Roaring for Him (BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance) (Wicked in Wilder Book 1) (2 page)

“We are totally revisiting this though, right?”

They revisited the issue pretty damned often. Emma kept assuring her that the Wilder pack was nothing like any other their mongrel family had encountered before. Well, Emma was a human and just couldn’t understand the dynamics of shifter relationships. Tilly wasn’t willing to risk the heartache or the pain Phoebe would experience from more rejection. Going two towns over for a hunt was just fine for them.

“Fine. We can revisit. After you bring me panties and make a phone call.”

“Why am I doing this again? Pick up the phone. Call him back. Do your job, then ask him what he’s wearing. Get that phone sex ball rolling.”

The idea had merit. A lot, actually. Sadly, she would not take her friend’s advice.

“Because when I said I really enjoyed his voice I
really
enjoyed his voice. Or rather, part of me did.”

Silence. Pure silence. “Did it enjoy things a lot or just a little bit?”

“I… I just…
panties,
Emma. Please.”

“And a phone call.”

“Uh-huh.”

“To whom?”

“The hot guy so I don’t need two pairs?”

But no, her problems could not be happily solved by a phone call to Emma because…

Phoebe. The whirlwind world destroyer also known as Phoebe. “Tilly? Why do you need panties? What hot guy? Did you sneak a guy back here? Because that’s not fair. You said no boys—”

That wasn’t the worst part. There wasn’t much privacy in her house and that was something she’d come to expect. She was raising a teenager. At least it was only one. When it’d been a tween Phoebe and a teen Liv… she’d nearly killed them both. Often.

“Hold on one sec,” Tilly spoke to Emma and then took the twentieth calming breath of the
hour.
“Phoebe, I don’t have a guy here, I was talking about the guy on the pho—” she slowly turned toward the door and froze.

Phoebe wasn’t alone. Of course not. Never could Phoebe show up alone when Tilly was having a lovely embarrassing-as-hell conversation with her best friend about wet panties and a hot guy.

“Tilly, this is Mitchell. He said he thinks you called him about something a little bit ago. And he was coming out this way anyway so he thought he’d stop in to see if you needed to talk to him.” Phoebe slumped her shoulders and did her best to look pitiful. It was a look she’d perfected after all this time. “Have I worked long enough now? Can I go see…”

Tilly now knew why animals in the wild killed their offspring.

* * *

Three words brought him to Bless Your Tart. Three words that had Mitchell’s dick rock hard and his wolf howling as if the moon were full and shining in the sky.

Now, less than ten minutes later, he was standing in the kitchen of the small bakery, staring at the woman destined to be the next notch on his bedpost. Nah, the next five notches. God. Damn.

She was gorgeous, all wide green eyes, deep auburn hair, and curves. Fuck, she had curves. Not that he could see them all, but from where he was standing… Her rack was full and begging for his hands. He wanted to cup and knead them, taste those pretty nipples. And they’d be damned pretty. Pink against her alabaster skin. He’d lick those little nubs, suck and nibble until she begged for more.

His animal was back to howling and pacing, nudging and nosing him to pounce now.
Now.
They could talk later. It wanted to mount her in front of the whole damned town so others would know she belonged to him.
Him.

And he didn’t even know her name.

The wolf reminded him names weren’t necessary, bringing their bodies together was. His cock twitched with the idea, the image of them clinging together in bed, him baring his teeth and her tilting her head, giving him the perfect opportunity to bite…

He sucked in a harsh breath, intent on releasing it slowly to hopefully calm his rampaging need, but what came with that inhale…

Sweet. Musky with a hint of sugar and his mouth immediately watered with the desire to lap up those flavors. Arousal. Desire. Need.
Her need.

For him. He had no doubt that the flush in her cheeks and the cream now soaking her panties was for him. A low rumble built in his chest, his wolf making its desires known as the animal overpowered his control. It wanted this female—Tilly—writhing beneath them. This wasn’t lust, wasn’t the craving for a quick meaningless fuck. No, he wanted hours with Tilly. Days.

Years…

Years?

The wolf purred.
Years.

Another quick inhale, another wave of her delicious scent, another twitch of his dick. Dammit. He wasn’t a fucking kid anymore. He wasn’t going to come in his jeans.

The young female at his side, half-shifter if his nose was anything to go by, sniffed once… then twice… then…

“
Ew. Gross.
Can you two keep your nose boners in your pants for, like, a second?” The girl shuddered and focused on Tilly. Tilly with an even
brighter
red face.

She was gorgeous all flustered and embarrassed like that.

The teen wasn’t done. “Seriously, Tilly. Can I go meet—”

“Did you leave the front door unlocked? If you did, who’s manning the counter?” Tilly immediately snapped back and his dick went even harder. Dayum.

“Umm…” Phoebe blew a bubble and popped her gum. At the same moment, the bell above the front door jingled. Phoebe winced and scrunched her nose. “Be right back.”

Mitchell kept his eyes on the young girl as she strolled toward the front of the building, ponytail bouncing and gum popping the whole way. “Welcome to Bless Your Tart. How can I help you?”

Tilly cleared her throat, drawing his attention, and he stared transfixed as she pushed to her feet. She was shorter than his six feet, but not
too
short. Maybe five-seven, five-eight. A nice size to tuck against him at night. That was a plus.

Another plus that came with her new position was he could now see her trim waist, wide flare of her hips, and snug jeans that encased her legs. They outlined her thighs nicely, giving him a glimpse of the heaven that lingered between them. He could imagine those legs wrapped around his waist, holding him close as he filled her over and over again.

This time she didn’t clear her throat so much as call his attention to the fact that he was being rude and staring at her cloth-covered pussy. “A. Hem.”

He grinned. He couldn’t help it. She tried to look all offended, but the flush in her cheeks, the desire in her eyes, and the scent of her arousal told him her lips would be dripping with lies if she tried to deny him. How had he missed her? Wilder was decent sized, but he didn’t think it was so big that he wouldn’t have come in contact with her before now.

“Hi,” he smiled and extended his hand, not missing the small tremble that wracked her body. “Mitchell. I think you called the Blake house this morning?”

Tilly licked her lips and he ached to capture her tongue between his own. “Right. Yes. I was calling about the order for ten dozen Dudeless Dongs and Babeless Boobs. We had a small issue with the Babeless cookies and I was calling to make alternate delivery arrangements.”

Her cheeks reddened further with each word until she looked like she was sporting a head-to-toe blush. The only thing that’d truly tell him if it
was
head-to-toe would be if she stripped for him. Slowly.

Maybe next time.

“I was under the impression they were to be picked up at eight.” He glanced at his watch, noting the time. “It’s seven forty.”

“Right,” she scrunched her nose, reminding him of the bouncing teen in the front of the store. Her daughter? No way, she didn’t look old enough to have a teenage daughter. “You see, there was a small mix up in the decorations and I’m a perfectionist. I’m more than happy to deliver them to the venue if you’ll just give me a time and place.”

He knew where she could deliver them, though he didn’t think she’d be game. She was trembling for him, aching for him, but she wasn’t giving him that vibe. The one that said she was easy and open to whatever he desired. That was all right. He could wait. Hopefully not long, but he could.

“I’m sure they’re fine. Are they destroyed completely or is the color off or something? Do they taste like shit?”

Tilly’s eyes blazed, her arousal disappearing beneath a bolt of anger. “Like shit?
Like shit?
I will have you know nothing,
nothing
, out of Bless Your Tart could ever be described as ‘taste like shit.’ Ever. Even on my
worst
day.”

Mitchell raised a single brow. Fuck, her anger was sexy. “But these aren’t leaving the store, and you’re not telling me the problem, so…”

“The cookies… They…” She was beautiful all flustered. Hell, she was plain beautiful. He wanted to make her scream in frustration and then scream his name as she came. “They just…”

“Hey, Tilly, I bet I can just flick these necklaces off. I doubt you’d have to start from scratch.” At Phoebe’s words, Tilly let out a groan and closed her eyes. If it’d been a happy sexy groan, he would have shoved the door closed and convinced her they needed to get naked ASAP.

This one was pained. Unacceptable.

“Tilly?” he murmured and took a step toward her. “Are you okay? Can I get you anything?”

Her words, when they finally came, were no more than a whisper. “A new sister? Just one. I’ll keep the other one. She’s
normal.
”

That answered his question about the young Phoebe. He could deal with sisters. If it’d been her daughter… He’d have to hunt down the young girl’s father and kill him for touching Tilly.

“Tilly, are you listening?” The teen padded into the room. “These pearls will pop—” The girl stuttered to a stop. “You’re still here. Why are you still here? Did she tell you about the pearl necklaces? Because I think they add authenticity.” She even nodded as she said it. “And since that’s what the bride and groom will be—”

“Shut it,” Tilly snapped. That was damned hot. “I don’t want to know why you even
think
it would add authenticity to anything.”

“Shaw— I mean
Stacy
said—”

“Okay, first, you said it was Marcia who told you. Second, you shouldn’t be talking about pearl necklaces with anyone, let alone Shawn-Stacy.” Tilly glared at Phoebe and… Yup, there went his cock twitching, impressed by her fury.

Which had Phoebe curling her lip and wrinkling her nose once more as she stared at him. “Could you please not get all bang-y while I’m standing here? I mean, she’s my
sister
. Gross. She doesn’t have sex. Ever.”

“Good to know.” He grinned and ignored Tilly’s answering glare. She might not have sex
now
, but she would later. With him. Mitchell crossed his arms over his chest, quickly going through what he’d just heard. “What kind of
pearl necklaces
are we talking?”

“We’re not talking about any of them!”

Tilly’s shrill shout was overlapped by Phoebe’s quick. “These.”

He took the cookie, cataloging the decorations in a quick glance. Red and black corset, tiny waist, exaggerated boobs. White droplets of icing…

No way.

“Where did a girl like you learn about—”

Tilly snatched it from his hand and tossed it in the garbage. “I’m not having this conversation.” Tilly trembled. “I’m just not.” She shook her head. “Mr.…Mitchell, I apologize for the inconvenience, but if you’ll tell me the delivery address and when you’d like them brought over, I’ll make sure you get them on time.”

He stared at her, this small, red-haired package and the parts of him that wanted to fuck her into next week now wanted to cradle her closely and calm her. Soothe whatever the hell was wrong with her.

“Tilly…” the teen whined, and he immediately called for his wolf.

The girl was a half-shifter, a bear, but still half. He could easily subdue her with his dominance, his innate power born to every alpha, and figure out what the hell was going on. “What do you think a pearl necklace is? Who told you and why did you think it was appropriate to decorate your sister’s cookies in that way?”

Phoebe stiffened and narrowed her eyes at him, giving him a glare that would have made a lesser wolf tremble.

Mitchell was not a lesser wolf.

“You can’t just come in here—” Oh, Tilly didn’t like his attitude.

Tough.

“It’s when a guy
you know
on a girl’s chest, Marcia Langston said, and because you ordered Dudeless Dongs. I thought you could put them side by side on the table.” The smile he got was blinding and filled with innocence and light. She was good. He had to give her that. She looked as if butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.

“
Phoebe Lynn Price
,” Tilly hissed the girl’s name.

Mitchell raised a single eyebrow. “Marcia?
Really
.” The confirmation was in the girl’s embarrassed gaze. Without another word, he whipped out his cell phone. Sure, wolves were highly sexed and he knew those in his pack were having hooking ups before eighteen, but…
come on.

It took less than ten seconds to shoot his beta—Marcia’s older brother—a quick text message.
Ask Marcia if she wants to tell you about pearl necklaces and Phoebe Price.

That done, he focused on the two women currently staring off against each other. One he wanted to bend over the desk and fuck until neither of them could walk and the other… He wanted her to be anywhere but
here
.

“Miss Price?” He softly touched Tilly’s shoulder, jolting with the bolt of electricity that zinged through him with the connection. His wolf howled louder than it ever had and strained against his mental bindings. His gums ached, desperate to break free and sink into her flesh.

“McBride,” they said in unison.

“Okay.” He wondered why they had different last names, but that was a discussion for another time. “Miss McBride? Give me your cell number. I’ll text you the time and address.”

Tilly narrowed her eyes and glared at him. “And you can’t write it down because…”

Mitchell shrugged. “Because that won’t give me your number.”

“You don’t want my number,” she growled and his dick jerked. She needed to stop being so sexy.