"How does that make you feel, knowing your life will never be the same again?" he asked in a strangled voice.
She lifted one of her perfectly arched eyebrows and said, "I feel special and scared at the same time. Something inside of me is changing. I can feel it. I'm hot all the time. Restless. I can't explain it."
Neither could he, but they had plenty of time to figure it out together.
"I'm never letting you go. You are my life. Whatever it is, we can figure it out together." Jax didn't take his eyes from hers. He wanted to see what kind of reaction she had.
Her tongue peeped out and she lifted her gaze. "I like that."
Jax winked. "Good. Now eat your food."
16
"Come with me." Jax took Denim's hand and led her from the kitchen to his bedroom. The blinds were drawn and moonlight was beaming from the windows.
"Nice," she murmured and he watched her take in his massive room. A large king-sized bed was the center focal point of the space. Facing the rear of the house was a sitting room with a tranquil view of the lake.
Denim walked across the clay tiled floor and gasped as she stared outside the glass. "This view is amazing," she said, then pushed the French doors open and stepped out onto a wrought-iron balcony. Down below, the stable-hands were attending to the horses galloping around playfully. Smiling, Jax moved over and leaned on the railing beside her and inhaled deeply, drawing her sweet scent into his lungs as they stared out at the view. "This is my favorite view of the property."
"I can see why," Denim said as she stared down at the table and together they watched as the horses were being taken inside. "I couldn't imagine living here."
His head lifted to the dark sky. "You get used to it after a while."
"Does the staff know that you're a … ?" She purposely allowed her voice to trail off.
Jax nodded. "Yes, most of them are members of our pack."
Denim's eyes widened with surprise. "How many are there?"
"Plenty and you're asking more questions than you need to know," he replied, then reached up and affectionately caressed her cheek. "The humans who work for us understand the need for the strictest confidence. In exchange, we compensate them quite well."
She tilted her head and gave him a sidelong glance, eyes dancing. "I always knew you were some spoiled rich kid. I just never realized how wealthy."
Jax shook his head. "I'm just someone who wants to be loved like everyone else." They were close, shoulders brushing as they stared at each other. A breeze ruffled her hair, causing her to shiver. The night couldn't have been more perfect if he had planned it himself.
Until he tilted his head and sniffed the night air.
The faint scent of Troy caused the hair at the back of his neck to rise and he bit back a snarl. She was down there, somewhere close watching, hoping he would come after her, and she wasn't alone. A growl rumbled in his throat. His incisors burned and the beast within raged to be unleashed, but not tonight. Tonight was going to be about Denim. It was time. The sooner he made Denim his mate, the better.
She must have felt his body stiffen because Denim swung around and faced him. "Are you okay?" she whispered, eyes dark with concern.
Jax drew in a long breath, and smiled. Her beautiful face warmed his heart and tamed the wolf in him. He wasn't going to scare Denim by alerting her that Troy and probably one of her petty she-wolf friends were on the ranch. If his father vowed to handle the situation, then he believed him. "Everything is perfect," he murmured and brought a hand up to caress her cheek.
"I love it here," Denim said with a sigh.
"And I love having you here." His eyes lowered to her mouth and he heard her breathing hitch slightly. Lacing their fingers together, he drew her against his chest. Her tongue grazed his neck before her lips traveled over to his ear and playfully nipped at the lobe.
"I had the most erotic dream about you last night," she whispered. "Do you ever fantasize about me?"
"For eight damn years," he growled, then tilted his head back to gaze at her. "You have no idea." The strained look on her face said she would like nothing better right now than for him to strip her clothes and slide inside her sweet wet essence.
That makes two of us.
"I heard that," she purred.
"Being with you is going to make it hard for me to keep a secret." Jax chuckled. "Tell me about your fantasy," he coaxed between light kisses.
Amusement was dancing in her eyes as she spoke. "I dreamed we met in the forest, you stripped my clothes and started licking my kitty," she confessed.
He hissed, "So did it feel good?"
"Mmmm, it was wonderful," she purred. "Almost as good as the real thing."
"Almost?" He swallowed.
"Nothing is as good as you and your wet … soft … lips," she said in a seductive tone.
His jaw clenched, then loosened. "What else happened in your dream?"
Leaning forward, Denim whispered against his lips, "You bent me over, spread my thighs and slid inside from behind."
"Doggy-style?" Jax stared at her. "You know that's a Were's favorite position."
Denim gave him a wicked grin as if she didn't already know. "Is it?" she said innocently, although a few nights ago, while sitting out on the porch, he had explained the entire binding process to her.
"I can't wait for us to mate, so I can show you," he said in a tight voice.
"I like the sound of that," she purred against his lips.
There was a part of her that satisfied his every desire-physical, mental and sexual-that caused a knot to form at his stomach. Denim had filled a need within him and had captured his aching heart.
"I love you Denim, and claim you as my mate."
"What?" she croaked.
"I said I love you." He leaned down to kiss her. "Please consider staying in Justice … with me and my pack."
"Jax," she moaned. Her seductive scent invaded his senses and he felt dizzy … and downright horny. "I … "
"Be my mate," he whispered. Before she could catch her breath, his hands were on her body, cupping her round breasts through the t-shirt.
"Yes." A whimper slipped from her lips, and then she arched her back, drawing closer.
"Denim," Jax groaned. "You like when I play with your breasts, don't you?"
"Uh-huh," she murmured. Her nipples brushed against his shirt and his cock jolted against her thigh, responding to the thoughts of filling her completely.
Jax dragged the shirt over his head, then hers, and leaned forward allowing his lips to trace a hot wet path over her cheek and down her neck.
"Is … is this what you dreamed?" Her breath was already becoming labored.
"Absolutely. I first stripped your clothes, teased you with my tongue until I had you squirming, then I took one of your nipples in my mouth."
Denim gasped when his lips closed over an aroused nipple and suckled until her head slumped back with pleasure. Cupping her breasts, he laved them with his tongue before nipping with his teeth.
"Feel good, baby?"
"Yes," she panted and he felt her legs wobbling. She grabbed on to his shoulders to keep from collapsing. "Please," she whimpered.
"Baby, tell me what you want?"
She ran her hands over the warm, hard expanse of his chest and along his rigid stomach. "You, Jax, I want you."
The beast within growled and dragged her against him, lifted her and nudged his hardness against her mound. "Sweetheart, do you know what it means to be my mate?"
She shook her head. "Yes and no, but as long as we're together, then that's all that matters. Her arms encircled his neck, her legs curled around his hips. "I love you, Jax." With a low growl, he carried her into the room, over to the bed and lowered her across the bedspread. Reaching down, Jax dragged her shorts and panties down over her hips, then parted her folds and nudged at her opening.
"You're so wet," he panted.
She rocked against his fingers, heightening the pressure that coiled between his thighs. Jax stroked her with one hand, while the other he used to lower his jeans and boxers just enough that his cock sprung free.
"Roll over and get up on all four," he growled.
Denim wasted no time turning on the bed. "Like this?" she asked in a breathless whisper over her shoulder that was almost his undoing.
He gritted his teeth at the sight of her ass in the air. "Yes, babe, just like that." Jax brought his hands to her hips, drawing her back, then took a deep breath. He parted the cheeks and entered her in one powerful thrust, filling her completely, her hips rocked against him.