Seduced by a Shifter (12 page)

His arousal acute, bordering on pain, Ben rested his forehead o
n the silky smooth flesh of Willow’s inner thigh. She still trembled under him. Male satisfaction was a smug comfort for both man and wolf, attesting to his prowess to give his mate pleasure. To recognize that her needs were far and above more important than his own—though his own throbbed like the devil, hard and angry, as he pressed his erection against the smooth, cool wall of the pool.

He wanted to roll around in her scent, her abandoned response an erotic thrill he wanted to savor and then drive her to again and again. But the sound he just heard turned his erotic intentions to one of violent darkness. Now he just wanted to murder someone.

Fucking Rome. Currently the bane of Ben’s existence.

He got it, really. Rome’s protective streak, especially when it came to Willow. The agent no doubt felt like shit because Willow got hurt on his watch. Added to that was Willow’s sweet nature and innocence. Anyone and everyone who met her loved her.

But Willow was his mate, not Rome’s, and the asshole was about a minute away from receiving an ass-kicking.

The sounds and the voices grew louder. It appeared Scott and Joe were with Rome, arguing and instigating delaying tactics loud enough to wake the dead.

“Shit,” Ben growled, the tips of his fingers burning as his claws tried to escape his control. His gums fared no better, already swollen and aching from fangs descending to bite and claim his mate. “I’ll kill him for sure this time.”

Willow sat up. “Ben? I think I hear someone.”

It appeared playtime was definitely over.

Lingering for just a moment longer, he pressed a kiss to her thigh before edging back to look up into her wide-eyed face.

Damn, but she took his breath away. Somebody had better be dead for this interruption. “Yeah. Sounds like your jailer and two bodyguards.”

Her mouth dropped. “Oh God. Rome?”

Not appreciating her using the same exclamation as when he’d had his mouth on her for Rome’s impending arrival, he narrowed his eyes. “Relax...”

“Relax? Relax!” In a blur of bare flesh, she lifted her legs from his lax grip and swung them around, standing and wrapping herself in the towel she’d just been splayed out on in a graceful move. “How can you say relax? Crap. My bottoms.”

She peered down at him. “Give me my bottoms.”

If she wasn’t so upset and he wasn’t so irritated, Ben might have grinned at the look on her face. Obliging, he caught the wayward material with his foot, lifting it out to Willow’s stretched hand. “Sweetheart, listen.”

“No,
you
listen here, Ben Anderson. I see that grin in your eyes. You think this is funny.” She wiggled and hopped, maneuvering the lower half of her swimsuit up her legs and over her hips. Reaching under the towel, she adjusted her top, sliding it over her breasts. “Maybe you’re used to getting caught in these kinds of situations, but I’m not.”

“What? Getting caught at the pool with a woman who’s not only dressed in her own swimsuit, but has a towel wrapped around her like a shield?”

“I...” Willow looked down at herself, then at Ben, who pushed away from the wall to stand in the middle of the pool. “Well. I still don’t think it’s funny.”

He grinned, despite his raging erection. How could he not? Willow looked so indignant and if she’d only listened instead of panicking, he would have told her they had a few minutes. Plenty of time to get respectable.

“You’ll find the funny when you tell the story.”

She put her hands on her hips. “I won’t be telling
this
to anyone.”

He frowned. “Why not?” He knew damn well women talked to each other about sex. Especially great sex. And hadn’t he just given her a mind-blowing orgasm? Or was that his arrogance talking? “You not ashamed to be with me, are you?” ‘Cause he might just lose his mind if she were.

“What?” Astonishment crossed her face, easing the tight knot of trepidation in his gut. A soft blush kissed her cheeks. “No. It’s just. It isn’t anyone’s business.”

He swam back towards her, gave her a saucy wink. “I don’t mind if you want to brag to your friends.”

Her laugh delighted him. “You idiot. Like you need anybody to inflate your sex ego.”

Folding his arms at the edge of the pool, he flashed her a cocky grin. “A man always needs to be...pumped up in that department.”

Willow only shook her head and took a step back, out of arm’s reach. Smart girl. “Not you.”

“Why not me?” He was a guy, wasn’t he?

Her slay-me-dead baby blues lit with jest. “Please. I know you’ve seen yourself in a mirror.”

He paused, not liking where this might take them. “Yes. And that means what, exactly?”

Her slim shoulders shrugged and she glanced over at the door on the far side of the room as the voices grew louder. “You’re very attractive.”

Yeah, he’d been blessed in that area of his life. “And?”

She shifted her stance, placing one foot on top of the other but still refusing to meet his gaze. “And sexy.”

He barely made out the whispered words and bit back a grin. “Though I’m pleased you think so, I meant ‘and’ as in, what does my outward appearance have to do with anything?”

Now she looked at him. “Oh.” She looked away with another shrug of her slim shoulders. “Just figured you had a lot of experience, thus perfecting your, um, abilities.”

“I see.” He drummed his fingers on the tile floor. “Willow?” He waited until she turned to look down at him. “You’re extremely attractive. Does that mean I should assume you’re as experienced as I am and thus have perfected your sexual prowess?”

Her face blazed almost as red as her beautiful hair and he wasn’t sure what to make of it. He’d swear she wasn’t well versed in the joys of sex. Then again, after some initial shyness, her lushly uninhibited responses to his touch kept him guessing. She was sweet, gorgeous, passionate, and sexy, and there was no way she was untouched.

And maybe he was as guilty of assuming as Willow was.

Her stammered response was cut short by Rome’s thundering, warning knock on the door. Seconds later he entered the room, followed by Scott and Joe, both wearing apologetic expressions, alternating with relief when they spied Ben and Willow not locked in a passionate embrace.

As if Ben hadn’t heard them coming five minutes ago. Then again, if he’d been buried inside Willow’s delectable body like he craved, he may not have.

His dick bobbed in agreement.

Stupid appendage.

Ben might have chuckled at that, not recalling a time he’d ever wanted to curse his manhood, but Rome’s worried features made him uneasy. “Willow, I need you to get dressed and come back to the cabin.”

“Why? What’s going on?” Ben demanded.

The cat shifter shot Ben an exasperated look. “I need Willow back at the cabin where it’s safe.”

“She’s safe with me.” Ben bristled at the implication.

“And she’ll be safer yet at the cabin.” Rome waved Ben’s rising anger away. “I may be acting like an overprotective father, but I need to leave and I want Willow tucked in before I do.”

“Leave?” Willow’s eyes went wide in confused panic.

Rome’s tone gentled. “Unfortunately. It’s that other case I told you about. Well, there’s been a problem and I have to fly out and fix it. I’ll only be gone a few days, four at the most. Joe and Scott will stay with you, and of course, you have Ben at your disposal.” The latter was said with a hint of mockery.

Ben made his way to the pool steps with the intent of pounding the cat into dust. Then it hit him: Rome was leaving. For several days. Suddenly those days got a whole lot more interesting, and his evening brighter when Willow looked at Ben, not Rome, in uncertainty, as if seeking his permission. His shoulders straightened and his chest swelled. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’ll be right here when you get back.”

She fidgeted with the towel, his towel, a moment before she nodded and went into the girl’s room to change.

Ben rose from the pool and picked up Willow’s towel to dry off. “Is this really about another case?”

Rome sighed, the frustration clear in that loud exhale of air. “It is.”

Ben grunted and lifted Willow’s forgotten gray shorts. “And what’s happening with hers?”

“There’s been some movement.” At Ben’s raised brow Rome continued. “Valen and three of her lackeys were last seen in a black SUV heading east on I-90.”

“Last seen, huh?” Ben folded his arms.

Lips pursed in irritation, Rome admitted, “Suffice it to say our men lost them at a damn opera, their vehicle abandoned in the lot. My take? Valen is on her way here. She’ll drive—less conspicuous that way—and stop at small hotels to rest up, because she’s too much of a diva to drive straight through. Probably make Woodcliff by Thursday.”

“Perfect.” Not. “They’ll blend in with all the other tourists who start coming up for a long weekend.”

“Plus Thursday’s the full moon,” Joe added.

“Fuck.” Ben dragged a hand through his wet hair.

“And to make things even more exciting,” Scott chimed in, “we’ll have all those extra people coming in for Tess’s wedding.”

“Ah, double fuck.” Those upcoming days he thought were going to be so much better without Rome dicking with him just made a one-eighty.

Though his job at the ski lodge was a part-time gig, his job with Dean was much different. Ben normally found it a pleasure. Being his alpha’s eyes and ears of the pack mainly consisted of interacting with pack members in an informal way.

Tuesday mornings he had a regular group meeting with some of the town’s elders. Then lunch with Dean, followed by God knew what his alpha wanted. This week he could adding to the list ice hockey classes for a bunch of kindergartners in the afternoon. Then the night skiing lessons he promised Pete and a group the tour guide had booked several weeks ago.

Wednesday he was helping a friend move from the apartment complex Ben also lived at to Togan. Thursdays he met with a group of shifters for basketball in the evenings, after which they all headed down to Dean’s bar, Thirio’s Keep, for some food and beer. This Thursday he was on the roster to work with Jack and the juveniles, teaching them the dos and don’ts of hunting in wolf form.

Friday he was back at the ski lodge, after which he’d told his mom he’d come by to replace all the interior door knobs and faucets with levered handles. She said her arthritis was making it difficult to turn the round knobs, but Ben figured it was more of a way to get him to come see her.

Saturday was work, followed by Tess’s wedding. A jam-packed week and somewhere in all that bullshit he had to find time to protect, seduce, and claim his mate. He also had to explain who he and a good portion of those she’d so far encountered in Woodcliff were, without making her run screaming for the hills or insisting he see a psychiatrist. But just how does one go about telling his mate that he’s not one hundred percent human?

So, Will, just wanted to let you know that I turn into a wolf once a month. Well, sometimes more often, if the situation calls for it, but hey, so do a lot of others in town.

Somehow he didn’t think that would go over well.

A headache began to brew above his left eye and he cursed again.

Oblivious to the real reason behind Ben’s verbal venting, Rome nodded. “It’ll be tough but I have faith in you. In all of you.”

Ben didn’t know if he wanted to bash Rome’s head in at the pep talk, or drown himself. Luckily he did neither, as the sound of squeaking hinges preceded Willow’s return. She looked at him and offered a shy smile.

And just like that, everything inside him eased. Here was his mate, that special female that male shifters long for their whole lives, and she was within his reach. He couldn’t be more delighted with her. She was an intoxicating, tangled mix of sweet, shy, funny, outgoing, serious, smart, beautiful, and brave. He’d be amazed at all her adorable facets the rest of his life.

“Oh. My shorts.”

He followed her gaze to his chest, noticing that he’d lifted a hand—the one holding her shorts—to his heart to rub at the sudden ache.

He jerked his hand down but her eyes remained fixated on his chest. The look in them had his libido roaring back to life after the last few minutes of ice-cold reality. She appeared almost mesmerized. Ben heard the beating of her heart picking up speed, and it made him want to preen like a damn peacock. Then the tip of her pink tongue swept out to lick her lips, and he nearly groaned out loud.

The mating heat was in full, blazing force, the enticing scent of her arousal growing stronger with each passing day. Even now, despite her recent orgasm, he could tell she was getting stirred up again. Rekindled desire tickled his senses, lifting his face with invisible hands to savor the lavender and orange of Willow’s unique essence, sprinkled with the captivating musk of pure aroused woman.

It made him damn near salivate to taste the slick honey between her thighs once again. And while he had a hard-on to surpass any hard-on in the history of hard-ons, now was not the time.

But soon.

Relieved he still held onto the towel, he fisted the end of the terry material and let it drape over the front of his groin.

Inwardly he calculated, juggled, and made plans. Outwardly he crossed to Willow in lazy steps—otherwise he might do permanent damage to one of his favorite appendages—and handed her the shorts. “How about Wednesday I come pick you up around seven, and this time we’ll try the gym and Jacuzzi to work your muscles.”

“Oh...”

He saw the indecision in her eyes and thus held out the carrot. “I’ll make sure we have the place to ourselves.”

Clearly baffled, Willow angled her head, causing several strawberry-colored strands of silken hair to fall over her eyes. “How is it that you can get these places emptied out? I know it’s for protection reasons and to ease my own discomfort, but aren’t you displacing a lot of people?”

Ben brushed her wayward bangs from her eyes. “Caring people don’t mind being displaced if it’s for a good reason.”

“Still—”

Ben silenced her protest with his lips, kissing her with a hunger and possessiveness his wolf was clawing at him to sate. Now. His hand curved around her nape, holding her captive as he stroked his tongue deep into the moist cavern of her stunned mouth. Just as she started to melt, he drew back, satisfied by the glaze of passion in her eyes. “Seven. Wednesday. Bring workout clothes and a swimsuit.”