Devlin Dynasty 2: Fall Fury (13 page)

Butter glistened on her bottom lip, and she swiped her tongue over her mouth tolap it up. Fantasies of her going down on him with such eager zeal only made thetorment worse. A sudden need to see her tongue licking up
 
his
 
juices had himshifting uncomfortably in his chair.

“Something wrong?” she asked.

Like she’d notice. She’d barely looked at him through dinner. He took a longswallow of beer and shook his head. “No. Food’s great.”

Grinning, she nodded. “Yeah, I know. This place has the best seafood in town.

Nothing fancy, just a great seafood and beer joint.”

And the fact she found a place like this so enjoyable told him a lot about her. In Boston, he’d dated a lot of women who were all about society and culture andwouldn’t be caught dead in a restaurant with rough-hewn wooden floors andrickety tables that wobbled when you set your glass down.

But he liked the atmosphere. It was noisy, Cajun music filled the room, andfamilies gathered here. He could already envision he and Shannon and her familycrowded into one of the long tables in the back of the room. Or even better, heand Shannon and their children.

If someone had told him a year ago that he’d be daydreaming about a mate andpups, he’d have said they were talking about the wrong guy. Because those sureas hell hadn’t been in his goals then.

The drive to mate had come upon him suddenly. Surprisingly, right about the timehe was invited to New Orleans and began researching the Storm family,specifically Shannon. One look at her and he’d felt a squeezing in his heart. Rightthen he’d known there was something about her that compelled him.

Now he was looking at buying a house, choosing a mate and settling down tohave babies. Good thing his brothers couldn’t see him now. They’d laugh theirasses off about how the mighty king had fallen.

Well, except for Jason, of course. He’d led them in falling for a woman. A humanwoman, too. Not lycan. Jason hadn’t been remotely ready to settle down, and thensuddenly…bam! Out of nowhere he’d shown up in Boston, head over heels inlove and his fiancée, Kelsey, in tow. If Jason could do it, he sure as hell could doit, too.

“So, tell me about this house you’re thinking of buying,” Shannon said, pushing her plate to the side. She took a long swallow of her beer, then wiped her mouth and sat back against the wooden chair.

“I was out for a drive the other day and came across a house right on the lake. Really nice. Lots of land, great looking two-story frame with a huge, wraparound porch, screened and shuttered.”

“All the houses are screened and shuttered because of the potential for hurricanes. You know we get those here. Very dangerous. You might want to think twice about settling down here.”

He coughed and took a big gulp of his beer to disguise the laughter. When hecould speak again, he said, “I’ll take my chances.”

“The bayou and wetlands are breeding grounds for mosquitoes.”

“I like bugs.”

“Oh.” She went silent then, flicking the empty shells of the crawfish with her fingernail. Then she looked up at him. “I’ve heard there are wolves in the area. Actually, I’ve seen them. Scary suckers, too. Very dangerous.”

Now he did choke, so hard he was gasping for air and his eyes filled with tears.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes,” he wheezed, trying like hell not to fall on the floor laughing.

“Don’t you think it might be wise to rent somewhere first, in case your plan to move here permanently doesn’t work out? What if you buy a house now, then decided you hate it here? Lots of people hate it here, you know.”

From her encouraging look, he got the idea she was hoping it wouldn’t work out.

Too late. He already knew this was where he belonged. “Not at all. I’m ready tobuy. No sense throwing money down the drain on rent when I can get into a buyright away. Then I can concentrate on getting Devlin Public Relations up andrunning.”

“Oh. Well, whatever then.”

It was hard not to laugh. Shannon’s emotions were so transparent, at least to him. Clearly she wasn’t happy he was moving here. That could be both a good and abad thing. He understood her need to keep her distance. God knows he’d done ithimself plenty of times in the past, although not for the same reason. He’d easilykept his emotions at bay because no woman had been able to draw them out ofhim.

Shannon sure knew how to push his buttons, though. It was true that he didn’tknow her background in depth, he knew enough just by sensing her emotions. Herdistress whenever she was around him meant that she felt something for him, andthat was a very good thing.

They drove to the house and waited out front for the realtor, a very enthusiasticwoman named Marcy with a lot of blonde hair piled high on her head. After Maxconvinced her that he really just wanted to walk through the place on his own, sheagreed to stand idly by instead of taking him on a room by room tour.

Not like he was going to steal anything since the place was empty. He’d done hishomework. He knew the owners had moved out of state over a month ago.

He’d snuck inside a half open window the other night and had a look around, sohis decision was already made. What he really wanted to gauge was Shannon’sreaction.

She walked through the rooms, her sandals flip-flopping on the wood floors. Headmired the womanly curve of her body silhouetted by the dress she wore, a coolblue sundress with tiny straps. He itched to peel those little straps slowly downher arms. Then again, the material was so flimsy it would probably rip easilyunder his hands.

A hard-on was not a good idea right now. He adjusted the crotch of his jeans andtried to keep his mind focused off the sway of her hips and onto her emotionalreactions to the house.

She walked through the entire place and didn’t say a word, then waited at thefront door.

“Well?” he finally asked.

“Well what?”

“What do you think of the place?”

She shrugged and glanced around. “Too big for just one person.”

“Imagine a family here.”

She lifted her brows in question. “Family? Is your family moving down here?”

“No. But someday I’ll have one of my own.”

“Oh.”

Silence. He felt a strange rumbling from within her. A quiet unease. Soft, yetstirring him in subtle ways that were inexplicable.

Then she turned to him, narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. “There’s no room for you to do your corporate climbing at The Rising Storm, Max.”

“Huh?”

“If your intent is to slide into a partial ownership or takeover of my family’s

business, you can forget it. My family runs this hotel. Not outsiders.”

She’d lost him about two sentences ago. “I have no idea what you’re talkingabout. I’m not interested in The Rising Storm other than as a client.”

“Uh huh. I’ve heard that one before. But suddenly you’re really interested in me, then you want to move here. You’ve got your future all planned out, don’t you? Well let me tell you, it won’t be at the expense of my family. Go make your fortune elsewhere.”

Shocked, he could only stare at her. Then, he threw his head back and laughed out

loud. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

When he could finally speak again, he said, “I already have.”

“What?”

“I said, I already have made my fortune. My family has more money than…well, actually, more than yours. The last thing I need or want is any tie-in financially to your hotel. Relax. I’m not out for your inheritance.”

“Then why do you keep pushing to spend time with me?”

Her question shocked him. Surely someone as beautiful and intelligent as Shannon couldn’t be that unsure of herself. “Because I like you, Shannon. I wantto be with you, not your money, not your family.
 
You
.”

Her face colored a deep pink. Very cute, actually. She turned and opened thedoor, mumbling something about needing to get back home because it was lateand that she’d wait by the car. He shielded his eyes against the setting sun,chuckling at her obvious embarrassment.

After speaking with Marcy and making plans to put in an offer on the house, hemet Shannon at the car and unlocked the door for her.

They drove silently for a few minutes. But he couldn’t hold back. “Feel prettystupid about now, don’t you?”

Studying her hands, she said, “I was merely protecting my family.”

“I told you I’m not out to hurt your family. You’re unbelievable, you know that?”

She half turned in the seat and glared at him. “I have no reason to trust you.”

“And I’ve never given you a damn reason not to. You’ve got this mindset that I’m

out to get you. Tell me, do you treat every man like you treat me?”

“No.”

“I don’t buy it. I’ll bet you don’t get many guys warming up to the cold front you

put out.”

Her eyes widened and she looked away.

“I don’t get you, Shannon. One minute you’re steaming hot, next you’re giving

me this great freeze-out for no reason.”

“I don’t need a reason. I just know men like you.”

He made the turn into her condo lot and pulled into a parking spot, then turned offthe engine and looked at her. “Men like me?”

Finally, she met his gaze. “Look, Max. We had sex. It was great. How manytimes do I have to tell you that it’s over? Quit stalking me, quit trying to get me togo places with you and quit trying to…to…”

“To what?”

She flicked the lock and threw open the door. “Nothing. Just stay the hell awayfrom me unless it’s about work.”

With a hard slam of the car door, she walked away.

Dumbfounded, he sat there for a few minutes, having no earthly idea what hadjust happened.

Shannon was a complete mystery. Hell, maybe it was because she was a woman. The problem was he’d never gotten close enough to one before to get into weirdlittle arguments like this. Maybe he should call his sister. Chantal might be able togive him some insight into the female mind.

Although she’d probably laugh at him. The great playboy Max Devlin, confusedabout a woman’s emotions. Chantal had always accused him of convenientlyforgetting that women even
 
had
 
emotions.

Well Shannon sure as hell had them. And they were like night and day. Was thisnormal, or was it just Shannon?

How was he ever going to convince her to become his pack mate when hecouldn’t figure her out? Normally he was good at reading people’s emotions. Okay, maybe not women he dated, but most people he could figure out. Shannonconfounded the hell out of him.

Her hard headedness could be a stumbling block. Yes, he wanted a strong mate byhis side. She couldn’t be alpha female of the pack without having the balls to bein charge. That wasn’t a problem with Shannon.

She’d have to learn to bend to his will, and that’s where he knew they’d battle. She was not the type of woman to give up control easily. He’d just have toconvince her that he was the alpha male of the pack and she’d have to do what hesaid.

Yeah, right.

Sure as hell figured that the first woman he’d ever wanted to make his mate hadto be the one who didn’t even want to give him the damn time of day.

Good thing he enjoyed a challenge.

Chapter Eight

Max was amazed at how much he’d managed to accomplish in a couple weeks.

Not only was the PR campaign rolling along, but he’d closed on the house.

He’d spent two weeks making arrangements for his furniture to be shipped down,and his attorney managed a quick closing on the house. Keys in hand, he wasready for move-in day.

Everything was going just as he’d planned, with one exception—Shannon.

During the past two weeks, she’d avoided him as much as possible. Her emotionsran like the finicky fall weather. Steamy one day, chilly the next. It seemed as ifshe couldn’t make up her mind how she wanted to react to him.

But he knew one thing. If he didn’t do something and soon, they’d never have arepeat of the “hot” night they’d spent on the balcony at
 
Lune de l’amour
.. Thingsbetween them had been a bit too frosty lately, and he meant to change that.

The urge to mate was foremost on his mind now, and he needed to reveal to herwho and what he was. How he was supposed to do that when she wouldn’t eventalk to him was the problem.

For someone who’d always maintained control of women, Max was damnedirritated that he couldn’t seem to handle Shannon.

He paced the front of the house while waiting for the moving van to show up,trying to figure out how to finesse his way back into her bed.

Well, hell. For that matter, they’d never ever done it in a bed. Not yet, anyway.

She refused to have dinner with him, had point blank told him that she wouldn’tbe seeing him socially, and had kept her distance during their business meetings.

Other than a pounce and attack approach, he wasn’t sure how he was going to getpast the cold shields she’d put up.