Guarded (True Alpha 2) Read online

  She looked up into his eyes and whispered, “Take me.”

  And that was it.

  He plunged his tongue into her mouth, devouring her more than kissing her. He tasted his own fluids inside her, salt and musk, and that ignited an even more powerful drive inside his wolf. His hands slid down to cup her bottom, and he lifted her feet from the floor. He carried her across the kitchen and made it as far as the table before he couldn’t wait any longer. His wolf wanted to bend her over the tabletop, spread her legs, and plunge inside until she begged him to stop. But that was too close… too much like claiming… he couldn’t risk it. Even now, his canines were pushing against his lips, craving her. Instead, he set her down on the table, palmed one gorgeous breast with his hand, and forced her to lie back on the cool wood. She arched her back away from the cold surface, but that just splayed her knees, a moon goddess spread open just for him.

  He had told her that wolves didn’t have sex… they mated. And it was true, at least in the two packs he’d ever belonged to. But no matter how much his wolf wanted to, Lucas couldn’t allow himself to claim her. Yet, he was nearly powerless against the pull Mia had on him. That left him having sex with a girl who was all woman, but barely a wolf... and someone he could never call mate.

  All he could do was pleasure her. And obtain some kind of relief for himself. He would plunge into her and make her come and do everything short of truly making her his. But then he had to find a way to keep her safely away. Otherwise he might lose his mind in this madness.

  He lifted her slender legs until her ankles rested on top of his shoulders, then pressed the tip of his aching cock against the dripping wetness of her folds. His wolf whimpered, disappointed, begging for more than just sex. Mine, his wolf whined. Lucas gripped Mia’s hips and thrusted deep inside her, driving back his wolf with a slamming wall of pleasure. She cried out his name, which rallied his wolf even more, but Lucas buried him again in a haze of lust. Mia moaned, and he could hear her wolf whimpering as well, asking for release. He held her tight against his pounding cock with one hand, while he slid the other over the silky skin of her belly until he found the tight nub of her sex. He drew small circles, timed with the rocking of their bodies. It didn’t take long for that to make her come. The waves of her pleasure made her tight, hot body grip him even harder. He gasped with the intensity of it, but managed to hold his own pleasure back, while he continued taking her hard, driving his body into hers until her moans turned into shrieks again. Her claws came out, carving into the table, just as he brought her to a second climax. This time when she squeezed around him, he couldn’t hold back. The pleasure shot through him, emptied him, buried him under an avalanche of sensation that quieted his wolf, finally and completely.

  Their panting breaths rasped the air. The table joints squeaked from the abuse they were giving it. His pounding rhythm slowed, but he kept rocking against her, riding every last shockwave of pleasure, until she was ready for him to stop. They didn’t speak. When they had both come fully down from their peaks, he gently untangled their limbs, lifted her from the table, and carried her back to his bedroom.

  He would lay with her tonight. God help him, he would probably take her again. He would pleasure her as long as she allowed it, and as long as he couldn’t resist.

  But he couldn’t bear to constantly have her, but never be able to really claim her.

  In the morning, she would have to leave.

  The smell of eggs and bacon had never been as heavenly as it was to Mia this bright and sunny morning in the apartment of an alpha wolf who happened to be her boss.

  And now her lover.

  Mia was sore in the very best way—a way she didn’t even know she could be. She adjusted how she sat on the strange-shaped decorator chair at the kitchen table, thankful for the cushioned seat, even if the black leather stuck to her legs. Lucas was cooking breakfast, dressed only in those pajama pants that hung low on his hips. She knew for a fact that he had nothing on underneath the flannel, because they had both just thrown on clothes when they climbed out of bed with the morning sun. His back muscles flexed as he stirred the eggs. His bare feet made no sound as he crossed the kitchen for plates. The ropy muscles of his arms worked to craft a breakfast for her after he had made love to her all night long. Or at least until they had both fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion.

  The man was so damn sexy she could hardly stand it.

  But he was strangely quiet now.

  He hadn’t been so quiet before, when he woke her this morning, asking for more of what they had done the night before. Her body still hummed from the pleasure he had lavished on her. And he had taught her more than one way to return the favor. It was like they had been locked in a secret time bubble where there was nothing but their bodies and the pleasure they would wring from them.

  She supposed they had to come back to real life some time.

  She squirmed in her seat again, the memories bringing back a flush of pleasure with them. Lucas was plating their food and soon brought it over, returning to bring two glasses of juice as well. He took the seat opposite her, but the silence continued. She was so ravenous, she didn’t mind. They both consumed everything he had cooked in less than half the time it took to make it.

  As they were finishing, he finally spoke. “We’ll need to go by your dorm and clear out your things. Whatever is important to you, bring it. I don’t know when it will be safe to go there again.”

  She nodded and glanced around at his immaculate apartment. “I don’t have much. And it probably won’t fit in with your gorgeous apartment, but I promise I won’t take up too much space.”

  He scowled at his plate, hesitated, then finally lifted those dark eyes to meet her gaze. Her heart rate picked up even before he spoke. Something was wrong.

  “You can’t stay here, Mia.” It was the same cool tone he had the night before, only minus the anger. Although that wasn’t exactly right—he seemed angry at something, it just wasn’t her.

  Her heart sank. “Oh.” She couldn’t think of what else to say.

  “Last night was… amazing,” he said, the frown still deep on his face. “But it would be better if we just left it at that.”

  Her stomach twisted, the eggs suddenly feeling like a rock inside her. “That’s not what you said this morning.” Anger was rising up in her like bile. He did just want to screw the intern, after all. It felt like he was throwing her away… but that wasn’t right either. He was moving her out of her dorm because he wanted to protect her. He had promised to protect her.

  He gritted his teeth, staring at his plate again. “I told you before,” he said quietly. “I have a hard time resisting you.” Then he looked up, and the heat was back—the same passion he had shown her all night long in his arms.

  She held his gaze for a breathless moment. “Then don’t resist.”

  He closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. “You don’t understand.”

  “Tell me,” she said, still holding her breath. If only he would open up to her about it… let out the darkness that was holding him back…

  He dragged his gaze back to her. For a moment, she thought he might tell her. “Maybe someday, Mia.” The painful honesty in his eyes ripped into her. “But for now… I’m sorry. I just… can’t have you here.” He rose up from the table, taking her dish as well as his into the kitchen.

  She watched him go, a lump in her throat. “But you’re moving me out of my dorm.” There was a tremble in her voice.

  He set the dishes in the sink and turned back to her. “We’ll find you a place to stay. Probably just a hotel for now.”

  She got up from her chair and stared across the chasm of cold the kitchen had become. They had made love in this room… or maybe they simply had sex. She wasn’t sure anymore.

  “You’re not going to stay with me at the hotel.” She didn’t let it be a question, just a confirmation that she understood the conditions he was setting.

  “I’ll stay until I’m s
ure it’s secure,” he said. “Then I’ll hire someone to watch over you.”

  She bit her lip. “But I’ll still see you in the office?” That one actually was a question. Did she still have a job? Did she literally screw herself out of the best job she’d ever had?

  “Of course.” His stance softened, and he unlocked his arms. “You’ll have a position at SparkTech as long as you need. Or want.”

  That made her heart skip a little. And it gave her time… time to convince him he was wrong to push her away. That there was room for her in his life.

  “But no more sex?” she asked.

  His arms locked up again. “No.”

  “How about kissing?” she asked lightly.

  He cocked his head to one side. “This isn’t a negotiation.”

  “No kissing, then,” she said. “What about fondling? Over or under clothes? How about straight-up groping?”

  He gritted his teeth. “Mia,” he growled through them.

  “I’m just saying…” She pushed in her chair. “If I accidentally brush up against you in the elevator, don’t be surprised if some part of your body gets squeezed.” She raked her gaze over his overly-hot, extremely-masculine body. She made it sound like a joke, but she wasn’t so sure it was. Would she be able to keep from jumping him in the elevator? She wasn’t entirely sure.

  But it pulled a smirk out of him. “Duly warned.”

  She flashed him another flirty look, then turned away. “I call shower first,” she threw over her shoulder as she headed back to the bedroom. His low chuckle followed after her.

  In truth, her stomach was still twisting.

  He had given into her for a night. But in the bright sun of morning, he’d thought better of it and pulled back. She would just have to keep trying, not drive him away, and eventually, he wouldn’t be able to resist the pull between them anymore. Her inner wolf was still basking in the glow of a night with her alpha, but she roused enough to yip in agreement.

  Lucas and his wolf belonged with them. But they would have to be patient while he figured that out as well.

  Lucas strolling through her dorm building, at her side in his casual-yet-upscale polo and slacks, felt like some kind of out-of-body experience: his powerful frame and confident walk were better placed in a boardroom, not next to a bunch of hung over college students stumbling in from whatever frat party they had crashed the night before. Lucas let her lead the way, but his presence was commanding: he swept the hallways with his gaze and narrowed his eyes at every person they encountered, probably assessing whether they were a threat or not. It was incredibly reassuring, and made her feel safe, even if she didn’t know from one minute to the next what kind of relationship they had. For her wolf, it seemed simple: he was her alpha, or at least should be. Even if Mia hadn’t submitted to him in any real wolfish way… yet. Her inner beast paced and pawed the ground, eager to cement that thought into reality. But her human self wasn’t at all sure about that—especially when Lucas was a volatile, crazy mix of employer, lover, protector, provider, breakfast-cooker, and mentor on all things wolfish.

  If she was on Facebook, their relationship status would definitely be it’s complicated.

  Lucas let her step into the elevator before him, then followed and used his stare to keep a bleary-eyed boy from joining them. The door closed.

  “Floor?” he asked.

  “Eleven.”

  She looked at him, but he kept his gaze on the slowly climbing numbers. There was an invisible wall between them now, one she wanted to breach by taking his hand or touching his face—she wished she was bold enough to grope him in the elevator like she had threatened, but all her bold demands had been made in the shadows of his kitchen, alone, late at night. Not in a brightly lit elevator that could stop at any moment.

  When they reached the 11th floor and stepped into the common room, Lucas’s nose wrinkled. She couldn’t blame him—the post-Friday-night-party stench was second only to Sunday morning’s usual combination of spilt drink mixers, stale body sweat, and at least a couple hasty sexual encounters. Today there was an eau du Cheetos added to the mix. Must have been movie night. At least there weren’t any used condoms in the corner, like she found the last time.

  “Sorry about the Smells of Debauchery,” she said.

  “I’d kind of forgotten about the college stench.” He threw her a small smile that felt like a lifesaver on her stormy sea of emotion. “Probably blocked it out.”

  She smiled in return. “The whole place could use one of those air purifiers you have a SparkTech.”

  His smile dimmed. “Well, at least you won’t have to stay here much longer.”

  She grimaced, thinking that at least in the dorm she had someone to live with, whereas Lucas was about to stick her in a hotel by herself. Or with a bodyguard. Which would be fine if the bodyguard was Lucas, but that seemed to be off the table.

  The hallway was empty, with the dead-quiet of too-early Saturday morning for most college students. The early risers were already gone, and the rest were probably sleeping it off. Mia dug her keycard out of her purse and slid it into the door. The blinds were closed, and the morning sun hadn’t yet been introduced to her room. At first she thought her roommate, Jupiter, wasn’t home—probably spent the night with her crush from last week, Jackson—but then she saw Jupiter’s telltale blue-feathered purse dangling from her wrist. Her roommate was buried under the blankets on her bed, face down, her wild red hair spilling out over the edge along with her floppy arm, but the covers were pulled up over most of her head.

  Lucas tiptoed past her sleeping roommate like she was a guard dog, but they would need some light to clear out her stuff. Mia strode over to the blinds on their window and opened them with a loud zip sound. Light crashed into the room.

  Jupiter groaned like she had been mortally wounded. “Et tu, Brutus Mia?” she croaked, still under the blanket.

  “I’m not stabbing you, Jeeter,” Mia said with a smile. “Although I should for what you’ve done to the place.” The open blinds had revealed the wrecked state of their room: overturned red cups, underwear she prayed was Jupiter’s draped over the chair, and it looked like someone had crumpled every piece of paper from the printer and tried to score baskets with it. Only two made it in the trash can.

  Lucas took in the disaster scene and just shook his head. She could only imagine what he was thinking.

  Jupiter stirred but only to pull the blanket tighter over her head. Her voice was muffled, but Mia could still hear her moaned complaint. “Oh, cruel fate. Why do you mock me?”

  “It’s a little early for Shakespeare, don’t you think?” Mia called. She emptied the remaining printer paper from its box and handed the empty to Lucas. They wouldn’t need much more than that to pack up her stuff.

  Jupiter’s muffled voice sounded stronger. “That’s not Shakespeare, Miss Business Major.” She shoved the blanket off her head and struggled to sit up. “It’s Homer Simpson.”

  Lucas had a small smirk on his face when Jupiter caught sight of him and shrieked. Then she covered her mouth, looking ridiculously embarrassed for that, rather than the bed head hair and Glenda the Good Witch getup: short, pink tutu, sparkles included, black and white striped tights that only went up to her thighs, and a stretchy, pink tank top that clearly revealed her bra had gone MIA during last night’s partying. Or perhaps she took it off for bed. But judging by Jupiter’s pool of goth mascara under her eyes, Mia guessed her roommate had simply fallen into bed last night in a drunken stupor.

  Eyes wide, Jupiter dropped her hand, then belatedly pulled her blanket up to cover her chest.

  Lucas’s eyes were laughing through the whole shenanigan, but he didn’t say anything.

  “Jupiter, meet Lucas,” Mia said with sigh. How was she supposed to introduce him? There wasn’t much she could tell her roommate, but by the way Jupiter’s eyes were dancing all over Lucas and hopping back and forth between them, she was sure her roommate would figure a lot out on her
own. And grill the rest out of her. “Lucas is my boss at SparkTech.”

  That should light a fire in Jupiter’s brain.

  Sure enough, her eyes went even wider.

  “Lucas, meet Jupiter,” Mia said before her roommate could say anything embarrassing. “My roommate and clothing supplier.”

  “Nice to meet you, Jupiter,” Lucas said. “That’s a great name.”

  Man, he had a killer smile, and Mia could see it working its magic on her roommate. Her face was almost as red as her hair. Lucas extended his hand, and Jupiter stumbled out of the bed to shake it. Then a horrified look overcame her. She dashed to the chair, snatched her underwear off, and stuffed it in a drawer.

  “We’re normally much neater than this, Mr., uh… Lucas.” She yanked red cups off the desk and dropped them in the trash, then looked back to Mia. “I didn’t know we’d have company.” She clutched the blue-feathered purse awkwardly across her chest, hiding her bra-lessness.

  Mia shook her head and picked up a picture of her mom off the shelf. There was a pathetic amount of stuff in her dorm that was actually important to her. She would need her books and her laptop, but beyond that… she tucked her mom’s picture in the box.

  “Mia?” Jupiter asked, frowning at the tiny amount of packing. “What’s going on?”

  “I’m moving out,” Mia said tightly, really not wanting to explain any of it. She checked with Lucas, but he just gave her a small nod. “At least temporarily.”

  Jupiter’s eyes had narrowed to slits. “Why?” She was asking Mia, but her suspicious look trained on Lucas like a laser.

  Mia took a breath and turned to him, but his lips were pressed tight. He would leave it to her to explain. Only Jupiter knew nothing about shifters and packs and venture capitalist competition. Mia could lie and say she was moving in with Lucas, but that would just make things worse.

  “Turns out SparkTech’s paying me really well,” Mia said, which was true, as far as it went. “I just wanted to move out to a bigger place.”