Obsessions (16 page)

“No, no, it’s okay. It just surprised me. I wasn’t
expecting to see him.” Me-Len turned her head and stared at her.
Damn it,
she looks like she can read right through me.
“Look I understand. What kind
of problems is he having?” London inquired, curiously.

“I really shouldn’t talk about it since it is pack
business. Maybe he will share some of it tonight. That way I won’t feel like I
have broken any rules about discussing insider information.” Me-Len responded.

“Okay. Well tell me about your new job then? And by
the way do I need to have a chat with Mr. Meryl about how he needs to treat my
grandmother?” London teased Me-Len, but in a way she wasn’t kidding. She would
tear anyone apart that hurt Me-Len. They sat on the bed talking about her job
and her relationship with Meryl when they heard Meryl call out that dinner was
ready.

London walked back into the kitchen with her head
held high. She meant tonight was going to be okay. Bumping into Ryder was going
to happen even having to spend time with him was going to happen too. She made
a promise that she wouldn’t allow him to pull her along then bolt. Nope she
wasn’t allowing him to do that to her.

“Sit down everyone. Ryder, you sit here across from
London.” Meryl suggested.

Ryder stood behind London and pulled the chair out
for her then pushed it in when she was seated.  She would give him credit. The
Alpha had manners or at least he was acting that way in front of her
grandmother. He made his way back around the table and sat down. It was only a
simple gesture, but it meant something to her. Peeking up, she noticed that
Ryder was staring at her.
No. Look away London.
It felt like he had
hypnotized her. Look away, now
, London thought as she jerked her head
toward Meryl.

“Dinner smells great,” London commented.

“I wish I could take credit for it, but I think you
know your grandmother’s cooking when you smell it.” Meryl and London laughed.
When she glanced back at Ryder he was smiling at her. Clearly, she was missing
something. Why was he smiling at her like that?

The food was being passed around the table and
everyone filled their plates. She stayed silent hoping that someone would start
the conversation.

 “Ryder, do you mind if we speak about pack business
in front of London?” Me-Len asked. London never looked up. She continued to eat
like she wasn’t paying attention even though she was and wanted to know all the
details.

“I trust London. Maybe she can help with our
problem.” Ryder agreed.

“London. Someone has been testing the wards around
the city. Checking to see when they’re the weakest. Jim Sanders, Alpha of the
Sanders pack has mated with a witch recently, one that practices in dark magic.
We think it is her but we can’t be sure. You’re still reading my books,
correct?” Me-Len asked.

She nodded not wanting to interrupt.

“A ward protects the city, but someone who is very
powerful is testing it. We need to come up with an idea on how to protect the
city better. The ward is good but we need something else. I’m trying—well, we
are trying to come up with some ideas on how to do that.”

“I see.” London put down her fork, deep in thought.
“Maybe you need some extra security system to help out. Something they don’t
know about placed around the city that can let you know when it detects magic
being used or whatever you are looking for.” Me-Len raised her eyebrow and
looked over at Meryl.

“You know that may be a good idea,” Meryl agreed,
looking to Ryder for his response.

“Okay, let’s look into that, but we need to work
fast,” Ryder responded. He smiled at London, and it did strange stuff to her
body. All the man had to do was smile and her libido flared up with goose-bumps
all over her body. She shivered under his gaze.
How desperate can you get
London? It’s just a smile.
Yeah, but it’s a panty dropping smile.

Chapter
21

They continued to eat and talk about the past.
London loved hearing how Alpha City was built and how the Alpha Council was
formed, and she lost track of time. When she glanced over at the clock on the
wall she was surprised at how late it was. She still needed to call a taxi to
come pick her up.

Me-Len began clearing the table, refusing London’s
help, and insisting she stay put and learn more about her new home, but London
got up and walked toward her grandmother. “Me-Len, it’s late and I need to call
a taxi. I enjoyed tonight so much. It felt just like old times.”

Meryl and Ryder both stood up from the table, and London
hugged Meryl and thanked him for inviting her.

“I can take you home London,” Ryder offered.

“Oh no. Really, I can take a cab,” London countered.

“London, it is silly to call a cab when I’m going
right past your house on the way home,” he said. She looked over at her
grandmother for help, but as usual she looked like she was playing matchmaker.

“London, it is too late to call the cabs around
here. They would charge you a fortune to come out this late at night.  Just
ride with the Alpha.” Her grandmother suggested. She could hear how mischievous
she was being. “I would feel better if Ryder took you home.”

She frowned and swallowed hard at her grandmother,
but what could she say now that Me-Len had thrown her under the bus?

“Okay, I don’t want to put you out or anything,”
London replied dryly.

She followed him to the front door, hugging Me-Len
and Meryl before they left. He walked to her side of his SUV and opened her
door, helping her in, and then walked around to his side. She buckled her
seatbelt and tried to act like she wasn’t dying in the car. His scent was
everywhere and he smelled great. She reached down and cracked her window
allowing some fresh air into the car.

“How do you like the cabin?” he asked.

“It’s great. I love it. Thank you for allowing me to
stay there,” she answered, before going back to staring out the window.

It didn’t take them long to get to the front gate of
Ryder’s land. Peering into the window the guard saw that it was Ryder and just
waved them in. Trying to hold her breath was easier said than done. His scent
was mouthwatering. She grinned when her cabin came into view. She could finally
get out of the car leaving his scent behind, but no. Ryder drove right past it.

“Wait…you just passed my cabin,” she said, pointing
out the window.

“You haven’t seen my house yet and I wanted you to
see where to run to or visit when you wanted to,” he answered with a grin.

She knew she was in trouble now. This was just
another ploy to get to her. He was just trying to string her along again. Well
he wouldn’t get his way this time. London sucked in a breath but blew it out
when her eyes focused on the big house Ryder called home. It was beautiful, a
bigger version of her cabin. The porch wrapped around the house. It had rocking
chairs on it, and a built in fireplace off to the side. She couldn’t stop
staring at how simple and clean cut fabulous it was.

Flowerpots sat all around the porch. Some type of
vine with beautiful flowers hanging off was crawling up the entrance to the
porch. She could take picture after picture of this one space. Never had she
seen anything like it. Everything was neat and well groomed. Whoever took care
of the place had a green thumb because flowers and plants were growing
everywhere.

London sat in the car not wanting to go inside, but Ryder
opened her door. “Come on just a peek then I will drive you back home,
promise.”

She was acting stupid, but she huffed and got out of
the car. He opened the front door to his house allowing her to pass by him. The
inside of the house was just as magnificent.

“Um…I need to go.”  London whispered. Looking
around, she was shocked at how beautiful and unique the cabin was. Even the
inside was neat and appeared to be lived in, but nothing seemed out of place.
Ryder walked over to a bar that was nestled in the corner.

“Would you like a glass of wine?” He held up a
bottle.

“No thank you. I need to get home. I have a big day
ahead of me. I can walk from here—I need to walk off that big dinner, anyways.
I don’t think my butt needs to get any bigger.” London looked away quickly,
cringing at her stupid comment. Now he would look at her big fat butt. She couldn’t
think around the man. He turned her insides to mush and made her talk stupid. She
seemed to be hitting an all-time high in the stupidity department.

London almost made it to the door before Ryder
grabbed her hand stopping her. Slowly, she turned to face him.

“I think your butt looks great. In fact, I think it’s
perfect,” Ryder whispered. London could feel the heat climb up her neck at the
compliment, and then he did something else she didn’t expect. His touch this
time felt different as he lightly caressed her face. Almost desperate.

“I have to kiss you.”  Ryder whispered, and then he
softly put his mouth against hers.

She opened her mouth allowing him to have his way,
licking and sucking on her lips at will. Everything about this man turned her
body on, and the fact that he was a great kisser just increased her addiction
to him.

His actions got heavier when he grabbed her hair
allowing him to control her head. He backed her up against the wall, then
reached down and pulled her legs up, and wrapped them around his waist. London
knew she should stop this and get out of the house, but it felt so damn good. His
kisses got more frenzied when he pushed his erection up against her. She didn’t
know how to stop so she kept kissing him back.
Common sense? What was that?

Both were so caught up in the moment that neither heard
the door open and close until Jamie said, “Maybe I need to come back later.”

She gasped and quickly released her legs to stand
up. A blush stained her cheeks as she chastised herself for being so stupid.
Running past the smiling Jamie she said, “Nice to see you again, Jamie,” on her
way out the door.

How could I be so stupid? What
will the man think now that he has almost screwed me twice? Oh I know, yeah
you’re easy. Yep, they will probably nick name you Easy Rider.

London didn’t turn around to see if Ryder was
following her. She needed to get home. It was already late and she had a big
day ahead of her tomorrow, but her body was still lusting after the man. She
groaned thinking about how her body responded to him and how good he felt.

Her steps slowed when she felt the hair on her neck
go up, and she looked behind her thinking it was Ryder or Jamie. Nobody was
around. She didn’t even hear the crickets in the woods. Something or someone
was near. She knew it. Maybe it was just the Enforcers checking the area.

London didn’t want to find out, so she picked up her
speed and began running faster to her cabin. She felt something powerful
tingling through her body as the lights to the cabin came into sight. Power
like she had never felt before surged toward her. The necklace on her neck
glowed; it was either her instincts or something within the charm that told her
to fall to the ground. London dropped just as she felt magic wiz over her head.
When she looked up, she could see a woman on top of the hill. Her body glowing
as she held her hands out toward London.

She couldn’t make out who it was, but she knew the
woman wasn’t saying hello and waving. London lay on the ground watching and
then the stranger was gone. She didn’t know if she was coming back to shoot her
with another laser beam or whatever, so she continued to lie there until she
heard someone behind her running fast. They were so close that she didn’t have
time to react, so she just balled up and covered her head with her hands.

“Are you hurt? Did you fall?”

Her heart was pounding so hard she thought she was
going to have a heart attack, and her body was frozen with fear. She couldn’t
speak or say anything.

“London, are you alright, baby? Please talk to me!”
London could hear the fear in Ryder’s voice. He picked her up and carried her into
her cabin, but her eyes stayed closed for fear that the woman would return.
Never in a million years did she imagine she would freeze up from fear—she’d
had way too much training for that.

“Did you see her?” she finally sputtered. Her voice was
only a whisper.

“Who?” Ryder asked.

“The woman on the hill who threw magic at my head,”
London responded looking around her cabin as if someone was going to jump out
at her. She knew she needed to get control of her fear, because if she didn’t it
would control her.

“No…wait, what?” Ryder asked, looking around the area.
Slowly, he walked over to the couch and set her down.

London watched as he backed away and opened the door,
stepping out on the porch she heard the high-pitched howl of a wolf. Wrapping
her hands over her ears, London balled her body up on the couch. She forced
herself to take in deep breaths trying to calm her body. Franticly searching
her mind for what might calm her nerves and get her thinking straight again.
Looking toward the kitchen, London was surprised when she saw the liquor on top
of the cabinet. Jumping up she ran to the cabinet and grabbed the bottle.
Thank
you to whoever put you here.

Her hands were shaking so bad she didn’t know if she
could pour the liquid into the glass. She opened her mouth and slammed the
tequila down her throat then did it two more times before Ryder walked back in
the door.

She couldn’t stand this fear. She wanted to hit herself
for reacting so cowardly. It had paralyzed her, but the liquor was doing the
trick as she gulped in deep breaths.

“Are you hurt?” Ryder asked, concerned.

“No.  I hit the ground before it could hit me,” she
answered softly. Jamie and two other shifters walked into the door as she
spoke.

“Before what hit you?” Ryder asked.

“The woman on the hill threw some type of energy at
me, but it didn’t hit me. All I know is, I felt someone watching me, and I
turned around thinking it was you, but nobody was there. Then I had the feeling
that I needed to hit the ground, and when I did I felt the shot of energy go
over my head. I looked up on the hill and saw a strange woman with her hands up
toward me. I swear I didn’t even blink before she was gone. I thought she was
running up behind…” London couldn’t finish her sentence when she observed how
Jamie and the guards were staring at her, like she was crazy.

“I know what I saw,” she said, angrily.

“Maybe you just got paranoid and the wind picked up
and…” Jamie responded.

London flinched at his disbelief, “Get out of my
house.”

She wasn’t going to let these men tell her she
didn’t see the woman or feel the energy zooming toward her head. She didn’t
imagine it.

Jamie crossed his arms. “Look London, I’ve seen a
lot of people get paranoid and think they saw something when it was the dark
scaring them.”

Oh, hell no, he didn’t. 

“I said get out of my house. If this is where I’m
living for a few days, then get out. If you don’t, I will. I don’t need this. I
know what I saw, Jamie, I didn’t imagine it,” she fumed.

“Yeah, well, women who are hyped up can see things,”
Jamie suggested.

London felt her face turn hot with anger, but before
she could respond Ryder intervened, “Hey, hey let’s all calm down here.  Jamie,
go check the area on the hill where London said she saw the woman.” 

Jamie’s vein pulsed in his neck, but he dipped his
head to acknowledge the command. “Sure, I’ll check it just to confirm that she
didn’t see anything.”

He had to duck as London chucked her glass toward
his head. It hit the wall and shattered on the hardwood floor where he was
standing, but he just shook his head as he walked out the door.

Ryder pushed his fingers through his hair. “Look
London, Jamie is my second in command, and he is very good at detecting people
especially when they are hiding.”

“Get out. I will be off your land tomorrow,” she responded.
Her eyes were locked on him, and she was angry beyond words. Her body vibrated
with rage. She couldn’t believe they thought she was lying. The woman threw
some type of magic at her head and they thought she made it up.

“Unbelievable. I know what I saw and felt. I won’t
be called a liar by you or him. Get out now! I’m tired and need to pack my bags
so that I can leave first thing in the morning.” London didn’t give him any
room to negotiate; she grabbed the bottle of tequila and carried it into the
bathroom, locking the door.

“Damn it, London. I’m not calling you a liar. It’s
just...”

London ignored him, turning on the shower so that
his words were muffled murmurs. All she could do was pray this nightmare would
go away. She may regret it in the morning, but she needed to calm down and
alcohol seemed to be the way to go.