Fated Mates: Book 1 of the True Mates Series (13 page)

“Wouldn’t that be a headline?” Alynna said wryly, suppressing a giggle. She bit her lip though, when he lowered his lips to her neck, licking at her sensitive spot. “Hmmmm,” she moaned.

He pulled away, and reached behind them to turn the shower back on, letting the hot water pour over them. “Let’s finish this shower, shall we?”

“Well excuse me, I wasn’t the one who interrupted your shower, now, was I?” she teased. He laughed and grabbed the soap on the shelf, and began to lather himself up.

The shower took longer than necessary, much to Alynna’s delight. Alex took pleasure in making sure she was thoroughly clean, as well as soaping up her breasts and nipples. When they were finally done, he wrapped her up in a big fluffy towel and carried her back to the room. He laid her on the bed, opened up the towel and then shook his hair all over her, making her wet all over again. He declared it was his fault, and proceeded to lick her dry, much to her delight. It wasn’t long before he was hard again, and he proceeded to fuck her into the mattress. After another two orgasms, Alynna crept up to his side and fell asleep in his arms.

***

“I’m hungry,” she declared, her face buried in his neck. Alynna had been awake for a few minutes when she felt the pangs of hunger.

“What?” he asked sleepily, opening one eye. “Give me a minute, baby, I just need some time to recover...”

“For food, you nitwit!” she said, playfully swatting him on the head. “Could you please, please call room service?”

He gave a fake pained sound. “Oh and all this time I thought you just wanted me for my body!”

“Yes, I also want you for you mad room service ordering skills!” she quipped, smacking him with a pillow.

“Alright, alright,” he grumbled as he stood up and walked over to the desk.

“I hate to watch you go, but I love to watch you leave,” she laughed. He turned around and gave her a thumbs up before picking up the phone.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“Uhm, let’s see…” Alynna thought for a moment. She was famished for some reason.
I guess sex does burn a lot of calories,
she thought. “A large pizza. Pepperoni and mushroom. And a cheeseburger with extra cheese and extra bacon. French fries and onion rings. And some of those chocolate chip cookies.”

He stared at her, a strange look on his face.
 

“What?” she asked. “I’m hungry!” As if on cue, her stomach growled loudly.
 

He laughed and she dove into the covers in embarrassment. “Anything else?”

“A strawberry milkshake!” she said from under the sheet.

Alex repeated the order into the phone, confirmed the time of delivery, and began to gather his discarded clothing.
 

Alynna settled back into the bed, looking up at the ceiling. Dear Lord, was this happening? She didn’t feel guilty or anything. In fact, it was like…relief. For weeks since she’d met Alex, it was like there was a lot of tension in her body. And now….she wasn’t sure what was going to happen and she didn’t want to think about the consequences yet.

“You know, I can practically hear you thinking over here,” Alex said. He came closer and plopped down on the bed next to her. She crawled up to him, settling herself in his arms. He sighed and lay back on the pillows, stroking her hair.

“Alynna, can we talk about-”

“Shhhhh,” she said, closing her eyes tight. “Let’s not talk about…anything outside this room, can we?” She looked up at him with a pleading look in her eyes. “For now?”

He nodded. “I was just going to ask….why didn’t you tell me it was your first time?”

“Would you have stopped?” she asked defensively, sitting up to look him straight in the eyes.

“No,” he answered with little hesitation.

His words and honesty surprised her. She sighed and settled back into his arms. “It’s not been…I wasn’t saving myself for anyone or for marriage ok? It just didn’t happen for me. I didn’t have any time for dating, not with my mom dying, working with Uncle Gus, and then suddenly having to fend for myself when he died. There were more important things to do.”

“But you’re on birth control.”

She sighed. “Did you grow up with both your parents?”

He nodded.

“Then maybe you don’t understand what it’s like to grow up with a single parent. I’m not blaming you or trying to make you feel guilty. We don’t choose our circumstances.” She collected her thoughts for a moment, and then continued. “My mom was awesome. She did everything she could to support me and I was never hungry and we always had a roof over our heads. My clothes weren’t always new, but they didn’t have any holes and they were always clean. But you know, I got teased a lot by other kids growing up because we were poor and because I didn’t have a dad. I just…” she hesitated, trying to compose herself. “I just wouldn’t want anyone else to go through that and so as soon as I could, I got on the pill and vow I’d never get pregnant without being sure the dad would stick around. I’m sorry, that sounds selfish.”

Alex’s heart constricted as he thought of what Alynna’s childhood was like. He shook his head and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Not selfish at all.”

“Yeah well, joke’s one me,” she let out a laugh. “Turns out that’s not even a problem anymore, right? Since there’s very little chance I’d get pregnant anyway.”

Alex gave her a sad smile. “It’s not like it’s never going to happen. It’s just…rare. And you could be one of the few that could have a pup or two.”

 
Before she could answer back, a ringing sound interrupted them. Her heart beat wildly, thinking it was the doorbell. Only Grant, Nick, and Cady had access to the floor and she dreaded thinking they were on the other side of the door.

“Phone,” Alex piped, as he picked up her discarded purse.

Sighing in relief, Alynna opened her bag and pulled out her phone. It was Cady.

“Hey Alynna,” the other woman greeted. “Just checking up on you. Are you settled for the evening?”

“Yeah…sure…I mean, yes, I am!” She cursed internally. She hoped her voice didn’t sound too suspicious.

“Are you ok? You seem anxious?” Concern tinged the other woman’s voice.

“Yeah, uhm, just watching this movie…a suspense thriller,” she lied.

“Oh, ok, well hope it’s a good one,” she said cheerfully. Alynna felt guilty at Cady’s friendly tone, Alex’s words from earlier today coming back to haunt her. She would have to find a way to make up for her snippiness.
 

“Yeah, it is. Uhm, by the way it Grant there?”

“Grant?” the other woman seemed surprise. “Yeah, he’s here. We’re just settling into his office.”

“Can I talk to him?”

“Of course,” she said. The line went quiet for moment.

“Hello?” There was a hesitation in Grant’s voice.
 

“Hello Grant,” she greeted. “Uhm, how’s California.”

“Hello Alynna,” he said, relief in his voice. “It’s nice. Sunny and warm. And everyone’s perky and nice.”

“Can’t wait to get back to New York, huh?” she joked weakly.

Grant chuckled. “You bet.” There was a pause. “Uhm, so everything ok? Is anything the matter?”

“Naw,” she said. “Just…I just wanted to say hi, that’s all. And maybe I was thinking if you liked that pizza place, we could go to this Shawarma place right down the street. It’s awesome. Uhm, if you like wraps and stuff.”

“I would love to,” Grant said warmly. “Just name the day.”

“Great!” Alynna chirped. “I’ll swing by your office Monday and check in with you. I won’t keep you any longer. Bye Grant, have fun in California, get me a t-shirt or something.”

Grant chuckled. “Bye, Alynna,” he greeted right before she pressed the end button on her screen. She sighed and put the phone away.

“Finally done freezing out your brother?”

“Yeah well, I couldn’t not speak to him forever, I guess,” she said. “Now,” she tugged at his arm and pulled him into bed. “Come and distract me while we wait for the food.”

***

“So,” Alynna said as she sat cross-legged beside Alex on the enormous couch. She balanced a plate piled with food expertly on her lap. “What was it like, growing up as a Lycan in Chicago?”

“Well,” Alex thought for a moment as he took a bite of pizza. “The Chicago clan’s not really much different from most other clans in the world. There’s about oh…less than a hundred Lycans living in the city and the suburbs? There’s not one place where the Lycans live, but we do have to check in with the clan. The current Regal is in the construction business and they work on a lot of Fenrir’s projects.”

“And what did you do before you came here?” Alynna asked as she sipped from her milkshake glass.

“Well, we lived away from central clan life. My parents wanted a ‘normal’ life – my mom’s a retired schoolteacher and my dad’s actually a Fire Chief, also retired. I was gonna be a fireman like him, but I wanted to be entrenched in clan life. Being a Lycan was important to me, and I wanted to serve our kind.”

“And New York?”

Alex paused, as if thinking if he should answer. “Well, the Chicago clan’s pretty small. I trained and worked with the Alpha’s security team, but they were closed knit group. My family didn’t have the right connections for me to move up, seeing as I was only second-generation Chicago clan. When I got a chance to relocate to New York, I took it.”

“I see,” Alynna contemplated his answer. “Sounds like a nice life…”

“You could grow to like it,” he said. “Being part of a clan…it’s special. Like you’ll always have family. The clan will accept you, but you have to accept the clan and who you are.” Alynna remained silent, so he continued. “How are you coping with it? The Lycan thing? I mean, I’m just curious, because all Lycans I grew up with knew what we were from the beginning.”

“Well, some days it’s like ‘is this really happening’? And other days I just kind of go with it, you know? What else can I do, right?” She pushed the empty plate aside. “Ugh, the food here is amazing! If I don’t move out of here soon, you’ll have to roll me out the door.”

 
“Wow, are you finally full?” he teased.

“Oh haha. You finished off the other half of that pizza!” she countered. Her eyes glanced over the warm chocolate chip cookies in the basket. The chocolate – it smelled incredible. Damn her heightened senses. She grabbed one and nibbled on it. “Hmmmmm,” she munched on the cookie, closing her eyes.

“Better than sex?” Alex asked.

She opened one eye and looked at him. “Almost.”

He laughed and took the last piece from the basket. “I don’t know…these are pretty good. Hey!” he protested when she hopped on his lap and grabbed the cooking from him. She tossed it aside and planted a long, deep kiss on his lips.
 

“So…still want that cookie?” she challenged, holding the cooking away from him.

He answered by rolling her under him on the couch, his hands roaming all over her body.

***

They didn’t leave the hotel room all weekend, ordering only room service and watching movies in between having sex on every possible surface in the suite. Well Alex did leave once - to head uptown to Elsie’s for some key lime pie. Alynna greedily opened the box when he brought it into the suite and they ate it whole with two spoons.

By Sunday night, Alynna was exhausted and she ached in places she didn’t know could ache. She felt wonderful and for the first time in many weeks, she was satisfied (and not just the fantastic sex.) She lay awake sometime after midnight, Alex spooning her from behind, thinking about this weekend. As agreed, neither brought up the subject of what would happen after they both left the suite, but she sell asleep dreading what was to come.

It was around six am when she felt the bed shift. Alex got up, and began to gather his discarded clothes. Someone would come in at around 6:30 to relieve him from his weekend shift. He would have to be right at his post when that person came. Alynna closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep. She thought she felt him hover over her for a second, before he headed towards the door. The lock clicked, the door swung open and then closed with a soft thud. She bit her lip and forced herself to go back to sleep.

“Come in,” Cady called from her desk. She tapped a few keys into her keyboard then looked towards the door. Alynna stood there, holding two large cups of coffee. “Hey Alynna, what’s up?”

“Oh you know…just passing by, thought I’d bring you a little something,” Alynna held up a cup. “Large peppermint mocha with extra whip cream and peppermint drizzle on top?”

The redhead’s eyes lit up. “How did you know?”

“A little birdie told me,” Alynna answered, placing the cup on Cady’s desk. Alex had mentioned this little peace offering might help smooth things over, at least score some points with Cady. Still, Cady seemed warm and inviting that morning, as if she had forgotten her small tantrum on Friday.
 

Cady closed her eyes as she took a sip of the coffee and made a satisfied sound. “Hmmm…how did you even find a place that stocked peppermint at this time of year?”

“Oh I tracked a place down, near my apartment. The owner likes me, owes me a favor and he gladly took out what he had in stock,” Alynna sat down.
 

“Oh, you’re a such a sweetheart,” Cady closed her eyes, savoring the minty, chocolatey drink. A soft ping from her computer indicated new emails and she looked at her screen with a slight scowl on her face.

“Is Grant working you too hard?” Alynna asked.

Cady laughed. “I’m afraid
I
work me too hard.”
 

“What are you doing?” she asked, sitting on the chair in front of Cady’s desk.

“Well, I have to make sure Grant’s calendar is organized, first and foremost, and schedule all his travel arrangements, prepare reports, summaries…”

“Wow, sounds…important,” Alynna’s eyes scanned the redhead’s immaculately organized desk.

“More like boring,” Cady smiled wrly. “And sometimes frustrating.”

“Is he difficult to work for?”

“Oh no,” Cady shook her head. “It’s this company that’s tough!”

“What about Lycan stuff? Doesn’t he have to do that too?”