Filed to story: The Alpha’s Pen Pal Book
“That sounds perfect,” she says with a smile, and every tense cell in my body relaxes.
Her grin is contagious. It would light up a room, lift the heaviest of spirits, brighten the darkest of hearts. And just like that, I almost forget every reason I am going to reject her. I almost act on my urges, almost close the distance between us, take her in my arms, and press my lips to hers, throwing all my best-laid plans for my life out with the garbage.
Almost.
Then all those reasons come flooding back into my mind, flashing through it like a slideshow on speed, and I remember. I remember why I can’t give in, why I don’t want a mate. I remember what is at stake, what there is to lose if I let myself have her.
I can’t let myself have her.
“But I’m going to grab my sweatshirt and a few other things from my car first. My ass is freezing!” she adds, pointing at her car over her shoulder, pulling me from my thoughts.
“I need to pull my car around anyway,” I say with a chuckle.
“Okay.”
“Okay,” I reply.
She walks away, and I stand there like a dumbass, watching her. Watching her as she walks, watching the stretch of her legs and the slight shake of her hips with each step she takes, watching her tight ass and the way her leggings hug her curves just so.
And even though we’re going to see her again in less than five minutes, my wolf whines in my head as she continues to move further away from us.
“Goddess, mutt, will you just chill?” I grumble under my breath, tearing my eyes from Taryn so I can get my car from the garage.
The urgency of my wolf pushes me to move faster than I want to, and my old, restored, red Mustang pulls up in front of the packhouse in almost no time at all. Taryn is waiting, an oversized white hoodie covering her workout gear and a small dark pink purse on her shoulder.
While part of me is bummed she’s covered up the tight-fitting top that hugs her toned muscles in all the right ways and shows off that sliver of skin I kept thinking about accidentally-on-purpose touching the entire time we trained earlier, there is a larger part of me that is relieved. And my wolf is pleased as punch.
He doesn’t want anyone else to see what lies underneath that baggy sweatshirt since she doesn’t have a mating mark. And I don’t need the temptation. Resisting her is difficult enough as it is. At least this way, her gorgeous body isn’t on display for my eyes and wolf to get distracted by.
“Sweet ride,” she says as she hops into the passenger seat and buckles up. “Did you restore it yourself?” she asks, running her hands over the dark leather interior.
“Sort of.” I pull away from the packhouse and drive towards the road. “My dad actually restored it first, when I was a kid, and I helped him a little. I re-restored it when I graduated high school. It was… my graduation gift to myself, I guess.”
“Very cool.” She gives the car’s interior another appreciative once over, her hands continuing to stroke the leather.
I wish it was my skin under her hands instead of the leather.
My foot slips on the gas at that unwelcome desire. To cover it, I rev the engine a few times, then zoom down the road towards the city. She grips the edge of her seat but gives a delighted laugh at the sound and the speed.
I slow down almost right away, though. As much as I would love to show her how fast this baby can go, there is enough snow dusting the ground that it isn’t a good idea. I shouldn’t even be driving my Mustang in this weather, but I’ve borrowed Wesley’s truck too many times the last few weeks, and my uncovered Jeep isn’t a better option either. I could have used one of the pack’s vehicles that are equipped with proper tires and gear, but I didn’t want any other wolf’s scent on or near us.
I mean, my wolf didn’t want that. And even though I am rejecting her, I have to do some things my wolf wants so I can keep him appeased. For now. Once she’s rejected, once the bond severs, then it won’t matter.
“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” she asks, settling back against the seat.
“Let’s get our food first, Cadet,” I say, shaking my head. “Food always makes bad news better.”
“You mean cookies make bad news better,” she says, her lips twitching and her eyes flicking to me.
I sigh, but my lips twitch, too. “Yes. I mean cookies.”
“I have a question,” she says, angling her body towards mine.
“Yes?”
“What are all these rules you have? The ones Sebastian said you’d eventually break.”
I grimace and look down for a moment. “No kissing, no sleepovers, no pack members, and no mate,” I say, ripping the Band-Aid off and ticking them off my fingers as I go.
“No kissing?” she asks. “Like, no kissing at all?”
I blink. Not the rule I would have assumed she’d fixate on. Then again, nothing about her has been what I expected.
“Nope,” I say. “Kissing is more intimate than people realize. You can have enjoyable sex without kissing someone, but as soon as you add kissing to the mix, then you open the door for—“”Oh, no, I get why,” she says with a laugh and a twinkle in her eyes. She licks her lips again, those midnight eyes sparkling. “I was just wondering if that meant no oral sex, too.”
I inhale so fast I swallow my tongue and choke on my saliva. My hands white knuckle the steering wheel, and my eyes water as I struggle to breathe and clear my throat of the spit that doesn’t belong there.
Because the first thought that entered my mind after she said that was what it would be like to do that with her.
To her.
How would she taste? What sounds would she make? How would her face look as I brought her right to the edge and then pulled away, over and over again, until she begged me to let her finish? Would she writhe and roll her hips against my face, seeking more friction, forcing me to hold her in place so I could pleasure her the way I want, or would she be a good girl and hold still until I told her she could come?
She stares at me from the passenger seat, her eyes twinkling with mischief, her hand in front of her mouth to cover her smile as she waits for my answer. My dick hardens again, and thank the Goddess I am sitting and can hide it easier than when I was standing next to her on the training grounds.
“N-no. I do… I still do—that,” I say, gesturing vaguely with my hand, my eyes still watering and my voice raspy from my inhaled saliva.
She cackles at my obvious discomfort and surprise. Good thing she can’t see the station my train of thoughts pulled into because of her cheeky question. I can’t blame my wolf for that voyage into the gutter, because it was all me.
I blow out a breath, push my dirty thoughts aside, and park the car at the curb in front of Brewed Awakenings.
The small, local cafe has been a favorite of werewolves, humans, and tourists alike for as long as I can remember. We—Wesley, Nolan, Sebastian, and I—all grew up coming here often. It’s owned by our pack, and while the menu and interior decor have changed over the years to keep up with the trends, it hasn’t lost its cozy, warm atmosphere.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?