A Bleacke Wind (Bleacke Shifters Book 3) (11 page)

“Hello, are you Malyah? I’m Joaquin Carlomarles.”

He extended his hand to her without stepping inside, wanting to draw her to him. “We haven’t formally met yet. I work with Dewi and Beck and flew out here with them yesterday morning.”

Recognition dawned as she took his hand. “Oh! I thought Nami mentioned something about that. You just got into town or something?”

His tongue thickened in his mouth as he swallowed back drool. Her scent rolled out the door, coating his nostrils and lungs with every breath. He wanted to kiss her, plunge his tongue into her mouth, and…elsewhere.

“Yes. I flew in from Mexico at the last minute. I’m moving back to the States on reassignment.” Her delicious scent swirled and wrapped around him like velvety lambskin.

“Can I help you with something?” she asked. They still held hands.

He nodded, staring into her brown eyes. “Yes. I’m just curious, you didn’t come with your boyfriend this weekend?”

Her gaze felt locked with his. “I…I’m not serious with anyone. Just dating a guy.”

He brought her hand, which was still clasped in his, up to his mouth and brushed his lips over her knuckles. “Then would you mind taking a short walk with me? This is beautiful land, and I would love the opportunity to show it to you.”

* * * *

If some strange guy had shown up at Malyah’s back door in Tampa and asked her to take a walk in the woods with him…she’d have slammed and locked the door in his face while screaming and running to dial 911.

This man…

There was something about him. Something…different.

The look in his eyes. The hunger.

Like the way Beck looked at Nami.

Her heart skipped a beat as that primal recognition slammed into her brain.

He wasn’t as tall as Beck, maybe just a hair under six feet. A lithe body, his brown eyes held more than a hint of mischief, and his shaggy brown hair would likely feel—

One deliciously handsome eyebrow arched as he awaited her reply.

She gulped and nodded.

No, she didn’t know why she was agreeing to go with him. But this felt right.

Really
right.

And she’d swear when he kissed her hand that it felt like he’d reached inside her body, grabbed her clit, and gently strummed it. Her panties had instantly turned into a sodden mess.

He took a step back, not releasing her hand but not holding on, either, and not pulling her with him.

She realized
she
was gripping
his
hand. Tightly.

He was making her choose to go with him, not dragging her. Not forcing her.

And she was more than willing to follow.

Pulling the door closed behind her, and unable to tug her gaze from his, she stepped toward him as the most handsome smile she’d ever seen in her life lit his face from within and drove away the cobwebs of worry she’d seen there.

The strumming in her clit turned into a full-on guitar solo that nearly made her whimper out loud.

He turned, his fingers lacing through hers, and he started leading her away from the guest cottages and into the woods.

Malyah willingly, happily, followed.

* * * *

Nami needed a few minutes to relax after the nonstop chatter with her sister and brother-in-law during the drive. She retreated to the guest cottage with Beck, hoping for a short nap.

Or, maybe not a nap, exactly.

But she’d no sooner closed the door behind her that she let out a long, wide yawn. “Sorry, sugar,” she said. “I’d hoped for a little alone time with you.” No matter how much she got of her man, she still wanted more of him.

Lucky for her, he seemed to want more of her, too.

Beck pulled her close. “Let’s lie down for a little while. To nap,” he clarified. “We were up pretty late last night.”

She draped her arms around his neck. “Keeping up pretenses in front of them until next weekend is gonna flat wear me out.” At least when alone at home with Beck she didn’t have to worry about what she said or did.

Or when he did things like bend her over the kitchen counter and fuck her while she was trying to cook them dinner.

“I know it will,” he said. “It’s a very delicate balancing act. I’m used to it. All wolves and humans who are part of the pack for any length of time get used to it. This is a lot of stress coming at you at once. It’s exhausting.”

He led her into the bedroom and kicked off his shoes as he stripped. A moment later, he was pulling the covers back and sliding in under them, holding the sheet for her.

“Just to nap,” he said. “I could use one myself.”

Nami pulled her dress off and climbed into bed with him, snuggling against him. “I still can’t believe you picked me over Dewi,” she said.

He made her roll onto her back and look into his eyes. “Again, what part of ‘mating bond’ do you not understand? She and I didn’t have one. We were attracted to each other, yes. And in our way, we love each other. We always will. But it’s not what I feel for you, or what she feels for Ken. Nothing even close.”

“So you don’t find me attractive just because?”

“Uh, I find you gorgeous because you are the perfect woman for me. You felt it for me, too.” He put on that damned handsome smirk. The one that always melted her. “Face it, babe. You weren’t in the market for a crazy white boy who runs with wolves.”

She lightly slapped his arm. “You aren’t crazy. Much.”

He leaned in and nuzzled noses with her. “You are my mate,” he gently said. “And I love you, and I desire you. The only reason I’m not fucking your beautiful brains out right now is because I can tell you feel as tired as I do. Let’s enjoy this week as much as we can, okay? I know it’s going to be stressful.” He kissed her. “We get the whole week after to ourselves as a honeymoon.”

The four of them were going to stay here, holed up in their respective guest cottages, most likely, for a week after their weddings. Badger would fly home to take care of anything that had cropped up in their absence that Martin couldn’t handle.

Peyton had sworn that, unless there was an emergency, there would be no pack business conducted with them during their honeymoons.

“Does this get any easier?” Nami asked.

“What’s that?”

“Living two lives. A double life. I know we can’t tell everyone about the wolf stuff. But it feels like I’m lying to my family about it.”

“It does get easier. I promise. It doesn’t hurt that Dewi and Badger are Primes. Anytime there’s a slip, they can fix it.”

“That doesn’t hurt their brains or something, does it? My family, I mean?”

He laughed. “No, not at all.”

She cuddled against him. “Why do you hate Joaquin so much? He seems like such a nice guy.” She hadn’t seen him since they returned from Spokane and wondered if he’d be joining them later for dinner.

Beck let out a snort. “He didn’t screw around with
your
little sister. Maybe if he had, you’d feel differently.”

“Maybe. I thought Badger said Sadie was older than Joaquin?”

“So? Sadie’s
my
little sister.”

“And they weren’t exclusive, were they?”

“That’s irrelevant.”

“Not really. If she was sleeping around—”

“She caught him in bed with twins.”

“Well, no offense, Beck, but if she was also sleeping around…” She let that die into silence.

Another snort from him. Finally, he said, “I told Peyton I’d try to get along with him,” he muttered. “Joaquin’s a good Enforcer.”

“And I bet if you fessed up, you probably did some stupid stuff in your younger days.”

One more snort. “I might have.”

She snuggled even closer. “I won’t make you tell me right now. But before you go judging that man, remember what he’s been through. He risked his life to make something right. I would hope if it was one of my family members, that he’d be putting the same energy into it.”

He kissed her forehead. “You’re all part of the pack. Of course he would. My objection to him isn’t based upon him not doing his job or not being loyal to the pack. It’s as a big brother who wishes I’d had a chance to put a smackdown on him years ago, and I wasn’t allowed to.”

“Why not?”

He sighed. “Sadie wouldn’t let me.”

She giggled. “Seriously? I thought she was upset at him.”

“She was. I think she was jealous more because she’d thought she had him eating out of her paw and she didn’t. Most guys she dated, they literally followed her around like a puppy. Joaquin didn’t. She used the ‘non-exclusive’ terms she made guys agree to to allow her to keep her options open. Usually guys wouldn’t date around on her for fear of losing her.”

“And Joaquin wouldn’t be manipulated like that?”

“Nope. He was a lot more independent than she gave him credit for. He saw her lie about sleeping with a guy, and he raised her a threesome. I think that’s what pissed Sadie off the most, that she realized her days of playing dating games had come to an end. That someone had finally called her on her bullshit, and she wasn’t used to that. Other guys might have gotten all growly and jealous when she did that, not gone and immediately slept with someone else—elses—out of spite. Joaquin was the first who didn’t play the game by her rules.”

“Then how can you seriously still be upset with him all these years later?”

“I…”

She could see the wheels turning in his brain. Nami was no stranger to sibling stupidity.

“I guess,” Beck finally said, sounding resigned, “that I should let it go. It’s not exactly a matter of honor. Not like he got her knocked up or something and then left her high and dry and didn’t support his pup. Sadie deserved what she got for screwing around and lying about it.”

“Exactly.”

He nuzzled Nami with his nose again, his eyes falling closed. “Let’s nap. I need it.”

“Good idea.” Secretly pleased with herself, Nami settled in for that nap.

She knew she’d need all the extra sleep she could get that week.

Chapter Ten

Malyah had always considered herself very streetwise. It was a necessary survival skill growing up in the projects when she was younger. Inner city girls who didn’t want to end up on the wrong side of a bad situation learned how to keep themselves as safe as possible.

So why she was still following this man—pretty much a stranger—into the woods without anyone else knowing where she was going, or whom with, came as a befuddling and not quite unpleasant mystery to her.

Scared?

Yes, she was, but the good kind of scared. The kind you knew you wanted, like before going into one of those stupid Halloween haunted house attractions.

Only…better.

Much
better.

It felt like the woods had come alive around them, the sunlight brighter, clearer. Like her life had previously been viewed through a grey, gauzy filter that, somehow, this man had stripped bare to reveal all the clear, unmuted colors, sights, sounds, scents.

He glanced at her, a playful, sexy smile on his face that sent more waves of pleasant throbbings through her. Throbbings that started in her clit and rapidly expanded outward from there.

No one had ever done anything like this to her before. No one had ever had this kind of effect on her.

She didn’t understand it, but she knew she didn’t want to question it. She only wanted to follow her heart, to follow this man and the way something about him called to her soul.

As he led her through the woods, she realized she couldn’t hear a hint of traffic, of other people, nothing but insects, and birds, and the breeze rushing through the tops of the pine trees, until they emerged in a small clearing beside a rocky outcropping that overlooked a valley.

He walked her close to the edge but not dangerously so. “I love this place,” he said. “Growing up, after school I would come out here, sit, and stare. The breeze always washes over this point, even on the hottest summer days.”

“It’s beautiful.” Somehow, he was now standing behind her, his arms comfortably wrapped around her midsection, their fingers laced together as he rested his chin on her shoulder. She didn’t know when they’d changed positions, but it felt better than right leaning back against him, her body pressed along his. Heat washed through the denim of his jeans into her flesh…

And that probably wasn’t a banana in his pocket that she felt bulging against her ass.

The way his breath brushed against the side of her neck sent shivers through her. No way in hell was she about to move, or ask him to move, either.

This was utter perfection.

Well, almost.

Not understanding why, she tipped her head back so she could look at him again.

“Who
are
you?” she whispered. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re a big, bad wolf, and you want to eat me up.”

His lopsided smile made her want to smile, too. “Maybe I am a big, bad wolf who wants to eat you up.”

And his accent! Holy smokes, his English was perfect, but that trace of a Spanish accent only served to drive her wild.

“Why
me
?” She realized their lips were close, closer still. She stretched up to meet him as much as he leaned in toward her.

“Why not you? You’re perfect.”

She instinctively knew if she wanted a kiss, she was going to have to take it. He wasn’t going to finish bridging the distance between their lips until she did.

Closing the narrowing gap, she slipped one arm up, her hand sliding behind his neck, cupping him and holding him in place as she kissed him.

Her world unhinged. It was…

Nothing in her life had ever prepared her for that moment. Hell, if she moved wrong—or maybe that was moved just right—she knew she’d be orgasming simply from the way her panties and shorts were wedged up between her legs from their walk. Her eyes dropped closed, a soft moan escaping her.

“Let it happen.”

At first she thought he’d whispered it.

Then logic finally connected a couple of stray synapses together in her brain and she realized that he was fully occupied kissing her and could not have whispered it.

Her eyes flew open again to find his brown gaze peering into hers. He let her break their kiss but he didn’t move. She had to tip her head away from him and that was something surprisingly damned hard for her to do.