Big Bad Bite (32 page)

He nuzzled her neck affectionately. “Relax
sweetheart. We’re going to have a nice soak together, where I can
help wash your back, and perhaps a few other places. While we do
that, there are a few things we need to talk about since your
brother barged in here and brought them up.”

She tried not to tense her body. What had
Logan said this morning that put Adam on edge? Out of the corner of
her eye she watched as he grabbed the clean washcloth hanging from
a bar and soaped it up. Picking up one of her hands he started to
swipe the cloth over her in small increments. He might be doing it
to get her clean, but every little brush of the soft cloth on her
skin left tingles in its wake. He made his way from her fingers and
hand, up over her arm, in slow sweeps until he reached her shoulder
before switching to the other limb. By the time he picked up that
hand her body was humming, and it seemed a distant memory that he’d
just given her pleasure that morning. Wasn’t it time for them to
make out a little more?

Wait, why did that sound so teenager-ish?
God, she sucked at this dating thing.

“Jenna.”

She jumped at Adam’s low voice in her ear.
“Huh?”

“Do I have your attention now,
sweetheart?”

He’d been talking to her? Whoops. “Oh. Yeah.
Did you say something?”

He chuckled. “Not yet, but that’s because you
were zoned out on me.”

It was that damn washcloth. She was already
all tingly from him washing the first arm. The moment he started
massaging that sucker in between her fingers on the second arm,
well, she’d just kind of started thinking about jumping his
bones.

Stupid washcloth.

“Well… did you want to say something
then?”

That damn washcloth was on the move again.
How the hell was she supposed to concentrate when he kept inching
that thing along her skin, kneading her muscles as he went? She
didn’t know whether to moan in bliss or hit him for distracting her
from the conversation that he supposedly wanted to have.

“Did you understand what Logan meant when he
mentioned the Mark?”

Her brain felt kind of drugged again. That
washcloth needed a fucking warning label. “Mark? What Mark?”

“I’ll take that as a ‘no’ then.” The cause of
her blissful fog moved from below her elbow to above her elbow.
“Have you ever seen any other shifters besides your Uncle growing
up? Any female shifters?”

And there went that cloth in slow circles up
her bicep. “Huh? Female shifters? Oh no. Uncle Owen was the only
other shifter I’d ever seen till the day I ran into you. Why?”

He dragged the cloth from her upper arm to
over her shoulder. Running it up to her neck and back. “The reason
I asked is because we need to talk about a Mark.”

“A Mark?”

“Yes, a Mark.” Back and forth. Little circle,
big circle. Back up her neck to underneath her earlobe, and back
down to the edge of her shoulder. “You see, when two shifters mate,
the male gives his female a Mark. It’s kind of like the shifter’s
version of a wedding ring.”

“Well that’s ridiculous.”

The washcloth stopped moving. Why had the
washcloth stopped moving?

Adam’s voice grated, “Ridiculous?”

Still caught on the edges of her washcloth
induced haze she replied, “Yeah. It’s ridiculous. And sexist! Why
should only the male get to give a Mark? Why can’t the female do it
too? I think there needs to be some equal opportunity working here.
If it were me, I’d give a Mark to him too. Shows that we’re in this
together instead of branding me like I’m some kind of property.
Wait. What is the Mark. It’s not actually a branding or anything,
is it?”

That lovely washcloth started to move again.
“You’d want to give me a Mark too?”

Without thinking she answered, “Well yeah.
Why should I have to walk around with your Mark like I’m your
property? A marriage should be on equal ground. So, if I have a
Mark, you’re damn well going to have one too!”

His free hand wrapped under her breasts to
crush her backwards into him as he ran his mouth over her neck.
“Okay, you can give me a Mark too, love.”

Well that was like a bucket of cold water
dumped over her head. Had she just proposed marriage to the wet,
naked, aroused man sitting in the bathtub behind her?

“Wait, wait. Hold the damn phone. What’s
happening here?”

“We’re talking about Marks. I told you what
they were, and whom they’re normally given too, and then you said
you wanted to give a Mark too. I don’t know that there’s another
male shifter in the history of our kind that’s worn his woman’s
Mark, but I’d be happy to wear yours, sweetheart. When do you want
to exchange Marks?”

She tried to wiggle forward, but his iron
band of an arm kept her in place. Not to mention he was using his
tongue on her neck now. Running it up and down, circling her ear
with it.

Who knew the ear thing could make her toes
curl?

Her mind blanked a little, and she groaned at
his attentions. Jenna struggled to get her brain to work. What had
they been talking about again? Damn the man! He was trying to drive
her insane. Wait! Now she remembered.

“You forgot to tell me what this Mark is
exactly.”

Moving his tongue from her ear back down to
her neck, he nipped it sharply. That nip must have a direct line to
her girly bits below because they clenched right up in
reaction.

“The Mark is when your mate sinks their teeth
into your flesh right about here…” He nipped the skin of her neck
above the juncture of her shoulder. “That way the whole world can
see that you’ve been claimed.”

Holy shit. He wanted to sink his fucking
fangs into her neck!

Jenna surged forward out of his grasp and
turned to face him. “Are you trying to kill me, you crazy
wolf?”

He reached out and snagged her hips with his
hands, dragging her back to him so that she now straddled his lap.
And his very blatant, straining arousal that was even now prodding
her entrance. She should have pulled away. It was obvious he was
trying to distract her with sex. But damn it, he felt so good
slipping slowly inside of her. A moan of approval betrayed her
previous outrage. When he was fully seated inside of her, his hands
grasped the sides of her face gently, and he stroked his thumbs
over her cheekbones.

“I will never endanger you. Never harm you.
Never neglect you in any way. You will never want for anything that
is necessary to keeping you happy and alive. I will treasure you
every day that I draw a breath and thank God every night for the
gift of you in my life. No one can ever care for you the way that I
do. I was made for you, and you were made for me. I know that with
the certainty that there is a sun, moon, and stars that could never
guide me through this life the way following you through it will
lead me to an eternity of happiness. You’ve quickly become my
everything.”

Her eyes watered. What more needed to be
said? She’d heard of people bearing their soul but had never
witnessed it. Until now. And what an astounding thing it had been,
to have it revealed to her.

“I know this is sudden, Jenna. The idea of
us.”

She opened her mouth to tell him that she was
okay with them as a couple, but uncertain if she was ready for
something as significant as a marriage yet. She didn’t get to utter
a sound because his lips captured hers, stealing her breath. The
kiss was seeking something. Reassurance? An answer? She wasn’t
sure. What she was certain of though, was that this man just kept
sinking deeper and deeper inside of her. Not just physically. In
that aspect, they were joined as closely as two people could get,
with him slowly moving in and out of her. No, he was also sinking
in emotionally, perhaps even spiritually. She feared that he was
quickly becoming her everything, as well.

Using her hands to hold his face in place,
she pulled back from him. Letting him see through her eyes; the
proverbial windows to the soul, that he was, in fact, affecting her
as much as he claimed she affected him.

“I like the idea of us, Adam. More and more
every second that we’re together. Can you give me just a little
longer till we exchange Marks? I’m not saying no. I’m saying yes,
just not right now.”

“As long as I have you in my arms, little
wolf, I can wait till you’re ready. Mark or no mark. As long as
you’re already mine.”

She lightly kissed his lips. “Yours.”

Chapter Fifteen

The two lovers didn’t emerge from Jenna’s
room for another two hours, much to Owen Davies’ dismay. It was
safe to say that her Uncle was fairly growly by the time she and
Adam made it to his room.

“It must be nice to sleep the day away. This
isn’t a vacation if you recall…” he barked at the pair after they
entered his suite.

Jenna didn’t miss how his eyes shifted to her
neck either, looking for Adam’s Mark. With the realization there
was none to be found, the look he shot Adam could have made lesser
men run for cover. Adam was no lesser man. He boldly kept his eyes
on his Pack Master while twining his fingers through hers. She
cringed inwardly. She hadn’t quite thought about the way other
people might perceive the fact that her neck was blemish free.
She’d only thought of her own uneasiness doing something as
drastic, and permanent, as the equivalent of marriage in their
world. Poor Adam just couldn’t seem to catch a break where she was
concerned. It was time to move on from this awkward stalemate and
onto the matters at hand.

Ignoring her annoyed Uncle, she looked over
to the sitting area to see Alec perched in the chair closest to the
couch, and Logan pacing back and forth in front of the television
like a caged animal. Anxiousness was rolling off of him like a
crack addict waiting for their next fix. Except she was guessing
his drug of choice wasn’t something he could smoke, snort, or shoot
up. No, his drug of choice was adrenaline and violence. And if it
wasn’t violence he was looking for, then it was probably the other
natural drug of the male species. Sex. Thinking of her brother and
the word sex in the same sentence gave her hives; she struck the
thought from her mind for all time and pretended Logan was looking
for an excuse to use his knuckles and bust some heads. That sounded
like every other stupid human male she’d known over the years.

She led Adam over to the couch so that they
could sit down for their little pow wow. “So, we’re headed over to
some demon’s club for the fight? Alec, have you fought at this club
before?”

Alec nodded. “Yeah, it’s a regular stop in
the Black Ring so I’ve fought there many times. The high rise is
made up of ten floors. The club consists of the three floors under
the tenth while the entire top floor is one of the owner’s, Drake
Ward, residences. The fight ring is located on the eighth floor
because the seventh is the regular section of the club, and the
ninth floor is the VIP section of the club.”

Jenna rubbed her hands together in
anticipation. “Okay, so what time does the fight start?”

“Midnight.”

Jenna stopped in disgust and snarled over at
her Uncle, “Then what the hell is your problem, old man? If the
fight doesn’t start till midnight, and it’s only four in the
afternoon now, why are you bitching at us for sleeping in?”

“Because, it’s called reconnaissance, you
little pain in my ass.” He pointed his finger at her, “Watch who
you call an old man, or I’ll show you just how young I think you
are and put you in timeout in the corner.”

And they said women were touchy about their
age. Jenna knew men were actually the ones with their undies in a
wad about it all. Hence, the reason they were the ones who had
midlife crises and bought ridiculously expensive sports cars in a
vain attempt to keep a youthful aura about them. She snorted at the
idea of Uncle Owen trying to keep her in a corner like some
disobedient child.

Right.

Dismissing the absurd threat she kept
talking, “Okay, so what are we looking for during this little
information gathering mission?”

Her Uncle settled into an authoritative
stance that commanded respect and attention. Feet spread shoulder
width apart, legs braced, arms crossed over his chest as if he
didn’t have a worry in the world, and shoulders thrown back
proudly. He was Pack Master Davies right now, not her Uncle Owen.
She recognized the difference and respected him for it.

“Anything anyone might let slip about the
Corvus Pack. We’re in the dark, with just whispers of fanatical
type beliefs of the
Others
species ruling over humans, and
possible criminal activities such as what happened in Wilmington.
We need to see if we can dig up anything else. Especially anything
in regards to what Alec overheard last time he was in Germany about
the Corvus Packs’ Beta. At this point, anything at all could help
us.”

Jenna nodded her head in acknowledgement,
“Agreed. When do you want to leave?”

Pack Master Davies looked at his watch, then
pursed his lips in consideration. “Let’s leave in two hours. That
gives us a little time to eat an early dinner, and then attire
ourselves appropriately for the club.”

Jenna started his comment about their
clothing expectations. “What do you mean, clothing appropriate for
the club?”

Adam petted her back, “Don’t worry,
sweetheart. I’ll get you an outfit to wear.”

She turned to look at Adam in abject horror.
“That’s what worries me.”

Two hours later she stormed out of her hotel
suite with an amused Adam in her wake. Men were disgusting pigs. No
matter what the situation was they were always trying to take
advantage of it somehow. After seeing the outfit Adam had ordered
for her to wear to the club, she pitched a fit of epic proportions
just to have the smug bastard point out that they had to leave in
twenty minutes, so they didn’t have time to procure her another
outfit.