Dragon Star (A Shifter Football League Novel) (24 page)

Now all the men were lined up. They were all trying to get with her, and she knew exactly why. Because she was worth money now. Because she held power. Where were they years ago when they didn't know she was part of the Marchini company? When she was just a lonely, curvy girl without any prospects?

At least, she was smart enough to turn them away. They might be a fun time, but these men, in their expensive suits and their charming looks, instantly turned her off.

Another reason why so many approached was clear as day. Her father stood off to the side, watching the entire time, his fury blossoming as he watched her turn away man after man. Dad wanted a grandchild, and with the way Mia moved to get one, he would need to live two lifetimes to see it.

They were in a grand ballroom at a local country club. It was toasty inside, and outside, there was a bit of a chill, just the right temperate. Enough for short sleeves, and maybe a long sleeve shirt, either being just right.

As she stole off to grab a drink, she thought about how she missed Jax, the way that he wasn't afraid to speak his mind around her. That was priceless.

And then suddenly, he was there, standing by her side.

He stood out from the group. Jeans, t-shirt, gruff, and tough, like he'd walked right out from his lumberjacking job.

His forearms flexed as he stared her down. She imagined those capable hands squeezing her, caging her, keeping her pressed closely against him. That kiss played out on her body again, and once again, she was hot, tempting the fire that burned in her ever since the first day she laid eyes on him.

Jax spied the man she'd just talked to. The douche went on his way, cursing about her to his friends.

There was a curious glint in his eyes. Also, his lip twitched to one side. "Either you couldn't stand not talking to me again, or you want a war with the Black Bear Clan." His muscles tightened even more. "Which one is it?"

In all honesty, it had been a little of both, but Mia wasn't going to say that.

As she thought over her answer, Jax roamed over her dress. That defiance he was showing came to a halt as he was taken aback. Did she even spot his breath catching?

Strange, she'd not seen a man at this function look at her so primally, but oh yes, oh...how much did she want it, did her body call out for it, to be taken by Jax in the way that he gazed upon her. Never did Mia feel sexier than this, in her black, form fitting dress, hugging her curves in just the right way.

Then he lingered over the necklace, the one her mother had given her, resting above her cleavage, and she spotted his Adam's apple ripple as he took a hard gulp.

"I told you the options. I have no recourse now but to throw you off our land,” she said clearly.

Jax winced. Then he took a step closer. Heat billowed from his being, engulfing her.

"You wouldn't," he threatened.

"I would, and I might have to, unless we can come to a compromise." She peered over her shoulder, then looked around the room to see if anyone was watching. There was quite a bit of people who noticed her talking to the strange man, who was quite obviously a shifter from Black Bear Park.

"Maybe we could talk somewhere more private?" he asked. He nudged his chin to the side, toward the patio that led to the green. It was night and the full moon cast a spotlight over the lawn, looking like a very romantic place for a walk.

"I think that'd be best," she said, placing her glass of wine on the bar, then following the alpha out.

The crowd parted as he speared his way right through until they were out on the patio. Those that were on the patio noticed it was Mia and noticed Jax too. They scattered.

"Why are non shifters so skittish?" he asked, and he let out a chuckle.

Mia leaned against the railing. She kept herself poised. "I'm not one of the skittish ones, unfortunately."

Jax stood in a beam of moonlight. Mia pressed her back against the fence. There was an archway and a pond in the distance, reserved for wedding parties. It got her heart fluttering. But what Jax said next might've crushed it.

"Look, I want to say that I'm really sorry for coming onto you so strongly last time..."

Mia wanted to cry again. Now she was like the scared, helpless child at the school dances, the one who nobody wanted, the one who everyone laughed at for being too weird, too big...

"But I can't."

Elation struck her again. Jax hung his head. She wished she had the courage to take his beautiful face in her hands and kiss him. To tell him that he didn't need to act like he'd been defeated when he said it.

Then he looked up at her again, and they locked eyes, the passion between them sparking.

Mia turned away. "Come on, let's take a walk to the pond."

"Sure," Jax said. She got the sense that he wanted to know her response to what he'd said.

Wasn't it obvious? She was about ready to jump into his arms. If she was really a coward, she would swim across the moonlit pond and try to escape. But that was really not going to work, when the guy she was crushing over was a bear shifter, who could catch her no matter how fast she ran, swam, or climbed.

When they got to the pond, she kept fidgeting.

"Mia, I came here to talk to you about the threat you made against us, and being head alpha, I know it's my job to protect our lands."

Jax slid his hands across her waist. She shuddered. Between her thighs she started to ache. Involuntarily, she slipped out of his hold, but she wished she hadn't right away.

He continued nevertheless, "I don't think you want to destroy our lands. I saw how happy you were, how carefree you were when you were with me. I know the real you, the one that is not influenced by this corporate bullshit."

"I am the corporate bullshit, Jax. I'm the CEO. My father ran our company into the ground and I have to save it. Like you have your clan, I have mine." She stiffened, looked him in the eyes enough to get that out, and then wandered closer to the edge of the water.

He followed. "I like that about you. You're loyal."

"I like that about you as well." Softening, she turned toward him again. "How can we come to a compromise?"

"Let's keep walking. Maybe that'll help us think." He held his hand out. Then he grinned. "Don't look so afraid. Am I really that scary?"

"Yes, you're really that scary," she said, and she laughed.

He laughed as well. "I would think that you're the more dominant one, but I saw how you melted to that kiss."

That kiss. Reminding her about that might make her melt again.

Mia let a moan slip as they walked past the gazebo, then out past the green, and into the winding path in the woods. She kept close to Jax.

"Where are you taking me? You're not lost are you?"

"A bear lost in the woods? Is that even possible?"

"Good point. Forget I said it...if you didn't seem so lost."

He laughed again. "I'm not lost at all. I know exactly where I'm going."

Just as he said this, they came to a clearing. It was heart-shaped, and there was a soft bed of grass. Another stream trickled to the north, a shallow, rocky, one, but still tranquil and cozy.

“How’d you know it would form a perfect heart?”

Jax shrugged. He hid his grin. “I had no idea.”

Mia elbowed him. Her elbow brushing against him got her tickling between her thighs again, got her wanting to be led down on the bed of grass.

"Okay, maybe I knew," he admitted.

"You took me out here to see this? I didn't know you were so romantic."

He gazed down upon her. "Didn't I take you to a romantic, enchanting waterfall scene too? What led you to believe I wasn't romantic? The scruffy beard?"

"How about the constant growling?"

"That's fair," he said, and laughed again, but then he got serious, and he roamed over her curves again in a way that said exactly what he wanted.

"Bet you didn't know that I was here before, did you?" she asked, and she twiddled her thumbs, and then looked up with a broad smirk at the stunned shifter.

"What?" He had no idea.

That was good, because the last time she'd been to this spot, it wasn't a fond memory.

"Yeah, this is a well known spot. I imagine you spotted it with your bear senses, somehow, but every teenager knows of the heart in the woods, and it's a make out spot for all the horny teens who don't have a place of their own."

"Oh," he grumbled, scratching his head, but also showing a little sly smirk, like this went along perfectly with his plans.

"Don't get any ideas," she said, but her tone faltered.

He didn't respond. He did, however, take a step closer to the stream. The moonlight beat right down on his wide chest. Why were his triceps always flexing? It was like he was always straining, his muscles constantly on flex....not like Mia was complaining.

Those muscles...that broad shoulder...that strength that lifted me so easily...this man has it all.

Then she remembered he was the opposition. She remembered her not so fond memories of what had happened when she was younger.

"I don't have fond memories of this place," she said quietly.

He tilted his head back. He raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Bobby Brennon took me out here. Or rather." Even now, so many years later, it was hard for Mia to admit that she took the boy here in order to seduce him. "I took him here. I thought I could get my first kiss."

Jax winced and looked away. He shrugged his heavy shoulders as if trying to shake it off.

Why did this story bother him so much?

He wasn't the one who was humiliated.

Mia continued, feeling a lot prouder telling this story than she ever did before, "We were here, and I was going to tell him that I thought he was cute. I was thirteen at the time, by the way. All I wanted was my first kiss. I went for it, but I was a clumsy fool, and I missed, and I tripped into the stream."

"Oh," Jax repeated, this time, his tone even deeper.

"Oh, yes, I fell, right into the muddy stream. I stood up with mud butt to see the crush of my life laughing at me."

All the humor evaporated from Jax's face. "What was his name again?" he asked, cracking his neck.

It was Mia's turn to laugh. That was adorable, Jax standing up for her. "And what are you going to do? Beat him up fifteen years later for laughing at me?"

He nodded. He actually nodded.

"You're crazy, Jax," she said, still laughing. It seemed like he wouldn't go through with it, but she couldn't be sure. Even today, she'd like to see Bobby get his comeuppance, but as she kept thinking about it, it probably was a funny sight to see her fall.

Jax was only trying to protect her.

"I wouldn't have laughed," he said. "I would've jumped in the mud and gotten dirty with you."

The thought of getting dirty with Jax, then taking a long shower, both of them rubbing and caressing together, had that tickling occurring between her thighs again, to the point where she needed to clasp her sides and try to contain it for fear of embarrassing herself again, fifteen years later, at the same exact spot.

"How did you find this spot? Was I right?" she asked, attempting to change the subject to something more comfortable.

He smiled at her again. "I can sniff out just about anything. I even know how turned on you are."

Mia laughed, then almost choked. "You sound so sure of yourself. How can you be so sure?" she said, her voice all sultry and deep, practically calling him closer just by her tone.

"Do you trust me when I say that I've never been more sure of anything?”

"That's crazy," she said, stiffening, frozen in place, but not minding a sexy protector for life, either.

"It might be crazy, but it's true," he said, and he dipped in, caressing her cheek with his fingers so softly in a way that she didn't know the rough bear was capable of.

This was what her heart had always been yearning for. It took years and years for her to find the man of her dreams, and he ended up living across the property line from her house.

Mia faltered. She almost fell backward back into the stream, but Jax's hold on her was steady.

"Easy, I'm not letting you go," he said calmly, confidently.

"Jax..." she moaned softly.

He sank his lips onto hers and his tongue pushed inside, claiming her. All resistance gave way far too easily. She was completely helpless to his advances. His tongue swirled around hers, playfully, at first, and then growing unruly, like he couldn't get enough right away.

Mia was the same way.

She clutched him. Then her hands roamed over his muscled frame. Then down his beating chest, and lower, to his hips, much firmer than hers, soft and tender and being torn into by the ravenous bear as he devoured her mouth.

By the time she broke away, she needed to inhale a sharp breath. Her lungs filled again. She looked upon him, dazed, and high, spellbound.

"We shouldn't be doing this," she mumbled, but her eyes were still full of lust. Her fingers had dug into the ditches of his abs, and she was smirking.

Way to stay focused, Mia.

She'd always imagined what it would be like across her family's oppressive estate, and this finally seemed like the romantic adventure she'd always dreamed of.

He pressed his lips on her again, this time, on her neck. She whimpered, kicking a little, but hitting his sturdy body. He didn't complain. Jax went at her more ravenously, biting her neck tenderly, right on down to her collarbone, and then squeezing her ass to keep her pressed tight.

There was more than a whimper from Mia this time, there was an obnoxious moan.

"Jax..." she groaned again.

She shuddered madly as he slipped her dress over her shoulders. With more flesh exposed, it was quickly devoured by the hungry bear. His lips smothered her in his love, and then he moved lower and his hands moved higher, meeting each other at the focal point of her sensitive breasts.

Mia needed to clutch him, until she thought her nails might break, but he didn't complain. He just kept going.

"What are you doing?" she asked him when his fingers curled underneath her dress.