The Loneliest Alpha (The MacKellen Alphas) (27 page)

Wrapping
his hand around her wet hair, he pulled her back so his mouth could crash into
hers. White-hot need exploded between them in a frenzy. Hands slipped across
wet skin, squeezing and groping. Mouths fought against each other in a rough
battle of wills.

He
cupped two perfectly soft cheeks of her ass and the sound she made had him
second-guessing his plan to wait until the lights were out and he bought a new
mattress. What an idiot he was. Because right here and now with her back
pressed up against the shower wall sounded fucking perfect.

Her
soft moans and cries were like decadent little morsels, the garnish on top of
the sundae. She sounded so soft and needy, it made him want to beat his chest
and howl.

But
then she threw in the game changer. Damn, but he hadn’t been ready. Not one
bit.

She
tore her mouth away to sink her teeth into his neck as her hands found his cock
and balls.

“Ah,
fuck, sweetheart.” His garbled words rattled around in his chest like loose
screws.

Another
soft moan as she licked the bite wound. Then she bit down again, harder, making
him groan and clutch her to him, slipping his fingers between her legs to play.

Those
damned hands. Her wicked, naughty hands claimed him, unmanned him. She fisted
his goods, one stroking, the other grasping as she worked him.

The
pleasure was mounting too fast to be safe. He had to back off.

He
threw his head back with a curse. Damn, but it felt so good to have someone
else’s hands on him, working his cock in such a delicious way. He was right
where he wanted to be, with his woman in his arms and loving him with mouth and
hands.

Nothing
could be better except if he was inside her. His cock throbbed at the idea and
she made another one of those deliriously erotic sounds.

“Sweetheart,
you gotta stop now if you don’t want me making a mess all over you.”

She
laughed sounding thrilled. What the hell had he gotten into? “Maybe that’s
exactly what I want.”

He
had no idea she’d be such a hot minx when she got turned on. No man could be as
lucky as he was.

He
couldn’t say anything else as breathing became difficult. Her little fist
squeezed tight and jacked him as those teasing lips kissed across his neck,
biting and licking like a little devil.

Pressure
grew in his balls. It was coming and nothing he could do could stop it now. His
mouth slammed down on hers and she sensed his urgency, jerking faster, working
him so perfectly. And when the wet pulses came, streaking across her stomach in
hot, creamy spurts, she groaned right along with him, that little fist milking
him.

They
stayed that way for a long minute, their lips tangled in a breathy touch. He
pulled away first and grabbed the soap. Without a word, he preceded to soap
every inch of her body from head to toe. Only after he set her back under the
water for her to do her hair did he scrub himself.

They
were like lovers. Eyes dazed and warm, lingering on each other in that happy
way. When they were both completely clean, he kissed her again trying to show
her everything he felt with that kiss.

“Thank
you.”

She
flushed. “For what?”

“For
being you and being here.”

* * * * *

Gavin
felt like he was living in someone else’s world. They dressed and he found
himself offering to take her to the construction site. He had no idea where the
offer came from but when she said yes, he didn’t regret it for one second. He
guessed a part of him just wanted to share everything with her, to show her
where he worked and what he did when he wasn’t Alpha Gavin MacKellen, but just
Gavin.

So
they headed up to the site. Alex and the rest of the team were already hard at
work.

He
helped Alicia down from the truck and she gave him a funny smile that said he
was being silly. That smile twisted his gut into pieces. Each time he had to
look her in the face and see her staring back, he had to fight not to flinch.
He’d never wished that night after the challenge had never happened so much
until he met her. She’d changed everything.

The
men stopped work the moment they saw him with her. He couldn’t say he was
surprised; the whole pack knew that he’d been hiding his face from her. To see
them out together with his busted face clear as day must be a shock.

Alex
was the only one who didn’t seem fazed. He came forward with hand extended
while wearing a small grin. “Alex Thompson,” he said.

Alicia
shook his outstretched hand. “Alicia Clarkson.”

“Good
to meet you. I’ve heard some stories about you.”

A
blush came over her but she wore it with a grin. “I hope they weren’t too
embarrassing for me.”

“Only
that you sing like shit.”

Her
jaw dropped for one long moment and then she burst out laughing. “How did you
know that?”

Alex
shrugged. “Heard it from Jo who heard it from Gav. You know how it goes.”

She
nodded and eyed Gavin with a faux-stern glare. Damn, but he loved her. Really
fucking loved her. She made his heart feel like it was going to burst. All he
wanted to do was make lover to her while spilling his guts to her about
everything.

Luckily,
he was smart and knew that’d get him the boot as soon as he opened his mouth.
She was too wary, with a big ole’ shield erected around her heart. Made him
wonder what put that there, what had happened. Everyone had a story and it
looked like his little sweetheart had one too.

The
recognizable rumble of Hart’s Jeep pulled up the drive. Damn. A visit from Hart
didn’t spell good news lately.

Hart
cut the engine and jumped out of the Jeep. “Got some news,” he said. “Do you
want the good or the bad first?”

Gavin
looked down at the soft hand he held. Reluctantly, he pulled away. “Mind giving’
us a minute?”

Her
eyes widened and for a moment and he thought he saw hurt flash across them. But
then she nodded and walked away to give them some space. He turned back to
Hart.

“You
get the meat tested?”

“That’s
the bad news. I had the lab run a test on the meat early this morning. They
found it laced with potassium chloride and tetrahydrozoline hydrochloride.”

“What
the hell is that?”

“It’s
the tetradydro—however you say it that’s the real problem. It’s eye drops.”

“Someone
put eye drops in the steak,” Gavin said slowly

Hart’s
grin snapped for a moment before it disappeared. “That’s it. You’re lucky it
only made you vomit. Had you both eaten the whole steak, it could have been far
worse. The lab assistant said other effects from drinking eye drops are
seizures, blurred vision, difficulty breathing, and blood pressure problems.
She mentioned some other stuff about comas but…” he shrugged. “You’re lucky
some of the drops got cooked off the steak, brother. Or that whoever did it
didn’t use enough.”

Gavin
felt a chill all the way down to his bones. He knew that feeling, recognized
it. He was scared. Not for his own life but for that woman who’s come to mean
too much for him to lose.

“I’m
done with this.”

Hart
raised a brow. “Done how?”

“Done
fuckin’ around with Marcus. What evidence do we have?”

Hart
smiled, a big ‘you’re gonna like this’ smile. “Good news, Gav. Elizabeth and I
interviewed the gas station attendant working the day the SUV was left there
and we also interviewed all the staff at the restaurant where Michael Givens
lost his wallet. Guess who matched the description?”

“Marcus?”

Hart’s
smile faded. “No, not him, but someone just as good.”

Gavin’s
jaw twitched. “I want Marcus.”

“So
do I, but we got Harry Graham. The middle brother.” Hart whipped out a small
spiral notebook from his back pocket. “According to witnesses, they saw a lean
man with dark blond hair and a big nose at both locations around the time of
the accident. Sounds like Harry Graham to me. Not only that, but you know where
Harry works.”

“At
the butcher’s,” Gavin supplied.

“Bingo,
brother. We got him.”

Gavin
shook his head. “We don’t got him. We got Harry, not Marcus. Harry would never
do any of this on his own for nothin’. No, he’s doing it for Marcus.”

Hart
sighed. “You sure about that?”

Gavin
reached for his cheek, rubbed the distorted flesh. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

“You
ready to admit that Marcus did that to your face?”

Gavin
peered over at Alicia. She was strolling by the construction site studying
every hammer, nail, and tool like it fascinated her. His lips twitched. He hadn’t
been ready to talk about it before. But now? With her in his life—everything
had changed. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

Hart’s
brows pulled low as he got into ‘detective mode’.

“Tell
me everything that happened from the time the alpha challenge ended until the
next morning.” He whipped his pencil out, the graphite tip poised over his
little notebook.

The
hairs on the back of Gavin’s neck crawled and he scrubbed a hand over it. “I
got drunk with the family. Everyone was there except Will, who’s been avoiding
me like the plague.”

“Don’t
get on his ass now. He took it hard when you stepped in on the challenge.”

“Marcus
would have killed him.”

“And
you did the right thing by stepping in. We all know what kind of alpha Marcus
would make anyway. Now, continue your story.”

“It
happened after I got home. I remember feeling I was shit-faced…” His thoughts
deterred as he was taken back to that night.

He’d
stumbled inside and thrown the front door shut. A cold, silent house greeted
him and even through his drunken stupor he’d felt it—the aching loneliness. It
never left him, always followed him around making his heart heavy and his steps
slow. That night it’d been worse. He’d scorned his youngest brother’s trust in
order to save his life and wounded his brother’s pride irreparably. He had no
idea how to make it up to Will. He remembered collapsing onto the sofa
downstairs and hearing a noise just before solitary sleep took him.

A
footstep. The creaking of a board depressing as someone stepped near. He’d
jerked to look but something had knocked the lights clear out of him. When he’d
woken up the next morning…well…everyone knew the story. His face had been
branded, permanently scarred. There’d been a dusting of salt over the chair and
on his face to ensure the damage stayed. His lykaen blood could heal normal
wounds faster than humans, but it couldn’t heal a brand like that.

Someone
had branded him and he knew who did it the moment he saw him the next day.
Marcus Graham. Marcus had looked over his face and for a long moment his eyes
had flashed with pride and satisfaction. Gavin had known it in that moment.
Besides, no else had hated him enough to hurt him like that. Except maybe Will,
but Will was family.

Gavin
relayed his story, everything starting from the moment he’d heard the footstep.
Hart didn’t need to hear about the other shit, the shit he didn’t tell anyone.
About the quietness of the house, about the morose moods he got into and
struggled to shake off when he was alone. His brother didn’t need to hear any
of that shit.

When
he finished, Hart closed his notebook. He rocked on his big feet for a moment
before he pulled Gavin into a hard embrace. Gavin stood there stunned for a
long moment before he wrapped his arms around his brother and hugged him back.

“God
dammit, I should have been there. I should have seen you home. Fuckin’ hell,
Gav.”

Gavin
didn’t know what to say. So he just let his brother hold him and took his
comfort and love before pulling away feeling a lump in his throat.

Hart
cleared his throat, shaking his head. “Fuck. God dammit. This is all my fault.
I should have been smarter. I should have known he’d try something. The man
never could let a slight go.”

“It’s
never been your fault. It’s no one’s fault, Hart. Listen to me now. Here’s what
we’re going to do. We’re going to sit on Harry today and push him.”

Hart
scowled. “What makes you think he’ll spill anything about what he’s done?”

“He
won’t, but Marcus will.”

Realization
dawned in Hart’s eyes. “Marcus loves his brothers. He sees us squeezing Harry
and gets pissed, suddenly wants to talk.”

“Exactly.
At least, that’s what I’m hoping for.”

Hart
nodded. “We get any admissions and I’m arresting Harry for attempted murder and
taking him to the Justicars. Unless you want pack justice?”

Pack
justice meant they took care of their own. Depending on the severity of the
crime, they could beat the individual or kill him. Whoever murdered little Emma
and Anthony would face the fiercest of pack justice—death. To send someone to
the Justicars would be to send them to the lykaen and vampire equivalent of
court.