Leader of the Pack (13 page)

Yo
turned to face
Cyn
, wincing when
Serena whistled.
“Oh,
Yo
!
Per’s
eyeballs are going to pop out. You look amazing, and
I love that deep
v-neck
.”

“Are you sure I look okay?”

Cyn
nodded. “You look lovely and I agree with Serena. Your Mate
will be wondering what’s under that dress all night long.” She walked around
Yohana
. “And I don’t even need to make alterations.”

Yohana
walked over to a mirror and studied her reflection. The
three-quarter sleeves and the sheath style of the dress skimmed over her but
didn’t make her look like a sausage with a casing two sizes too small. She
turned. Yes, even her ass looked good.

What she liked the best was the slit
in the skirt. She could walk normally. One thing
Yo
hated about tight-fitting dresses was being forced to take tiny steps as if she
was a geisha or something. She took long strides, not tiny steps.

Serena came up behind her. “I bet
Per
is going to like the slit too.”

“He does kind of like my legs.”

“You’ve got the legs of a goddess.
Like
Cyn
,” she said as
Cyn
joined them. “I feel like a munchkin when I stand between you two.”

Yo
and
Cyn
exchanged wry glances.
Without words both knew the other had sometimes wished she was smaller and more
“ladylike” the way Serena was.

“It’s a pity females aren’t
encouraged to love themselves, no matter what,”
Cyn
observed.

“If I have a girl, I’ll make sure
she knows she’s beautiful,” Serena vowed, patting her belly.

“It’s a good vow to make. I’ll make
the same one,”
Yo
added.

“I wondered. You do smell ripe.”

Yo
turned, fighting a snarl. “Excuse me? Are you saying I
stink?”

Cyn
laughed.
“No, honey.
You smell
ready to go into heat.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“No offense taken and none meant.”
She looked around the shop. “We need to find you some killer heels to go with
that dress.”
Cyn
strode off to the shoes.

Yohana
caught Serena’s arm. “Don’t let me shred anyone tonight,
okay? I’m right on the edge.”

Serena patted her arm. “No worries.
Friends don’t let friends kill people. But if you do, I promise I’ll help you
hide the body.”

Yo
shook her head as Serena chuckled and walked away.

* * * * *

Per paced his living room and
glanced at his watch. She was late and
Yohana
was
never late. It was almost seven. Damn, she was cutting this close. He paused.
Technically, this was only their second date and yet he knew he was right about
her punctuality. This female was his True Mate. She had to be. The more he
thought about it the surer he was. He knew things about her intuitively and
he’d been dreaming about her nightly.

This week had been a painful
combination of spiritual and physical deprivation. He’d missed her.
Wanted her.
Needed her.
Thought about her.
He’d become obsessed and that kind of
shit only happened with a True Mate. Just then he heard a car pull up outside.
Finally.
The front bell rang and
Per
rushed to the door and threw it open.

“You’re late.” Then he froze. His
mouth fell open.
“
Fan,
vad
du
är
snygg
.
”

Her brows crinkled in confusion at
his muttered words of Swedish, but he barely noticed. He stepped out the door
and drew her close. She lifted her hands to his shoulders and he could tell she
expected him to jump her. But that was the last thing on his mind. Well, not
the
last
thing, but she was so beautiful she stole the breath from his
chest. Per gently tipped her chin up and dropped a light, worshipful kiss on
her full red lips.

“Will I do?” she asked when he drew
back.

Per smiled. “You’re stunning.” Her
brows rose in disbelief. “I’m not lying.”

“Not even exaggerating?”

“No. Not even a little.” His gaze
skimmed her body and he groaned. “You are going to make every man trip over his
tongue tonight.”

“Why?”

“’Cause it’ll be dragging on the
floor while he drools.”

Yohana
chuckled. “You’re too kind.”

“No, I’m not.” He leaned close and
drew a deep breath. “You even smell good. Is it perfume?”

“Yes, do you like it?”

“I like it.” He pulled the door
closed behind him and locked it. “We need to get going because we’re running
late. What kept you?”

“Don’t go shopping with Serena.
Ever.
It was like following in the wake of a
general. We bought clothes then she took me for a spa day and had me styled and
made up. It was horrid.”

“Well, I appreciate your sacrifice,
älskling
,
the results are superb.” Per
laughed, slipping his arm around her waist and leading her to the garage. He
keyed in his code and the doors opened.

“Quite the gentleman,”
Yo
teased as he opened the car door and helped her into the
low-slung vehicle.

“The more I get to touch you, the
happier I am.”

He glanced down as she adjusted
herself in the seat and groaned. Her white thighs peeked out of the slit of her
dress. She glanced up, raising her brows.

“What’s wrong?”

“Those
thighs.”

“What’s wrong with my thighs?” She
frowned, pulling her skirt over the fair skin.

“Not a damn thing. That’s what’s
wrong with them. Are you in?” When she nodded, he shut the door and came around
the car and climbed in.

“I don’t get it,” she muttered.

“
Älskling
,
the last thing I want to do right at this moment is attend some damn hospital
fundraiser. I want to toss you over my shoulder, carry you up to my room and
make love to you all night long. I
love
your legs.”

“Oh.” She smiled, a bit smugly, as
he started the car.

He chuckled. “
Ja
…
oh.”

Per paid
close attention to the road for the duration of the trip.
It would be only too easy to be distracted by
Yohana’s
scent, her fabulous legs and the lift of her
breasts in the black dress she was wearing. He really didn’t want to drive off
the road tonight.

He pulled up to the entrance of the
large hotel where the reception was being held and climbed out of the car. The
valet was already reaching for the passenger door and there was no way in hell
he wanted some guy getting an eyeful of his Mate’s perfection. He rounded his
car and handed the guy his keys while he bent to offer
Yo
his hand. She swung her legs out of the car and he heard the valet take a deep
breath. Per glanced at the young man and fought the instinctive growl rumbling
in his throat. The guy’s eyes were glued to her legs. Per stepped in front of
her to block the other man’s view while
Yohana
stood.

“Whoa,” the young man whispered
softly. Per shot a glare at him, but he didn’t notice. The valet’s eyes were
now wide and focused on
Yohana’s
glorious breasts.
Per clenched his teeth.

She stood and straightened her
dress. While she paused,
Per
pulled her close to his
side. No way was this young human male going to continue to ogle his Mate.

“Something wrong?” she asked.

“Not at all,” he growled. His teeth
had elongated so he kept his mouth mostly closed. And he thought getting a
hard-on in public was tough to hide.
Damn.

Yohana
glanced at him, her brows rising as she caught a glimpse of
fang along his lip line. He took a deep breath to try to calm his wolf
instincts as he walked her away from the valet. Just before going inside, they
paused. She cradled his cheek.

“I’m yours,
Per
.
You don’t have to worry that I’d ever look at that man the way I look at you.”

“I know. I trust you. It’s
him
I don’t trust.”

She nodded and leaned into him. “I
understand.”

Yohana
reached up and tapped one of his canines. “You still need
to relax, Per.”

“Sorry.” He sighed.

She leaned in and pressed her lips
to his, gently teasing his mouth open with her tongue. He groaned, sliding his
arms around her. He reveled in the taste of her as their mouths meshed
together. Finally, he lifted his head.

“I don’t think that’s going to help.
You’re too close to heat. Every part of
me’s
hard
that can be.”

“Well, it was a thought.”

He groaned when she rubbed her hip
against his half-hard cock. “Stop it. We have to go in there.”

“Okay, Per. I’ll stop. But just
remember, you promised to muss me later.”

“There’s no way in hell I could
possibly forget.”

“Good.”

She winked and turned toward the
door. He walked behind her, enjoying the sway of her hips as she moved. Fuck.
Was he going to be able to survive the evening? He wanted her now and he didn’t
want any male getting close to her. As she reached the entrance, she paused and
he pulled open the door. Once inside, he held out his arm and she took it,
smiling up at him. He led her toward the ballroom where the event was being
held.

“First thing on the agenda is to
find Dr. Frieze.”

“And prove I’m real.”

“Right.”

“Then you can introduce me to Dr.
Mel so that she and I can have a chat.”

“
Yohana
…”

“I promise I’ll be friendly. I won’t
hamstring her or rip out her throat. How much nicer could I be?”

He winced. That’s what he was afraid
of. “No teeth.”

“Now you’re taking all the fun out
of this.”

He shook his head and prayed for a
quiet night while
Yohana
chuckled.

Per’s
reaction to her new dress had definitely been gratifying.
She felt sexy and feminine. It also turned her on to have him trying to keep
other males away from her. Normally, she’d be pissed if a male got possessive,
but with
Per
it was another story. She hoped it was
just because she was near her heat cycle instead of them being True Mates. The
complications for both of them because of that type of relationship were
overwhelming.
And yet…

Yet, she’d missed
Per
terribly. It was a physical wound and an emotional injury to have him so far
away. She briefly closed her eyes as she leaned her head against his warm
shoulder and he kissed her forehead. This was all it took to heal something
that had been hurt within her.
Having him close.
Touching her.

Yohana
opened her eyes and her gaze connected with a scowling
woman across the room. The woman was stunning.
Slender.
Beautiful.
She looked like a model. But boy was she
pissed.
Yo
lifted her head from
Per’s
shoulder and met the woman’s glare head on.
Wordlessly,
Yo
smiled slightly and raised her brows
in challenge. The woman’s eyes narrowed and she grabbed a man’s arm and all but
dragged him across the ballroom.

“I think we found your ex and the
boss,”
Yohana
commented softly.

“Where?”

“She’s steamrolling him over here.
Look to your right.”

Per’s
gaze followed hers and he groaned. “That’s them.”

“You could have warned me that your
ex belongs on the cover of
Vogue
.”

“It’s not relevant.”

“Not relevant? In what universe are
her looks not relevant?”
Yo
leaned back to look into
Per’s
eyes.

“It was just sex,
älskling
.”

“She wanted to marry you.”

“
She
wanted. That’s the
important point. But I
didn’t
.”

Yohana
growled low in her throat as
Per
watched the slow progress of the two doctors across the room. Dr. Frieze was
stopped repeatedly but Dr. Mel kept tugging him away after a few moments of
chit chat.