Moonlight Kin 2: Aidan's Mate (Mid-Length Novel) (8 page)

Aidan pointed to the bed, then his hand moved to the buttons on his jeans. He shucked his clothes quickly.

Lisa licked her lips as her gaze traveled down the length of his naked body.

Aidan had never seen the need for modesty. Like all wolves, running through the woods kept him in shape. He was proud of his form, happy that it pleased both Were and human females, though he’d never acted upon any attraction with a human.

The memory of Jenna’s dilated pupils popped into his mind. He hadn’t imagined the heat simmering between them. Her scent had warmed, grown richer, deeper, when she’d looked at him.

What would it be like to hold her in his arms? Sink into her body? Have her writhing beneath him? His shaft hardened at the thought.

“Alpha?”

Aidan blinked and the room came back into focus. Instead of Jenna, Lisa lay on his bed, her firm thighs slightly parted, giving him a tantalizing glimpse of the moisture gathering in her soft folds.

The sight should’ve enhanced his erection, instead his shaft wilted like an over-watered plant.

She pursed her lips. “I want to touch you.”

Touching was good. Touching would help bring his mind and body back into alignment. Aidan mentally smacked his wolf upside the head to get its attention.

Once he had it, Aidan nodded to Lisa to proceed. He could do this. Last night was a fluke. His hands clenched at his sides as he kneeled on the foot of the bed to give her better access.

“Wait,” he said, before Lisa could grasp him. Aidan leaned over and dug his nose into the soft curls between her legs.

She mewed and her eyes drifted shut. “Yes!” she hissed.

Her deliciously musky scent filled his lungs. He could do this. It was just like riding a bike.

Aidan’s wolf snorted.

“Touch me,” he said, ignoring it. He was in control, not his beast.

Lisa grasped his shaft and stroked him, trying to bring it back to life. The normally dependable part of his anatomy once again refused to rise.

His inner wolf snickered. It had won this battle, but the war for control of his body wasn’t over.

Aidan pulled away and slid off the bed, hoping Lisa hadn’t noticed. He scrubbed his hands over his face and through his hair. “I’m sorry, but you are not the one,” he said.

Lisa’s lower lip poked out. “But we haven’t tried yet.” Panic seeped into her voice.

“I don’t need to. I can tell by your scent that you’re not my bondmate,” Aidan said.

Her brow furrowed. “I thought you needed to be inside me to be sure.”

He did and he didn’t. Aidan shook his head. In this instance, he just knew.

Lisa spread her legs wider. “Maybe you didn’t get a good whiff. Why don’t you try one more time?”

“I beg your pardon?” Aidan’s brow shot to his hairline. How could she question his scenting abilities? “My nose is
not
broken.”

She glanced at his flaccid shaft and mirrored his expression. The implication clear.

Heat infused his face. Aidan snatched his denims off the floor and jerked them on without looking at her. “Leave!”

Her scent sharpened as anger replaced need. Lisa threw on her clothes and stomped to the door. “Sydney was right about your impotence,” she muttered under her breath, just loud enough for him to hear.

“Get out!” Aidan bellowed.

Lisa slammed the door behind her.

Aidan rolled his shoulders, but it did little to alleviate the tension and fear building inside of him. He wasn’t impotent. How could he be? He was a werewolf. His hand trembled as he scrubbed it over his chest.

Lisa’s sour scent lingered in the air, choking him. Aidan couldn’t breathe. He needed to get out of his bedroom, out of this house before the walls closed in and crushed him. He walked over to his French doors and threw them open.

The evening air smacked his face, clearing his lungs of the female Were’s scent. Aidan walked to the balcony wall and leaned over it, hanging his head between his arms. He took several deep breaths.

What was he going to do? He couldn’t go on like this? It had only been two days, but soon news of his ‘affliction’ would reach the ears of the Lycanian Elders, then there would be questions. Questions he couldn’t—wouldn’t answer. If this continued, he’d have no choice but to step down as Alpha. The pack needed a mated leader.

He inhaled once again, filling his lungs. This time he caught Jenna’s floral aroma. He heard the tread of a shoe scraping against stone. Aidan’s ears perked. He leaned over the balcony, balancing on his stomach, and spotted Jenna standing on the patio below.

She didn’t notice him, didn’t hear him. Her gaze remained trained on the trees. Aidan followed her line of sight and saw his wolves moving beneath the branches.

He cursed under his breath and strode back into his bedroom. Three minutes later, Aidan found himself dressed and standing at the foot of the stairs that led to the lower patio.

Aidan watched Jenna from the shadows, unable to look away. Her hair glowed like fairy-fire in the burgeoning moonlight, giving her an ethereal appearance.

She’d make a beautiful wolf. The thought came unbidden into his mind, leaving him shaken. As tempting as it was, biting her would be sheer madness.

He might be temporarily ‘afflicted’, but Aidan wasn’t insane enough to act upon the impulse. His gaze drifted over her.

Jenna wore a pair of black leggings that clung to her like a thin layer of paint, cupping her lush bottom. An over-sized sweater and T-shirt concealed her firm high breasts, but Aidan knew they were there.

She leaned over the wall, her head dropping down to look at something on the ground. The move lifted her ass, making her appear submissive.

Aidan’s wolf shoved him aside to get a better look. When he tried to push the beast back down, it snapped and growled at him. Aidan couldn’t tear his gaze away from her. He wanted. He needed. His mouth watered as blood from his brain rushed south.

It wasn’t until the buttons on his denims bit into his shaft that Aidan noticed how hard he’d become. He glanced down in disbelief at the bulge filling the front of his denims.

You picked a fine time to start working again
. He stared at his erection in bewilderment.

His wolf barked inside his head to get his attention, then urged him to act.

Not going to happen,
Aidan spoke directly to his beast.
You’re only interested in her because she’s human. That makes her unique to you. To us. That’s the only reason you want her. It’s also the reason you can’t have her.

The wolves in the woods sensed his presence and howled. Jenna didn’t even flinch at the sound. Instead, she leaned even further over the short wall. She was killing him. Aidan closed his eyes and prayed for strength.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” He adjusted himself, then stepped out of the darkness.

Jenna nearly toppled before catching herself. “You really have to stop sneaking up on me.”

“I wasn’t sneaking. You were too preoccupied with the wolves to hear me.”

She glanced back at the trees and scowled. “I think you scared them away.”

Doubtful
, Aidan thought.

“Aren’t you afraid?” he asked.

She edged away from him as he drew nearer. “Of what?”

Of me? Of the beast you sense lurking inside of me?

“The savage beasts in the woods.” He motioned to where the wolves had been milling only moments ago.

Jenna stopped her retreat and her green eyes narrowed.

Aidan’s lips canted at her sudden mood change. She had a lot of courage for a human. He’d give her that.

“They’re not beasts.” She chided. “Not in the sense that you mean. And they’re certainly not savage, unless they’re starving. As someone who keeps wolves on his property, I would think you’d know the difference.”

Jenna was scolding him, actually scolding him. No one scolded him. So why did that make him so damned pleased?

“I didn’t mean to offend you.” Aidan planted his hip against the wall. “It’s just that a lot of people don’t see wolves that way. They look at them as pests, nuisances in need of extermination. Instead of an apex species that keeps the animal population healthy and in balance.”

She looked at him. “If humans had half the sense of family that wolves do, then there wouldn’t be so many abused and neglected kids in the world.”

“Are you speaking from experience?” The idea enraged him, but there was no denying the shadow of pain in her eyes.

Aidan tried to imagine what it would be like to have had his family reject him. He couldn’t fathom it, the concept far too alien in the Lycan world.

“People take family for granted.” Jenna’s voice cracked as she dodged his question. “I don’t.”

What had happened to her? Was that why she was living in her car? She was too old to have runaway from foster care, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t grown up in the system. He clamped down on his anger. If he didn’t, Aidan would end up shifting in front of her.

“What are you doing up?” He moved the conversation to a less volatile topic.

“Couldn’t sleep. Thought maybe some fresh air would help, then I noticed the wolves and I guess I lost track of time. I didn’t disturb your evening. Did I?”

He shook his head. “No.” At least not directly.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

Aidan crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes. “Why do you ask?”

Jenna’s fingers curled around the top of the stone wall. “Your P.A. implied that you’d be occupied for the rest of the night and you were not to be disturbed.”

What in
Freki’s
teats had Robert told her?

“My plans changed,” Aidan said.

Her gaze flicked to his, then skittered away. “Sorry.” Her words didn’t match the pleasing scent emanating from her skin. Was he the cause of it? For some reason, Aidan wanted to know.

“Don’t be.” He moved closer.

Her floral scent changed, became richer, muskier. With infinite care, he pushed a stray curl away from her face. Jenna’s heart pounded so hard that he could hear it. His gaze flicked to the pulse jumping in her neck.

“So soft,” he said.

“Thanks.” She brushed a hand through her hair and cleared her throat. “Is this some kind of animal sanctuary?”

The question brought him up short. Aidan had never thought about his estate in those exact terms, but the idea was close enough. “Something like that.”

Jenna tilted her head. “You know people in town talk about your wolves.”

His heart slammed against his ribs, but Aidan managed to maintain his calm exterior. “What exactly do they say?” He touched her hair again, the silky strands slipping through his fingers.

Jenna gave him an odd look, but she didn’t pull away. “Honestly, I don’t know where to start. They are a crazy bunch.” She shook her head. “And when I say crazy, I mean
crazy
. They think you howl at the moon with your wolves like some kind of werewolf.” She giggled, missing Aidan’s startled expression.

“That’s quite a theory,” he said softly. “Wonder how they came by it?”

“You haven’t heard the best one yet,” she said.

“Can hardly wait,” he deadpanned.

Her grin widened. “One person in town is convinced that you’re a vampire.” Jenna roared with laughter. “A vampire! Can you believe it?”

Aidan snorted. “As if I’d ever stoop to
that
level.”

* * * * *

He was quiet for quite some time, then asked, “What do you think?”

Her gaze drifted to his sensual mouth. No fangs there. Were his lips as soft as they appeared to be? The urge to close the distance between them and find out nearly overwhelmed her.

Jenna shoved her hands in her pockets and tore her gaze away from his mouth. “It’s true that you allow wolves to run loose on your property, but I haven’t seen you howling at the moon.” She winked.

She was actually flirting with him. Jenna hadn’t flirted with anyone in months. It felt good. Felt right. Even if it was a little awkward.

“It’s not full yet,” Aidan said dryly.

She laughed. “Right. I forgot.” Jenna glanced at the moon, basking in its soft glow. Her smile faded. “I think people start rumors to make themselves feel better, feel superior to others. They don’t know you, which makes them even more jealous of your success.” Her gaze strayed to the house.

Aidan sighed. “Material things do not define who I am. You should know that by now.”

His words shamed her. Aidan had gone above and beyond to help a total stranger. But Jenna had allowed a handsome face to sway her before. The consequence of which had destroyed everything she’d worked for.

It pained her to admit, but other than striking good looks, Aidan didn’t have much in common with Ethan. It wasn’t fair of her to compare them.

Jenna had been comparing people to her ex for three months and all it had done was make her bitter. She was tired of being bitter. She was tired of the distrust. Jenna was tired period.

She needed that chapter of her life to be over, so that she could be open to new things. Perhaps the things right in front of her.

Aidan’s sharp amber eyes glowed the longer he stared at her. A trick of the light no doubt. The intensity of his gaze made it hard to breathe. Hard to think.

She casually moved to the side to give herself some space. If Aidan noticed, he didn’t say anything. He turned his attention toward the trees.

“Why are you really here?” he asked.

Ice encased Jenna, leaving her shivering inside. “What do you mean?”

“Why Breakbend? Of all the places to settle, why did you come here?” he asked.

Some of the tension left her body. “Like a lot of people, I needed the work.”

Aidan glanced at her. “That doesn’t explain why you’re on the run.”

She flinched. “Who said anything about...I don’t know where you got that idea from, but you’re mistaken.”

“Am I?”

Jenna nodded, but couldn’t meet his gaze.

“Do you know why I’m so successful in business?” he asked, throwing her off balance.

She shrugged stiffly. “Because you’ve developed innovative software?”