Put that way, it did seem petty of him. But still. His apartment and its trendy furniture, the view. It was perfectly located so that he could walk to all the places he liked to go.
“We’ll talk about it later. This is it,” he nodded with his chin at the big house with the large tree and tire swing and the big cedar playset. The big drive was filled with cars.
“Shit. The whole damned Pack is here. I’m never going to be able to sneak you back to my…our place.”
“I hope they like me.”
Her voice seemed so small and unsure that he looked at her after he turned the ignition off. He touched her chin, running his thumb through the cleft there. “They’ll love you. Even if for no other reason than because I do.”
She took a deep breath. The moment she bonded with Nick, she took on his rank. She was Second in this clan and she had to hold her head up and own that or the other wolves would see it as weakness. She also knew that, given what he’d said on the way over and Nina’s comments earlier, that there were bound to be females who’d warmed his bed there wanting to check her out and she needed to be every inch Nick’s mate.
She opened the door and stepped out and he came around and shot her a look. “I was going to do that.”
She grinned again. “That so?” She laughed and it shot straight to his cock. Her laugh was deep and sultry. He hadn’t expected that at all. “As it happens, I can open my own door. But I’m not averse to you helping me carry stuff and kill spiders.”
It was his turn to laugh as he pulled her against his body, nuzzling into her neck and breathing her in like a drug. “A tough chick werewolf like you is afraid of spiders?”
“Mmm-hmmm.” Her eyes closed as she clung to him, enjoying the feel of his body against her own.
“Hey! Cut it out, we want to meet her!”
Tracy jumped back guiltily and looked up at the porch, where several people were standing.
“That’s Sarah, Ben’s mate,” Nick said, smiling up at the tall blonde waving at them both impatiently.
“And you’re her anchor.”
He turned to her. “Yes. Is that going to bother you?”
“Would it matter if it did?”
He caressed the line of her jaw and drew his thumb over her bottom lip. “Of course it matters. I love you. You’re my mate and your happiness is very important to me. Not that I can change being her anchor.”
“I know. Thank you.”
He smiled and leaned in to kiss her.
“Nick! You tease, bring the girl up here so we can welcome her into the Pack!”
Nick pulled back with a groan. “And that is Ben, my brother and the Alpha. He’s…”
“Yeah, I have one too.”
He held out a hand and she took it and he drew her into the yard and toward the porch, where it looked like at least a dozen people were standing.
“Oh jeez,” she murmured under her breath. And damn it, did that Sarah have to be so damned beautiful? She was the feminine type, with perfect creamy skin and big china-doll eyes. Knowing how Cade felt about Nina, she wondered just how deeply Nick felt for Sarah and jealousy knifed through her.
Ben came down the porch steps with a big smile on his face, and without a word to Nick, pulled Tracy into a big hug. He kissed both of her cheeks and stepped back, looking at her and then at Nick.
“Congratulations! And welcome. Welcome to Pacific and welcome to the family, Tracy.”
She couldn’t help but give the man a lopsided grin. He was so not suave like Nick. He wore jeans and a Trail Blazers shirt and his hair was sort of mussed up, but not in the intentional messy way that Nick’s hair was.
“Thank you. I take it you’re Ben.”
“Oh, yes. I’m sorry. Tracy, this is my brother, Ben Lawrence, the Alpha of Pacific Clan.” Nick raised a brow as his brother stared at Tracy.
“And I’m Sarah.” She came down the steps and gave Tracy an appraising look that put Tracy on edge.
“Nice to meet you, Sarah.” And she hoped she meant it. She wanted to fit into this family as well as she fit into her own in Seattle. She had a new Pack now and it would be a good thing if she had even a shadow of the connection with Sarah that she had with Nina.
“It’s more than nice to meet you, Tracy. I can’t be more thrilled that Nick has found you.” With that she leaned in and kissed Tracy’s cheek and stood back, her body against Ben’s. Tracy couldn’t quite get rid of the unease that slid through her stomach but chalked it up to nervousness.
The next hour went by in a blur of activity and new faces. She knew which females Nick had slept with by the looks they threw her. But Nick had eyes for her and her only. Ben and Nick’s parents were so happy to meet her.
“I really need to talk to my brother and my parents,” Tracy murmured to Nick as the evening set in.
“Oh, of course. How long have you been up? You drove down this morning, didn’t you?”
“Just before five,” she said, trying not to yawn. “And I’ll need to talk to Charity, she’s the woman who manages my store, to arrange for some more time, and I’ll have to figure out what to do with it and my house.”
Just how much she was leaving behind hit him square in the face. Her family, her friends, her house, her business, her Pack. All of that for him. A wave of tender protectiveness rose in him.
“Come on, baby, let’s get you home.” He stood and helped her up. “Folks, thanks for the evening but Tracy and I are going home now. We’ll see you all tomorrow night for the joining.”
Chris and Haley, Ben and Sarah’s children, got up and latched on to Nick. “Uncle Nick! Don’t go!”
He laughed and swooped both of them up into his arms, kissing them both soundly. “Got to, kiddos. Tracy is tired and it’s my job to take care of her. Like how your daddy takes care of your mommy.”
“Ew! You’re gonna kiss on her all the time then?” Chris asked, disgusted by the very idea.
Tracy laughed. “I hope so!”
* * * * *
The drive to his apartment was quiet but relaxed. He was a little concerned that his brother had taken him aside and grilled him about whether he was sure Tracy was his true mate but they’d been friendly to her face and that was a relief. Tracy seemed far more at ease now than she had earlier as well.
“Are you feeling better now?”
“Hmm?” She stretched and his heart thudded against his rib cage. “Oh, yes. Your family is lovely.” Except for the women who’d hated her on sight and the Fourth who seemed annoyed that a wolf with an eyebrow ring was suddenly ranked above him. Oh and maybe Sarah, who sort of seemed to like her, but Tracy still wondered about her connection with Nick.
He pulled into the garage of a swank high-rise and up a few levels until he pulled into a spot near the elevators and turned off the ignition.
“Come on, baby. We’re home.”
She bit back her response, not wanting to fight. But he was going to have to accept that they needed a house with a yard for Milton.
He grabbed his briefcase and her suitcase and guided her into the elevator lobby with a hand at the small of her back. She watched as he keyed in a number on the pad near the up button. The doors slid open and they got inside the elevator car.
He hit nineteen and leaned back against the wall.
“So,” she said, turning to face him, “you think this elevator has a camera in it?”
“What? Why…oh.” He raised a brow and she stepped closer.
“I’ve never had sex in an elevator before.”
“Oh, you’re sin on legs, Tracy Warden. Or Lawrence. Whatever.”
She chuckled and reached out, dragging a fingernail up the prominent ridge in his pants.
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. He sighed. “Next time.”
“Oh yeah.” She sauntered out and he watched her sway. She had quite a lovely ass. In fact, he couldn’t wait to see her naked. To really see her. That interlude in the maze was too brief and he was so crazed
with need he didn’t even really get a chance to look at her.
“I’m on the right. 1905.”
She waited for him at the door and he couldn’t unlock it fast enough. She walked in and he slammed the lock home and dropped the bags. One corner of her mouth slowly slid up into a sexy smile.
“Bedroom is right behind you,” he murmured, pushing her with his body.
When they got inside she stiffened and he did too, closing his eyes at his mistake.
“It stinks of her in here.”
“I…I’m sorry. I didn’t know you this morning. I didn’t know you last night. I didn’t know.”
She sighed and looked at the big bed, sheets still rumpled, the scent of sex faint in the air. The room stank of this other woman. She inhaled again. The redhead she’d met this afternoon who seemed good-natured enough.
“The redhead.”
He looked at her, surprised. And then he nodded. “It wasn’t ever anything between us. Just sex.”
“Oh, I feel much better now. Gee, let’s fuck in a bed drenched in your come for another woman!”
“I didn’t know! How can you be angry when I didn’t know?”
“It doesn’t have to be rational!” she yelled.
“Well, that’s good, because it isn’t.”
Her eyebrow, the one with the ring, slowly slid up and he wished he could take the words back.
“Okay, let’s just deal with this. I have clean sheets, I’ll change them.”
He bustled past her and went to a closet and came back, arms filled with dark blue sheets.
She wandered out of the room as he worked and he found her minutes later, staring out the windows near the fireplace.
She stared out into the night at the lights of the city and the river reflecting the moon and stars. Her skin itched with need for him, with the desire to touch and be touched by him. But her head, well, that was another story. She felt off balance. It was all happening so fast. She knew how it was, she accepted that he was her mate and most certainly she felt that way. Loved him, needed him, wanted him desperately. But at the same time, she wondered why it was she had to be the one continually giving up stuff.
“I’m sorry. This isn’t how I wanted our first night together to be,” he said, coming up behind her and putting his arms around her waist. “The sheets are changed, I opened the windows to air it out. I’m running a bath, would you like to join me?”
She leaned her head back against his shoulder. “Yeah. And I know. We’ll get past it.”
“I’m going to grab some champagne. Why don’t you call your family while I get everything ready?”
She turned and looked into his eyes. He wasn’t that much taller than she was, just shy of six feet, so all she had to do was ease up on her tiptoes to kiss his lips softly. “Okay. I’ll be in in a few minutes.”
“Phone is right there behind you.” He kissed her once more and left her alone to make the call.
She didn’t bother calling the house, she knew that Cade and her parents would be at the resort by now with Lex and Nina, so she called Cade’s cell.
“Hey there, I was getting worried about you.” Cade’s voice was a comfort. “Congratulations, sweetie. I’m so pleased for you.”
“Thanks, Cade.” Her breath hitched and she held back tears. She was happy, finding Nick was amazing, but she still felt sad at losing her old way of life. “I met his family today and they were all very nice. The joining is tomorrow night at seven at the Pack house.”
“Yeah, I worked out the visit with Ben. We’ll be there. I took the liberty of bringing down some more of your clothes.”
She smiled, knowing that it would have been Nina’s idea. “Thanks, Cade.”
“You want to talk to Mom? She’s over the moon.”
“Uh, yes, but not right now. I’m getting ready to, uh, that is, we’re going to… I just don’t want to right now.” She truly would cry if she heard her mother’s voice, and she didn’t want to deal with that right before being with Nick.
“Gotcha,” he said, laughing. “Please do not elaborate. I’ll tell her you’ll call tomorrow. I love you, honey. We all do and we’re so proud and happy that you’ve found your mate.”
“Thank you. I am too. He’s a good man with a good family.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow then. I love you.”
“I love you too, Cade.” Smiling, she hung up the phone and went off in search of her husband.
She found him in the giant bathroom, lighting candles. He was in his shirtsleeves, his tie off and his feet bare. The bathroom smelled of him and only him and she relaxed.
“Hi.”
He turned. “Hello there. Everything fine with Cascadia?”
“Oh yeah. Great. They’re all very happy and will be there tomorrow night. But enough about them. I’m so glad you’re still clothed because I want to see you strip for me.”
She stood there in the doorway, watching him, delighting in the way his breath hitched.
“Only if I get the same treat,” he said, walking toward her, hand slowly popping the buttons on his shirt open.
“Oh don’t worry, by the time you pass out, you’ll know where all my tattoos are.”
He stopped for a moment and laughed. “I do like your sense of humor, Tracy.”
“If it gets you naked faster, I’ve got loads more material up here.” She tapped her temple and he grinned just before he let his shirt fall from his body and stood there, candlelight gleaming off his skin. Like most wolves whose ancestors came to the Americas in the Diaspora, his roots were southern European. His hair was dark and his skin had an olive tone.
His upper body was perfectly proportioned. Wide shoulders with layers of hard, compact muscle tapered into a V shape with a narrow waist and flat abdomen. He had just the right amount of hair on his chest, not too much but not hairless either.
“My. What a lucky wolf I am. The pants too,” she murmured as she took the sight of him in.
He unbuckled his belt, undid his pants and let them slide to the floor and shoved the boxer briefs down. To say that he was well endowed would be an understatement. She’d only seen the briefest of glimpses of his cock earlier and had certainly felt it fill her up, but the whole package made her a bit lightheaded.
“Do you like what you see?”
She nodded mutely. There were no words and even if there were, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to form them in the dryness of her mouth. He was beautiful. Beautiful and masculine and big and strong and oh-so tough. She shivered at the sight of him. She saw him notice her reaction and his smile in return was filled with sexy promise.
“Now you. Show me your tattoos.”
Grabbing the hem of her shirt, she yanked it up and over her head, tossing it to the side. She’d toed off her boots in the other room and now she unceremoniously shucked her jeans, panties and socks.
“Damn but you’re gorgeous. Those freckles like sprinkled cinnamon across your nose and cheeks belie the naughty girl the piercings expose. I like that.” He approached her and cupped her breasts. “And these little breasts are delicious.”
If anyone else had said “little breasts” to her, she’d have died on the spot, but coming from him, it was a compliment.
He traced a finger to her shoulder where one of her tattoos was. “This is pretty.”
“It’s in the old language. It means ‘liberation’.”
He laved his tongue over it and she shivered.
“And this one?” he asked, touching the one at the inside of her hip.
“That one is Sheela Na Gig. A goddess of life.”
“Hmm, very fitting.” He traced the outline of the little round goddess. “Where else?”
She held out her wrists and showed him the insides. Those tattoos, too, were in the old language. “This one is destiny. And this one is courage.” He pressed a kiss to each one and those eyes pulled back to her own again.
She turned slowly and looked back at him over her shoulder. “
That one is a raven.”
He bent to look at it more closely. It was more than that, it was a raven on the back of a wolf. “This is beautiful, Tracy.”
“Thank you. When I was ten I had this series of dreams and I kept changing into a raven and as the raven has such a big part to play in our own mythological structure, it’s always stuck with me as sort of my touchstone animal.”
In werewolf mythology, the raven was the source of knowledge, a guide in all things.
He couldn’t quite believe how utterly turned on he was by her body. He’d never in a million years been attracted to women with piercings and tattoos and yet this one turned him on past bearing. He loved that edge about her, loved her naughtiness, and it made him feel that way too. Certainly he was no prude but he’d never had sex outside in a hedge maze. He’d never seen a tattoo on someone and wanted to lick it.
Unable to resist, he licked each tiny dimple at the base of her spine and she gasped. Standing, he moved around her, so hard his cock tapped his stomach. “Champagne and chocolate and a bath await you.”
Stepping in, he held out a hand and she took it, letting him help her into the tub. Sitting in the water across from him, she sighed, her eyes going half-lidded. “This bathtub is something else. My house was built in the Forties, the bathtub is very utilitarian. This is a sex bathtub.”
“It is with you in it. I can’t say I’ve used it for sex or taking a bath even. But seeing you here with the water running down your body, all wet and glistening, makes me reevaluate my position on that.”
He handed her a glass of champagne and touched his own to it. “To us.”
“To us,” she echoed back and took a drink. “Very nice.”
“Thank you. I’ve had this bottle since I graduated from business school. I’m glad I had something worthy of you.”
“Flatterer. You’re so getting lucky.”
He looked surprised for a moment and then laughed. “I already have.”
He picked up a chocolate from the gold box and moved toward her with it. Thinking he’d feed it to her, she leaned in.
“Oh no, I’m eating this one,” he said as he brushed the truffle over a hard nipple, smearing it across her flesh. Because they already had a high body core temperature and the water was so warm, it melted against her skin, a ribbon of chocolate trickling down her nipple.