Thunder (Alpha Love - a Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance Book 3) (5 page)

He looks quizzically at her. “Do you wish that I hadn’t?”

She shakes her head without even having to think about it. “That’s not what I said.” She stares at him, waiting for a response, the water cascading over them.

“I needed to see you.” Ashton reaches down and brings her face close to his, kissing her like a drowning man desperate for air, clinging on to the only thing that will keep him alive.

“Why?” Sofie says against his mouth.

“Jesus, running girl. Do you ever not ask questions?” Ashton looks up at the ceiling in mock despair.

“Do you ever not avoid answering them?” Sofie stands her ground, not backing down, no matter how much she wants to just be with him and be one with him.

Ashton looks at the firm set of her jaw and traces a line along it—from her ear, down her jawline, down her neck, down her collar-bone until he reaches the tops of her breasts. His touch is feather-soft as he strokes her puckered nipples, and she shivers underneath him. Her pussy is already creaming for him, ready for him to take her however he wants to. However, she wants an answer, no matter how much self-control it takes to stop her from jumping him in the meantime.

“Why did I come here?” Ashton asks the question slowly, lazily, in that sexy way that is all his own. “I came here because I hate that you left when we were fighting. Because I needed to see you. Because I needed to be with you. I needed this,” he kisses her soft mouth, “and this,” he squeezes her nipples between thumb and forefinger, making her gasp, and this,” his hand moves down, cupping her pussy, feeling the heat coming from her. “I needed
you
. I couldn’t stay away.”

That’s all she gives him time to say before she closes his mouth in a kiss, desperate for him and so turned on she can’t even think straight. Although he didn’t quite say the words she wants to hear, it’s close enough. She can’t ask any more from him, not when she’s only willing to give so much in return.

They kiss as if their lives depended on it. They can’t get enough of each other, not even close. His arms snake around her waist, pulling her even tighter to him. She reaches between them and pumps his shaft in her hands and is rewarded by the groan that Ashton lets out as she squeezes his hard cock.

Ashton backs her against the cold, tile wall, trapping her with his body. She couldn’t have escaped even if she had wanted to. However, escape is the furthest thing from her mind. The only place she wants to be is exactly where she is, so close to Ashton that their bodies merge into one.

She wraps one leg around his hips, giving him access to her, and she guides his cock inside of her. “I need this, too,” she says in a whisper, but knowing that he hears her.

He lifts her chin, so that they’re looking at each other. Their eyes locke as he enters her, their bodies merging together. Sofie gets that feeling of completeness, of absolute contentment that only comes to her when she’s with Ashton, when they’re together like this.

As he moves his hips, thrusting into her, the only sounds are their moans of pleasure and the rushing of the water around them. He buries his head in her neck, sucking and scenting her, like an animal would during mating.
There’s that word again
, she thinks briefly before pushing it out of her mind. She doesn’t want to question what this is or what it means; all she wants is to feel it, to feel him.

Ashton holds onto her, squeezing her lean body as she rides him. He closes her gasping mouth in a kiss, greedy for her, wanting all of her at once. Their eyes lock, and they both know that there’s no more waiting. Ashton lifts her up so both legs wrap around his waist, pulling him in even deeper to her. She cries out as she reaches her shuddering end. She convulses around him as he plunges inside of her one last time, spurting his satisfaction.

Gently, so gently, he sets her feet back onto the floor, and she’s surprised she manages to stay upright after the orgasm that has just wrecked her body.

“I’m glad you couldn’t stay away,” Sofie says quietly into his ear, as everything comes back into focus.

Ashton pulls his head back so that he can look at her, and the smile that plays on his lips is so innocent and so purely happy that she wishes she could bottle it and give it back to him for those moments when he feels like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. It’s as if their argument that morning hadn’t happened, or perhaps it is more like their feelings for each other go beyond any disagreement they could ever have. They soap each other down in the shower, laughing and joking, acting like a normal new couple, the kind of people that make other couples sick with jealousy. It’s in these moments together that nothing feels like it could come between them.

But that’s just what they are: moments. They’re times when they’re isolated from the rest of the world. When it’s just the two of them everything is so much simpler. But it’s not real; it’s not real life, and they both know that. However, neither of them will say it out loud, as if admitting it would break the spell.

“Cut me a break, would you?” Ashton asks, as he pulls on his t-shirt, his wet hair all sexily mussed. “Lock your door, that way I won’t have to be worrying about you all night.” He looks at her until she nods solemnly.

“Why, good sir, I didn’t know you cared.” Sofie uses her best Southern belle voice as she manages a curtsey despite only wearing a towel and a smile.

Ashton’s smile in response doesn’t reach his eyes, and he stares at her for a beat too long. “Didn’t you?” He doesn’t wait for her reply before slipping out, closing the door softly behind him.

Sofie feels a pang as Ashton leaves, but she knows he has to go. He’s still training one of the younger wolves to turn when he wants to instead of when the moon tells him to. The night is his time; his time to run in the woods and let the animal inside of him out. It’s something that she can’t share with him and that hurts her more than she would have thought possible.

She barely sleeps all night. What little time she manages to doze is haunted by dreams of wolves and blood and blackness. When Sofie arrives to site the next morning, she feels like she’s on autopilot.

The charmingly small nature of Beaumont wore thin that morning when Sofie realized that there was only one bank in the whole town. A bank that closes on Wednesdays, all day. Today is Wednesday. She hammers on the door but the lights stay off and the
CLOSED
sign remains. She leans her forehead against the cool glass of the door, trying to think clearly; but, panic has already set in. She stuffs her card into the ATM machine, punching in her code incorrectly twice before gaining access to her account. She breathes a sigh of relief as she presses the maximum she can take out, $400.

She waits, tapping her foot impatiently, thinking to herself how she can get her hands on the rest of the money before the bank opens tomorrow. Perhaps the collectors would give her one more day, just this once, if she explains. Perhaps they’d be reasonable. However, she also knows how remote that possibility is. She knows what they’re like. They’ve always made it very clear what happens if they don’t get their money, and she had never wanted to experience it firsthand.

She waits, her hand ready to grab the dollar bills as soon as the machine’s mouth spurts them out, but nothing happens. After a few agonizing moments the words on the screen appear, spelling disaster.

ACCOUNT INACCESSIBLE. TRANSACTION UNAVAILABLE.

It spits her card back out at her in disgust. Desperate, she tries again, with the same result. A third time ensures that the odious machine swallows her card.

Pulling into the makeshift parking lot on site at the canyon, Sofie feels numb. She knows how much trouble she’s in, and she knows that, right now, she doesn’t have any more ideas. The words spelled out in green LEDs keep repeating in her head.
Inaccessible
and
unavailable
—those are also two adjectives that could easily be used to describe her. Come to think of it, those were two words that Tyler had actually called her.

She pauses for a moment, gripping the steering wheel and looking herself in the eyes through the rear view mirror. “It’s going to be alright, Braun. You can do this. You’ll find a way. You always do. Just pull it together. Hold on.” As she says the words she feels a little more stable. She has to get through the day, and she has to find a way to get what she needs before the Collector appears. But first, she has work to do.

“Finally, she graces us with her presence,” Finn announces to the crew assembled around a pile of boxes.

Sofie ignores his sarcasm, not quite ready to tackle it after the morning she’s already had. “Guessing the equipment has arrived.” She looks over the boxes, zeroing on the two that she has been waiting for. Without a word, she picks them up, enjoying the burning in her arms as she lifts them and walks towards the office.

“Sofe, they’re heavy. Why don’t you let one of the guys take them for you?” Finn’s voice sounds to her like it’s coming from the bottom of a well, like he’s far away.

“S’okay, I’ve got it.” She doesn’t even turn; she just carries on walking purposefully towards the office unit where she knows she’s going to come face-to-face with Darwin.

She nods a good morning rather than going for her standard overly-bright greeting that hasn’t gotten her anywhere in the past few days. She can’t deal with going head-to-head with her former mentor, not today. She unpacks and sets up the equipment she’d ordered, while Darwin tries to pretend that he’s not interested in what she’s doing.

She unlocks the drawer in her desk where she’s been keeping the rock she took from the canyon, the same kind of rock that she had sent to Jennie to analyze before she was fired. Ashton has refused to tell her where this rock comes from, why it’s so unique, and why it seems to throw all of their equipment out of whack. He had said that the rocks had
properties
, just like everything else in the woods and in the canyon.
But what are those properties? What is he trying to hide?
she thinks.

Sofie feels a stab of guilt as she gathers the materials she needs for her test. She knows that she should wait, let Ashton tell her in his own time what it is that she’s found. But her scientific brain won’t let it rest. She has to know the answers. Geology has always been her passion, and this unique rock could be one of the biggest geological finds in history. There is no way she can’t try to find out more about it. It would be like asking a fish not to swim.

“What have you got there?” Sofie jumps as Darwin comes up behind her, peering over her shoulder.

She should have heard him; he wasn’t exactly a stealthy guy, but she was lost in her own thoughts. It doesn’t prevent Sofie from realizing that this is the first time Darwin has addressed her directly without being forced into a conversation with her.

“You’re setting up for an acid test. Need some assistance?” Darwin keeps his eyes on the dark rock in Sofie’s hand, looking intensely interested in what he’s seeing.

She curses herself for bringing the rock out in front of him. Darwin is one of the leaders in the field. Of course, he would recognize it as something that he’s not familiar with.

Sofie figures his offer of help is an olive branch, a way to start making their way back to the relationship they had before they arrived in Beaumont and everything had changed. However, there’s no way she can get Darwin involved in this, not after what happened to Jennie. She doesn’t want the end of anyone else’s career on her conscience. She’s angry with herself for being so careless. “Thanks, boss, but I’ve got this one. It isn’t anything important, just a routine check.” Her hands close over the rock, blocking it from Darwin’s view.

The atmosphere in the office shifts. It gets heavier, the way the air does just before a big storm is coming. It almost seems darker, like the sun has gone in.

“What’s the matter with you? You think I’m stupid or something?” Sofie stands stock-still, as Darwin screams at her. His face is a mask of fury, like nothing she’s ever seen before. “You think you can just freeze me out?”

Sofie takes a step back from the man that she barely recognizes, holding up her hands. “Darwin, it’s not like that at all. No one’s trying to freeze you out.” She keeps her voice as calm as possible, but there’s an edge of panic to it.

“Don’t lie to me! I know the truth! Luke has you working on some secret project; something he doesn’t want me to see.” He points at her accusatorily, his eyes wide, wide and dark, almost as black as the stone in her hand.

“Darwin, I don’t know what you’re talking about. There are no secret projects. We can do the test together if you want.” Sofie throws out the offer in a rush, wanting to say anything that will calm him down. The redness in his face is only getting worse, and he’s gasping like he can’t breathe properly. “Darwin, if you carry on like this you’re going to have a heart attack.” She was one of the few people that knew about his condition, his weak heart.

She’d caught him sweating profusely in the lab one evening, looking like he was about to collapse. He’d told her where to find his medication and, once he’d gone back to normal, he’d explained that it was a condition he’s lived with for years. It wasn’t terminal, and he was usually pretty good at managing it—between his medication and his healthy lifestyle. However, today, he wasn’t managing it. Today, it was getting out of control.

He gives her a look full of anger and takes a step towards her. Instantly, Sofie takes another step back, the back of her thighs bumping into the desk behind her. She reaches out her hand to stabilize herself and drops the rock onto the table at the same time. When she looks back at Darwin the expression on his face has completely changed. He looks confused.

“Boss, are you alright?” Sofie asks him uncertainly, as the redness leaves his cheeks, and he looks around him like he’s not sure where he is or how he got there. All of a sudden, he shoots a hand out to the wall to support himself as his knees buckle. Sofie rushes over to him, managing to catch him before he hits the ground. She pulls him up, his hand over her shoulder. “Woah there, boss. You’re okay. You’re alright,” she says, repeating the words as much for his benefit as for hers.

“What the hell?” Finn bursts in the door, taking in the situation. “Did you hit him?” Finn looks between the two of them trying to figure out what’s happened.

“What’s the matter with you? Of course I didn’t hit him! Are you going to help me or just stand there?” Sofie nods towards Darwin’s other side, and Finn hurriedly helps to hold him up.

“So what happened? I heard him shouting from outside and then what sounded like a struggle.” Finn looks over at Sofie, as Darwin stands woozily between them.

“Nothing.” Sofie looks at her boss and realizes that whatever happened, it was definitely not nothing. “I don’t know. It was like, he just lost it. He got angry, really angry, and then I thought he was having an attack.”

“An attack? What kind of attack?” Finn looks at Darwin fearfully like he may have some kind of deadly contagious virus. “We should call an ambulance.”

It’s Finn’s last words that seem to jolt Darwin out of whatever stupor he has been in. “No. No ambulance. I’m fine.” He steadies himself on his feet, shrugging off Sofie and Finn’s help.

“But, boss, you’re not looking so great…” Finn’s voice peters out, as Darwin fixes him with a stare that almost challenges him to keep talking.

“I don’t need your help. I’m not some feeble old man who needs someone to wipe the dribble from his chin and the crap from his ass. I’m not quite there, yet,” Darwin says in a harsh voice. He keeps his eyes down, not looking at the people who had been his two favorite colleagues just a few weeks ago. An uncomfortable silence settles over the office, no one quite sure what to say.

As if their unspoken questions are too much for him, Darwin goes to the equipment cupboard and grabs a sample case, sending test tubes crashing at the same time. “I’m going to take another look at the soil variation between the canyon and the woods,” he mumbles like a grumpy teenager reluctantly telling his parents where he’s going for the night.

“It looks like the weather’s about to change,” Sofie shouts after to him as he walks out of the office. The clouds are starting to move in, and there’s the dense feeling in the air of rain. “Darwin, we’re not supposed to go into the woods alone,” Sofie yells after him, ignoring the questioning glances she’s getting from the diggers milling around outside.

Darwin doesn’t react; he just keeps marching towards the woods like a man on a mission. Sofie sighs deeply, closing the door on the curious onlookers. “I just wish he’d taken one of the guards. Someone…anyone with him,” she says more for her benefit than for Finn’s. Security had been put in place by Shale for protection from the dangerous wolves that Luke was so keen on banging on about any time he did an interview about the dig. However, she was more concerned about his health than him being eaten by a wolf.

“You think Darwin might have a heart attack or something?” Finn looks at her quickly.

“No,” she says uncertainly. “No. It’s just that I would rather he wasn’t out there on his own.” She knows she doesn’t have anything to worry about on the wolf front. The weres have been told not to go anywhere near the site; there’s too much risk of anyone seeing them or them getting hurt.

“So, what was that all about?” Finn scratches his head and adjusts his glasses, one of his signature moves when he’s not sure what to do.

“I wish I knew.” Sofie collapses into her chair, feeling like all the energy has been sapped out of her. “He started asking if he could help with some testing. I said it was fine and then he just flipped out. I’ve never seen him like that. He looked a little…”

“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest?” Finn helpfully supplies.

“I was going to say manic.” Sofie looks at her friend disapprovingly. Her eyes are drawn to the rock still sitting on her desk. She remembers how she had kept hold of it while Darwin got angrier and angrier, and when she let it drop onto the table, he’d seemed to calm down.
No. Stop trying to find answers where maybe there are none, Braun,
she tells herself.

“Well, whatever it was, it’s not exactly going to win him any career points with the big chief. Half of the crew heard him going ballistic in here, and these guys like to gossip more than teenage girls.” Finn shakes his head, still trying to get his brain around Darwin’s behavior, especially since it’s so out of character for him.

“This isn’t him. It was just a funny five minutes, that’s all. If Luke has any sense, he won’t let idle talk change his opinion of Darwin,” Sofie says with more conviction than she feels.

“I agree; it isn’t him. True, he’s been acting weird for the past few weeks, but I’ve never known Darwin to get mad. Frustrated, irritated—yes, especially with me.” Finn grins impishly at this. “But not angry like you’re describing.”

“Well, that’s what happened. I don’t know how else to describe it.” Sofie throws her hands up in frustration and thinks,
How has today just gone from bad to worse?
She rubs her head where a persistent ache is most definitely blooming.

“Don’t you go all weird on me, too,” Finn says, looking at her apprehensively. “What’s going on?” He peers at her from over his glasses like a psychiatrist.