Already Freakn' Mated (9 page)

*

As soon as his lips touched hers, Chris questioned the wisdom of the kiss even as he reveled in it. One taste. One delicious, cock hardening, toe tingling taste and he was lost. And in lust. Possibly, deaf. Definitely dumb because he didn’t care that anyone could come down and spot them. Didn’t give a damn a party was going on upstairs, or that Jill’s husband probably looked for her.

One simple embrace, just lips sliding sensuously across each other, and his whole world tilted.
Mine.

He could have shouted for joy when instead of pushing him away, her hands curled around his neck, holding him close. Soft, full lips parted for him, and he took full advantage, slipping his tongue past the barrier of her teeth, groaning at her sweet surrender.

How could such a petite woman, still almost a stranger, feel so right in his arms? Make him want to go against his own personal rules? Tempt him into doing bad things. Bad, bad, arousing things.

Whirling and still holding her off the floor in his arms, he strode a few paces and pressed her against the padded wall. Using it as a support, he freed his hands to skim the length of her body, cupping her pert ass cheeks, nudging her thighs apart until she got the hint and wrapped her legs around his waist.

Sweet, freakn’ heaven. The core of her, so hot even through her slacks, burned against him. He couldn’t help rubbing himself against her. Only a thin thread of sanity kept him from removing the clothing keeping them apart.
Anyone could come down. And do I really want our first time to happen fast and furious in a gym?

No. She deserved better. A bed. Roses. A slow languorous exploration. A chance to come so often, she’d end up hoarse from screaming. Wanting to make their first time special was one thing. Caught in an electrifying embrace, he couldn’t make himself stop. Couldn’t halt the fire raging through his veins. Didn’t want to stop touching or kissing her. Ever.

It seemed the same mad passion gripped her, too. She panted in his mouth and small sounds of pleasure escaped her. He caught them all, and gloried in them. Reveled in the fact she wanted him.

A shrill giggle, from way too close had him muttering a soundless ‘Shit’.
What is Gina doing?
Because, if he wasn’t mistaken, he heard her on the steps to the basement.

Quickly, he put Jill down, but looking at her face – her expression dreamy, her lips swollen – he realized any idiot would immediately guess they’d spent the last few minutes kissing.

Much as he hated to do it, he needed her to snap out of it. “Jill. I think your husband is coming.” He whispered it as Gina let out one of her infamous belly laughs.

“My who? What? Oh no.” Panic lit in Jill’s eyes and Chris cursed the untimely interruption.

Her fingers flew to her lips and he could see the plea in her eyes for help. Despite the fact her husband catching his wife making out with the handyman would provide a great excuse for Jack to exit the picture, leaving Chris to scoop her up, he couldn’t do that to Jill. Bending down, he picked up a medicine ball and showed it to her.

Immediate understanding dawned, and she nodded her head. Taking a breath, inwardly wincing, Chris then threw the ball at her head, just as an angry Jack said, “What are you two doing down here?”

Smack.

Chris winced, unseen by all but a staggering Jill, as the heavy ball hit his mate in the face, not truly hard enough to do damage, but convincingly enough to account for flushed cheeks and swollen lips.

What a way to end their first kiss.

One minute, Sheng followed Jiao through the crowd, looking for a drink, the next, a curly haired brunette wearing an outfit more appropriate for a bordello, stepped in his path and slung an arm around him.

Not one for any kind of touching, even the friendly kind, he shrugged her arm off. She didn’t seem to care that he rebuffed her because instead of leaving, she moved to stand in front of him.

“Hey, cutie. I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Gina.”

The words, ‘I’m not interested,’ hovered on the tip of his tongue, but somehow got wedged. Maybe because his cat swallowed them before he could lie.

Standing a little shorter than him, everything about this Gina girl embodied what he disliked in modern culture. Buxom, and not afraid to flaunt it in a corset type top, wearing a short skirt revealing rounded thighs encased in fishnet stockings, she wore too much makeup and not enough clothes. Despite his preference for a sleeker more decently covered female, something twitched down below and his cat purred.

What. The. Hell. No. No way was he attracted to this - this outrageous woman.
Tell that to my cock.
Despite his repugnance, it continued to swell.

He must have silently stared for too long because Gina snapped fingers, tipped in absurdly long nails, in front of his face. “Let’s try looking up here, pussycat. Eyes on my face, if you please, while we talk, not my tits.”

“I wasn’t–”

“Sure you weren’t,” she interrupted with a wink. “Not that I can blame you. I’m pretty proud of these babies myself. One hundred percent God given, and sensitive too. ” And yes, she said that while cupping them and holding them up higher, enough they almost spilled out of her top.

Yes, he stared at the offered cleavage despite her admonition not to. He was a man after all. A poor, lonely man who’d not gotten laid in months at this point. His dick got harder and his cat practically fell off the shelf of his mind rolling around in pleasure.

What would it feel like to bury his face in that soft haven? To slide his dick…

Startled at his unusually dirty thoughts, he recoiled and forced his gaze up to her amused one. Thought she was funny, eh? He’d solve that. “Shouldn’t you put some clothes on? This is after all a family function.”

The insult didn’t work as planned. A short laugh left her. “Oh please. My family wouldn’t recognize me if I came all covered up. You must be new around here.”

“I am.”

“So what’s your name, pussycat?”

It occurred to him to take offense at her nickname, but that would indicate he cared what she thought of him. And he didn’t. “My name is Jack. And my wife’s name is Jill,” he added pointedly.

“Ooh, a man not afraid of commitment. I like it,” she exclaimed.

“Good for you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I should go find her.”

Before he could edge around the busty brunette, Gina clasped his arm, in a grip he doubted he could pry off with a crowbar. “Forget your wife. You’ll have more fun if you stick with me.”

He probably would. But that wasn’t the point. “Listen Gina, I’m married and not into what I think you’re suggesting.”

“Suggesting?” She laughed, a boisterous sound that drew a few more gazes than he liked, mostly centered on her jiggling chest. Where was a table cloth or a cardigan when a man needed to cover up some breasts? And no, despite his mind’s opinion on the matter, his hands would not work.

“Can you tone it down?” he whispered harshly, and not just because of the attention she drew to him. For some reason, he didn’t like the admiring glances shot her way. Someone needed to step up and keep this she-wolf out of trouble, starting with a wardrobe makeover.

“Oh, pussycat. This is just how I am. Loud, outspoken and hot.”

“It’s not proper for a young lady,” he replied stiffly.

“Maybe where you come from. But around here, I’m pretty normal. You’ll see. It seems you’ve got a lot to learn about me and this family.”

“I’d prefer not.”

“Too bad. Now that you’re part of our community, you will be assimilated.” Gina giggled. “Assimilated? Get it? As in Star Trek and the Borg?”

Lips tight, he didn’t answer.

“Hmm. Not a Trekkie fan? No problem. We can fix that with a sci-fi marathon sometime. But of greater urgency is the need to do something about your uptightness.”

“I am not uptight.”

“Really?” She arched a brow and he wanted to bluster and explain he only acted like this because of necessity, that if given a choice he’d happily live more carefree. Or not.

Sheng’s parents raised him and his sister to act a certain way. The proper way. Sure, it seemed old fashioned to some, but given the decay in morality nowadays, Sheng preferred it. Uptight indeed. He opened his mouth to refute her claim, then stopped. Despite her insult, and his urge to show her the contrary, he didn’t defend himself.
Because I don’t care. Much.

“Wow, pussycat. You really are new. Most shifters around here would take those as fighting words.”

“Some of us have more control.”

“I would have said more, like you’ve got cold blood. Surprising, given most cats I know are hot blooded creatures.”

And just how did she know this? None of his business, and he was most certainly not jealous. Sheng repeated that a few times in his head in an attempt to calm his cat which really took offense at the idea that Gina knew about other felines because of an intimate experience. “Having a grip on my emotions does not make me cold.”

“If you say so.” Her smirk said she thought otherwise. “I know what will help you find your pulse and your balls. A drink.”

“No, thank you. I don’t partake of alcohol.”

As if she’d start paying attention to his wishes now. “What do you mean you don’t drink alcohol? How boring, even if it explains a lot. Well, there’s no time like the present to start.” She pulled him, and short of making a scene to disengage her, Sheng had no choice but to follow. But first chance he got, hard dick or not, giddy internal kitty or not, he would escape and find Jiao. It was time to end this failed experiment in socialization and past time he escaped this woman, who against all odds, made him want to do things. Naked things. Very improper things.
But enjoyable
,
I’d bet.

His chance to slip her grip arrived when a huge thug of a man swept her off of her feet into a hug of spine cracking proportions. Inside his mind, his cat spit and hissed, demanding he rip her away from the offending giant. Sheng clenched his fists. Nope not jealous. Not one teensy tiny bit. He reminded himself of this as he stalked around the embracing couple and went on the hunt for his sister.

He’d just managed to make it to a door in the kitchen, where Jiao’s perfume faintly lingered, when a plush body scooted in front of him prevent him from going down the stairs.

“And just where do you think you’re going, pussycat? I thought we were getting a drink.”

“No we weren’t.”

“Lighten up. You’re too young to frown all the time.”

“Exactly why do you care?” he snapped back. “Don’t you have better things to do with your boyfriend?” Yeah, he sounded catty.

She laughed. “Kendrick? My boyfriend. Gross. He’s my cousin. You know, family? I don’t know about your family, but in mine, we don’t screw first cousins. We had to stop that centuries ago. Too many three eyed, slack jawed children.”

He didn’t mean to. Truly he didn’t, but a snort of amusement left him.

Surprised, she gaped at him, then grinned, way too pleased with herself. “You should smile more often, pussycat. It suits you.”

The compliment pleased him, which in turn annoyed him. “Maybe some of us don’t have much to smile about.”

“Or, maybe someone just takes everything too seriously.”

“You know nothing of me. Or my reasons.”

“Does anyone?”

He couldn’t reply to her astute query because he feared she’d spot the lie. Feared she’d see too much. Grasping her around the waist, the soft skin he brushed in his attempt to move her, scorched him. She took in a breath too, a sharp one, as he lifted her aside. Despite himself, his fingers lingered, and he spent a moment looking down at Gina, her height just perfect for a man who never went past five foot six. His gazed locked with hers and his heart stuttered to a stop.

What’s happening?
Why did it feel like he stood on the threshold of something momentous? Something life changing that involved the blowsy she-wolf? Flustered, he dropped his hands from her waist, and turned away, but not before seeing the disappointment in her eyes.

He went down the first step. Gina squeezed by him and stood on the next, arms braced across the way, blocking him.

“What are you doing?”

“Annoying the pants off you?” she asked, her lips curved in a mocking smile.

“And succeeding,” he snapped. Just not in the way his body would prefer. An actual removal of pants so he could bury a certain rigid part of himself into her, an easy task with the short skirt she wore, would have worked better.

“Oh, pussycat. You are so easy to rile. It’s making me hot. Wanna screw?”

“No,” he sputtered, only stopping himself at the last moment from saying yes.

A rich chuckle emerged from her and wrapped around him, leaving him harder than before. “Liar.”

“I’m married.”

“I’m open to a threesome,” she said with a wink.

Oh, gross, that was his sister she imagined in a three way. Not that she knew. But still. “Not happening.”

“Don’t tell me you’d prefer another guy in the bedroom? Seems to be happening a lot more often these days,” she mused aloud.

“Like hell. Now would you get out of the way. I need to find my wife.” So he could use Jiao as an excuse to escape the woman who set every nerve tingling and frustrated every ounce of patience he owned.

They did a little dance on the stairs, her sidestepping at the same time as him, before with a growl he made it past her. Hitting the floor of the basement, he saw Jiao’s back to him and in front of her the damned handyman, Chris.

“What are you two doing down here?”

His barked question made Jiao startle and thus she missed the ball Chris threw at her. It smacked her in the face. She reeled only slightly from the impact. Jack hurried to her side, but she waved him away before he could check on her.

“I’m fine. Next time though, mind waiting until after I catch the ball before shouting.” She rubbed her swollen mouth and Jack felt chagrin, but only for a second as he sniffed the air.

“What were you doing?” he asked, already having a suspicious idea.

“I was showing her the gym I built down here to give her an idea of what to expect at your place,” Chris said, jumping in.

“Isn’t it marvelous?” Jiao added a tad too brightly.

“Great. But –”

“Get moving everybody. That’s the dinner bell, and you don’t want to be last in line for food,” Gina exclaimed, hovering nearby. “Coming, cousin?” she asked with a pointed stare at Chris. Brows knit, Chris nodded. The two wolves left, but before Sheng could give his sister hell for coming down here alone with the wolf, she whirled and pointed an accusing finger.

“What is wrong with you?” she snapped.

“I was looking for you.”

“Obviously. Why?”

“Because we’re supposed to be a married couple and yet you’re wandering off with a strange man somewhere alone.”

He didn’t miss the pink flush in her cheeks or the way her eyes wouldn’t meet his. “Jiao!”

“Nothing happened.”

She lied to him. He could tell. “We need to leave. Now.”

Spine straightening, shoulders back, she met his gaze. “No. I want to say for dinner.”

“After what you did?”

“Oh please. And you behaved so appropriately?” She reached forward and pulled a dark hair from his shirt. A long curly one.

“It’s not what you think.”

“Ditto. So, if you’re done being over protective and over bearing, then let’s go eat.”

Short of throwing her over his shoulder, and making a scene Sheng wanted to avoid, Jiao gave him no choice but to follow.

He just hoped he could sit far away from Gina and her melons. Far, far away even if he feared there was no distance far enough.