Big Bad Bite Page 19

  Gage stopped rapping his finger on the table by holding it up to stop the werewolf’s speech. He cocked an impertinent eyebrow, “Oh, I’m going. If only to make sure that my brother doesn’t do anything stupid, or that you don’t accidentally get him killed. You don’t have to worry about people being aware of my presence. If you know anything about my profession, then you know it’s my job not to be seen, heard, or even become a fucking thought that crosses the mind. Not only will I be there, but because I don’t like the sound of all this bullshit you’ve dragged us into, I’m hand picking some of my team members to join me. That way when the lot of you gets yourself into a jam, and I guaran-damn-tee you’ll find yourself up to your knees and elbows in hot shit, I’ll be there to pull your sorry asses out of the way before you get yourself a whole lot of dead.”

  Ignoring Owen’s scowl he continued, “You can glare daggers at me all day long and it doesn’t change a thing. I’m going, and you’re just going to have to suck it up and like it. If you want to stay on my good side, you’ll not only like it, you’ll damn well thank me for it when I do inevitably save your sorry asses. So let’s skip the part where you think you can order me not to come, or try to talk me out of it, and move onto the next stage of your plan. When do you want to leave?”

  Jenna had heard of the phrase, ‘If looks could kill’ before, but the enraged expression that her Uncle sported said so much more. It said something like, ‘This look will not only kill you, but it will chop you up into tiny pieces, run you through the meat grinder, and then it will feed you to the pigs so that your body is never, ever found.’ Was it wrong to be grateful that look wasn’t leveled at her?

  Owen’s eyes glowed as his wolf shined out of them and he snarled, “You felines are more trouble than you’re worth. Don’t you have a string to go bat around? Do you have to follow me around, annoying me?”

  The tigers didn’t even bat a lash at the set down. Instead of being insulted, or getting angry, Alec looked over to his brother and said, “I don’t think he’ll be getting tail from Babushka after that comment, do you?”

  Owen lost the fight for patience and started banging his forehead against the conference table, muttering under his breath about useless felines, and the pains he had to endure to be near the ones that were his. The entire table shook every time he dropped his head back to its surface.

  Simultaneously, Gage slapped his brother on the backside of his head. “Gross dipshit. You are never to use the reference of sex and our grandmother in the same sentence again. I’m going to have nightmares for a month.” His eyes slid sideways to look at Vera, and then he shuddered in disgust.

  Adam rapped his knuckles on the table top. “Right. We get it. We’re going to Germany, two cats are coming whether we like it or not, and we’re to keep the purpose of our visit to ourselves. Anything else we need to know, Pack Master Davies?”

  Uncle Owen sat up in such a kingly manner that not a soul dared to point out he now had a giant red spot on his forehead from his repeated self-torture session with the table. He looked at Jenna, “We leave tomorrow morning. That gives you enough time to go home, arrange for emergency leave with your job based on a family emergency, and pack a bag. Enough for four days. You’ll be spending the night here on McPhee Pack lands.”

  He looked to Kent, “You’ll stay here and use your connections at the Police Department to monitor the city and make sure there isn’t another connected event.”

  His gaze moved to the Ivanov brothers, “Alec, you will meet us here in the morning to ride with us to the Wilmington International Airport. Figure out where we need to go to use the fight ring for our information. If your brother is so determined to come, he can find his own damn ride.”

  Finally, he looked at Adam, “We’ll stay at your cabin tonight. Do what you need to do to prepare for your absence. Discussion over.”

  Uncle Owen stood up, and walked out of the room without another word to any of its occupants, or to even look back at them. Her brother looked as if he was about to get up to follow him when Vera, who had been sitting closest to the door, stood and sauntered out of the room, presumably after her Uncle.

  Logan’s smile was smug and knowing as he watched the tigress’ hips sway seductively before she disappeared out of sight. Gage and Alec noticed where the young man’s view had been locked on their grandmother’s ass, and went deadly still watching the wolf with the look of a patient hunter about to take down their next meal.

  Huffing a laugh, Logan taunted the tigers, “Guess you were wrong, looks like he’ll be getting tail after all.”

  Jenna saw their muscles bunch, ready to spring at her brother. Before Alec and Gage launched, she placed herself bodily in front of Logan, throwing her hands out with her palms facing the two tigers, and shouted for them to stop. From one second to the next, there was a variety of objects suspended in the air between her and the two men determined to beat the snot out of her little brother.

  A pair of scissors spun in slow circles with their pointy sharp end aimed at Alec’s chest, just a couple of inches from making actual contact. A large glass vase was trembling in fury less than a foot from Gage’s head. Other menial objects such as a stapler, porcelain coffee cup, about a dozen pens, an electric pencil sharpener, and a metal three hole page punch dotted the air in front of the men, threatening to use their slight weights in an attempt to pummel them, even if on a non-life threatening level. The men stared wide eyed at the objects hovering in front of them. Moving their eyes upward, they saw that the desktop printer was looming over Gage’s head, and the flat panel computer monitor hung over Alec’s. Every object that Jenna held in wait as a weapon against the brothers, was either spinning in circles or vibrating with her telekinetic energy.

  The tigers weren’t exactly pissing themselves in fear, but at their wide eyed wonder she had a feeling that she had made her point clearly enough. “Don’t ever try to come at my brother again. If you so much as twitch in his direction, I’m going to the closest object bigger than my fist, and I’m going to see just how far I can shove it up your ass without physically touching you. Comprende?”

  Alec’s lip lifted in a sneer, but he nodded in agreement with Gage. Of course, the victory was short lived when Logan had to go and ruin it for her.

  He barked a laugh. “They’re pussies!” He laughed again in self-amusement. “Literally! Get it? Pussies?”

  Jenna kept all of the desktop obstacles between her side of the table, and the opposite side where the Ivanov’s looked like they wanted to sharpen their claws on her brother’s carcass to shut up his annoying laughter. However, that didn’t stop her from mentally picking up the binder that lay a few feet behind Logan on top of a file cabinet, and flinging it at the back of his head. It connected with a resounding smack that caused her brother to yelp.

  “Don’t antagonize the two men in the room who could shift into tigers four times your wolf’s size and play tug of war with your idiotic hide.”

  Properly chastised, Logan sent a mock regretful puppy dog look towards Jenna. “Of course, sister. You’re right. I’ll behave from now on.” He skirted around the table, pretending for all the world to see as if he were a naughty little boy having been reprimanded by his older sibling, and then cheerfully shouted, “Pussies!” Before hastily exiting the room.

  Jenna sighed, gently replacing the heavier or breakable items back in their original places before letting go of her power, and watching the pens and stapler clatter to the table below them. She looked over to Gage who was gritting his teeth and staring at the empty doorway.

  “Do you happen to have that rolled up newspaper you were talking about earlier?”

  He growled, “No, but I think I have a shock collar in the SUV.”

  *****

  Jenna parked her truck in the driveway behind her Uncle’s SUV and watched Adam and Amy walk across the yard towards her. Getting out, she snagged her duffle bag, hooked it over her shoulder, and closed her truck door as they closed the s
pace between them.

  “What’s up guys?”

  Adam grabbed her bag’s strap, slid it back off her shoulder, and then handed the whole thing over to his sister. He grabbed her hand and started dragging her past the side of the house towards his back yard.

  “Where are we going, Adam?”

  “Our date.” Shocked by his response she didn’t say another word until he stopped next to a four wheeler loaded down with a folded blanket and a picnic basket. “We’re having our first date tonight?”

  Those luscious lips of his smirked. “You sound surprised. If not tonight, then when would you schedule our date, my little sweet tart?”

  Her cheeks flushed crimson. She felt the heat of the blush travel down her neck as she shrugged a shoulder. He leaned over slowly, brushing his lips against hers.

  “Don’t worry. I won’t keep us out too late.” He swung his leg over the four wheelers seat and settled. Looking over his shoulder at her, he smiled rakishly. “Climb on, let’s go have some fun.”

  She sat down behind Adam and gripped her hands around his waist just before he gunned the motor and shot off into the woods like a madman. Taking a trail through the trees, they rode for close to half an hour before he finally pulled up to a small grassy opening that sat a couple of yards away from the same stream she and Amy had visited earlier in the week. Adam waited until she dismounted from the four-wheeler before he draped the blanket over his left arm, and used his left hand to grab the picnic basket. When his right hand grabbed her own, she couldn’t help but shiver at the heat he gave off. If she used her hands to touch him other places, would he feel that hot everywhere?

  When he let her hand go to arrange the plush blanket across the grass in front of them, she almost whimpered at the loss of his warmth. Who knew something so small could feel so comforting? With the blanket spread out, he set the picnic basket down to the side and dropped to the middle of the blanket. Sitting with his legs sprawled out in front of him, he grabbed her hand once again and pulled her down to sit by his side. Watching as he pulled out containers of snack size cuts of ham, cheeses, and crackers, her stomach rumbled. The side of his mouth ticked up in a grin as he pulled out a few more containers filled with strawberries and cut pineapple. As he pulled out two giant sized metal drink containers, she had to marvel how the silence between them was in no way awkward. In fact, Jenna couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this comfortable around another person. If her nerves weren’t as jumpy as a downed power line, then she’d like to think she could curl up with him on their blanket and just be. That alone would be like a fairytale come to life for her lonely soul.

  Night started to fall around them, the sounds of the forest and its inhabitants settling in for the night. She marveled at the sounds of nature’s symphony with crickets singing, accompanied by the rustle of leaves in the gentle summer night breeze. Of course, there was no movement from animals bigger than the crickets. They’d long since scuttled away at the sight, smell, or sound of humans with the scent of wolves.

  Adam handed her a paper plate piled high with a bit of everything. She was touched by his intimate gesture of making her food. “Thank you. You didn’t have to make my plate, I could have done it.”

  His strange amber eyes shined with sincerity when he murmured, “I don’t mind taking care of you, Jenna. It’s a pleasure for me. I’d take care of much more than making a simple plate of food if you’d let me.”

  Her cheeks flooded with heat. His suggestive tone made it clear even to her naive self just what he’d like to take care of for her. The more time she spent alone with him, the more she started to think that she’d very much like him to take care of those things too.

  As he unscrewed the lid to her drinking bottle, he asked, “So, you have some telekinetic abilities. What you did today, is that the extent of it, or are you capable of doing more?”

  Nibbling on meat paired with a cracker, she shrugged, “As far as telekinetic abilities among demons, Mama says I’m about the average. I’ve yet to be able to lift something heavier than say, your conference table. My mother is always pushing me to try harder. She knows that with my hybrid genetics nothing is guaranteed about how strong my inherited powers from her side of the family will be, but she has a hard time believing that I’m unable to do more.”

  “Why, is she able to lift that much more than you?”

  A harsh laugh escaped. “Yeah, you could certainly say that. Mama could have chucked your conference table over a few football fields.”

  “That far? How much can she lift? Could she lift my bike?”

  “That would be puny work for her.”

  “My SUV?”

  “Yup. She could lift it, and throw it at least a football field away.”

  “You’re serious? She could lift an SUV that weighs thousands of pounds and throw it the length of a football field?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “How much can she lift then? Something has to be too heavy. Everyone has their limits. Could she lift the small cabin next to the house?”

  Snorting, she let an amused grin spread across her face at his skeptical awe, “The cabin is nothing, wolf. She could lift your house and make it do one hell of an impression of Aunt Em’s farmhouse caught in the tornado in the Wizard of Oz.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Nope. My Mama’s side of the family has always produced extremely powerful abilities.”

  “That has to be very hard for you then, if she pushes you in the hopes that your own abilities will become something more like her own.”

  A wry twitch overcame her lips. “Can you imagine? The product of one high level demon and the former Pack Master of the United States having weak telekinetic powers, and perhaps half of a shifter’s natural born abilities. Pretty pathetic, huh?”

  He took her empty plate out of her lap and placed it with his own inside the picnic basket. Grasping her waist he dragged her closer to him so that they were sitting side by side, flush from shoulder to hip. Then, with his hands moving up to caress the sides of her face she watched as his wonderfully weird amber eyes turned molten gold as he brought their faces closer.

  “You are the most perfect thing I’ve ever seen in my life, Jenna. From the moment I laid my eyes on you, I’ve been mesmerized.” Moving his finger to trace lightly down the side of her velvety cheek he continued, “Everything about you feels as if you were made perfectly for me. Your striking eyes are not only beautiful, but they’re sharp, and easily display your intelligence. Your pale skin perfectly complements this sexy black hair that tempts me to wrap my hands up in it, trapping you in my grasp, so that I can kiss those lush lips of yours. Your body feels like it was built so that all of your amazingly soft curves fit against me in the sexiest ways. The fact that you can use that incredible body of yours to kick practically anyone’s ass, Jesus” A groan escaped Adam as he rubbed his forehead against hers for a second before pulling back again to finish, “It’s the most arousing thing I’ve ever seen. Everything about you is perfect to me, Jenna. In my eyes, no one could ever measure up to you. No wonder my wolf is obsessed with you.”

  Her breath hitched at what had to be the consummate example of everything she could have ever asked for a man to say to her. “Kiss me, Adam?”

  “I thought you’d never ask.”

  His lips crashed down on hers, and they quickly spiraled into a drugging kiss full of questing tongues, playful nips on lips, and a mating of their mouths. . Unfortunately, her body was at war with her mind. Every cell in her body felt like it was screaming at her to peel off his clothes so that he could make love to her on this blanket in the middle of what had quickly become their own blissful little world. But her mind protested her body’s desires. It frantically told her to slow down, to get to know Adam a little more before handing over her heart right along with her body. Her kisses started to falter as she fought to sort out the conflicting feelings.

  Adam noticed the new hesitation. He disengaged their
mouths to pull back and question her with his eyes. Jenna feared his anger or disappointment over her putting the proverbial brakes on what he must have thought would be the completion of the burning lust that ignited between them. Would he harp on her inexperience? Belittle her for being a tease? Storm off from her in rage that he couldn’t have the release that he probably felt had been promised to him by her earlier actions?

  As she stared warily back at his questioning eyes, suddenly terrified he would end what had quickly become the best night of her life, she saw the questions disappear from his face. This was the moment. This was the second that he would either crush every girlish fantasy she had never dared to dream, or show her that he was a man honorable enough to wait for what he wanted, regardless how much it must hurt him to deny him and his beasts’ desires. Her breath caught in her chest as she waited.

  It was undeniably a breath worth holding.

  His eyes shined with new understanding. His fingers stroked soothingly over her face. Those exquisite, kiss swollen lips of his smiled at her reassuringly. His voice was hoarse as he rumbled in low tones.

  “No pressure. I’ll wait until you know without a doubt, that you can trust me to love you inside and out, and not hurt you. You’re more than worth waiting for.”

  Leaning forward again, he gently rubbed his forehead across hers and then dragged his nose along her jaw while breathing deeply. He took in her scent, filling his lungs before he pulled back to place a kiss on the tip of her nose. Leaning down to lay on his side, he pulled her down with him so that they lay facing each other.