Bleacke's Geek (Bleacke Shifters) (9 page)

When Ken nodded, Beck continued. “Prime Alpha females are unheard of. Until Dewi, we’d never had one, never even heard of one. That’s why she had to leave the pack when she was a kid. Her eldest brother, Peyton, would have ended up killing her.”

Ken felt horrified. “What?”

“He couldn’t have helped it,” Beck said. “It’s instinctive. When a Prime comes of age and matures, if they challenge the pack Alpha there’s a fight for control of the pack. Winner takes over. If you’ve got two grown men, they don’t kill each other—most of the time. The loser normally has enough sense of self-preservation to back down and submit. Usually a male Prime won’t make a play for control until his twenties, at the earliest. Or instead of fighting, he’ll leave and start his own pack. Especially if he’s found a mate already.”

He looked at Dewi. “But try pitting a thirty-five year-old man, a Prime Alpha in top physical condition, against an extremely hormonal twelve-year-old girl who is convinced she can kick that man’s ass. A girl who refuses to back down unless she’s taken down. It’s a recipe for disaster. If the loser doesn’t submit, they’re killed.”

He looked at her, shocked. “He would have
killed
you? Your own brother?” The thought horrified Ken.

“Not willingly,” she softly added. “I was pretty cocky. Peyton didn’t want to hurt me. Everyone knew if I did manage to kill him that I’d feel horrible about it after I calmed down. That’s why they sent me away. So I couldn’t challenge him.”

Protective anger welled inside Ken. “Your own family sent you away when you were
twelve
?” That explained why she’d been here in Florida for thirteen years.

She nodded. “Peyton named me Head Enforcer first. Made me stay away for two years before I could return to Idaho. Badger and Beck had to go back with me and swear I would stay in control. Peyton made me swear on their lives I would stay in control and wouldn’t challenge him.”

“What?”

Beck grinned. “Let me tell you something about scrotum-shriveling terror, buddy. Me and Badger went through it, standing there, praying she wouldn’t go batshit and try to rip Peyton’s throat out during her official appointment ceremony. They would have killed us where we stood.”

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

She held on to him. “No one will hurt you,” she softly assured him. “You’re my mate. Mates are protected. Especially human mates, because they’re not as strong as shifters. Intentionally hurting someone’s mate is an automatic death sentence.”

“It’s just that most of the time, the Alphas’ mates are women,” Beck said. Ken caught his teasing tone, meant playfully, not insulting.

Ken held her closer, more for his own comfort than hers. “How old are you?” he asked Beck.

“Forty-nine.”

She rose up on her toes to give Ken a kiss. “I’ll be right back. Little girls’ room.” She glared at Beck, but he held up his hands.

“Don’t worry,” Beck snarked. “He’s safe.”

Her expression softened. “Thank you.” She headed out of the room.

Beck watched her leave. A moment later, Ken heard a door close somewhere past the dining room.

When Beck looked at Ken, he smiled again, this time knowing. “Dude,” he softly said, “if your unasked question is if I banged a minor, no, I didn’t. I held her at arm’s length until she turned eighteen while I took my fair share of cold showers.” He took a sip of coffee. “And she approached me, not the other way around. Before you still think I’m an asshole for doing that, keep in mind a twelve-year-old Prime Alpha wolf is the human equivalent of a twenty year-old human in many ways. An eighteen-year-old is usually ready to start a family. We have a life span of several hundred years or longer, if we don’t get ourselves killed.”

Ken decided to take the high road. “I’m sorry.”

Beck waved him off. “No, it’s okay. She’s right, I should have called first. I flew in early from a job and headed straight here.” He shrugged. “You want the truth? I envy you. But it’s how things are done in our kind. If I’d found my mate before she found you, our positions would have been reversed.” Ken didn’t miss the brief sadness in his eyes. “I guess I always knew it wouldn’t happen if we didn’t feel it that first time. Doesn’t keep a man from wanting it, though.” He studied his coffee mug.

To take the pressure off Beck for a moment more than anything, Ken walked around the counter to get his glasses, where she’d placed them the evening before. When he put them on, the room went blurry.

“Holy shit.”

Dewi, who’d been on her way back, dashed around the corner and into the kitchen, immediately tense, on alert. “What? What’s wrong?”

He laughed and pulled his glasses off, examining them. “No, it’s okay.” He looked around the room and it struck him that for the first time in as long as he could remember, everything appeared crystal clear to him without his glasses.

Glasses on, blurry. Off, clear.

“Damn.” He looked at her. “My eyes are…working.”

“What?”

He nodded and looked around. “I can see without my glasses. I mean, I could see without them before, but everything used to be blurry. I couldn’t even read without them.” He walked over to the canister of coffee still sitting on the counter and read the label without any hesitation. “I’ve worn glasses since grade school. This is incredible.”

She smiled. “Perk of being mated to a Prime Alpha wolf,” she teased.

“You knew this would happen?”

“No, but it’s not unusual for mates to go through some subtle changes.”

“Getting perfect eyesight back isn’t exactly subtle.” He turned to her and started to speak when Badger burst through the door to the garage, plastic bags in his arms.

He’d already started to scream, “Dew—” when he lumbered to a stop and looked at them. “Oh. I see ye already know Beck’s here.”

“Yeah,” she said. “They met.”

Beck stepped over and took some of the groceries from the older man. “Don’t worry, I didn’t hurt him. Just scared the crap out of him.”

Badger breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good to know. I’d hate for her to have to kill ye. Someone help me unload the truck and I’ll get breakfast started since yer all standing around uninjured and being lazy and all.”

Beck volunteered, leaving Ken and Dewi alone in the kitchen. She turned and wrapped her arms around him even as she seductively ground her hips against his. “Let’s take our coffee upstairs and get a shower.”

It amazed him how instinctive it felt letting his hands stroke her ass. And he loved the look of her wearing his shirt. “You don’t want to take a shower,” he teased. “You want to nail me
in
the shower.”

She grinned. “Guilty.” This time, he caught a hint of playful wolf in the expression. “Who says you can’t read my mind yet?”

* * * *

He didn’t bother trying to resist her when she wanted to make love in the shower.

Hell, he didn’t
want
to resist her.

He took her against the shower wall as steam filled the bathroom. He tried to go slow and take his time, but she felt too damn good and begged him to fuck her hard and fast.

He obliged.

Somehow, he managed to hold his climax back until after he felt her release start. Then he let loose, moaning with her, his cheek pressed against her wet hair as water rained down on them. They stood there under the spray for a moment, motionless.

“You okay?” she asked.

He smiled. “Yeah. I’m okay.” He kissed her, enjoying the way her body seemed to perfectly mold to the shape of his. They stood like that for a few minutes until she reluctantly stepped away after giving him a kiss. She grabbed her razor and gel and started shaving.

Watching her shave her legs fascinated him. She looked amused. “What?”

He knew he wore a goofy grin and didn’t care. “I like watching you.” How did he admit he’d never had this experience before? That he had never showered with a woman before.

Never had a blissful morning after to enjoy before.

Her bashful smile warmed his heart. He knelt, reached out, and stroked her now smooth leg. “I love everything about you. Even watching you do this. Does that sound stupid?”

“No, I think it’s sweet.” She looked at him. “I like it.”

His fingers stroked her smooth flesh, over the rounded, hard bump of her ankle, up her calf. “I still can’t believe you’d choose me over Beck,” he admitted.

She finished her other leg and turned to him, pulled him to his feet, and wrapped her arms around him. “I chose you because you’re the perfect mate for me. It’s not how humans do things, but wolves don’t need to get divorced, either the ones that spend their lives on four feet or the ones on two. We mate for life.” She kissed him. “We mate only when we’ve found the perfect person.”

He couldn’t resist running his hands down her back, over the dip between her hips and over to her shapely ass. “Give me some time to get used to the fact that you really do want me.”

“For the rest of our lives, Heathcliff,” she said with a smile.

“I don’t know. I think Ken’s growing on me.”

She brushed her hand over his chin. “So’s your beard.” She reached out of the shower and grabbed a fresh disposable razor from the medicine cabinet. “Hold still.”

He complied as she lathered his face and carefully shaved him without nicking him once. When she finished, he rinsed his face and she nuzzled her nose against his cheek. “Much better,” she said.

“I could get used to being spoiled like that,” he teased.

“I don’t mind spoiling you like that.” She shut the water off and handed him a towel. After drying off, he had no choice but to wear his clothes from the night before. He reached his shirt first, which had ended up on the end of the bed, where she’d discarded it after returning to the bedroom. It still smelled a little like her even from her brief wearing. When he turned to reach for where his briefs and slacks had been, he saw her standing there, his briefs in her hand.

She grinned. “How about going commando for me?”

He felt his face redden. “I don’t go commando.” He reached for them but she held them behind her back.

“Please?” She pouted, sticking her bottom lip out.

“I’ve never gone commando before. I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing it.” He hoped he wasn’t whining.

“How about just for today. Please? You’re not at work today.”

“No, I’m not at work, but I have work to do. I’ve got a pile of papers to grade, because someone interrupted me last night.” He reached around her, but she leaned away from him. She was, he belatedly realized, still naked. As she leaned back and to the side, her breasts proved too tempting and he bent down to lick her left nipple.

She sighed in pleasure and nearly melted against him.

Despite an effort of will on the part of his cock screaming to fuck her again, he managed to keep his wits about him, reached around her, and snagged his briefs from her hand.

“That’s cheating,” she said, obviously amused by his trickery.

“About the only way I’ll get my way with you, isn’t it?” He kissed her. “I have a feeling I’ll spend most of my time ‘yes dearing’ you. Give me what few battles I can win against you, huh? Spare my pride?”

She kissed him again. “How about after breakfast you let Badger take you to your place so you can grab more clothes, get your bike, and then he’ll bring you back here? I have to sit in on a conference call. Pack business. Otherwise, I’d take you myself. Then I’ll let you use the office and I promise I’ll behave myself so you can grade your papers.”