Punt: A British Bad Boy Football Romance (30 page)

M
addie knocked softly
on the infirmary door. When no response came, she pushed the door open and stepped into the space. The large room was set up with four hospital beds, each with a curtain that could be pulled for privacy. At the moment, only one curtain was closed. Everything was stark white and spotless, reminding Maddie of an emergency room. Not the most friendly atmosphere, to be certain.

Clearing her throat, Maddie hesitated.

“Sadie?” she asked, uncertain.

A sniffle came from behind the curtain, then a quiet voice answered.

“Yes?”

“My name is Maddie. Can I come in?”

“O-okay,” the girl replied.

Maddie stepped up and pulled the curtain aside. The human girl sat cross-legged on the hospital bed, huddled under a number of blankets. She was younger even than Maddie had expected; no more than twenty-one at the most.

The other surprise was her beauty. She had fine, delicate features and soft olive skin. Immense cocoa eyes, rimmed with tears, were framed by dark lashes. The girl’s dark hair was waist length, longer and fuller than any Maddie had ever seen. It spilled about hers slight frame, making Sadie seem even younger.

“Can I sit with you? I thought we could talk for a few minutes,” Maddie said, gesturing to the bed. The girl nodded, running the back of her hand against her cheek to brush away a stray tear. She shivered, which made Maddie notice how cool the room was. Shifters were mostly hot-blooded, and clearly no one had thought enough to turn the temperature up for the human.

“Just a second,” Maddie said, looking around. She spotted a thermostat on the wall after a brief search, and cranked up the heat.

“It should warm up in here in a few minutes,” Maddie said, turning back and taking a seat next to the girl on the hospital bed.

“Thanks,” the girl replied. Her voice was flat, toneless.

“So…” Maddie started, awkward. Silence lapsed for a few moments while she gathered her thoughts. “I’m not really sure where to start. I know you must have a lot of questions.”

The girl shrugged, looking down at where her hands lay twisted against her rounded belly.

“We’re going to move you out of here,” Maddie offered, deciding to start with the changes first.

“To where?” the girl asked, shooting Maddie a nervous glance.

“To an actual room. It’s creepy in here,” Maddie said. “Besides, you deserve some privacy.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry, though. I’m going to move you next door to Kellan. He’s going to watch out for you.”

“Oh,” the girl said again, a blush creeping across her cheeks.

“Is that okay? I can get someone else for you if you want,” Maddie offered.

“No! I mean… I—I think Kellan is fine,” the girl stammered.

“He seems really nice. I don’t really know him, but Jasper says he is a good protector,” Maddie said.

At the girl’s questioning look, Maddie rushed to explain.

“Jasper is the Alpha, the head of this group. I’m his mate. Wife, I guess you could say.”

“Oh. That’s nice?” the girl said, almost asking a question.

Maddie sighed.

“It’s complicated. But I’m new here, too. I’ve only been here a few days.”

“But you’re… one of them?” the girl asked, blushing.

Maddie smiled, nodding.

“Yep. I’m from New Orleans, though. You know more about these males than I do, honestly.”

The girl’s eyes dropped to her pregnant belly.

“I’m not going to ask you about that. If you want to tell me anything about it, you can. But I won’t pry,” Maddie assured her.

Sadie looked up at her, a sad half-smile appearing.

“You’re the only one who doesn’t want to know,” the girl said.

Maddie nodded.

“It’s not my place to punish whoever did this to you. I’d rather help in other ways.”

“Like what?”

“I want to get you settled in here. You’ll need clothes, and eventually you’ll need things for the baby. I don’t know, whatever you need. Even if it’s just someone to talk to.”

Sadie nodded, silent but thoughtful.

“Is my baby going to be like… like you?” she asked.

“A Shifter, you mean?”

Sadie nodded.

“I can’t say for certain, but I think so. Our genes are very dominant.”

“Does it hurt when you become a wolf?” the girl blurted, anxiety plain on her face.

“Not at all. It feels really good. Like when you wake up from a nap and you stretch your muscles. It feels a lot like that.”

Sadie looked relieved.

“That’s good. I didn’t like to think that my baby would be hurting all the time,” she said.

“We don’t start to Shift until puberty anyway, so that’s a long way off.”

“I guess there’s no instruction manual for humans having Shifter babies, is there?” the girl joked. Maddie chuckled, shaking her head.

“No, but you’re not the only human carrying a Shifter child. My brother’s mate is human, and she just found out that she’s expecting.”

“Really?” Sadie asked, perking up.

“Yeah. Her name is Tessa. She’s a little scared too, but I think she’s excited. She and my brother really love each other.”

“That must be nice,” Sadie said, her voice quiet.

Maddie cocked her head, a thought forming in her mind.

“I could give you Tessa’s phone number or email address if you’d like to talk to her about baby stuff.”

“I don’t have a cell phone or a computer,” Sadie said.

“No big deal. I’ll get you whatever you need. You don’t have to be cut off from the outside world here. The pack just wants to make sure you’ll keep our secret and that the baby will be with his or her own kind. We don’t want to imprison or punish you.”

At Sadie’s skeptical expression, Maddie sighed.

“The males — they just don’t know what to do with you. It might take a little time, but we’ll find a middle ground. I promise.”

Maddie felt Sadie’s uncertain gaze, felt the girl taking her measure. After a long moment, she nodded.

“Okay.”

“Alright.” Maddie stood, ready to start working on her other projects.

“You’re leaving?” the girl asked.

Maddie turned to look at her, noting the fearful expression on her face.

“I’m going to send for Kellan. He’s going to start moving you into a suite as soon as we get one ready for you.”

“Oh,” Sadie said, still nervous. She glanced at the door, making Maddie wonder if she’d had some unwelcome visitors from the pack. Based on Maddie’s own experiences so far, it wasn’t unthinkable. Maddie would have to warn Kellan and Jasper.

“How about I wait with you until he gets here?” Maddie said, taking her seat again.

“I don’t want to keep you from whatever you have to do,” Sadie said.

“You know what? This is way more important. Besides, I still have to get a list of items you need. I almost left without doing that.”

“Oh. Okay,” Sadie said. She relaxed, and Maddie knew she’d made the right choice.

Maddie sighed, trying to keep the frown from her face. Something was going to have to be done to better protect the human girl. Maddie pulled out her phone and started making the list of Sadie’s requests, promising herself that she would consult Jasper on the matter later.

Human or no, the girl was a pack member now. Shifters protected their own no matter what, and Maddie was determined that Sadie would be no exception.

“Maddie?” Sadie asked, looking up at her.

“Yeah?” Maddie said, returning to their conversation.

“Can I ask you a personal question? About Gwen?”

“Sure,” Maddie said, puzzled. “I don’t really know her that well, but I’ll answer what I can.”

“It’s a really nosy question. It’s just that you seem nice, and I’m trying to figure out how things work here,” the girl said, clearly hesitant.

“Don’t worry about it,” Maddie said, waving off Sadie’s concern.

After a moment Sadie took a breath, and fired off her question.

“Aren’t you, like… jealous? I had a boyfriend once that was close with his ex, and it used to make me super jealous.”

“Jealous,” Maddie repeated, cocking her head.

“Yeah. You said that you’re the wife of the Alpha, but Don— er, the Shifter I know, he told me that Gwen has all the Alpha’s authority, because she’s banging him. His words, not mine,” Sadie finished with a blush.

Maddie’s mouth opened and closed again, and she couldn’t for the life of her think of a response. Of course as soon as Sadie said the words, everything clicked. Gwen and Jasper had a lot of hurt feelings. Gwen bossed him around, stepped all over him, and generally lacked the respect of a Beta to an Alpha. Jasper had spoken of a past girlfriend, a romance gone awry…

Yeah, that ex was Gwen. No denying it.

“I didn’t mean to pry. I was just talking, I talk when I’m nervous,” Sadie said, her eyes growing large as she rambled.

“No, no. I’m sorry, I was just considering your question. To answer, I’ll just say that with Shifters, mating is for life. We don’t divorce. If a couple doesn’t get along, they stay together. There’s no such thing as cheating. It’s kind of complicated, but… No, I’m not jealous of Gwen.”

Maddie swallowed the lump in her throat, the sad little feeling that said her words might be a lie.

She nodded and chatted with Sadie, but all she could think about was this new piece of information. Just add that to the growing pile of things Jasper hadn’t trusted her enough to tell her…

F
our days later
, Maddie started to wish that she’d never volunteered herself for such a huge task. She’d launched herself into work as pack procurer, and she’d barely surfaced since then. Though Jasper was slammed with work, making decisions and taking business meetings, even he’d started to grumble about not seeing much of her during waking hours.

At the end of her fourth invariably long day, Maddie arrived back at Alpha’s House with nothing in mind so much as a little down time. Her arms were full of various bags and packages, just a small portion of what she’d purchased in Mobile that day. She used her elbow to nudge the door open and edged inside, sighing when she could at last lay her burdens down on the large kitchen table.

Heading for the study, Maddie sat down and kicked her feet up on the battered desk. She reached in her pocket and fished out the to-do list she’d been working from, mentally checking off what she’d accomplished today.

Maddie had managed to rope Langston, the kindly younger door guard, into helping her all day. Taking Jasper’s credit card and his Mercedes, Maddie and Langston had driven all over the city to pick up items that Maddie required.

She took a moment to mark down the items they hadn’t been able to find; she’d just order those things online and have them delivered to the Bunker. The online ordering would have to wait, though. Maddie had shopped herself and poor, naive Langston into complete exhaustion. She needed a few minutes to regroup and rest her feet.

She sighed and arched her back, stretching. She was more than a little glad to have gotten so much accomplished today.

Tomorrow Maddie would borrow a laptop from the office and queue up all the orders online, having them delivered to the club that camouflaged the Bunker’s entrance. First on her list was to order healthier, higher-grade foods and some instructional cooking videos for the males. Maddie also had the idea that she might be able to tempt a female from another pack into moving here and taking up a position as the pack’s chef. Someone tough, who wouldn’t take any shit from the swaggering soldiers of the Alabama pack. A few names flitted through her mind, and she nodded to herself. Given a little time, this pack could get back on the right track.

Not that she would be here to reap the benefits, Maddie thought. Biting her lip, she realized that Jace and Tessa’s wedding was only two weeks away. After that, Maddie was supposed to move on with her life, doing all the stuff she’d meant to do when she was a young adult but had put off so far.

Travel the world, eat strange foods, write postcards, take foreign lovers…

Maddie frowned at the last thought. Despite both their workloads, she and Jasper had made love multiple times a day every day since their arrival, even waking in the night to seek pleasure in one another. She blushed, thinking that she could practically still taste her mate on her lips, though it had been hours since she’d seen him. How could anyone else compare to the experience she’d had last night? Or the night before… or the morning before… The idea of wrapping legs around a total stranger, once vital to Maddie’s pleasure, now seemed less…

Well, just less.

That was okay, though. So maybe Maddie would just skip tramping it up during her travels. There were still tons of other things to experience, temples to explore and seas in which to swim. She didn’t realize she’d closed her eyes and drifted off until she heard Jasper’s voice close to her ear, making her jump.

“You look very content,” he crooned. When she snapped her eyes open he was leaning down beside where she lay kicked back in the desk chair.

She pulled her legs down off the desk, sitting up. He stood up and looked her over, his eyes roaming over her body. The look in his eyes made his naughty thoughts quite clear, and Maddie blushed under his gaze.

“I was just heading upstairs to bed when I saw you in here and realized you wouldn’t make it upstairs on your own,” he said, his voice smoothing over her skin and making her toes curl.

“I’m mad at you right now,” Maddie said, tipping her head back. “Do you even know how much more work I have ahead of me?”

Even as she said the words, a sleepy smile crept onto her face. Damn him, looking all tall and blond and gorgeous. His innately masculine scent filled the room, all sweetly smoky cedar.

“How can I ever make it up to you?” he asked, blue eyes twinkling as he reached down to ruffle her hair. Maddie swatted away his hand with a pout.

“I just spent my whole day fixing something that this pack should have fixed years ago. I can’t believe you’ve all been living like this. And I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me that your Den is broken!”

“Bunker,” he corrected, giving her a troubled look.

“Whatever. You just left me to it all day, didn’t even call to check in or anything,” she said. She knew she sounded petulant, but her upset was a tangible thing.

Jasper knelt beside her, taking one of her hands in his.

“What would you have done if I had interrupted your work?” he asked, amused.

“Yelled at you, probably,” Maddie said. Jasper’s responsive laugh was infectious, and Maddie found herself smiling against her will.

“I have a proposition. How about I carry you upstairs to the bedroom like a caveman, and then I do dirty things to you until you’re happy again?”

“Sex doesn’t really solve problems,” Maddie said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“It does for us,” Jasper rebutted.

Maddie sighed.

“Fine. If you must make me happy, then I’d guess we’d better go upstairs. But I get to be on top this time,” she stipulated.

Jasper grinned, standing and scooping Maddie up. Maddie had never been carried up a flight of stairs before, at least not at a full run like Jasper did now. She was thin but very tall, almost six feet barefoot. Most guys were barely her height and certainly not capable of literally sweeping her off her feet like he could.

Maddie laughed and let her head fall back against Jasper’s arm, staring up at him as he carried her into the master bedroom and laid her carefully on the bed.

Backing up, he unbuttoned his white dress shirt and black slacks. Discarding everything but his tight black boxer briefs, he gave Maddie a wicked smile and laid down next to her. He was belly up as she’d requested, submissive for once. His erection was obvious in such little clothing, thick and long and proud. Maddie’s fingers itched to wrap around it, stroke it hard enough to make him moan.

Just this little bit of power over him, and Maddie was ready to rip her own clothes off. She held herself back, though. He’d been incredible the night before, giving her everything she could possibly want, and she wanted to give him the same.

It was more than that, though. A little voice in her head also wanted to mark him, to make sure no female would ever measure up to her, at least in the bedroom. She would have to give him up soon enough, so she might as well enjoy the little bit of time she had with him now. Just for tonight, she wanted to possess him, make sure he’d remember her forever.

“Change your mind? You look very serious now,” Jasper said, reaching out and lifting her chin with a finger.

“No, no. I was just… no,” she said, sitting up. She stripped off her clothing, leaving only her bra and panties. Turning back to him, she was electrified by the look in his clear blue eyes. He looked desperate, adoring, and ravenous all rolled into one. Biting her lip, she scooted close and pressed a kiss to his muscular shoulder. Another kiss on his collarbone, then she grabbed his hand and brought his fingertips to her lips.

After a few delicate kisses, she circled his index finger with her tongue. Sucking his finger into her mouth, she bit down on his finger hard before soothing the pain with her tongue. She then moved to his middle finger, bobbing her head over it to mimic giving head. A glance at Jasper showed her that he was completely riveted on the wet glide of her mouth, as intended. She bit and sucked her way across all the fingers on that hand, then switched tactics completely and straddled him.

Suddenly they were pressed together intimately, and with only the thinnest barrier of fabric between them. Maddie leaned down to tickle Jasper’s chest with her long hair, then flipped her locks back over her shoulder to showcase the tops of her breasts where they peeked out from her lacy bra.

Jasper growled at her, a deep sound that only a Shifter male could produce. It made all the hairs on her body stand up, provoking her inner wolf to the nth degree.

Maddie rolled her hips, pressing her most tender flesh against the hardness of his erection. Jasper’s eyes closed briefly as he rocked back against her, greedy, wanting more. Maddie stopped moving her hips, instead leaning down and pressing her lips to his. His eyes opened instantly, echoing all his hunger and need and… something more.

Maddie parted her lips, and Jasper slid his tongue against hers, teasing and promising. One of his big hands sank into her hair, gripping her head to hold her in place. Maddie nipped his bottom lip to scold him, pulling back and reasserting her control.

Last night he’d been such a tease, dragging everything out so long that Maddie almost went crazy. Tonight, it was going to be different. She was going to watch him lose every ounce of that precious control.

Maddie unhooked and removed her bra, tossing it aside. His hands rose to cup her there, but she pushed them away, running her own fingertips over them instead. He let out another growl, thrusting up against her as she toyed with the stiff peak of each nipple. Looking down at his expression of pure craving, Maddie felt liquid pool hotly at her core.