“I’m reacting to what your body is telling me. That’s why I’m now suggesting alternatives.” Chase slid his fingers along her cheek, his thumb stroking her lower lip. “You like me. You’re attracted to me.”
She couldn’t speak. Not without drooling, his touch was so addictive. Shelley nodded.
“But for some reason you don’t want to let out the side of us that enjoys sex.” He shrugged. “I’m not going to push you to find out why, but damn if I won’t suggest we can do other things without sex. If it’s only the big bad deed making you hesitate.”
“You sure you’re not a politician?”
“Hell, no. They eat politicians where I’m from.”
Shelley discovered her hands stroking him. Bad hands, to take control like that. “You’re very reasonable. Far more reasonable than most men. Or shifters.”
“I’m not typical.”
He said it so dryly Shelley lost control and snorted in amusement. “No. No, you certainly aren’t.”
Chase brought them closer. His fingers in her hair, smoothing the strands away from her face. “So does that option interest you at all?”
“The no-sex sex?”
“Fooling around. As far as you want to go. I’ll follow your lead, but I want to touch you. Make you feel good.”
A shiver of temptation struck. And when he brought their mouths together again, part of the decision was made.
Damn, the man could kiss. He was so sneaky she didn’t even register when he picked her up and carried her across the room. He must have, though, because suddenly she was sitting on his lap on her couch, straddling him in fact. That wicked tongue of his brushed along the rim of her ear before he dipped inside, and she shivered.
Goose bumps, check. Body aching for a touch, check. He kissed the hollow of her throat, and she was lost.
No-sex sex was awesome. This? This she could totally do.
She grabbed her T-shirt and stripped it off, pleased to see his eyes widen.
“Sweet mercy, woman.”
Being small enough to go braless had its moments. “You too. I promise not to scratch your injury.”
“I like nails. Don’t worry about it.” He tore off his shirt, and a second later she was crushed against that oh-so-warm and furry chest. Fingers irresistibly drawn to stroke and weave through the thick tangle.
Then their lips were back together, giving her time to explore his mouth with her tongue. To trace his teeth, to nibble on his lips.
She clutched his forearms to make sure she stayed away from the cuts on his back. He grabbed her hips and tugged her in tighter, her open legs making her ride along the thick seam of his jeans. The thick ridge of him under that seam.
He lifted her as if she weighed nothing and licked his way to her nipple.
Shelley arched against his mouth. “Yes. Perfect.”
If she’d expected the same slow tease she’d gotten in his kiss, she’d have been more surprised. But the flash in his eyes gave a split-second’s warning so when he latched on and sucked hard, she only kinda screamed.
He released pressure but applied his tongue diligently, and she moaned out her happiness. When he pulled off with a pop a moment later, Shelley smiled at him.
“You having fun?” he asked.
She pivoted her hips over his hard-on as an answer, pleased to watch his eyes roll back. “Tons. You?”
“Oh, yeah.” He jerked her forward and took the other breast under attack, and this time she out-and-out shrieked as he nipped the sensitive tip.
Behind them the door flew open, and a growling and furious male charged into the room, power radiating off him. Pizza boxes flew every direction as the dark-haired stranger growled, “Get your hands off her, you bastard.”
Through the blur of confusion, switching from sexual excitement to shock at being invaded, facts slowly percolated to the surface.
There was a wolf in her living room.
Well, one other than the Métis cross-blood she’d been happily riding like a pony. This one looked a trifle more intimidating as he stomped across the room toward them. Chase did his best to help cover her, only that meant he actually had his hands cupping her breasts as she rotated and tried to snatch up her discarded T-shirt.
Out of the corner of her eye, Shelley spotted Caroline entering the room, plastic bags dangling from her hands.
“Shelley? You okay?”
Face flaming-hot, she debated the best way to dig out of this hole.
Chase took part of the decision away from her, cradling her head and pressing her face to the V of his neck. That meant only her naked back faced the newcomers. Thank heavens she hadn’t ditched her pants or she’d be mooning them. “She’s fine. You mind?”
“Shit.” That deep masculine voice again. There was a moment’s scrambling that Shelley assumed were feet shuffling on the floor. “You’re not in trouble.”
Caroline laughed. “Well, that’s kind of obvious. What did you come running in here like Rambo for, idiot?”
A loud slap. “Ouch. Stop it, Caro. She screamed. You said she was alone, and when I heard her scream I assumed—”
“Oh, pick up the pizza. Make yourself useful.” Caroline’s exasperation rang loud and clear.
Chase snickered. He spoke quietly in her ear. “You have guests.”
Lordy. And here she was topless. “Brilliant deduction.”
“I take it you didn’t invite them.”
She shook her head, and just to drive herself crazy, she relaxed against his warm torso. All her lovely non-sex sex thoughts slipped away. Because if she didn’t miss her guess, Caroline had brought this new guy over to meet her or something.
“Shell, I’m going to take Evan for a quick tour of your…bathroom. Go ahead, we’ll be gone for a couple minutes.”
A hurried whispered conversation moved across the room and vanished behind the click of a door. Chase lifted her chin and smiled at her, that lazy, sexy smile that melted her defenses. He was looking her over with a touch of regret in his eyes. “I guess this means we’re taking a breather.”
She couldn’t resist stroking his chest one last time. “I guess. Sorry. Looks as if my sister got it into her head to cheer me up or something.”
Feather-light touches of his fingertips over her nipples made her catch her breath. He sighed again. “Damn shame. You’re gorgeous.”
He handed her T-shirt over before retrieving his own, rising to help gather the rest of the food supplies. “They accosted your pizza-delivery guy.”
Shelley joined him in the kitchen, reaching to prepare drinks. “Poor pizza dude. Hey, you’re staying, right?”
He nodded, his slow movements belying the strength he’d shown her moments before. “You entertain the Alpha of the Takhini pack often?”
Her body went numb and the two-liter bottle of pop in her right hand slipped from her fingers. Chase caught it just before it could hit the floor and explode.
Alpha?
She stared at her bathroom. “Caroline brought over the Takhini Alpha?”
“His name is Evan. Met him the other day. Seemed a decent enough fellow.”
The bathroom door creaked open, and two heads peered around the corner, one the familiar blonde of her sister, who Shelley had every intention of killing ASAP, and the other a darkly handsome wolf. Who, yes, was obviously some kind of chief pooh-bah because even across the room his mere presence made her wolf tremble.
“Can we come out?” Caroline asked. “Is it safe?”
Evan stood in the hallway, a bundle of sexy muscle and power. “As if it was dangerous before. She had no top on—to your average male a half-naked woman isn’t the scariest thing on the planet—”
Shelley watched in amazement as her sister stepped in front of what had to be the top wolf of the territory and firmly grabbed him by the ears. “My sister. Naked. Don’t ever put those two words together in the same sentence if you want to keep your nuts. Got it?”
Chase opened the pop bottle. The resulting fizz drew all their attention his direction. “Anyone want a drink?”
There was a moment of silence before they all seemed to decide pretending none of it had ever happened was the best idea. Caroline grabbed plates, drinks were poured, pizza and wings piled high. Someone turned on music in the background, and suddenly Shelley found herself sitting on the edge of the couch next to a relaxed Chase as he lifted the first piece of pizza in a toast.
“To life, and just how damn amusing it is.”
Evan’s grin widened as he returned the salute. “So, you have a successful stay in town?”
“Mostly.” Chase tilted his head toward Shelley. “She’s still looking into a few things for me, but everything else is done for the year. I won’t be troubling your territory until next July.”
The guys chatted a little more, but Shelley only listened with half an ear. Caroline had brought the Alpha to her house, and from the way he was curled up next to Caroline at the table, stealing food off her plate, they were an item.
Shelley’s head spun. Caroline and the pack Alpha? How in the world had that happened?
Caroline seemed to be trying to send her clues with head signals, but this mess was far too complicated to settle with head jerks, rolled eyes and grimaces.
Shelley rose to her feet. “You boys excuse us? We need to talk for a minute.”
She grabbed her sister by the hand and dragged her from the room. Neither of them spoke until they were safely ensconced in the bedroom where she’d unpacked all of her things. Bright sheets and curtains made up the decor, her treasures proudly displayed. A comforting place to deal with a very uncomfortable topic.
She whirled on his sister. “What the hell?”
“Sorry, but I never expected you to have Mr. Yummy in your apartment. I wouldn’t have interrupted if I’d known. Good for you—”
“That’s not what I’m talking about, and you know it. You’re sleeping with the Alpha? You’ve gone insane. The pack women are going to rip you to shreds. What was he thinking? How could you do this?”
“Stop with the twenty questions already. I’m fine. We’re fine. It’s a business arrangement.” Caroline had the grace to flush as Shelley took a long, pointed sniff and raised a brow. “Okay, more than business, but really, that’s what started it. And the pack is fine. I kicked a few butts, and now the girls are more than happy to behave around me. It’s okay, it is.”
Shelley stopped tugging on her hair before she made herself bald, but the urge remained. “And you didn’t feel the need to tell me this before because…?”
Caroline stiffened. “It wasn’t any of your business.”
Shelley gasped. “How can you say that? You know how much I’ve been dreading contacting the pack, and here you are sleeping with the damn Alpha. You didn’t think I would want to know that tidbit before you rushed into my apartment?”
“Sorry about that. And I did mean well. That’s why I brought him in alone, ahead of time. Thought you could get to know him a little before having to face down anyone else.”
Shelley took a few calming breaths. Outside the window, the light shone so brightly it could have been midday instead of early evening. The sun streamed in and highlighted her treasures, her memories from years spent in the south. Where she’d trained and grown and…tried to find a way to be happy without being a full wolf.
It burned inside to have to admit that her fully human half-sister fit into shifter society better than she did. But the jealousy eating her inside was her own issue, not Caroline’s. “I know you didn’t mean anything but the best, but damn it if you don’t make me want to curl into a ball sometimes and just give the hell up.”
Caroline’s face registered her shock. “My God, no. That’s not what I want. I wanted you to have a place you can call home. Where you feel comfortable. I wanted—”
“I know.” Shelley grabbed her sister’s hands and hung on tight. “And I love you for it, but it still makes me so damn mad. You work hard. I know you do, but it seems whatever you want to accomplish, happens.”
Her fingers were squeezed in return. “And you don’t work hard? Overachievers, all of us. Our dad taught us well. Stand on your own, get your training. Find what you want…”
“Fight for it. I know, Caro, but—”
Her voice broke, and Shelley twisted free, turning to stare out the window. The tears welling up in her eyes were supposed to be gone and done with.
“Shell?”
She shrugged. “I have done that. Fought for what I wanted. I went to school, finished top in my class. I’ve skimped and saved to have enough to start the office here. Heck, even coming back to Whitehorse is a trouble I asked for and I’m going to succeed. I will find my place in this pack, but the most important thing I want, I just can’t—”
The words choked off, unable to get past the lump in her throat.
A pair of arms surrounded her as Caroline hugged her from behind. Her chin resting on Shelley’s shoulder, they stood together for a moment before her sister sighed. “Your wolf, right?”
Shelley nodded.
“That’s the one battle no one can help you with. And that there might not be a way to win.”
She would have cursed, but all her curses had been spent years ago. “It’s a hell of a thing, Caro. To be a wolf who can’t shift. And there’s no way to describe that pain to you, and nothing you can do to make it better.”