Mating Seduction-epub (3 page)

Jackson reached for the eggs, showing a blue-inked upper right arm. Lexie squinted. “You got runes for a tat?”

Jackson nodded and cracked an egg into another skillet, beating it with a fork. “Gets lonely on the range and I can’t always shift, not around the cattle. So the ink keeps me grounded as Lupine, reminds me of what I am.”

A small sigh escaped her as she stared at his muscled ass.
What you are is perfection.

The sight of all that tanned skin, from sleek flanks to the top of his rumpled, dark hair, did something to her insides. Lexie folded her arms across her waist, hiding her tummy bulge. The pink pajamas with the little goldfish had seemed cute, but they revealed all her trouble spots. Appetite gone, she headed for the stainless-steel fridge and rummaged through it. Ah, excellent. Lexie grabbed a low-fat yogurt, peeled it open and chucked the top into the garbage can. As she took a spoon from the already-set table, Jackson eyed her.

Leaning against the counter, she spooned the yogurt. He flipped the bacon and paused to sip from a big mug filled with coffee.

This Lupine had taught her to hone her time in barrel racing, patiently spending hours teaching her how to work Diamond through the patterns. They’d spent hours together, laughed together. Late at night, while she stayed as a guest at the ranch, he’d made big, steaming mugs of hot chocolate and they’d curled up on the sofa in the living room and talked.

Lexie craved her freedom. In the years since she’d been away, she’d fought hard for every single accomplishment. But she’d missed him and their quiet, late night talks and his wicked sense of humor.

He glanced over one wide shoulder. “Why did you drop out of school? Last time we talked, all you ever wanted to be was a veterinarian.”

She shrugged. “Tuition went up and money is a little tight. I plan to go back. In the meantime, I can work with the animals on the ranch, and gain experience that can help me earn college credits.”

“I’ll help you with the ranch animals.” He turned and grinned, and his boyish smile made her insides squeeze with longing.  “And teach you all about wolves. We can be big, bad and very sexy, especially when we run with the moon. Aiden was serious about running with the pack. It’s a big honor.”

She knew that. But she couldn’t risk it. “I’ll think about it.”

“Why are you so against running with the moon? Don’t you run with your pack?”

“Never.”

She never ran with anyone. Too ashamed, she chose isolated areas where no one could see her wolf.

In the saddle, she didn’t have to wonder if she was more Lupine than Skin. In the saddle, she wasn’t Lexie, the overweight Skin, or the Lupine with the deformity that held her back from running like the wind. Her horse did the running and she guided her. In the saddle, she was a queen.

“You’d like running with me. We’d have fun.”

As she slowed him down?  She never wanted to see pity in his gaze. “Doubt it.”

A gleam glinted his chocolate brown eyes. “Want to bet? I’d teach you to play hide and seek. You hide and I seek.”

“And what’s the prize?”

“You. Naked.” Jackson winked.

The yogurt’s creamy texture turned to mushy cardboard. She set down the carton. “Hmm.”

“Why are you eating that junk? You’re Lupine and Lupines eat meat, in case you forgot while you were at school.”

Self-conscious of her weight, she shrugged. She adored bacon down to the last fatty calorie, but no way would she put it in her mouth.

“If you’re going to eat dairy, what about mint chocolate chip ice cream with crushed Oreos? Remember our jaunt to DQ?”

A small smile escaped.. “It was great.” Then she remembered how wide her hips were. “I don’t eat that anymore. There’s no benefit to eating ice cream.”

Jackson sighed and turned down the heat under the bacon and the eggs. “Lexie, talk to me. You’ve changed.”

She stared at the kitchen clock, its second hand merrily sweeping around the disc. “No big deal. I’m dieting. Have to keep my weight down for competition.”

“Diet? You?”

Yeah, diet, because I’m too fat…when I’m naked I’ve got jiggles when I walk…okay, let’s notgo there, thinking about nudity, not with this gorgeous, naked cowboy so close…

“Everyone says I’m too big to compete.” Lexie blushed, hoping Jackson had never heard about her hated and yet infamous nickname.

“Diamond ever complain about you mounting her?”

As she shook her head, he continued, “You’re first in your division, all the time. Your weight ever stop you from sliding into the turns or controlling your horse?”

Another headshake. Staring at the clock, Lexie folded her arms across her belly, trying to hide her bulges as he approached.

Two warm hands cupped her cheeks. He ran a thumb over her bottom lip and a shiver coursed down her spine. Hell, even that was plump. But she loved having him touch her.“You’re beautiful as you are, and you don’t need to lose weight. You’re a perfect female.”

Blinking, she finally dragged her gaze away to look up at him. Perfect was applied to Lupines like Jackson, not her.  Did he really think she was perfect, the way she was?

“Seriously?” Lexie dared to hope.

“Never been more serious in my life.”

Her eyes closed as his mouth descended on hers. Such a gentle, sweet kiss, simmering with passion beneath. Lexie breathed in his spicy scent, arousal flooding her loins. When he drew away, disappointment stabbed her.

Something else stabbed at her as well, hard and prodding her belly. Lexie didn’t glance down, but Jackson grinned as she turned beet red.

“Sorry. Condition of  being around you, darlin’. Can’t help but get turned on.”

She went to the table, intrigued that she got Jackson sexually aroused. Judging from the sexy, sleepy look in his eyes, he wanted more.  It was a heady feeling. Would he kiss her again? But Jackson only dished out the bacon and eggs onto a big plate. “Help yourself to a real breakfast. Be right back,” he told her.

Jackson ran upstairs to the master bathroom.

He closed and locked the door behind him. Time to take business in hand, so to speak.

Lexie drove him wild. Having her this close sent all his hormones raging. As a virile Lupine, his wolf savored the thought of throwing her down and mounting her, thrusting hard and deep.

Time enough for that later. He would be her first lover, and he intended to take it nice and slow. A thrill of pure male possessiveness filled him at the thought of her lying beneath him, her soft body cushioning his as he tutored her in the art of lovemaking.

Lexie was curvaceous and feminine. She thought herself plump, and man, he could kill the Skins who called her that. She was petite and sexy, with that tangle of dark brown curls spilling down her back.

He thought about fisting a hand in those curls as he rode her from the back, and more pre-cum seeped from his painfully hard cock.

He removed the apron and tossed it aside, then opened drawers and searched. Ah, excellent. An unopened tube of lubricant. Would come in handy later as well. Easing a sharp breath through his clenched teeth, he squirted a handful of into his palm, then grasped his painfully hard erection.

As he worked his male flesh, he thought about kneeling before Lexie, his tongue laving her wet sex. Then standing up and pushing into her silky pussy. It would feel like wet satin wrapped around his dick. He’d grab her round hips and squeeze tight and draw her closer as his balls tightened, preparing to shoot semen deep inside her.

Maybe even impregnating her.

The thought got him so excited, he came close to climax. Jackson hissed out a breath, wanting the fantasy to last a little longer. Yeah, he’d fuck her hard, their flesh slapping together, but most of all, he wanted to see passion daze her eyes.

He wanted to see her smile for him, and him alone. How he adored seeing her dimple pierce her left cheek and her pretty gray eyes sparkle.

Only he would claim her in the flesh and put his mating mark on her tender skin. He would seduce her with so much pleasure, she’d capitulate and agree to mate him for life.

And if that didn’t work, he’d tie her up again. Once he was finished, she’d never seek another male’s bed.

Shuddering, he grabbed a towel and ejaculated into it. It would suffice for now. But he wanted the real thing with Lexie. Hot, passionate sex.

And he would have her, and claim her in the flesh. Soon.

Very soon.

Jackson in the nude was enough to make Lexie’s heart stop, but damn, the Lupine also looked good sitting on a horse. Sunlight glinted his dark brown hair, burnishing several strands to dark gold. A rush of blood surged to her groin, making her fully aware she wasn’t as indifferent to his sexuality as she’d thought…

Sitting on a seasoned gelding he’d found for her, Lexie watched him work. The other cowboys paled in comparison to him.

Tight jeans molded to his muscular thighs, hidden now by leather chaps. Instead of a traditional halter, he used a braided rawhide bosal looped around his cutting horse’s nose. At the bosal’s end was a long rope. Fascinated, she watched him guide the horse as the calf ran to the right. He leaned into the saddle and let the rope fly. Jackson jumped off his mount and with werewolf speed, dropped the yearling down and roped it tight in minutes.

Glancing up, he saw her staring. Jackson tipped back his hat and winked. “Don’t worry, Lexie. I’ll be much gentler when I tie you up.”

“And I’ll be far more trouble, because I can run much faster than a fat calf.”

“Don’t doubt it,” he murmured, his gaze sweeping over her. “Can’t wait to try.”

Then he became all business as he beckoned to her. She slid out of the saddle and joined him. Lexie approached the trussed yearling with caution.

“Yearlings spook easily. Stubborn as hell and they can run fast, too. Easier to rope ‘em, give ‘em their meds and turn ‘em loose instead of rounding them up. Bring me that cooler over there, sweetheart. It has the vials of vaccine in it.”

When she did, he opened the cooler and removed a vial, then took a stainless-steel syringe with a needle long enough to spear an anaconda. Lexie felt faint.

“I’ve heard Mitchell pack Lupines were into kink, but is this your idea of a fun time? You’re not going to use this on me, are you?”

Jackson held up the big syringe. “Naw. All you’ll feel with this baby is a little prick. And I want you to feel a much larger one.”

At his cocky grin, she realized the double entendre. Laughter bubbled up like effervescent water. She let it out and oh, it felt so good to laugh again. How long had it been? This cowboy with his sexy swagger and lopsided grin made her smile.

“Today we’re vaccinating the yearlings. You inject and I’ll rope ‘em. Here.”

Moving over to one of two calves already roped and bawling like banshees, he knelt down. “Easy, girl,” he soothed. “Now, this is a sub-q injection, right under the skin. Needs to go in fast and hard. You want to shove it in and pull out, then move on to the next one.”

She considered. “Like a cowboy on a Friday night with the ladies. In hard, out real fast. Shove it in, pull it out and next!”

Jackson set down the syringe and said nothing. For a moment, Lexie thought she’d pushed it too far. Then she saw his wide shoulders shake and heard his deep laugh. “Damn, Lexie, I forgot what a wicked tongue you have.”

Oh, but his tongue was much more wicked and left her panting for more. Lexie grinned and picked up the syringe. “So, neck or rump?”

“Neck, just in front of the shoulder. Don’t want to hit the rump. Too much risk from injection sores, and that spoils the cut of beef. Though the rump makes a bigger target.”

“Not with Darius, your pack beta. He’s got so much ego, his head’s bigger than a cow’s ass.”

Jackson laughed again, touching her forearm. “I miss this, us laughing together. I missed you.”

The simple declaration warmed her. No one in her pack admitted to missing her. When she’d lost her parents shortly after her fourteenth birthday, Nikita, her mother’s youngest sister, became a surrogate mom, loving her more than Lexie’s own mother ever had. But lately Nikita had been too preoccupied to pay Lexie much attention. The other pack members seldom noticed she was around. Tolerated her, yeah. But missed her? Nope.

He showed her how to inject the needle, steadying the calf with one hand. Next, she tried it. Jackson guided her hand over the syringe, his palm warm and calloused. The nearness made her flush with heat, and her heart pounded faster.

When she succeeded, he grinned. “Good job. Knew you’d be a natural.”

The praise flushed her with pride. Even when she’d succeeded at some small task at her pack, few noticed. They were too busy worrying about their own hides.

Remembering that, she stopped smiling.

Jackson sat back on his haunches and quietly regarded her. “What are you scared of, Lexie?”

Could Lupines mind read? Never heard of it, but this was Jackson, so keenly intuitive. “Being around needles spooks me.”

“What’s going on with your pack that you’re not telling me - or Aiden?”

“It’s not a big deal.” She set down the syringe. He folded his hand over hers, confident, assured and very masculine.

“Talk to me. I want to help.”

Besides being sworn to secrecy, she couldn’t trust Jackson to keep what she knew from his pack leader.  Lexie shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I’m here now, and few in my pack will even notice I’m gone.”

That admission hurt. Jackson squeezed her palm, his gaze warm. Compassionate.

So close, and yet she couldn’t allow him closer. Physically, she knew she was toast. But emotionally, she had to create distance because her heart had already been shattered. Lexie, the deformed Lupine. She couldn’t run as fast, fight as hard or contribute as much.

She couldn’t trust that Jackson wouldn’t also take her for granted and grow bored, riding off into the sunset after lassoing her heart and leaving it broken into bits.

After working for a few more hours, they and the other cowboys broke for a late lunch, sitting on a horse blanket and eating the sandwiches he’d packed in the cooler in the back of the ranch pickup. As she polished off the last bite, Jackson glanced upward at the sun. “Time to head back. Promised Aiden I’d be there to meet with Cora, from the Bar B. She’s bringing Big Boy to us today. Gonna settle him in for a day before he gets to work.”