The second I saw her wearing that long velvety skirt and tight little sweater I knew I was fucked. Shit. I should have made reservations at a fancy restaurant instead of my usual booth at Roll Over. It was the best sushi place in town. Maybe that would count for something.
“This looks good,” Martina said, and I could hear the truth behind her words.
“Good. I was counting on you being more of a quality over luxury kind of woman. This place has the best sushi,” I murmured.
“I like sushi,” she replied, her dark violet eyes flicking to mine.
I smiled as we scanned the menu. We chatted and laughed, and I was ridiculously pleased when the waitress came over and Martina asked if I wanted to share one of the biggest sushi platters on the menu with her.
“Yeah, that sounds great. Can we have a couple of orders of hibachi rice and noodles, and beef negimaki, also?”
“Ooh, that does sound delicious,” Martina said after the waitress left.
“It sounds like a lot, but I do have an appetite.”
“And I don’t? Actually, this is refreshing. You know, it’s been forever since I went out with someone who was sort of like me,” she whispered.
“Sort of like you,” I repeated.
She had no idea the monster I really was, but again, I was not worried. Destiny led me to Martina Harbor, but that was just to create the spark. This insane attraction I had towards her was growing by the second, and that was all her.
“I, um, noticed you got a haircut and a shave. Was that for me?” she asked, grinning.
“Maybe. Or maybe it was just time,” I replied evasively.
“If I confess I spent most of today in face masks and doing my nails, will you tell me the truth?”
“Face masks? Clay or gel? My sisters like this peel off cucumber shit, and they did that to me once, but it got all caught in my eyebrows and facial hair. Fine, I got a haircut and shave to impress you. My brother said I looked like a lumberjack.”
She laughed then, and I smiled. My chest puffed up like a proud peacock, and the animal inside me rumbled pleasantly. It felt good being the cause of her smiles, the reason for her laughter. There was something sad behind her eyes, and I wanted her to share it with me. But I wouldn’t rush her. Trust was a slow earned thing for Martina Harbor, but I was gonna win hers. It was a promise I made to myself and my beast.
“Well, I happen to love lumberjack romance novels, so tell Tim to mind his own business next time,” she replied, after her giggles had died down.
“Is that so? I’ve got a flannel in the back of my truck I could put on for you—”
“You’re incorrigible! But maybe later,” she murmured, and her cheeks turned a dusky rose color I really liked.
After dinner, I drove down to the old movie theater everyone in town still went to. I held her hand, and Martina allowed it, sending chills of awareness rippling through my body. Her spicy cinnamon apple scent was driving me crazy, but her constant shivering had me worried.
“Cold?” I asked while we waited in line for tickets.
She smiled tightly, looking down as if she were embarrassed by that fact. Hell no. I was not okay with that, so I wrapped my arm around her and tucked her into my side, letting her feel some of my own natural heat.
“Wow, you are really hot,” she whispered, and I grinned.
“You ain’t so bad yourself, sweetheart.”
“That’s not what I meant,” she replied and rolled her eyes, but she stayed put. And that meant everything to me.
“Popcorn?”
“Oooh, yeah. Popcorn, and a box of Snowcaps, and Sour Patch Kids. Oh, and a large Fanta,” she ordered and pulled out her wallet.
“Nope,” I said, grabbing it and tucking it into my back pocket.
“But it’s my turn. You paid for dinner,” she said, frowning.
I knew I’d struck a nerve with her, but I could not help myself. There were just some things a man didn’t allow a woman to do, and one of them was pay for his movie theater candy.
“I asked you on this date, so I’m paying. Of course, you could wrestle me for your wallet,” I said, eyebrows arched in open invitation.
The cashier chuckled, and Martina sighed. She rolled her eyes again, and I sizzled inside. It was fast becoming one of my favorite expressions on her. Damn, but she wore exasperated well.
Sexy woman. I got my eyes on you, sweetheart. 100%.
The movie was one of those comic book action flicks, and I worried she wouldn’t like it. But that changed the second she started shouting at the screen and clapping with the rest of us. The theater itself was older, and the crowd was mostly local kids, but I only had eyes for Martina. She was laughter and light. And when her hand touched my leg or brushed against mine when we went to grab popcorn at the same time, hell, I trembled like a kid on his first date.
We sat together while the credits rolled, waiting for the little Easter egg at the end of the film. It was a good one, promising more from the series of super funny superheroes. Martina chatted on and on about what she thought of the actors and the story line, and I was shocked when she pointed out the not so obvious flaws in the plot line. Smart as a whip, she was.
“You know, you sound sexy as hell when you talk comic books, woman,” I growled, and my eyes raked over her possessively.
She was taking up space in my head, planting roots in my heart. I wanted her with a ferocity that was damn well frightening, but I worked hard to control that part of me. Of course, there was nothing I could do about the raging boner clearly outlined in my jeans, and yes, I caught her staring.
“See something you like?” I teased.
“Oh my God, I was not just staring at your dick,” she muttered, and I laughed out loud. “So,” she declared with false brightness. “I liked the movie!”
“Well, looks like this hometown boy is full of surprises. And here I thought you were going to turn your nose down at my taste in food and movies, Miss New York City,” I said, teasing her as we walked hand in hand back to my truck.
She froze in her tracks, brows furrowing, and I knew I’d made a mistake. But what had I said?
“You really think I’m a snob?” she asked and fuck, she looked hurt.
“No! I think you’re smart and cultured. You’re a lawyer. You live in Manhattan, Martina. Shit, I don’t know. I guess I was worried about making the right impression on you because I never left Maccon City. I never went to college. Just started my business right after high school. Anyway, I guess I assumed you spent your free time going to museums and shit,” I growled, suddenly uncomfortable.
“Wow. So, you think I’m a snob? You think I couldn’t enjoy a date with a man unless he takes me someplace flashy and spends a lot of money?”
“What? No, I didn’t say that—”
Fuck. This conversation was going way off course. I’d obviously upset her. She let go of my hand, and I felt pained by the absence of her touch. I unlocked the door and held it open for her, offering my hand, but she didn’t take it. She was short though, petite, and perfect in my not so humble opinion, and it snowed some during the movie. With her long, tight skirt on, Martina couldn’t quite get into the damn seat.
She was cold. I knew it. I could see her shivering again. After watching her fumble a second time, I snapped. Hands on her hips, I lifted her up and closed the door, ignoring her shocked gasp. My hands burned where I touched her, and my animal was snarling at me for letting her go so soon. At the rate this was going, I would need to shift in the shed again tonight.
Fucking hell.
Timothy had warned me not to fuck this up, and my brother was right. But he was wrong, too. He’d told me to act a certain way, to step up my game, but the best time of the entire night was when I was just myself with her.
After my fuck up, I felt about two inches tall. Martina didn’t care about a lot of the things I’d expected. But she cared what I thought, and that was a sign. I mattered to her. That was all the encouragement I needed to try to fix this.
“Martina,” I began, starting the car and turning the heat on for her. “I did not mean to say that before.”
“Why? I’m happy to know what you really think of me, Mitchell,” she replied, anger and hurt staining her words.
“Shit. No, I didn’t mean that. I don’t think anything bad about you, woman, I just want you to—look, I don’t wanna fuck this up. I am doing a bang-up job of it, though. But hurting you or insulting you was never my intention,” I growled, biting back the pain of my Wolf tearing me up on the inside.
“I like you, Martina Harbor. I really like you. I want to know more about you. I’m sorry if I acted like a judgmental ass. I didn’t mean it. I swear.”
“I guess I am being a jerk now, huh? No, it’s okay. Don’t apologize,” she said, and heaved a sigh. “This was a mistake. Just, would you mind taking me home?”
“Wait. Please, give me another chance. Don’t, don’t leave like this,” I said, turning towards her.
“It’s not your fault. I have a chip on my shoulder, especially about your Pack.”
“My Pack? But you’re a Wolf and this is the Macconwood Pack’s home territory. I have wondered and I guess now I am asking, why isn’t it your Pack, too?”
“It’s just not,” she said, and her words felt heavy. “I grew up in Maccon City, but I lived under a cloud. The Macconwood Pack left my family alone, but I was never one of them. Never accepted.”
“Because you grew up in Harbor House?” I asked, confused.
She shook her head, and tears swam in her deep violet eyes. It was breaking my heart to see the hurt there. I unbuckled her seat belt and tugged her towards me, and she allowed it.
Thank God.
I couldn’t stand the idea of hurting her anymore. It was making my beast feel all kinds of protective. All I wanted was to wipe the hurt away. To wrap her up in a bubble of good feelings and sweetness. To kiss away the pain and make it all better.
Good idea.
“Hey,” I said, holding her face with one hand and wrapping my arm around her waist. “Please don’t cry, sweetheart. I never meant to upset you. I just wanted to take you out. Be with you.”
“Why did you ask me out?” she asked, canting her head in a way that reminded me she was a Wolf, too.
But she didn’t smell like a regular Wolf. I couldn’t find any hint of fur on her at the moment Just the smoky, spicy scent of cinnamon and apple pie, and dammit, I wanted her with a hunger I’d never known. I leaned towards her, brushing her nose with mine, my chest rumbled with the power of my beast.
“I want to kiss you, Martina,” I whispered, so close to her lips, but needing her consent before I took this thing a step further.
I was playing with fire, and I knew it. I just didn’t care. Barely able to keep the leash on the furious desire I felt for her, I growled, my gaze intent on hers. Her soft curves pressed against me, and I hated the clothes between us. I needed to kiss her. Hell, I might die without it. But I waited.
“So,” she whispered, her breath mingling with mine. “What are you waiting for?”
That was all the permission I needed to claim her lips beneath mine. Finally, I had this woman’s mouth on mine, and I kissed her with all the pent up passion I’d been feeling since I laid eyes on her again yesterday evening. I growled, swallowing her soft whimpers and moans, and put all of my energy into our kiss. She tasted better than I imagined, and, oh, I had imagined plenty.
To me, kissing was better than sex. I realized that made me an oddity among men. But this act meant more. It was more intimate than fucking. Sexier than head. And her mouth was the best fucking thing I had ever felt working in tandem with mine. We were good at this. At kissing each other, and I felt elated. Like I’d been waiting my whole life for this woman, and I supposed I had been.
Mine. Mine. Mine.
The word was on repeat as I kissed her harder, forcing her head back and plundering her mouth with my tongue like a man on a mission. And I was. She was my mission. My reason. Being with her was everything to me.
Some part of me was aware we were sitting in my parked truck outside a movie theater, fogging up the windows of my truck, but another part of me did not give a single fuck. Her mouth was hot and delicious, and she was kissing me back. Me. Mitchell Truman. A guy who worked in construction. Not a fancy pants lawyer or doctor. Just me with my calloused hands and my rough manners.
Were we a good match? I would bet my fucking life on it. Yeah, she was brilliant and beautiful, but she was more than that. She had a monster inside her, too. Right then, I could feel her Wolf moving inside her, rising up to meet me and my beast. Contrary to the always shivering Martina, her animal radiated heat, and it rivaled mine.
“Mitchell,” she moaned my name and my cock pounded against my jeans.
I wanted her so damn bad. Needed her. I placed sloppy wet, biting kisses along her jaw and down her throat, tugging on the neckline of her sweater to get better access to her silky soft skin. My soul burned for her, and so did my body. Following an instinct, I’d never felt before, I growled a low deep, possessive sound, my hands roaming her body with a possessiveness I couldn’t control. I wanted to devour her, time and place be damned.
The inside of the truck was like a fucking sauna, and I thanked God I had parked in the furthest corner of the now empty lot. While everyone else had driven away after the movie, I’d been busy fucking up our night. But now we’d moved past that, and kissing and making up was definitely the best part of the whole evening.
I pulled the lever on the side of the seat, pushing it back so I could pull Martina onto my lap. She climbed right on, straddling my hips, and the sound of her skirt tearing was loud. Neither of us cared enough to stop our lusty explorations, and I made a silent promise to buy her a new one.
Her sharp fingernails clawed at my shoulders, and I hissed, finding her panties with my hands. I growled deep and rough once my hands were on her ass, and fuck my cock grew even harder.
“You have such a perfect ass, Martina. I wanna bite it,” I growled, squeezing her ripe globes. I raised my hand and slapped her left cheek, holding her in place with my mouth on her neck.
“Next time you look in the mirror and see my handprint, you’re gonna remember this, sweetheart,” I told her.
I wasn’t sure if I went too far, but she pressed her fiery core against me, and moaned sweetly, and I knew she liked it. A little pain mixed in with pleasure wasn’t unusual for creatures like us, but I shut down that thought as soon as I had it. There was no room for jealousy here. No room for anything but pleasure, but thinking about Martina with another man was liable to make my beast homicidal, so no. I was not going there.
Martina grabbed my face and pressed her mouth to mine, and I was so fucking turned on by her show of aggression precum leaked from my slit. Between that and the way she was soaking through my jeans, I was going to be a fucking mess when I went home. Thank fuck I’d moved out of my parents’ house years ago.
“Need, fuck, Mitch, I need,” she growled, grinding her sweet pussy against me, and my response was immediate.
I mean, I nearly lost my mind. Sliding her lacy panties to the side, I cupped her sex, loving the rumbling growl that spilled from her lips.
“So wet for me, sweetheart,” I growled.
Good girl. Very good girl.
Her pussy was hot and soaked and so fucking tight, I didn’t think I could even get two fingers inside her, but I needed to. If I wanted even the chance of fucking her without hurting her, I needed my little Wolf primed and ready.
Waves of pleasure flooded my senses as I began pumping my fingers in and out of her slit. Martina moaned, holding on to me like her life depended on it. Hell, I felt like mine did, too. I circled her clit with my thumb, curling my fingers inside her channel till I found the right spot and angle.
“That’s it, sweetheart. Fuck my hand. Let me see you come.”
Martina moaned, gasping now, hot tears trailing down her cheeks. She started to quiver and tremble, but this time I knew it had nothing to do with the cold outside. Hell. She was on fire for me. Wait. Fuck. She was on fire!
“Martina!” I shouted as flames erupted over her body.
Pained eyes met mine, and she shoved the door open, stumbling out into the cold. Before I could even comprehend what was going on, much less move, Martina’s enormous midnight black Wolf ripped through her skin. The beast darted one glance my way, her purple eyes glowing before she lifted her lupine face towards the sky and loosed a mournful howl before taking off at breakneck speeds.
What. The. Fuck.
I sat there speechless with my dick literally in my hand. One minute, we were making out like a couple of love struck teenagers, and the next, poof. She was gone. By the time I came to my senses, it was too late to go after her. A security officer had already driven by, asking me for my license and registration.
I was already zipped up and had the remnants of her clothes all tucked away in the trunk by the time he’d stopped his car. But that didn’t stop the wanker from wasting a good fifteen minutes of my time.
“Alright, you have a good night now, son.”
“Thanks,” I growled at the rent-a-cop.
It wasn’t his fault I’d had a shitty night, but I wasn’t in any mod to mince words. Confused and circling the drain on full out devastation, I drove straight to Harbor House and raced to the front door. I’d fucked up somehow, maybe moved too fast, even though I was sure at the time Martina had been with me every step of the way. It didn’t matter. I would apologize, grovel, beg, hell, there was not much I wasn’t willing to do just to fix whatever went wrong.
I knocked for what felt like hours but was likely only minutes only to be denied entry by Martina’s brother. The rejection hit me hard, but I told myself to chill. It wasn’t coming directly from her, so there was no need to lose myself to my animal. I sucked in a breath, nearly choking on the sharp tang of magic in the air. Davian Harbor had come out as a Witch years ago, but I never really thought about his powers. How strong they were and what not. It might have been a good idea to think about that before showing up half-crazed and banging on his door, but it was too late. I was already there, and my Wolf was desperate for any drop of information he had about our unclaimed mate.
“Is she here? Is she okay? I need to see her,” I asked, trying to calm my Wolf. But there was no getting the animal out of my voice.
“She doesn’t want to see you, man,” Davian said, and he looked exhausted with sadness and worry.
“Why? I don’t understand—”
“I know you don’t. But it’s her secret to tell, Mitch. I can’t do it for her. She is safe, though. That’s all you need to know.”
“I have to see her,” I pleaded, but he shook his head and before I could move the fucker had me pinned to the spot with some sort of magic spell. “Fuck. Let me go, man.”
“You know what I am, Mitchell, and I know what you are. You will not get in this house until she is ready, if ever. Do you understand?” he said with quiet strength, and my Wolf raged.
“You can’t keep her from me,” I growled, my beast roaring inside me.
I was about ten seconds from going feral and lighting everyone up in that fucking place, but I knew it wouldn’t help me. So, I reined in the monster, and tried for calm when all I wanted was to howl my misery and surrender to the darkness.
“I don’t want to keep her from anyone. She needs time, Mitch. If you are the man for her, give her some time.”
Fuck. Davian was right. I’d promised myself before that I would earn her trust, but I had to admit, I didn’t expect what had happened. I had no explanation for it and I was full of questions, but Davian made a good point. It was Martina’s decision now.
But I would show her I was worthy. I’d prove myself, somehow. The Wolf in me agreed with a long, guttural growl. The beast understood assignments and purpose. If I wanted to win Martina’s trust, her affection, and love, then I would need to give her time.
Be a patient hunter, I told my monster. Just be a little patient with her.
Grrrr.