At One's Pleasure (5 page)

Griffin had
made good on his promise to have more than meat at the table for her.  Besides
the huge pile of barbequed rib there were roasted red potatoes and a lovely
summer salad with a light citrus dressing.  That was good since she was so
hungry the plate was looking good enough to eat. 
Delicately
, a
lady
does not shovel her food like a trucker. 

Great, now
she was channeling her mother. 

The guys had
beautiful table manners, even if all they ate was the meat.

“This is an
incredible island,” she said, between
delicate
bites of food.  “When I
was invited I did a little research.  There wasn’t much to find about it
though, other than a mention of it being the exclusive playground of the rich
and famous.”  She looked around at the others trying to ignore the heat in
their eyes or the way they watched her with an intensity bordering on
obsession.  “How did you all come to work here?”

Linc met her
eyes and then looked at Griffin who nodded.  “The hotel is ours, the whole
island actually.  Most of the pack live and work at the hotel.  A few have
homes on the other side of the island.  One or all of us will make sure you get
a tour within the next few days if you like.  There are some amazing natural
wonders towards the center of the island and hotel guests generally stay near
the beaches.”

 “I would love
to see the island,” she said sincerely.  What she had seen so far was amazing. 
She took a bite of the red potatoes tasting dill and sage and waved away a
bottle of wine sticking with her water.  Since the guys had beer, it seemed the
wine was just there for her. 

Wine with
barbeque ribs?
  She was tempted to roll her eyes.  “I hope I have time for
a tour.  The wedding is going to take up most of tomorrow.  Maybe before I
leave on Sunday?”

The table
was quiet for so long that it finally dawned on Becca that everyone else had
stopped eating.  She looked up into three sets of wolf eyes.  She swallowed
roughly and put her fork down ever so carefully.  It was Griffin who finally
spoke.

“It would be
best if you do not talk so casually about leaving us.  It raises the beast.” 
His voice was back to that half growl that rubbed all her nerves the right
way.  Her body began to throb and ready itself and she could swear she felt fur
rubbing up under her skin. 

Becca
gripped the table hard with both hands, breathing in and out and wondering if
she was going to throw up the food she had just consumed.

Griffin
raised his face, closing his eyes as he breathed deep before his eyes snapped
open.  “Apparently it raises your beast too.”  Jacob leaned over her, he buried
his nose in her hair and purred, his hands going around her waist.  Across from
her Linc licked his lips.

“It’s not
me.”  She whispered it, squeezing her eyes shut, and doing her best to stay
very still and ignore them all.  “Stop talking.  Please.”

He did
thankfully.  But it was Jacob's closeness that seemed to calm the beast.  He
smelled like home and her phantom wolf disappeared back behind that door that
never really shut all the way now.  Becca took a long drink of water and tried
to ignore how her hands were shaking.  She met Griffin’s eyes that had yet to
bleed back to human.  Jacob was a warm weight against her shoulder. 

“I have responsibilities,
my job, friends, family.  It’s not as easy as just deciding to stay.”

“You don’t
have to make that decision.”  His voice was as hard as she’d ever heard it.

“Meaning
you’ll make it for me, regardless of what I want?”  She saw the answer on his
face and even her new wolf took exception.  She couldn’t stop the growl from
slipping between compressed lips even as her eyes narrowed.  Jacob burrowed in
closer and set his teeth to the mark he had put on her shoulder.

Whatever she
had been about to say it made her freeze and gasp as heat spread down from that
spot and arrowed in on her nipples.

“Jacob.” 
Griffin said it so casually but with only a small pause Jacob backed off,
letting her go and leaning back into his own chair.  She did not need to look
at him to know what it had cost him, because she was feeling the loss of his
touch as well.

“Griffin’s
grandfather won the island in a card game.”  The words were outlandish but it
did have the benefit of drawing everyone’s attention to Linc.

“What?”  Becca
jumped on the change of subject like it was her last lifeline.  “You’re
kidding?”  She was very careful to look just at Linc. 

“He was
something of a pirate.  He was the one who named the place ‘
A bene placito
,’
it means ‘At ones pleasure.’  So we kept it for the resort slogan.  He signed
it over to Griffin when we left the pack.”

“Left the
pack?”  Her body was cooling down and Becca was more grateful that she could
say for Linc’s distraction.

“Yes, we
grew up together.”

“And Jacob?”

Beside her,
Jacob laughed but it was not a friendly sound.  “I’m a mutt.”

“You were a
mutt,” Griffin said.  His voice brooking no argument.

Jacob nodded
in agreement meeting Griffin’s fierce eyes.  He turned back to Becca a proud
bend to his head.  “I was a mutt.”

She could
tell it had some significance but she had a hard time seeing it.  Something
about the look on his face made her want to sooth him.  She had to clasp her
hands together to stop from touching.  “What does that mean?”

“A mutt is a
wolf shifter without a pack,” Jacob said.  He seemed to be bracing himself for
a bad reaction from her.  “I have no idea who and what my biological parents
were.  I grew up never knowing why I was different, just that I was.  I ran
away from my foster home as soon as I hit puberty and the first change.  I
thought I was a monster.”  She lost the fight with herself and took Jacob’s
hand into both of hers. 

“What
happened?”

“Griffin. 
He saw me on the street and knew what I was.  He took me in, explained what I
came from and took me back to his pack.”  He hesitated, looking from her to
Griffin.  “They wouldn’t accept me.”

“What?  Why?” 
Becca looked to Griffin as well, but it was Linc who answered.

“Even at 12
it was obvious that Jacob would be an Alpha.  Monteal was Alpha.  He didn’t
want the eventual competition, he ordered Griffin to kill Jacob.”  Linc
shrugged.  “In his defense few Alphas would have allowed Jacob to live.  A Mutt
who is also an Alpha is a danger in many ways, especially one who has no
concept of what to expect from his beast.”

“Kill him? 
A twelve year old boy?”  She was so incensed her eyes were flashing wolf gold,
though she didn’t know it.  She looked from Jacob to Linc to Griffin. 
“Obviously you didn’t let them get away with it.”

Jacob went
very still beside her but Griffin only smiled at her temper.

“You can
sheath your claws 'little bit'.  You can see for yourself that he’s okay.”

“But what
did you do?”

Linc spoke
again.  “He challenged Monteal for Alpha status then and there.”

“And he
won?”

“No.” 
Griffin said coldly, swirling his beer like it was the most fascinating thing
in the room.  “I lost.”

“He knew he
was going to lose.”  Linc said, “He asked me to get Jacob out while everyone
was distracted by the fight.  The only surprise was the old man didn’t kill him
outright.”

“He tried.” 
Griffin was still looking at his glass, his voice mocking and hard. 

“No.  He
didn’t.”  Linc’s voice was sure.  “If he had wanted you dead you would have
been a lot worse off than a few broken bones and a concussion.  He wouldn’t
have left any other challenger still breathing.”

“What
happened then?”  Becca’s voice was soft, her eyes on Griffin softer.

“I left,”
Griffin said.  “We started our own pack.  Built the hotel and this house, found
others who were willing to relocate and work here for pack status.  We never
looked back.”

“What about
your family.  Did they leave the pack with you?”

They were
quiet for a pregnant minute before Griffin dropped his bomb.  “My father was
the Alpha I challenged.”

It took her
a minute for that to sink in.  “Your father wanted to kill a little boy, and
then tried to kill you?”

“Yes.”

“What about
your mother?  Brothers, sisters?”

“The pack
does what the Alpha says to do.”

“You
didn’t.  Linc didn’t.”

“And we were
cast out for it.  If my grandfather hadn’t given me this island and some start
up money, we would have been mutts like Jacob.  No other pack would have taken
us.”

“What does
the island have to do with it?”

“In order to
be officially recognized as a wolf pack you must have land and territory to
call your own.  Without it you are merely wandering mutts.”  Linc said it
matter of fact but Becca got the feeling it was more serious than he was making
it sound.

“And if
you’re not pack?”

“Then any
pack can kill you for entering their territory without prejudice.”

“They could
kill you?”

“Yes. 
Without this island, we would never have been safe.  Nor would we be allowed to
mark a mate.  A mutt who does that faces a death sentence.”  Linc shrugged
again.  “It’s a way of keeping the population controlled and our secrets safe. 
Mutts are not allowed to breed or mate.  Now we have 16 wolves under our care,
3 of them have since claimed their mates.”

She studied
Griffin with new eyes.  “Did you know he was going to give you the island when
you challenged your father?”

“We did not
think that any of us would even survive the day,” Linc said flatly also with
his eyes on Griffin.

“But you did
it because it was the right thing to do.”

Griffin
spoke again.  “Don’t be painting any haloes on my head.  My father had two
older sons and I was not his favored.  If it hadn’t been that it would have
been something else.”

Becca stood
up from her chair with one final squeeze of Jacob’s hand.  She went around the
table the long way and gave Linc a kiss on his cheek, which made him look
uncomfortable.

When she
reached Griffin, she tried to do the same and was forcibly pulled into his
lap. 

“That’s not
what I want from you.” he said, his voice a harsh growl.  Then he yanked her
head back by the hair and took her lips like the marauding wolf he was.

Before Becca
could lose her mind under Griffin’s lips, a cell phone went off.  He cursed,
pulling her close into his chest to look over her head.  Jacob answered his
eyes never leaving Becca where she was clutched against Griffin’s chest.

“I’m on my
way.”  He hung up.  “The Bachelorette party is getting out of hand.  They need
me down there.”

“I do not
envy you that job.”  Linc said, shaking his head and drawing Jacob’s eyes from
Becca.

“The
bachelorette party I was supposed to go to?”  Becca asked, trying to get out of
Griffin’s lap while he held her tight. 

“It’s the
only one we’re having.”

“Then I’ll
come with you.  I need to talk to Margaret about tomorrow anyway.”

“No.”  Griffin’s
voice brooked no disagreement.  She finally stopped trying to push his arms
off, completely exasperated.

“Griffin,
I’m not going to try to escape until after the wedding.”  Probably.

“You won’t
escape at all, and that’s not why I don’t want you to go.  There will be men
there.  Strangers flown in to strip by the bride’s party.  They’ll be drawn to
you, all males will, more now that your wolf has awakened within you.”

“Are you
saying they’ll attack me?”

“No, but
they will want you.”

“I’m a big
girl.  I can say no.”  She tried to get up and was held firm.  “Griffin
please.  I came here to go to a friend’s wedding not to join a werewolf pack.”

He growled. 
“Go Jacob.”

Becca
struggled harder against the arms that trapped her.  Then he swiped away the
dishes with a clatter and she found herself face down over the table with
Griffin pressing her down with his hard body.  She felt his erection against
her ass, and her body readied itself to be mounted even as she struggled
harder.  Then his teeth sank into her neck over the marks there and she melted,
completely submissive.  The betrayal of her own body was devastating and made
her want to curl up and cry.  What the hell had she become?

“Whatever
you were before is over.  This,” He said, his hips thrusting against her
softness to make his point.  “Is what you are now.  Mine.  Accept it.”

The lesson
he thought he was proving by showing her she had no control around him was not
the lesson Becca was getting.  Instead, it firmed in her mind that she needed
to get away.  As far away as possible before she lost who she was to this man.

“Fine,” she
said her teeth gritted.  “I get the message.  You can let me up now.”  She must
not have been convincing because he reached between her and the table peeling
the pants from her ass.  He flipped her over on her back and her panties followed
until she was nude except for her t-shirt.  She tried to kick him in the face
but he dodged it, catching her knees and spreading them so she was wide open. 
He yanked her forward until she sat on the very edge of the table. 

They were
both breathing hard.  Angry and turned on they glared at each other.  Becca
growled grabbing his head with both hands and pulling his mouth to hers.  She
licked into his mouth and then bit his bottom lip drawing blood.  He hissed,
baring his teeth in warning before he took her mouth with enough force to lay
her back down on the table.  The seam of his jeans was particularly painful
rubbing against her open pussy.  She wrapped her legs around his hips anyway. 
She was soaking through his pants.