At the King's Pleasure (Epic Fantasy BDSM Romance) Page 4
“I heard you’re leaving.” His gaze tracked my every movement, no matter how small. It was unnerving.
I shrugged. “I’m twenty-five. Cal said it was time.” The pack alpha had been kind to me. Given me extra time, but I was a null, a dud, a nothing. The little town of Huntsville tucked in the rural hills of Appalachia had rules about people like me. You had to fit in or leave. I didn’t belong and I never would. I wasn’t a wolf.
“Where you going?” He sounded like my answer mattered and the sincerity caught me by surprise.
“I don’t know. What do you care?” I watched him as carefully as he watched me. The hair on the back of my neck rose. He was trouble. I could smell it even with my stunted senses.
He lifted his head and sniffed. “You got pizza in there?”
I nodded, my expression guarded. He wanted something from me and I didn’t want to get suckered. I was no flower in a wind storm.
“I’m starving.”
I stared at him, refusing to give in. The last thing I needed was to tangle with a wolf like Jackson. He’d chew me up, spit me out and think nothing of it. After Allison, there’d been Susan, Polly, Jenny and who knows how many other girls made their way in and out of his pants. The circus clown car had nothing Jackson’s love life.
“You’re not going to invite me in?” Shock registered on his face. It was possible I was the first woman in history to tell the man no.
“I’m not looking for anything you got.” I crossed my arms, leaning against the door jamb.
“Fair enough.” He stepped closer, crowding me, our bodies almost close enough to touch. His voice dipped down into a husky whisper that seemed to reach out and stroke my skin. “What if I could help you?”
I snorted. “Where were you two weeks ago? I’ve already quit my job, packed my stuff and sold the house.” Cal had bought it from me so I would have some money to start over with. I tried not to think about how the house had belonged to my parents. That just brought back the memory of their deaths. A car accident had left me alone at the age of eighteen and spared them the pain of their only child being a waste.
He stepped back and cool air from the early autumn night rushed in to fill the void. “I’ve been away, visiting my mom down in Louisiana. She knows something that might fix you.”
I grit my teeth, nostrils flaring. “Fix me? What am I? Getting spayed?”
“She’s my pack’s shaman, Chloe. I think you should listen to what I have to say.” He managed to look serious enough that I gave a curt nod and backed away, allowing him into the house.
He settled on the brown leather couch my mom had bought when I was still a kid and helped himself to a slice of pizza. He lifted the wine bottle off the coffee table and gave me questioning look.
I flopped into the recliner across from him. It had been my Dad’s seat and it still smelled like his pipe. “Go ahead. Help yourself.”
“Thanks,” he mumbled through a mouth full of food.
I gave him a minute to eat and then pushed. “Spill it, Jackson.” What Bayou voodoo did he have up his sleeve?
“An alpha can bring out your wolf.” He snagged another piece of pizza and gulped it down.
I sighed, deflated. “If Cal could’ve done something, he would have.”
Jackson lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “He might not be able to. Every pack is different and so are the alphas.”
“Well, thanks for nothing.” I leaned forward to close the pizza box and pulled it closer to my side of the coffee table. At the rate Jackson was eating, there wouldn’t be any left for me.
He held up a hand, his gaze focused on the pizza. “Hold on. Cal might not be able to, but I could. Maybe.”
I raised my eyebrows and motioned for him to continue.
“My pack has a history of helping nulls and well--” He squared his shoulders and sat a little straighter. “I’m an alpha.”
I rolled my eyes. “Sure you are.” Every male wolf thought he was an alpha, which was one of the things that made them so annoying. As much as I’d wanted to belong, being spared the endless posturing and strutting of a male wolf in lust was one thing that went in the plus column.
He looked puzzled. “No, I’m really an alpha. Why do you think Cal asked me to come to Huntsville?”
Crossing my arms, I said, “Why did he ask you here? Was he aware that you would leave no woman untouched?”
Jackson winced. “Come on, that’s not fair. Listen, you guys don’t have an alpha here. There’s no one to come up after Cal.”
That made my ears perk up. Pack succession was a primary concern among wolves and I’d had no idea Huntsville lacked true alpha material. Of course being a null, I was banned from the pack clearing and thus had no way to know. “Is Cal sick?” My stomach sank to think of a world without him. He’d been as kind as a father to me many a time.
“No, but he’s planning for the future.” He eyed the pizza box and I moved it closer to me, pushing down on the lid again for emphasis. Mine.
“You’re the future of the Huntsville pack?” I stifled a laugh. God help us. Them, I corrected. Considering that Jackson would someday lead made my situation slightly more palatable. A gigolo was not my idea of prime leadership material.
“Why is that funny?” He looked perplexed.
“Never mind. So tell me, how exactly can you make me a wolf?” I couldn’t wait to hear what Pack Master Gigolo would say next.
He cleared his throat and rubbed his hands on his pants, gaze roaming the room and looking everywhere but at me. Nervous was a new look for him, usually he brimmed with brash confidence. “We have to sleep together.” The words came out fast in a jumble, but my mind quickly interpreted the message.
I jumped out of my chair, hand over my mouth and backed away from him. “Holy shit. You have got to be fucking kidding me.” I paced the living room and then froze, shooting him a look that could kill. “Wait, this is a joke. You sick fuck.” My hands balled into fists and I stormed over to where he sat.
He stood up and side-stepped me, his arms raised in a placating gesture. “No joke, Chloe.”
“You’ve slept with everyone else. Why not give me a whirl, huh? Sleep with the null and see if it’s any different? Am I right?” I was yelling now and stalked him across the room, one hand cocked, fist at the ready. I wasn’t as strong as a real wolf, but I wasn’t human weak either. Oh yeah, I could bring the pain.
“Wait--” he began, but I lunged for him, my fist aiming for his jaw.
Instead of feeling my bones grinding into his, I connected with flesh stronger than my own. He caught both of my hands and pulled me close as he pinned them behind my back. Then his lips crushed mine in a fierce kiss.
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About the Author
A former preacher's kid (which is code for 'wild child') I enjoy exploring the erotic in my fiction. Fantasy also carries a special place in my heart and I like to blend the best of bo
th genres in my work.
My novellas, To the Limit, Blood Rush and Blood Bound along with my short stories, Werewolf Rebel Tamed, To Bring Her Wolf and At the King’s Pleasure are all Top 100 bestselling books.
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