Seven Years

Kissed him like I’d fantasized about doing for the last seven years. I gripped the back of his neck with my right hand and my fingernails bit into his skin. Austin was a phenomenal kisser with all the right tongue moves. Slowly stroking me like he meant to kiss me elsewhere. The next thing I knew, his hand slid up my nightshirt and down my panties in the back. He gripped my ass and rubbed it so hard that I made a strangled moan in the back of my throat.

“Take them off,” I breathed against his mouth, pushing up to my elbow so I was leaning more on top of him.

“Christ,” he whispered back. “I can’t.” He pulled his hand away and there I was, the desperate girl who was left wanting Austin Cole, who didn’t want me back.

And boy did that piss me off. I nipped his lip hard enough that he “owed” in response, and I flew out of bed.

“Fine. I’ll go sleep with one of your brothers.”

I really didn’t mean it that way. What I meant to say was I would sleep in one of their beds. Just not with them. Sharing a bed with a man who turned me on and shut me out wasn’t in my best interest.

He caught me by the wrist and yanked me back to the bed. “Over my dead body,” he said roughly.

I twisted my arm and he lost his grip. “I get that you don’t like me like that, Austin. You woke up with a hard-on; big fucking deal,” I said angrily. “But don’t work me over and then make me out to be some desperate, clingy woman. That’s right—woman. I’m grown up now, and I make my own decisions, including whose bed I sleep in. And whose bed I don’t sleep in.”

When I turned away, he grabbed my hips and pulled me back. Suddenly, my backside was pressed against his front, and his front was thick and hard.

His hot breath touched my ear and I shivered.

“You’re too close to going into heat, Lexi, and it’s driving me fucking wild.”

The little hairs on my neck stood up.

“This will push you right into it, and it’s too soon. I sure as hell don’t want it happening in one of my brother’s beds,” he bit out. “You don’t want me to go all the way. You have no idea what sliver of a thread I’m hanging on to right now to maintain control, because I could slide your panties down and slip inside you in less than three seconds. You hear me?”

“Yeah,” I breathed, feeling his fingers clawing into my hips.

“And trust me, I want to. My body can’t help but react to a woman in heat. But you’re the good girl and I’m the bad boy, and we’ve both known that for years.”

He released his grip and slid his right hand down to my belly while my idiot head fell back on his shoulder.

“Come back to bed. Sleep beside me. We have a long day ahead to find your mother, and us having sex in my brother’s shitty-ass Pink Floyd bedroom is not going to be a magical moment for you. It’s going to make things weird between us, and I look after my pack and make sure that they get what they need. A one-night stand is not what you need.”

“There you go again, Austin Cole, making decisions for me.”

He stilled, as if he were making up his mind. Then he came to his conclusion and spun me around to face him.

“Alexia Talulah Knight, get into this bed.”

“I hate my middle name,” I complained.

“I know,” he said with a warm smile in his voice. “Now get in.”

He scooted toward the wall and I crawled beside him. Every ounce of lust that was in my body had magically evaporated. I was too mad to be turned on anymore, and Austin decided to roll over and show me his back to prevent anything further from happening.

When I was almost asleep, I heard him mumble, “I like your name; it’s Native American. I looked it up once.”

I was too exhausted to ask him about the references to me going into heat, so we slept the rest of the night beside each other.

Just like old times.

Chapter 14

The next morning, I woke up in Jericho’s bed, alone. I shuffled my feet down the hall, past the bar, the atrium on the right, and then into the kitchen.

“Lexi, look! I got marshmallows!”

I glanced at Maizy’s cereal. Mom always bought her the healthy whole-grain stuff, which I’d argued defeated the purpose of childhood. Denver sat at the table with a glass of milk and the funny papers. He had dark circles under his eyes and nodded when I sat down.

I watched Maizy pick out the colored marshmallows from her cereal and eat them, saving the pink ones for last.

“You feeling okay this morning, honey?”

“Uh huh,” she sang, as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred the day before. I wanted to ask all kinds of questions, but I decided not to upset her while she was eating.

“Where is everyone?” I asked.

Denver put one hand behind his neck and stretched his left arm. “Hunting. I’m on chick patrol.”

“You got chickens?” Maizy asked.

I snorted. “Did Austin go too?”

“Yep. I got a funny feeling he’ll be going out of town.”

“Why do you say that?”

Denver pushed back his chair and yawned a big, ugly yawn. “He knows a Packmaster who might be able to help. He’s getting some gear together.”

Austin still cared for my mom, even though he had no clue how mad she was at him. My heart warmed a little at the thought, knowing he was going above and beyond what the cops would ever do to get her back.

“Damn,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “I have to tend bar tonight and I’m no good unless I can get in a nap. Maybe I’ll call in and tell them I got an itch I need to scratch.”

“So you guys always knew you were… you know,” I said, glancing at Maizy. I didn’t want her to hear every little bit of this whole Shifter conversation.

“Yeah. But as kids, we’re just like humans. We don’t howl at the moon or anything.” For effect, he howled and Maizy giggled. Then he turned to me seriously and folded his fingers together, resting his elbows on the table to speak in a private voice. “A good pack is better than a human family. Alphas naturally form them and we spread out over the territories. Some cities have more of us, some less. Some are corrupted a-holes and the rest are committed to family. We look after our own. No matter how I feel about some of these dickwads in the house, I’d lay down my life for them. That’s how it goes in this family. We protect our own. It’s instinct—one I’m sure you’ve felt your whole life. That’s one little characteristic where we differ from most humans.”

“Yeah,” I said softly, reflecting on the unbreakable bond I’ve always felt with my family. Maybe he was right. “How old is everyone?”

He snorted. “Shake their pockets and a few Mayan coins might roll out.”

“I’m serious.”

Denver snagged one of Maizy’s blue marshmallows and nibbled on the tip. “I’m not much older than Austin, but the others are closer in age. Reno is over a hundred and—”

“A hundred?” I said in disbelief.

“He’s got some wild stories, but we only get to hear them when he’s tanked. The twins came next and then there was a stretch before Jericho. Your mind doesn’t age much, Lexi. That’s why you see all those eighty-year-old women acting silly. In their head, they’re still young. Time doesn’t change people, experience does. And sickness.