Fated Mates: Book 1 of the True Mates Series (22 page)

“Well now! I think Lorraine’s had a little to much to drink!” her friend took the glass. “I think we’ll go and…powder our nose and get some fresh air! It was nice to meet you, Alynna, Frankie, bye Liam!” The girls quickly made their exit.

Alynna and Frankie looked at each other and then let out peals of laughter.

“Did I do something wrong?” Liam asked, a confused look on his face.

“Oh no, sweetie,” Frankie laughed. “You did everything right!”

Alynna giggled some more. “I’m sorry Liam, private joke. I’ll explain more if you want.”

A ringing interrupted them. “Oh crap!” Frankie cursed, digging her phone from her purse. She looked at the screen. “Sorry, I gotta take this, hon. Family business. But if I have to go, I’ll come find you first, ok?”

Alynna nodded and watched her new friend’s retreating back.

“Interesting friend you got there,” Liam commented.
 

“Yeah,” Alynna said fondly. “She’s nice.”
 

“Unlike the brainless brigade?”

“Liam!” Alynna sounded rather shocked. She could see the glint of intelligence in the Alpha’s eyes. Alynna realized that Liam was being polite, and humoring the ditzy Lycans, but was in no way interested in Lorraine or her friends.

“Too bad,” Alynna gave a fake sigh. “Lorraine and Liam. I was already picturing the monogrammed pillows, towels, maybe the gate to your mansion!”

Liam laughed, making his boyish face even more handsome. “L and L, it would save a lot on printing costs.”

“Alynna, Liam,” Grant said as he approached the laughing duo. “Glad to see you’re both having a good time!”

“I am now,” Liam glanced down at Alynna.

“Good. Now, I wanted to ask, who’s your…” he looked around, his brows knitting. “Friend?”

“Oh Lorraine and her cohorts?” Alynna said. “Don’t worry, they’ve…decided to call it a night.”

“No, not them, I mean—”

“Grant!” someone from behind called, and then slapped him on the shoulder. “You are a difficult man to find! And your lovely sister is here too! Please, I’ve been dying to be introduced to her!” An older man and his companion stood beside Grant, looking at him expectantly.

Here we go again
, Alynna though. She put on her best smile as Grant introduced her to the couple. “Nice to meet you too…”

After about three more introductions, Alynna was able to get away from the crowd, thanks to Liam. He discretely guided her away as Grant was making small talk, placing his hand on the small of her back. A little while later, she found herself with him on one of the balconies off the side of ballroom, a view of the Manhattan skyline behind them.
 

“So you’re really a private investigator?” Liam asked.
 

“Yes, I am!” Alynna laughed. She leaned against the stone balustrade, and breathed in the fresh air.

“So tell me…”

“You want sordid stories?”
 

“Not about your clients! I mean…not about you…or er…” he smiled sheepishly and ran rubbed the back of his head with his palm sheepishly. Alynna thought it was adorable.

“Ok, well, it’s not a sordid story…” she began. “But I should tell you about this time I was trapped in a client’s pantry! For almost 20 hours!”

“Really?” his eyes lit up and Alynna felt her stomach doing flip flops again.

“Really! He had me come over and try to catch his wife cheating on him. He said I should come during the day and install the cameras. So I go in, around 2pm or so and start doing my thing,” she paused. “Then, I hear the door open. It’s the wife and her lover, who decided to have a little afternoon delight!”

“No!”

“Yes!” she shrieked. “So I run to the closest door I could find - the kitchen pantry. I thought, hey, it can’t be that bad! They’ll have a quickie in the bedroom, then head back to work and I could finish my job.”

“But?”
 

“Well, afternoon delight turned into evening delight. At 6pm, lover boy says good bye, and the wife goes about her business, cleaning up and whatnot. Husband comes home 30 minutes later and so they decide to stay in and order dinner.”

“What? But why didn’t you call the husband?”

“That’s the thing! Just my luck, my phone battery was running out. Believe me, to this day I carry around two extra batteries!”

“So what happened? Why didn’t you just sneak away while they were watching TV or eating dinner?” Liam looked genuinely interested and looked at her with those beautiful eyes, hanging on her every word.

“Well the problem was…their apartment was actually one of those fancy loft places that had an open room plan. Everything was out in the open. I couldn’t get away unless I was Spiderman and could crawl outside the building.”

“So you stayed there all night?” She nodded. “At least you were in the pantry and there was food!”

Alynna burst out laughing, and she could hardly continue as tears streaked down her cheeks. “They…never…cooked…there…was…nothing…but Campbells’ Chunky Chicken soup in the pantry!”

Liam laughed, throwing his head back. “And you ate it?”

Alynna nodded. “Five cans total. I didn’t get out until 8am when they left.”

“Oh my god,” Liam guffawed. “Holy sh…you must hate that soup now!”

“No!” Alynna laughed again. “I actually crave it sometimes! Especially when I need a laugh!”

Both of them howled with laughter, until Alynna just couldn’t breathe. She let out a sigh. “Oh my god, I can’t believe I told you that story!” she turned around and covered her burning cheeks.

“No, no,” Liam protested, spinning it around. “I…uh, to tell you the truth I haven’t laughed like that in a long time.”

“Your dad?” Ashely covered her cheeks again. “Sorry! I don’t mean…”

“Don’t worry about it…really, it’s ok, I…” he touched her cheek with his fingertip, tracing a line down her jaw.

Alynna’s heart slammed into her chest. Oh lord, he was going to kiss her. She moved a fraction of an inch closer, until…

“Shit!” Liam cursed softly as a ringing sound pierced the quiet night. He sighed and then stepped back, taking his phone from his pocket. “I have to take this, sorry.”

Trying to hide her disappointment, Alynna nodded, shooing him away so he could step away and conduct his phone call.

He spoke on the phone for a minute and Alynna could make out some English words mixed in with Japanese. Finally, he slipped the phone in his pocket and turned back to her, his face a mask of disappointment.

“I’m sorry Alynna…I have to go…back to San Francisco, I mean.”

“You’re leaving?” she said, trying not to sound too whiney. “Now?”

He nodded. “It’s a family matter. I’m sorry. I had, I mean I was having a good time. Thank you, for sharing your story.”

“I’m glad you had a good time,” she said softly. Now came the awkward part. “Thanks for coming and all that. I guess…I’ll see you around.”

He smiled at her. “Definitely.” He gave her a curt nod and then walked towards the double doors leading to the balcony.

“Oh crap!” she said loudly to no one in particular. Oh god, what happened? It was a…strange feeling. Liam was funny and nice and handsome, plus he was an Alpha. Grant would approve if they started dating . She couldn’t think of that. Not right now. Not when she was still so broken up over Alex. “Oh crap,” she said again. She vowed she wouldn’t think of him, even say his name tonight. And for the most part, all the hubbub over the ball made it easy to not think of Alex. But now…she knew he was watching her the whole night, could feel his eyes on her and once in a while, his scent that seemed to call to her like a siren song. Of course he was watching her, that was his job.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the balcony door clicking open, and then closed.

“Liam?” she called out. It was dark, and she could just make out the tall shadow standing by the doors.

“Sorry to disappoint you, it’s not Liam.”

Alynna froze at the sound of the familiar voice, as the masculine scent filled her nose. “Alex,” she said softly. “What are you doing here?”

“My job,” he walked towards her. “I’m working tonight.” He looked dangerously handsome in his formal attire, with his hair slicked back.
 

“Oh, have a glass of champagne, on me, at the end of your shift then,” she said in a bitter tone. She grabbed her skirts and tried to pass by him, but stopped when she felt his warm hand grasp her upper arm. Shivers went down her spine and his touch sent light tingles across her bare skin. “Alex, I have to get back, please let go of me.”

“Did he leave you too soon?” he sneered. “Off to party somewhere else?”

Anger began to rise out of her. “Don’t say anything you might regret later,” she warned.

“I’ll say what I want to say.”

“Not to me!” she tried to wrestle away from his grasp. “You gave up that right weeks ago.”
When you decided I wasn’t what you wanted
, she wanted to add. “So, where’s Jenna?”

“At home,” he shrugged. “People like her don’t get invited to things like this, you know.”

“Is that your way of saying she knows her place?” she asked, venom dripping from her words. God, she hated the tall, lithe blonde.
 

He said nothing, but pulled her closer instead. The more she struggled, the more his grip tightened. He hauled her back, spinning her around to trap her between the balustrade and his warm, hard body. She froze. “His scent is all over you,” he said distastefully, as his nose nuzzled her neck.
 

“Alex…” she sighed. “We can’t…” But, she made no motion to stop him.

“I hate it,” he sneered. “I hate watching you from afar, watching him fawn all over you, leave his scent on you.” Alex growled possessively, and ran his fingers across her collarbones. His hand moved higher, rubbing his wrists along her neck, covering her with his delicious scent. “If I had my way, I’d toss you in the showers, to get rid of it, but this will have to do for now.” That masculine, male scent enveloped her, seemingly filling up her senses and her very core. A rush of wetness flooded her pussy, and she purred lightly at the sensation.

“Please…”

“Please what?”

“Kiss me,” she said, unable to stop herself. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pull him down.

He didn’t need further encouragement. He crashed his lips against hers in a needy, searing kiss.
 

Alynna wasn’t sure what was happening, only that she wanted - no, needed - Alex. It was as if her body was dying of thirst and Alex was her oasis.

His lips roughly moved against hers, and she whimpered into his mouth. His delicious scent filled her nose and she breathed in deeply, savoring it. His hands roamed lower, down the bodice of her dress and then pulled up her voluminous skirts.

“Tell me to stop,” he rasped into her ear.
 

“Don’t stop,” she growled, pressing her breasts up against his chest. She bit at his lip and pulled her body tighter against his.

There was a deep rumbling sound from somewhere in his chest, and she felt him grab her lacy panties, ripping them off with little difficulty. His lips moved lower, lingering over her tops of breasts and she gasped when she heard him unzip his pants and lift her onto the balustrade.

He was hard and ready and when he pushed his cock into her, she bit on his shoulder to keep from screaming out. Alex gripped her tighter, one hand snaking around her waist and the other over her shoulder to slam her down on his dick as he pounded up into her wet and willing pussy.

She squeezed him tight with her inner muscles, welcoming his cock into her warmth. The pleasure spread over her body, making her toes curl and her nipples ache as they rubbed against the silk of her gown. Alynna thrust her fingers into his hair, wrapping them around the strands and pulling on them as an orgasm ripped through her body.

As she came down from her orgasm, he slowed down and slipped out of her. She whimpered in protest, but he spun her around, lifted up her skirts again and then swiftly entered her from behind. Alynna yelped in surprise, but was quickly overwhelmed with pleasure.

Alex pulled her against him, pulling her back up to his chest as he slammed his cock into her. He wasn’t thinking, didn’t care about who could catch them. The only thing he cared about was fucking Alynna, making her come again, and spilling his cum into her.
 

Alynna gripped the balcony railing tight as she pushed back against him, savoring the feeling of his cock in her again. God, she missed this, feeling his body, having his scent envelope her. He continued to fuck her deep and hard, and soon she felt another orgasm coming.

“Alex…please…yes…don’t stop…” she murmured incoherently. He picked up his pace, fucking into her hard as her body shuddered.
 

It wasn’t long before Alex grunted loudly, slammed hard into her and the rush of wetness from his cock filled her up. She could feel his hot, sticky seed fill her up, the excess running down between her thighs in a sticky mess.
 

He slowed down, grabbing her tight as he finished his orgasm. He grunted and held his breath as his cock slipped out of her and he let her go.

Alynna gasped and pulled away from him, her knuckles going white from gripping the railing tight. The cold air made her shiver.
 

“Alynna…”Alex began, his voice broken and gravelly.

She bit her lip, trying not to let the tears spill down her cheeks. She sucked in air into her lungs. “Alex, I—“

She heard the balcony door click, and when she turned around, Alex was gone.

“Fucking hell!” she cursed loudly. What the fuck just happened? One moment she was enjoying Liam’s company and then, she was having sex with Alex. Alex! Who came out of nowhere, acting like some jealous lover! The nerve! He was the one who was sleeping with that bimbo Jenna, and god knew who else! And she was waiting at home, for him while he was fucking another woman behind her back.

Suddenly, she heard the door click open again. Alynna froze, hoping it wasn’t Cady or worse, Grant.

“Alynna, are you ok? What happened?” Frankie’s pretty face was lit up by moonlight, her luminous mismatched eyes seemed to glow. “You…
madre de dio
!” she gave the air a delicate sniff, her eyes scanning the younger woman up and down. “Did you and Liam get it on out here? Jesus Christ on a cracker, I think
I
need a cigarette!”