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She watched him pause. He stilled, just like that, his eyes trained on her in a way that made her pulse leap in heated warning.
“Negotiations.” He set the bag of coffee beans on the table between them. “I can handle that.”
“Hm, I bet you can,” she murmured. “So, state your demands and let’s get on with it.”
There hadn’t been an Enforcer yet that could out-negotiate her. Even Wolfe had to struggle to do so.
Jacob watched her carefully, suspiciously. “No more than a cup a day,” he stated.
Faith rolled her eyes. “If you aren’t going to take this seriously, Jacob, I’ll just carry the damned bag around my neck.”
He frowned. “A cup is more than you need.”
“And much less than I’ll actually be drinking. The least I intend to settle for is four pots before late afternoon, if we are in the house all day. So, let’s go from there.”
His lips thinned. “Four pots? Faith, no wonder you never sleep. The caffeine alone will kill you.”
He looked so domineering that she wanted to chuckle. She kept her expression calm despite that need. If he saw a single weakness in her stance now it would all be over with.
“I never sleep because I’m too horny to sleep,” she assured him, going for the jugular now. “You take care of your duties as my mate, and perhaps the coffee problem will take care of itself along with it.”
Surprise froze his expression. “Not that I mind fucking you, baby, but I’m not your damned stud,” he bit out, his tone edging on furious.
How had she known he would react just like that, Faith wondered in amusement.
She shrugged. “It would appear to me that perhaps there is a problem there. But that’s beside the point. We’re talking coffee here, not sex.”
She watched his lips thin, his eyes darken. Not in fury, but in complete surprise. She would have laughed at the expression if she weren’t more concerned with watching the swirl of emotions that suddenly filled his gaze.
“You believe the problem is with me?” he asked her incredulously. “You think I don’t desire you?”
“Jacob, I don’t think it’s a matter of not desiring me, but a matter of keeping up with me. Coffee or no coffee, I just don’t think it can happen. I’ve tried doing without. It only gets worse,” she admitted with a shrug. “But we’re debating my coffee...”
“Faith, I could keep up with you any day of the week,” he growled in irritation. “Are you trying to insult me?”
“If I were trying, Jacob, then you would know it,” she promised him with a frown. “Can we get back to the coffee?”
Faith tried to ignore the sharp, bursting heat in her vagina as he faced her. Her entire body was warming, preparing itself for him. She could see the determination to master her filling his expression.
“Forget the damned coffee.” One hand swiped through the air as he watched her with an expression of male challenge. “I want to discuss the sex.”
She propped her hands on her hips. “Forget the sex, Jacob. I wanted sex the other night and you stomped away like a spoiled child. I don’t want the sex, I want the coffee.”
He paused, his eyes narrowing as he considered her intently.
“If you want the coffee, then you have to give out,” he informed her smugly. “It makes you hornier, remember?”
“And I’ve done without for six years, remember?” she reminded him sarcastically. “I’ll make it another six if I want to.”
Jacob frowned. He laid his hand on the coffee bag, but it was the bulge behind his zipper that made her mouth water.
“No sex, no coffee. That’s non-negotiable.” His expression settled into lines of male stubbornness.
Faith restrained her urge to laugh at him. Like she was about to turn down the sex.
“The sex is negotiable then?” she asked him, her head tilting as she considered him.
Jacob frowned, his eyes narrowed. “Do you have to negotiate everything, Faith?”
She snorted. “I haven’t negotiated near enough where you are concerned, Jacob. If I had, I wouldn’t have suffered with terminal horniness for the past six years. I get my coffee, you get the sex. No limits allowed. No crying foul if you can’t keep up.”
“How much coffee can you drink?” he asked her suspiciously.
Faith made certain her smile was innocent and non-threatening. “The question is, Jacob, how often can you fuck?”
How often could he fuck? As though he didn’t have the stamina to keep up with a woman who until the other night had been a virgin. Jacob watched Faith as she poured a cup of coffee in unconcern. She had her back turned to him, and that dress draped her ass perfectly. She turned back to him, cup in hand, watching him with that damned expression of curious interest. As though she expected him to doubt he could keep up with her. He almost snorted in disgust. He wanted to growl in frustration. He reminded himself to question Wolfe about the alternate personalities she seemed to be displaying. Temperamental minx one moment, a nympho on a mission the next. She would drive him insane.
He owed his Pack Leader a forceful “thank you” for not apprising him properly of what to expect. And Jacob had no doubt Wolfe knew. As though the sexual revelations hadn’t been enough to contend with, he was now forced to deal with an added aggressiveness from his once quiet, shy Faith that threw him completely off balance.
“You know, Faith, it occurs to me that in your role of negotiator and Liaison to the Pack, that perhaps you have come under the impression that you are somehow not limited by the same rules as the rest of us mortal beings.” He crossed his arms over his chest, glancing pointedly at the coffee cup.
Her delicate brows lowered in a frown. “How so?” She sipped the coffee, and Jacob restrained his urge to smile with smug satisfaction.
The caffeine was proven to heighten the arousal, the adrenaline during the female’s cycle of heat. The aggression and sexual longings could be tempered and controlled if she would listen to reason.
“You forget, mate. The males of our breed are naturally stronger, and highly sexed. I will have you pleading for mercy before you sleep tonight.” And he had no doubts, caffeine or not, that he could wear her down.
She was baiting him, he knew. Holding against him his ignorance of her condition for the past six years and her disappointment in his emotional responses, and she was determined to make him pay, one way or the other. Her amused belief that her arousal was greater than his ability to temper it made him more than determined to prove otherwise.
That was a smile she was hiding behind the cup that she raised to sip at. A deliberate, knowing smile that made the beast in him roar in outrage. He knew it was. Added with her smug assurance was the scent of her heat driving him crazy. That had to be the reason for his own unstable emotions right now. That was the only explanation for this asinine game he was allowing her to draw him into.
“According to you, you haven’t had any for six years, until the other night,” she challenged him. “It’s a proven fact that when men, even Breeds, do without for long periods, they have no control. And I think I read a man is good for only twice a night, and then only a few times a week. Those aren’t good averages.” She shrugged. “Perhaps ordering the vibrators in case you get tired would be a good idea.”
Oh, how innocent she looked as she baited him. As though she had no idea what such a challenge would do. As a Liaison, as a female breed, Jacob knew she well understood what she was doing. Or at least, she should. Could her innocence, her needs, be allowing her to overlook this fact?
He narrowed his eyes on her, trying to see past the sweet delicacy her expression revealed for any hidden motives she might have. When he saw nothing but her utter belief in her own words, he felt irritation flare inside him once again. He would definitely show her that he was more than capable of keeping up with any desires she might have.
“Finish the cup of coffee now.” He glared at her.
Faith froze. He liked that little glimmer of apprehension he suddenly saw in her eyes, the way every muscle in her body tensed, and the sweet fragrance of her arousal deepened.
“Excuse me?” She quirked a brow. It was a charming move, but his cock wasn’t in the mood to be charmed, and neither was he.
The prickling along his flesh was only growing worse. The sensitivity of his skin, the need to touch her, taste her, was driving him crazy. He had spent the night tossing and turning in his bed, denying himself, staying away from her, intent on protecting her. She needed love and happily-ever-after, and in his world, they just didn’t exist. He wanted to be honorable; he wanted to protect her from the world he inhabited and in part, from himself. But he would be damned if he would deny himself any longer. She had come to him, that sweet ass flexing in front of him, her voice soft and husky, her need scenting the air around him.
And now, she had the utter temerity to challenge his manhood. Sweetness and innocence be damned. He would show her what it meant to be his mate, and if she didn’t like it, then the blame could rest on her, and no longer mire his soul in guilt.
“Finish the coffee, Faith,” he growled again. “I believe it’s time to show you who can keep up and who can’t.”
He watched the pulse accelerate in her neck, the way her breasts quickened with her sharp breaths. She was intrigued, and just a little bit frightened. She was reconsidering her challenge, he guessed. He hid a short smile of triumph. It was too late for her to reconsider anything.
She sipped at her coffee again, and he could practically feel her searching desperately for control of the situation. She had much to learn about male breeds, and her own mate in particular. He would allow her very little control now.
“I have work to do. Sex is a nighttime sport, I believe.” She finally recovered, shrugging elegantly, a smooth lift of her shoulders, an expression of unconcern. It was spoiled by the flush on her cheeks, the glitter of arousal in her black eyes.
“Sex has just become your vocation, mate,” he promised as he stalked to her, lifting the coffee easily from her hand and smacking the cup to the counter.
She was opening her mouth to insult him again. He knew she was, and he had no desire to hear more of her opinions on male stamina. He covered her lips with his, his tongue spearing into her mouth as she gasped in surprise. He gave her no time to protest. He was learning that in giving her so much as a second to speak was his downfall every time. He would do best to keep her mouth filled, if not with his tongue, then his cock.
He was rewarded for his initiative when her lips closed on his tongue, drawing at the sensitive flesh, easing the ache of the swollen glands and filling both their mouths with the heady taste of spice and a rainstorm as they released their potent hormone.
His hand moved to her waist, then to the taut curves of her backside as he pulled her closer, lifting her hips until he could grind the heat of her mound against his erection. She was like fire in his arms now, her breathy moans caressing his lips as her tongue tangled with his, then followed it back to his mouth. It flickered over his lips, his teeth, tangled with his until he put a stop to her antics by allowing his lips to clamp onto it, drawing on it as she had done his.
Her body tightened, arching closer to him as she whimpered into the caress. Her hands weren’t still either. They caressed his shoulders, tangled in his hair, her nails biting into his scalp as she fought to get closer. Jacob’s hands tightened on her ass, lifting her closer.
He groaned in surprise as her legs lifted, her smooth thighs clamping at his hips as she moved against him, notching him higher, tighter against her hot pussy. And it was hot. It seared him through his jeans, the fire so tempting he had to grit his teeth to keep from releasing his cock and pounding it into her furiously.
The little minx. She had to know what she had done to him. She had to know how he craved her taste, her touch, like a man possessed.
“Oh yeah,” he whispered against her lips, nipping at them as she began to ride the ridge of his erection.
His hands held her steady, holding her tighter, closer as she ground herself on him.
“That’s good, Faith. So damned good,” he groaned, unable to hold back his own sounds of pleasure as he felt the dampness of her panties through the material of his jeans.
“I can get better.” Her lips went to his neck, caressed their way to his shoulder, then her canines raked the mark she left on him, making him jerk with the pleasure of it.
“Save me some sanity,” he groaned, his lips returning the favor as he sipped at the fragrant skin of her neck.
Jacob could feel the need spearing through his body like tiny pinpoints of lightning. His muscles tightened with it, making control a tenuous concept as she moved against him, moaning out her pleasure, her moisture dampening the jeans over his erection. One hand moved from the curves of her butt, smoothing down her thigh.
Faith stilled, her breathing harsh, heavy in the steamy atmosphere of lust that rose between them. Jacob allowed his hand to caress her outer thigh, then around to the satin softness of her bare buttock, and down, down to where soft liquid silk awaited the touch of his fingers.
She cried out as his fingers pushed under the material of her thong, inserting itself at the humid entrance of her vagina. She bore down against it, trembling, heated cries breaking from her throat as he teased her with the possibility of his finger thrusting inside her.
“Jacob,” she cried out his name beseechingly.
“Not yet, baby,” he growled, his finger circling the tender entrance.
“Jacob,” she whimpered tremulously. “Please, Jacob. It hurts. It hurts so bad.”
He could feel the pulse of her inner muscles, the soft slide of moisture as it raced over his fingertips. She was so hot she seared him. And in pain. He clenched his teeth, fighting for control. He was so close to ravaging her, to taking when he should be easing. He knew she was in pain, literally. Her needs would rise so high, when unfulfilled, that the pain could be agonizing. The report Wolfe had sent had been very in-depth in that area.
And Jacob admitted that it wasn’t much better for him. He could feel every muscle in his body tightening, nearly cramping with the demand for release.
He held her close to him as he turned her, stepping over to the table and easing her onto it. She gasped as the cool wood met her hot skin. Jacob’s fingers went to the buttons of her dress and he swallowed a moan as hers went to the buttons of his jeans.
He tore the material in his haste to get her out of it, but finally he was tossing it to the floor, his mouth watering at the sight of her firm, up-thrust breasts and their dark pink nipples.
Faith’s hands were pushing his jeans over his hips, releasing the swollen length of his cock as Jacob tore her panties from her. He wanted the foreplay. He wanted to taste her, to lick every drop of cream from between her thighs. He wanted to suckle at her breasts, nibble at her nipples.
Easy, baby,” he groaned as her fingers tried to encircle the width of his cock. “Slow down, Faith. Let me make it good for you, baby.”
He wanted her to know how he cherished her body, her desire for him. He wanted to stroke her skin, just because it was so warm and so damned soft it made him think of fairy tales. He wanted to kiss her, stroke her. He wanted her pussy so damned wet he could drown in it.
“Hmm, maybe I’m the one who needs to make it good for you,” she panted, her hand stroking his torturously hard shaft. “I’m not the one having problems in this relationship.”
His hands were at her breasts. He could barely make sense of her words, he was so greedy to touch the full, swollen curves that beckoned him. He felt her gasp of pleasure as his hands filled with the warm flesh. He had to still the trembling of his body and his eagerness for her. He felt starved, deprived, at the edge of a banquet, terrified it would be snatched from him before he could sate his hunger.
“No fears,” he growled, his head lowering to the tempting peaks of her darkened nipples. “Your pleasure is all I need, Faith...” He groaned, his hands tightening on her breasts as he licked at the hard pebble of her nipple.
He heard her whimper of need, felt her body heating and couldn’t control the flex of his hips that drove his cock against her fingers. Her back arched, pushing the hard tips of her breasts to his lips and Jacob was in no frame of mind to deny her. He covered one hard tip with a hungry sigh of pleasure and proceeded to take his fill of her.