen beneath him. She might not want to tell him anything, but her body couldn’t avoid him in their current position.

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Laurie told me you had a bit of trouble today with some of the pack.”

“How did she… Oh right, wolf hearing. It’s not a big deal, Jason.” Samantha started to sit up and pull away, but Jason wouldn’t let her.

“How can you say my pack disrespecting you like this is not a big deal?” He expected Samantha to be furious or at least upset. This calm acceptance of his pack’s rude behavior bothered him more than anything had in a long time. The wolf side of him had already declared Samantha to be his mate, and his human side was beginning to trust its instincts. His pack’s lack of respect toward Samantha, his mate and the future leader of the pack, infuriated him. Especially since she wasn’t even demanding what was rightfully hers.

“Why should I get upset with people for speaking the truth?” Samantha whispered into the bedcovers. Even with his wolf hearing he had to strain to hear her, she spoke so quietly. Her back was tense beneath his hand.

“What did you say?” Jason demanded, his anger increasing dramatically.

“It’s not like anyone said anything unwarranted.” When she pulled away from him and tried to sit up again, Jason let her. She turned toward him but wouldn’t look at him, staring at the comforter instead.

“Explain,” Jason growled out, barely able to form words. When she didn’t speak, Jason grasped her chin and, careful not to hurt her, pulled her head up, fixing her eyes with his.

“I just meant that…” Samantha stammered. “It’s fine, but it’s not like we’re
not
sleeping together. And I
have
only known you for a little over a week.” Samantha looked away. “And it’s not like we’re anything serious. But I’m okay with it. I…” She took a deep steadying breath and shook her head. “I don’t want what we have to end yet.”

“Samantha, look at me.” Jason waited until her eyes met his again before pulling her into his lap and continuing. “Yes, we are sleeping together, and yes, we have only known each other a short time. But neither of those facts makes my feelings for you less than what they are. And we are something serious. I have absolutely no intention of ending what’s between us.” He felt her muscles loosen as her head came to rest in the crook of his shoulder. Her nose nuzzled his throat.

“Jason?”

“Yes, little heart?”

“Make love to me.”

Jason looked down at the woman who was quickly becoming the most important thing in the world to him.

“With pleasure,” he said seriously before capturing her lips in a bruising kiss. When he finally lifted his head, both of them were breathing heavily. “But sweetheart, no more taking flack from anyone. If you want to give me their names and let me take care of it, fine, but my pack
will
respect you. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” she joked, saluting him.

“I’m serious.”

“Okay, I promise I won’t sit by and let someone slander my good name again. Now are you going to talk all night or are you going to—”

Jason didn’t give her a change to finish as he threw her down and pounced on top of her.

Claiming her lips once again, he ran his hands down her body. He loved how pert her breasts were and how responsive. Her nipples beaded instantly to his touch, and she bowed up as he played with them. He moved his hands lower and pushed a finger inside her. She was wet already and anxiously thrusting up against him. Releasing her mouth, he nibbled his way to her ear and bit down harder than intended. If her moan was any indication, though, his roughness had only turned her on more.

“I didn’t get dessert tonight, but I’m thinking I can fix that right now.” He felt her body shiver with excitement. Trailing his lips down the column of her throat and over one creamy white breast, he teasingly placed a chaste peck on the peak before moving on. He savored her moan of frustration as he continued to tease her with his mouth. He nibbled at her flat stomach and dipped his tongue into her belly button briefly before moving lower. Just as he hovered over her exposed mound, Jason sat back and took in the view. Samantha was beautiful. Her pink folds beckoned him closer, but the woman behind was just as enticing. A sheen of sweat glistened on her skin as she writhed back and forth and clenched the bedsheets in small fists. She looked at him with desire clouding her eyes.

“Jason. Please.”

Jason thrust another finger inside her as he leaned down and sucked on her clit. He loved hearing her sounds of pleasure as he added a third finger into her wet channel and quickly brought her over the edge. He chuckled softly as he replaced his fingers with his tongue and let her essence flow into his mouth. His mate was a bit of a quick shot, and he couldn’t wait to see how many times he could get her off in one night.

Jason had wanted to tell her exactly how serious he was about this relationship earlier, but he didn’t want to scare her off. He wasn’t sure how quickly it took other shifter species to sense their mate and didn’t want to risk her running. He’d take things slowly until he was sure Samantha was ready to accept what he already knew. Well, he’d take things as slowly as he could with his tongue buried deep inside her.

Samantha writhed again as he moved back up her body and captured her mouth in a searing kiss. Gently he nudged her onto her stomach and up until she was on all fours in front of him. He ran his hands over her gently curved ass and had to suppress the urge to bite her there, marking her forever as his. Eventually he would mark her wherever he wanted. She arched against his hand, moaning his name. She was beautiful in this position, completely vulnerable to anything he wanted to do. He smacked her ass, testing her responsiveness, and was pleased by her startled yelp, which quickly turned into a throaty moan.

Hurriedly donning a condom, he lined himself up with her entrance and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Tell me what you want, baby.”

“You. I need you.”

“You need me where? You’re going to have to be more specific,” Jason teased.

“I need you inside me. Please, Jason, don’t make me wait.”

“Anything you want, little heart.” Jason thrust inside her snug passage and groaned at the exquisite feel of her surrounding him. He could still taste her cream on his tongue and the sight of her in front of him, arching her back, made him want to howl. He pulled out until only his tip remained buried in her sheath, then plunged back in, seating himself fully. Alternating between shallow and deep thrusts, he felt Samantha climb toward her second peak. Just before she went over the edge, he held himself perfectly still until she whined and squirmed. The exhilarating smell of her arousal infused his senses. He loved the feel of her bound by her lust beneath him, depending on him to give her what she needed.

As her excitement climbed to a peak, Jason plunged inside hard, bringing her to a screaming orgasm that milked his own release from him. He almost collapsed but caught himself before crushing her. Gently, he removed himself from Samantha and eased her onto the bed.

Jason quickly disposed of his condom and crawled back into bed. Breathing a sigh of satisfaction, he pulled her closer and spooned her from behind as he drifted into sleep.

Chapter 10

Samantha breathed the cold winter air deeply as she hurried across the forest floor. She didn’t know what time it was, but she figured she had at least another hour before she needed to head in for work.

Last night was the first night in weeks she hadn’t spent with Jason. He was visiting another shifter community to lend a hand to their new leader. Jason had asked her to come with him, but it seemed silly since he would only be away a couple of days at most. However, after tossing and turning throughout the night, she had quickly realized her body had become accustomed to sleeping with her wolf.

The realization worried her. What would she do when he finally tired of her? Granted, he didn’t seem to be tiring at all. If anything, his desire seemed to grow. The other night he had practically attacked her in his kitchen as she was cooking them dinner. They’d ended up having passionate sex on the table and the pasta had burned. But life had taught Samantha to never let her guard down, because the moment she did, life would throw her to the ground and stomp on her.