Brink Of Passion (Alpine Woods Shifters) Page 2

  Laurie was starting to feel a bit anxious about the whole situation. Frankly, if there were no sparks, it wasn’t worth her time trying to trigger them, despite her worry that sparks seemed to flare up less and less when she looked at attractive men. Picky wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. At twenty-nine, she doubted she was losing her sex drive. She just needed to give it the right motivation. And apparently Dominic wasn’t the food it craved.

  “I would love to have a drink with you. As friends.” He seemed like a nice guy, and she couldn’t see how becoming friendly with another pack—err, crash—would be anything but beneficial to Alpine Woods. That was why they were here, right? But she also wanted to be clear. Friendship was all she had to offer.

  Disappointment, quickly banked, flashed in his eyes. “Friends would be nice.”

  *****

  “I cannot believe that just happened,” Danny ranted as he pulled her along behind him, his grip on her elbow harder than normal.

  Laurie didn’t understand why he was still so upset. Yes, she’d made a blunder, but out of that blunder, Alpine Woods met a potentially powerful new ally. Who messed with rhinoceroses? Besides her, that was. In her mind, the situation was a win, and wasn’t that what really mattered?

  “Lighten up, Danny. Everything worked out. Brilliantly, I might add.”

  He turned then, and the full force of his anger slammed into her. Danny used to be the calm, even-tempered brother, but ever since fighting for his own mate when a couple of rogue pack members attacked them, his emotions had been much closer to the surface. This side of her brother she barely knew, but backing down had never been in Laurie’s nature.

  “What is your problem?” she demanded in a whisper, stepping closer so the shifters around her didn’t hear what appeared to be an unavoidable argument. She’d already made the mistake once today of forgetting how acute shifter hearing could be. She wasn’t about to make it again.

  “Do you have any idea how bad that could have been?” He released her and closed his eyes. His lips moved, and she thought she saw numbers forming on them. Counting to ten, something he’d no doubt picked up from their sister’s mate, Brendan.

  She understood she’d screwed up, and that the situation could have been bad. But it had turned out fine. So what was the problem? Still, she waited and watched as the tension slowly drained out of Danny. When he opened his eyes, he appeared defeated.

  “Maybe you were right.”

  Laurie breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, he was seeing things her way and realizing his overreaction. No harm, no foul.

  But then he continued, his words sharp enough to draw blood. “Bringing you was a bad idea. I thought… I just needed someone to watch my back, and with everyone else so busy…” He shook his head. “If this is the way you watch my back, maybe you should just go home.”

  Laurie froze. Stunned. Poleaxed by his words. No, not the words alone, but the certainty behind them. Danny truly thought she couldn’t be trusted to watch his back? It felt as if he’d stabbed her in the chest. She looked down, half expecting a knife handle to be sticking out.

  In shock, she stood there motionless as he turned and disappeared into the crowd. Did he really feel that way? How could he? Laurie would do anything for family. Absolutely anything. And Danny knew that, right? He had to. Yet, everything he’d done that day pointed to the opposite.

  Things hadn’t been easy between them lately. They’d been tense ever since she’d given his mate, Amber, a hard time after sensing Danny had fallen for her—despite the fact that Laurie had a perfectly good reason for worrying about them being together. Amber had been an undercover FBI agent investigating some explosive protests near their town, and Danny had been tasked with making sure she didn’t learn about their pack, or shapeshifters. Laurie had only been hostile because she’d worried Danny had gotten too close to Amber. And, hello, mates now. That would be the definition of “getting too close.” Just because it worked out in the end didn’t mean she hadn’t been right to be cautious.

  Even as she thought it, she realized the similarities in her current situation. Just because things worked out in the end… But she dispelled that line of thinking because, frankly, it made her uncomfortable. Besides, once she realized what Amber meant to Danny, Laurie had changed her tune. She’d never wanted to hurt him, and her hostility toward Amber would have if it had continued. But in the beginning, Laurie had a right to worry. Danny was her baby brother, and officer of the pack or not, that made protecting him her responsibility.

  So to hear him say that he didn’t trust her to watch his back hurt Laurie on a level so deep she couldn’t begin to heal, cutting to the very heart of her and destroying it. Undermined the most basic foundation of who she believed herself to be.

  She was an alpha wolf. Just because she wasn’t a leader of a pack, didn’t mean she was any less of a dominant alpha. That part of her affected everything she did. It was her duty to protect those she cared about. Her family. Her friends. And eventually, her mate and children. If her own brother didn’t think her capable of it, where had she gone wrong?

  Laurie started forward, intent on chasing Danny down and demanding…what? Answers? An apology? Damn straight. Like where his doubt came from, and why he’d been treating her like an incompetent oaf all day. A second chance to prove she could do what needed to be done, too.

  She’d give him a piece of her mind, alright, just as soon as she figured out which way he’d gone. All the different shifters crowding into the lobby were confusing her senses, and the crowd was too thick for her to see through. Did all the freaking packs in America have to be checking in at the exact same time?

  Christ, forget the zoo, it was a circus in here. She stood on her toes, but still couldn’t see Danny. And it wasn’t as if she were short! At five nine, she towered over women in most situations, but among the shifters in town for the conference, she was average at best.

  Disgusted with the whole situation, she lowered her heels to the floor. She didn’t even know where their room was, and Danny hadn’t seen fit to give her a key yet. What an embarrassing situation. Maybe she should take Dominic up on that drink. Anything to get the horrible taste of guilt and failure out of her mouth.

  She spun around, determined to track at least one person down, and ran straight into the person walking behind her. The first thing she noted was the incredibly hard chest on the man as she put her hands out to steady herself.

  She opened her mouth to apologize, breathed in, and froze. The scent of the man filled her lungs. Masculine. Dark. Enticing. Buzzing clogged her ears as everything around them disappeared. Her heartbeat quickened, the rhythmic pulse increasing until she felt it hammering against her temples. Her body went cold right before a strange heat flooded her from head to toe. Christ, she felt drunk as the man clouded all her senses.

  But the joy of discovering her mate was overshadowed by the other truth her nose told her.

  Cat.

  “Oh, you have got to be kidding me.”

  *****

  Every muscle in Max’s body locked as he stared down at the woman he’d run into. His skin had been tingling ever since he’d walked past the hotel’s sliding automatic doors, but he had no idea the cause. Until now. One incidental brush of flesh and the tingles he’d felt had turned into a live wire setting every nerve ending on alert. Not a doubt in his mind that those early warning prickles had been caused by the woman in front of him.

  His mate.

  She smelled faintly of honeysuckle. Sweet but with a hint of citrus, and so enticing he found himself leaning down for a deeper sniff before his brain could even comprehend what was happening. When she stiffened, he knew he’d overstepped common decency. Yet how could he resist? Her scent pulled him to her like a moth to a flame. She smelled like his every fantasy come alive.

  And she looked it, too. With rich brown hair that curled past her shoulders, and dark brown eyes that tilted up slightly at the corners, she had a natural style that suit
ed her tall, lithe frame and mile-long legs. Striking. Not cute or even beautiful, but somehow soft despite the sharp angle of her jaw and long nose. Her very presence exuded a strength that made the animal in him want to push her up against the wall and kiss her senseless. To take her hard and fast. Of course, the mating pheromones might have something to do with the impulse, since both mind and body seemed to be in overdrive at the moment.

  He almost didn’t hear her incredulous exclamation, so absorbed in memorizing her every feature. But the sharp edge of sarcasm bled through his own shock. He probably should be upset, at least a little, that she sounded disappointed in him, but he felt a smile curl his lips completely beyond his control.

  “Not kidding.” Max reached out and ran the back of his fingers down her cheek. Her eyes clouded with heat at his touch, causing his smile to deepen. She might not like it, but there wasn’t a doubt in his mind she felt the same soul-deep draw he did. “Definitely not kidding.”

  “Max?” he heard his brother, Ryan, ask on his right. Without looking away from the woman in front of him, he handed his luggage to his brother.

  “Get another room for yourself and put this in mine.”

  Without question, his brother turned and headed back to the front desk. One of the many reasons he loved his family. They didn’t bother with pointless questions.

  Max’s gaze was riveted on the woman, moving from the curve of her ear peeking through the fall of her hair to the pink of her lip. She fascinated him.

  He recognized her. Had seen her become the center of attention in the lobby earlier. Although, truth be told, he’d been staring at her before that as well. She’d captured his attention the moment he’d crossed through the lobby doors. It had been difficult to tear his eyes away from her.

  Even without knowing what she was to him, he’d been drawn to her. Before meeting her, he’d pegged her by her posture and the way she scanned the room with her eyes as a woman who seemed sharp, intuitive, and completely without artifice. She’d struck him as someone capable of taking care of herself. Interesting on multiple levels. Someone he wanted to meet. But he’d thought it was merely a physical attraction. Had never imagined she could be his.

  Correction, would be his.

  Her words, earlier and now, confirmed that she was lacking in the artifice department. But Max sometimes said things he later regretted. He’d been more amused by the exchange with the rhinos than anything, especially when she’d told the rhino shifter to get a Slinky if he wanted entertainment. He coughed to cover his chuckle at the memory. At the time, he’d barely been able to contain his laughter, and had noticed others around the room hiding their smiles.

  She certainly wouldn’t be taking any shit from anyone. Just thinking about the reaction his leap would have when they met Laurie made him smile. Something told him they were in for a rude awakening. He couldn’t wait.

  Her dark brown eyes wide, she continued to stare at him without saying anything, making his smile widen.

  “I’m Max.”

  No response. The same panicked expression stared back at him.

  He raised one eyebrow. “This would be the part where you tell me your name,” he prompted.

  “Laurie.” Her voice rolled over him, deep but still feminine. Husky. It brought to mind all sorts of dirty, depraved thoughts. That voice would be lethal in the bedroom. He couldn’t wait to find out just how lethal.

  Covering her hands with his own, he trapped them against his chest where they’d been since she’d run into him. Her breath hitched when his skin slid against hers. Max stepped forward, invading her space. Heat flared in her gaze. Oh yeah, she was interested. He saw no ring on her finger—thank God—and no trace of another man in her scent, which meant not already mated. No ring and no mating was as good as free in his mind.

  Around them, other shifters in the lobby eyed her with interest in their gazes. Not all shifters believed in “mate at first scent,” and he knew plenty who didn’t believe in “one fated mate” either. He growled at a jaguar from another leap who stared too long and with too much interest in his gaze. Yesterday, he probably would have counted himself in the one true mate disbeliever crowd, but Laurie was proof enough for him. Every cell in his body reacted to her. She was his and no one would take her from him.

  “So, my room or yours?” As soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to pull them back, but it was too late. Annoyance replaced the desire on her face.

  He hadn’t meant to be so crude. And from the incident earlier, he knew this wasn’t a woman who responded to barbaric gestures.

  “Wow. Ballsy much?” Yep, definitely displeased, if the tight line of her mouth was any indication. But on the plus side, she hadn’t slapped him and stalked away as he’d half expected her to. He was going to count that as a win, all things considered.

  Reaching up, he smoothed his thumb over her left eyebrow where lines of annoyance had gathered, and watched the tension in her expression melt away, replaced by the same smoldering heat he felt rippling through his body. He heard a quick indrawn breath as her lips fell open.

  Every instinct screamed with the need to lean down and seal her lips with his. To dip his tongue inside her mouth and pull her taste into him. Would she taste like her scent? Sweet and citrusy? Just imagining drove him wild.

  Drawing on his last ounce of willpower, he reluctantly pulled away, denying himself the one thing he wanted most.

  She was right. They should start with conversation, even though they both knew what was happening and where it would lead. The flash of discovery had been too intense for any doubt to remain. He wanted her as his. Saw the knowledge, the same desire, in her every time their eyes met. Mates. Recognition had been instant, much faster and stronger than he’d ever anticipated. Completely undeniable.

  But mates or not, she deserved to be treated with respect, and his question, intentional or not, had been disrespectful. His mother had taught him better. He needed to show her there was more to him than carelessness. To show her she’d be treasured as his mate.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked.

  She shook her head.

  “Drinks then?” Although he’d phrased it as a question, he had no intention of letting her refuse. Now that he’d found her, there was no way he’d let her go. He couldn’t. The beast inside him wouldn’t stand for it.

  Taking her arm, he steered her toward the front of the hotel. Sure, he could have taken her to the hotel bar. It would have been faster, and more convenient. But the bar was no doubt packed full of shifters, and he wanted more privacy than that. He didn’t need a bunch of strangers, who would no doubt sense what was happening, staring and whispering while they were getting to know each other. Earlier, he’d seen a pub around the corner from the hotel that seemed promising. He pointed toward the hotel entrance as they walked and she nodded before moving ahead of him to maneuver through the crowd.

  His fingers still tingled from touching her skin, and every nerve in his body thrummed with awareness. His gaze strayed downward to the swing of her hips as she walked, and he bit his lip to hold in a groan. No doubt the two of them together would burn up the sheets once he got her into his bed.

  Soon. They both knew they’d end up there. Why deny themselves the pleasure?

  She hesitated a moment, looking over her shoulder, as they walked out of the hotel, making him wonder if she were in fact with a man. If so, he admired her loyalty, even if it was no longer relevant. The poor shmuck would have to find someone else. He grabbed her hand, almost groaning at the pleasure merely touching her gave him, and led her down the street.

  She had to feel the connection between them. The inexplicable pull toward each other. He’d never felt so certain of anything before in his life. Suddenly he understood the possessiveness other men displayed toward their mates. A part of him had always sneered at men who found their mates and ignored everything else. The ones who became so enamored that they professed undying devotion to someone they barely knew. He�
�d always thought those men weak-willed, or somehow kidding themselves. But now he knew differently.

  No, he wasn’t in love with Laurie—he didn’t even know her—but he was completely and utterly captivated by everything about her. Love would grow. What they had between them was more intense and consuming than that.

  As they walked down the street, more men stared at her, some shifters in town for the convention, but plenty of full humans as well. Annoyance grew at every eye he caught looking at her with interest. Laurie appeared either oblivious to the attention, or used to it. The thought of the latter irritated him further. Was she looked at so often that she’d become immune to it? Even women’s eyes were drawn to her.

  When they got to the pub, Max pulled Laurie away from everyone else and into a secluded circular booth. Away from prying eyes. He scooted into the booth until they were seated together in the back.

  Her scent drove him wild, and he couldn’t resist rubbing the tip of her hair between his fingers. Her eyes tracked his movements, her mouth opening as if she wanted to protest, but after a moment, she closed it. Pleasure filled him. Before the end of the night, Laurie would be his.

  The smile vanished from his face as a waiter came to take their orders. The man’s eyes were riveted on his mate. A low growl rumbled in his throat.

  Pure male satisfaction filled him when the waiter’s eyes widened in fear. He left so fast after taking their drink orders, Max was surprised he didn’t leave skid marks.

  “Are you always this friendly, or do I bring out the best in you?” Sarcasm dripped from the words. He’d admit it, watching other men ogle his mate was awakening his beast.