So I Married a Werewolf (Entangled Covet) Page 17

  Chapter Twenty-two

  “Thanks for coming!” Carter said to the last bureau member as they strode out the front door. “See you bright and early tomorrow morning!”

  Faith stood beside him at the front door, waving to the last couple as they turned out of the drive. He put his arm around her waist and tugged her against him.

  “You don’t have to do that,” she said, looking up at him. “They can’t see us from there.”

  “I know.” He placed his hand on her hip. “But sometimes you have to act on impulse and do what feels natural.”

  “I don’t know what feels natural anymore,” she said.

  She spun out of Carter’s grasp and moved through the house toward the kitchen. There’d be a mess to clean, and she didn’t want to leave it until morning. Behind her, the front door slammed shut and heavy steps rained over the hardwood. Carter leaped over the couch and landed in a crouch in front of her.

  “Go running with me,” he said, his eyes wild with excitement.

  “Those fitness tapes might’ve given you the wrong idea.” She kinked her head to the side, not amused. “I’m not a runner.”

  “You are in wolf form.” He shot her a big, goofy grin and nudged his chin at the window leading to the backyard. “Run with me.”

  His enthusiasm was irritating, grating on her nerves. He was acting like one of the pups she’d just written about on her blog. A bullmastiff puppy with enough energy to fuel the city of Seattle. They were irresistibly cute, but relentless, able to wear down defenses with a sideways loll of their tongue.

  She tried to get by him, but he jumped in front of her.

  “I can’t stay cooped up inside on a night like this. I just got the job of my life and I feel like stretching my legs. The moon is full, the forest back there is about two miles long and provides enough cover to protect us from being spotted by the neighbors.” He spread his arms wide. “Come on, you can hang upside down from a zip line when a concierge encourages you, but you can’t run with your best friend in the rain?”

  Best friend. Wonderful. At least it was a good reminder of where she stood.

  “Fine. One run.” Faith elbowed him in the gut and took off into the kitchen, out the screen door, and into the rain. She had kicked off her bumblebee slippers at the door, then lifted the front of her dress, and ran down the slope of his lawn toward the tree line. He was at her side seconds later, pushing through the trees alongside her. The pines were tall and thick, providing cover from the bulk of the storm, though drops of rain continued to fall through the canopy above. Streams of moonlight broke through the limbs and slanted over Carter’s face.

  Holding her gaze, he shifted into wolf form. He crouched as his muscles bulked up, filling his tux. Seams ripped. His coat and shirt fell away, revealing his tattoo-covered chest and chiseled abs.

  As his lips quirked into a devious smile, his whole body shook, completing the transition. He dropped to all fours. His back hunched, and a silky coat of black fur covered his muscles.

  Following his lead, Faith glanced up at the moon, feeling its energy snake through her. She closed her eyes, the warm shifting vibrations singing through her blood. After a glorious shake, dark fur blanketed her skin, and she lowered herself to the ground.

  It wasn’t until Carter winked at her through wide, blue eyes that she realized she’d never seen him in wolf form. He was magnificently powerful, the crest of his back reaching over five feet, his fur silky and midnight black. She longed to run her fingers through it and cup his furry cheek in her hand.

  Catch me if you can, he said through the pack’s process of mindspeak. He pawed the ground, bumped into her, and sprinted through the trees.

  Oh, I’ll catch you, she answered back, regaining her footing. You may be bigger, but I’m quicker.

  She proved it, catching him before he’d bounded through the first quarter mile. It was freeing running through the section of forest this way, the moon over their heads lighting the path, the rain drizzling over their fur.

  They ran side by side for what felt like miles, though when she glanced back, she spotted the lights in his house twinkling back at them; they hadn’t gone too far.

  She stopped, panting.

  He slowed his pace and circled around back to her.

  Why are you stopping? His eyes twinkled like stars. Something wrong?

  No. She shook her head. Everything’s perfect.

  Too bad it couldn’t stay this way.

  As he strode back to her side, he shifted back to human form, his fur flattening to tan, glistening skin, the tattoos on his chest and arms coming to light once more. Buck naked, he walked toward her unafraid, a soft gleam in his eyes. He reached out and stroked the fur covering her ears.

  “It can stay this way,” he said.

  He’d heard her? She hadn’t realized she’d projected the thought.

  Letting the tingles of the shift roll through her, Faith closed her eyes and focused her energy on the shift back to human form. She shuddered and shook, relishing the feel of fur smoothing to skin.

  “You want me to move in with you permanently so we can do this once a month?” she joked, pulling back.

  “I don’t know. Maybe.” He reached out and stroked her cheek, this time grazing rain-slickened skin. “I wish you could know what you do to me.”

  Even though she was cold and shivering and wanted to hide behind the tree so he wouldn’t see every exposed inch of her, she planted her hand on her hip. She wasn’t falling for this again. She wouldn’t and she couldn’t. No more hiding. No more giving in to his seduction, only to be left cold and alone.

  She lifted her chin in defiance against the fluttering in her chest. “You mean, what I do to you in this moment?”

  “This one.” He kissed her cheek. “The next one.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “And the one after that.”

  She shivered, defenses wavering. “How do I know you’re not just going to leave me in the rain when you tire of me the way you did before?”

  “God, is that what you think? That I tired of you? My leaving was never about you at all, Faith.” He ghosted his hands over her hair. “It was about me. And whatever gripped me before, keeping me from being with you the way I wanted to, has left me now. I can’t stay away from you a second longer.”

  And then he caught her mouth in a kiss that tingled down to her toes. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Buried herself in his lips. Drenched herself in his scent. He lifted her off her feet and pressed her back against the tree. He moaned against her mouth as skin met skin.

  “You’re hot,” he said, breathless.

  She laughed, defenses down. “Thanks?”

  “No, I mean you’re hot. Burning up.” He brushed his hands down her arms. “You should be cold.”

  “Why, so you could keep me warm?”

  He coiled his arms around her waist and squeezed her against him. Her breasts smashed against his chest and something very hard swelled against her stomach. She went damp at the feel of him.

  “Would that be so bad?” he asked.

  “I don’t need a man to take care of me.”

  “No, you certainly don’t.” Sliding down her body, he knelt in front of her and spread her legs. “But if you want me to, I’d be happy to take the job.”

  Holding her gaze, he licked a hot line up her center. She jerked, sucking in a clipped breath and grabbed fistfuls of his hair.

  “I should’ve savored you from the start,” he said, running his hand between her legs. “I always knew you were sweet. I should’ve known you’d be sweet everywhere.”

  Her hips bucked as he delved between her legs, moving his mouth as if he was kissing her. He sucked and licked, slipping his tongue in and out of her. When she sagged against the tree, he held her up. And when she came apart in undulating waves, he groaned hungrily, feasting on her core.

  “Don’t leave,” she said, grasping at his shoulders. “If you say you’re going to leave, I swear I’ll—�
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  “Shh.” He kissed her, plunging his tongue past her lips. He tasted like male spice and red wine mixed with a tiny hint of her own sex. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  The moment was magical—the rain and wind, the bark against her back and the man ravishing her front, the way he was gazing at her with a surprising sense of awe.

  She never wanted it to end.

  He slid his hand down her leg and hiked it up, tilting her hips. She gasped as he slid up her body, entering her in a single, shattering stroke. Her vision blurred and her head fell back.

  “You’re amazing,” he breathed, slowing his pace. “You feel—”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  With her mumble of words, the sky broke. Rain sluiced through the trees, drenching their bodies as they rocked together in a blissful rhythm. He held her head so it wouldn’t scrape the bark behind her. Kneaded her breasts tenderly without the raging lust that existed before.

  He loved her.

  As the words came together in his head, he laid her down on a grassy bed beneath the nearest tree. Out of instinct, she started to roll away from him.

  “No.” He touched her side, dragging her flat onto her back. “I want to see you when you come.”

  He braced her back as she lay down, and then settled between her hips.

  “Faith,” he said, as he slipped inside her, “you’re so beautiful. And you’re so”—he thrust harder, fuller, stretching the inner walls of her sex to the limit—“deep.”

  He smiled, holding himself up with his arms as he drove into her heat again and again. And when her second orgasm hit, he caught her cry with a smoldering kiss. His eyes fluttered shut as he drove inside her, deeper, completely. Filling her with more love than she’d ever felt.

  Love.

  The word bore into her chest and nestled against her heart. He didn’t have to say it. His feelings were in his touch, his gaze, his mouth. As the crescendo rose, he gazed down at her. Feeling the pressure rise once more, she clutched at his shoulder and raked her fingers down the grooves of his abs.

  “You’re everything,” he breathed, his entire body clenching as if into a fist. “Everything I’ve ever wanted.”

  “Then take me.” She kissed him, her hands on either side of his face, her hips moving in time with his. She’d never felt more complete, more in love. “I’m yours.”

  She’d like to think it was the love flowing through their mouths that brought Carter over the edge. His thrusts became jagged and lost their rhythm. He cried out her name. And with one last forceful stroke, he filled her with everything he had to give.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Faith was nearly skipping by the time she stepped over the curb in front of Starbucks, a permanent smile etched on her face. She and Carter had stayed up all night, wrapped in each other’s arms. After making love a second time, she’d fallen into a light sleep, only to be roused by the softest of touches on her brow. Each time she dozed off, she’d wake up with the feel of Carter’s hand on the dip of her hip, her stomach, her hair.

  When she awakened in the morning she felt treasured, nurtured. Like an angel.

  She was madly in love with her husband.

  There was no denying it now, and she probably shouldn’t have denied it before. She’d always liked Carter, always had a major next-door-neighbor crush on him. But now, that crush had veered into serious relationship territory.

  They hadn’t talked about where they would go from here, now that he got the job. Would she move back home so they could date like a normal couple? Divorce and take their relationship one step at a time? Stay married, remain living together, and try to make their marriage work?

  The whole scenario was beyond complicated.

  She hadn’t told him about her meeting with Jack Winchester, either. For some reason, she’d kept everything involved with Have a Little Faith private. She hadn’t told him about how many hits she received a day, or how many hours it took her to respond to comments. She was going to have to hire a personal assistant if things kept up this way! And since she started blogging about Humperdinck’s progress, her blog had erupted.

  Was it wrong that she hadn’t told Carter? She didn’t think so, yet guilt niggled at her stomach. This was hers. It’d always been hers.

  Maybe this is what she was getting in the deal. Carter got the detective position, Dawson got Yale, and she got to stand on her own two feet. The blog’s success wasn’t directly a part of their marriage arrangement, but Carter had given her inspiration for a few of her more popular posts, so that had to count for something.

  “Tall latte,” she said to the barista at the register, and looked around the restaurant. Jack Winchester said he’d be here at eleven, five minutes from now. He said he’d have a laptop, black bag, blond hair, and freckles. That could’ve been one of two guys sitting near the windows. She thanked the barista, took her drink and walked back toward the large front window. “Mr. Winchester?”

  The man on the right looked up from behind a set of rectangular glasses. He was cute, like a beagle. Short legs. Large ears. Soft eyes.

  “Yes,” he said, smiling. “Faith Hamilton?”

  She nodded and took the seat opposite him, setting her bag down at her feet, then shook his hand. “I’m glad we were able to meet this way. With you being in California, I didn’t think it would happen.”

  “I happen to have a few other business meetings in Seattle this week, so I thought I’d make the trip worthwhile.” When he smiled, his cheeks touched the bottom rim of his glasses. His skin was pale, covered in large patches of honey-colored freckles. He was the exact opposite of Carter. Where Carter was strong, exuding a dangerous aura, this guy was soft and gentle. She trusted him, and didn’t even know him.

  “This is quite the storm,” he said, staring out the window. “Does it always rain this much?”

  “Absolutely. You’ve got to really love the rain to live here.” She thought twice. “Or be depressed out of your mind until you pack up and move.”

  “Which are you?” he asked, folding his arms over the table.

  “I’ve got no plans to move anytime soon.” She took a sip of her latte, relishing the sweetness. “What do you say we get down to business?”

  She told Carter she was going out for groceries so she could make him something special for dinner. She couldn’t be gone long. It wasn’t a total lie; she’d planned on hitting the store after the meeting. She still had to figure out what the something special that she was cooking up was, but whatever. She could throw something together a few hours before dinner.

  Hey, she was getting pretty good at this cooking thing…

  “Great.” Jack took out a few sheets of paper from his bag, then set them on the table and spun them around facing her. “I’m going to be really transparent here. I’ve printed out a sheet detailing our profits for our company for the last three fiscal quarters with graphs showing which products are selling from which categories. Then, if you’ll flip the page”—he flipped for her—“you’ll see where I’ve marked when things were referred by another customer, from an online ad placement of ours, or another source. Take a look at the training supply category.”

  She studied the graph, then followed the key code on the side. The beagle was organized, that was for sure. If she was reading the graph correctly, and she hoped that she was, Have a Little Faith had been mentioned in over sixty percent of the sales for his training supplies.

  “Am I seeing that right?” she asked.

  “You are. Isn’t that amazing, reading the success in black and white that way?”

  She nodded, thinking about nothing but Dawson’s bright smile when she’d tell him about the news: he’d attend Yale, and she wouldn’t go broke putting him through.

  “While I’m showing you a graph for the Wagging Tails Dog Supplies in Sacramento, we have stores nationwide and—”

  “Where are those graphs?” she fired.

  “I didn’t bring those.”

 
“Only transparent to a point?” She smiled, and he smiled back.

  “We think you’re on the verge of something,” he said. “A blog filled with personal experiences, training techniques from a professional, advice from someone a laptop click away, seems to be what dog owners want right now. We’d like to partner with you, offer you some financial backing, and help give Have a Little Faith the bump it needs to sky rocket into the dog-o-sphere.”

  She laughed so hard she almost snorted latte through her nose. The guy wasn’t a beagle—he was a geek. And she loved it. Hell, if he kept spouting off notions of her success, she might fall in love with everyone in the coffee shop!

  She couldn’t wait to get home and tell Carter.

  “So what are we talking about here? Let’s get down and dirty with numbers.”

  He smiled wide. “Oh, I think we’re going to get along fine, you and me.”

  They spent the next thirty minutes going over his offer, starting with his mention of financially backing the growth of her blog into a website. He talked about different ways to make money on her blog. Pay to offer merchandise links and links to mini-malls preloaded with Wagging Tails Dog Supplies products. He also talked about expanding her existing affiliate branches.

  There were so many outlets for growth, it was crazy.

  Her heart lifted. This was actually going to work. She could support herself, and her brother. For the first time since her parents died, the world stopped spinning. Her feet were finally planted on solid ground.

  As their discussion came to an end, Faith was beyond pleased with the outcome.

  Wagging Tails Dog Supplies wasn’t taking over her blog, or even having a strong hand in it—she wouldn’t have let that happen. It was simply going to become a main ad on her sidebar. She agreed to test out the free products it’d send her monthly, and if she found them useful, she’d feature them. The really cool part? If she hated one of the products, she had the freedom to say so.

  The blog, her opinions, and her freedom to make it whatever she wanted, remained hers.