Big Bad Bite Page 18

  Jenna was mortified. Her face must have shown it too because Amy watched her reaction with fierce curiosity. “You’re telling me that his wolf wants me, and he’s miserable because he doesn’t?”

  Realization dawned on Amy’s face, “No, no, that’s not what I’m saying. In Adam’s case, he does want you. I know that for a fact. He was just trying to capture your interest in ways you’d understand since you didn’t grow up knowing how one of our males would proceed with a female he wanted. He didn’t want to scare you off. Have I heard of obsession cases where the animal wanted something or someone that the human side didn’t want? Yes. That shit doesn’t end very pretty.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Heaving a sigh she continued, “If the human side of the shifter doesn’t handle the obsession and nip it in the bud, then the animal basically fights them for control. If the animal wins, then you have a feral shifter running around, doing whatever they want to get whatever they want, damn the consequences.”

  “Which would make it exceptionally scary in someone like Adam’s case, because his wolf is so close to the surface anyways?”

  “Exactly.”

  “So what’s Adam going to do?”

  It seemed like the weight of the world had settled on Amy’s shoulders, and it caused her to look somber as hell. “I don’t know. What I do know is that he’s honorable enough to not let his wolf force him to do anything he thinks would make you uncomfortable, scare you away, or inadvertently hurt you. Which scares the piss out of me, Jenna, because I’m afraid I’m going to lose the last member of my family seeing as he’d rather die than hurt the ones he cares about. There’s a good chance that my brother will surrender to the wolf, rather than force you to be his mate, so that he can survive.”

  Chapter Eleven

  After her talk with Amy, the severity of Adam’s situation weighed heavily on Jenna. The logical part of her brain told her that there was no way in hell any of this was her fault. It’s not like she’d run up to him and said; ‘Hi there, you’re hot, and I want your wolf to become crazy about me so he can slowly drive you insane until you eventually go ape shit, turn into a raging animal, and have to eventually be killed by those closest to you so that you don’t accidentally hurt someone or expose the ‘Other’ species’. On the contrary, she’d done her best to get Kent and Adam to leave her the hell alone. Still, her emotions were in the ringer and she was just waiting for someone to hang her out to dry on a clothes line to top off the emotional upheaval it was putting her through.

  She had no idea yet what to do or say about Adam’s wolf’s obsession, or even what her human side thought about possibly giving in and becoming Adam’s mate to help save his sanity, and therefore, his life. However, her wolf’s side was growling in pleasure at the thought of attaching them to such a strong, Alpha wolf. She felt her beast rumbling seductively at the idea of having such an impressive mate, and she was all but rubbing her fur on the inside of their human skin trying to entice Jenna to give in to her lusty animalistic desires. Her wolf kept sending graphic images to their brain as to what Adam for a mate could get them.

  She had to admit, a naked Adam in her bed for the rest of her days was one hell of a hot mental snapshot.

  Jenna had managed one small victory in the talk with Amy. She was able to get Amy to agree to keep their conversation between the two of them for now. She didn’t want Adam to know she knew what was going on, and it was for two very good reasons. The first reason was that if she could pretend to be in the dark about the problem, then there was less pressure on her about making a decision on what she was going to do. The second reason was that she wanted the opportunity to see how Adam was going to try and coerce her into being his mate. Would he try to bully and manhandle her into a relationship to save his own life as her human half feared? Or would he be as honorable as his sister claimed him to be, and try to develop something between them so Jenna would want to tie herself to this man and his beast, leading her and her beast to fall in love with him? She hadn’t known him very long, but what she did know about Adam was more than enough to peak her interests, and perhaps make him a tad bit endearing to her.

  He was protective of those that he considered his, in ways that was sure to drive her mad, but he did it because he wanted those he cared about to be safe from harm. He was obviously close to his sister, and his best friend Clay, who were good people in her eyes. In return, Amy and Clay were loyal to him on levels that were kind of awe inspiring. She knew without a doubt that they would follow Adam to the ends of the earth.

  She’d also taken notice that the McPhee Pack seemed well taken care of. So she could deduce that he took his responsibilities as Alpha seriously, instead of using it as a title to abuse and get the things that only benefited him. He was funny and flirty towards her in a way that made her think a relationship with him would be loads of fun. That was something that appealed immensely to her, since she hadn’t had a chance to experience that kind of thing yet in her life. Not to mention, the wolf was beyond sexy, and inspired such longing in Jenna’s body that there were times she thought she’d end up tackling him to the nearest horizontal surface to quench her hunger for him.

  It was a lot to swallow, and she had to tread carefully into murky waters to make the best decision. It seemed like an impossible situation, since she had to not only think about her own future happiness, but also the ramifications of what would happen if she turned Adam away. It would not just be the sad point that Adam would more than likely not be able to subdue his wolf and keep his sanity, but also the fact that if he went feral, and had to be put down, that Amy, Clay and their pack would suffer a tremendous blow in losing him. There was more than herself to think about here. Only Adam could prove to her that it would be worth it to become his mate. The quickening patter of her heart as he came into sight when she re-entered the conference room just assured her that there was a tremendously significant part of her that hoped he could prove it worth it.

  He was standing alone in the room, leaning his butt against the table with legs crossed at the ankles as he watched her progression into the room. Those warm amber eyes seemed to see everything. Looking through her bodily shell, into the heart of her and her wolf. The wolf liked the direct contact. The woman was a little unnerved by the intensity in his eyes. Moving slowly, he held his hand out to her, palm side up, inviting her to take it. She couldn’t help but stare at that strong hand for a second. Noting his neatly clipped nails, the strong lines of his fingers that connected to the palm, asking her to take a chance. She hesitantly slid her hand into his, and immediately felt comforted from the warmth that radiated through his hand into hers.

  He pulled her gently to stand in front of him. Guiding her to straddle his crossed legs so that she now held herself mere inches from total contact with his body. The warm penetrating gaze of his never left her own eyes, and the closer her body got to his, the hotter that look he gave her got. By the time he settled her in front of him, his hands burning her with intense heat through the clothes she wore at her hips, his strange brown eyes were molten with lust. Her breath caught at the sight.

  What would it be like to have a man that looked at you like that for eternity? Would he always want this badly to lay desperate eyes on her? Or would his attraction wane one day? It was too early to tell, but she did know that part of her would give anything to know that a man, maybe this man, could look at her like that for the foreseeable future.

  His voice came out gravelly when he said, “I like the look of you in my clothes, my little sweet tart.”

  She wrinkled her nose in playfulness. “You didn’t like the hooker outfit they gave me to replace my own torn clothes?”

  His hands slowly trekked up her back, erotically rubbing ever muscle on their journey until they reached the space between her shoulder blades before making a devastatingly similar journey south. It was the best petting session she’d ever had. The way he sensually rubbed along her spine was like hot liquid pourin
g down her frame until it pooled between her legs.

  “On the contrary, those clothes you were wearing were so hot they burnt my retinas. It was ruined for me though when your scent came to me, and you reeked of cat.” His hands inched a little further down so that they gripped her at the top of her butt, then he eliminated the scant few inches between them so they were touching from hips to chest. His erection was a hot wedge against her lower stomach. “It might sound lame, but I much prefer you dressed like this as a substitute to that minuscule skirt.”

  “Why?” She breathed. Her hands moving from their place prone at her sides to inch up his flat stomach and lay on the pecs of his chest. He groaned at the slow sensation of her caressing his body.

  “Because the look of you freshly showered and wearing my clothes makes my imagination run wild. It makes me think of the next time you’re dressed that way, just exactly how I could get you there. Which would involve getting you undressed again. Then giving you many, many reasons to make you hot and sweaty enough to need another shower. Followed by dressing you in more of my clean clothes. Now, can’t you see why I would like that scenario so much more?”

  She was rendered speechless. The air froze in her lungs as her mind played horrible tricks on her. Flashing little clips of what Adam could do to her while naked to get her sweaty. What delicious images they were too. If he couldn’t scent the little bit of arousal she’d felt before when he’d petted her so seductively, then there was no way he could miss it now. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that the lips of her sex had flooded with desire, and he undoubtedly smelled her reaction to his words.

  As if needing evidence to his ability to smell her lust, his nostrils flared and he released a growl that was low and sexy, vibrating into her body since they were touching. His grip on the cheeks of her derriere tightened, closing her eyes, he lowered his head so that their lips were finally touching. In place of the consuming hard, fast kiss he’d given her at his club days before, this one was infinitely gentle. He rubbed his lips against hers. The soft sensitive skin tingling with each slow pass, lingering before his tongue peeked out to skim the crease between her lips, urging her to open up for him.

  When she did, his tongue slipped between her parted lips and the sensual invasion was almost too much for her to bear. Her fingers fisted in his shirt, and she made her own groans into his mouth. His tongue was swirling around hers in such heavenly ways as he moved one of his hands up to grip her hair, angling her head slightly backwards so that he could invade her mouth deeper. The hand still hanging on to her backside tightened, and then started moving her hips to rub her core against his thighs. As if that weren’t enough sensation to kill her, he started to suckle her tongue in his mouth. The combination of the two acts had her core tightening and sensation building until she felt as if she would burst into a million pieces. Just as it became too much to bear, he disengaged his mouth and eased her backwards a few inches.

  Her vision seemed blurry, and she was confused as to why he’d stopped. He gave a harsh groan before dropping his forehead to her own, “Don’t look at me like that. I had to stop before we got carried away. I can hear the others footsteps, they’ll be hear any minute, and I didn’t think our first time should be on a conference table with an audience.”

  She nodded her head like a bobble-head in agreeance. It didn’t seem like all of her brain cells had come back on line yet. Hell, he’d probably just short circuited every last one she owned.

  His hands cupped her face tenderly, “I know things have been hectic for you lately Jenna, but would you spend some time with me later? Just you and me, getting to know one another?”

  She tried not to look flabbergasted, but was sure she failed. “You want to go on a date?”

  He huffed a laugh at her bewilderment. “Not this second, no. Later? Definitely. We’ll do whatever you want. Go to dinner. Go for a ride on our bikes. Anything at all.”

  Having those brain cells working right about now would have been nice. She looked into his eager eyes. How could she tell this man no when he looked at her like she was the sunrise, and he was tired of sitting in the dark?

  Her cheeks flushed, and she nibbled her bottom lip. Shyly averting her eyes from his, she whispered, “Dinner sounds nice.”

  He tucked a finger underneath her chin and smiled at her pink cheeks. “I like that I can bring that color to your face. It lets me know that I get to you as much as you get to me.” Pressing a soft, short kiss against her lips, he pulled away and said, “Thank you, sweetheart. Dinner it is. Till then, can you do me a favor?”

  Curious, she asked, “What?”

  “No more rubbing up against or hugging other men.”

  Shocked at his request, and maybe a little pissed at his proprietary demand, her brows furrowed as her anger started to kick in. Who the hell did he think he was to ask that of her? To expect her just to walk through life as his personal toy no one else was to come near? It ruffled every independent woman feather she had.

  She opened her mouth to tell him what she thought of his cave man routine, but he cut off her protest by adding, “I asked. That’s more than I would do with anyone else, Jenna. Others, I would tell them what to do and expect it to be followed. Or they would face the consequences. You, I asked. Think about what I’m asking for, it’s not a big thing. Imagine if you smelled some other woman’s scent on me, how you would react.”

  That comment stopped her impending rant dead in its tracks. How would she feel if she smelled some other woman on Adam? Dropping her head to look at the floor sightlessly while her imagination went into overdrive at some hypothetical situation, she was rather shocked when she heard the growls. They were coming from her. And apparently Adam had figured out what the source of her growling was from, because his body was trembling in poorly concealed laughter. Her hand smacked his chest.

  “You might have a point. If there’s no touching for me though, then there’s no touching for you. Agreed?”

  His eyes went molten again, “Agreed.”

  She thought he might kiss her again by the way he was looking at her, as if he was a dying man and her mouth was the source of everlasting life, but a throat clearing brought her out of the spell.

  Kent had come into the room. “You know, it’s a sad day when I can sneak up on the two of you.”

  Adam never looked away from her as he responded, “You didn’t sneak up on us demon. I knew you were there the whole time. You just weren’t significant enough for me to remove my attentions from the most intriguing thing in the room.”

  Her partner scoffed, “You’re a cocky pain in the ass, you know that right?”

  Pulling Jenna into his chest again, so that he was cuddling her, he set his chin on top of her head as he looked back to Kent and answered, “I’m sorry if you’re insulted by my honesty that you fail to register as a threat to me. Perhaps you should work less at seeing how many women you can bed, and more on becoming a contender against those of us who actually warrant the wary attention of those who are considered dangerous in this game we call life.”

  Other bodies filed into the room as Adam finished his comment. The Ivanov tigers arched interested eyebrows over the exchange, her Uncle and brother looked as if they genuinely could care less about what was being said, but her mother looked at Adam appraisingly.

  “Alpha McPhee, I’ll have you know that I use to be acquainted with Kent’s family rather well. If Kent wanted to enter the ring as a serious contender for who could wipe the floor with all of your smug attitudes, I assure you, he could. He’s just chosen a more carefree lifestyle than the one his family would force upon him if given the chance.”

  Now that comment caused a lot of shocked reactions. The surprise didn’t show on the faces of the room’s occupants, but you could feel the mood in the room shift into one of wary assessment. Backs became straighter, shoulders tensed. Jenna couldn’t wrap her head around the idea that her partner could be more than the always looking for a good time, playboy.<
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  Kelly O’Conner looked at Kent when she added, “Although I have no idea why you go by Kent. Really, Fr-“

  Kent roared in protest, holding his hand up, palm out, and aiming it at Kelly as if that could physically stop her from speaking. “Nope! No ma’am! You’re not allowed to utter that name. I refuse to even hear it.”

  Jenna’s left eye twitched. Seriously? The man hated his name that much that he wouldn’t even let other people hear it? That was kind of crazy. Looking over at her Mama, she saw her shoulders shrug before taking a seat next to Uncle Owen at the table.

  Owen looked bored and unimpressed with the spectacle. “Can we get this meeting going now? Perhaps the rest of you can waste your days away, but I assure you, I’ve got shit to do.”

  When everyone was situated in their respective seats, her Uncle looked to the Ivanov brothers. He seemed to scan them like he was internally dissecting them molecule by molecule. Weighing their motives. Their morals. Their honor. Their usefulness? Then he looked to their grandmother. Vera simply nodded in return to some unspoken question.

  “At least one of you seems eager to see this to the end. The other gives the impression that he would follow his brother no matter his own opinions on the matter. To bring both of you would draw too much attention. To bring one of you could help provide us some cover for those who would question our presence. Alec, if you are sincerely interested in participating, then I’d like you to accompany us to Germany. If you come, we would use your presence in the fight scene to smooth, what will assuredly be some pissy egos. See, the thing is, after recent events, I’m cautious as to whom we should trust. That makes me reluctant on whom to inform that we’re coming. That means I’d like to tell essentially no one. I’ll call the European Pack Master to inform him of our accompaniment of the Ivanov fighter, but that is it. There’s no telling how far up the chain of command this problem extends.”