Jayce: Shifters of Timber Rock Page 14

  “No one’s run you off yet? That’s a good sign,” he commented.

  I took a seat on the stool by the bar. Jayce followed suit, sliding his chair close to us until our legs touched.

  “I don’t run away from things I want.”

  Jayce’s arched an eyebrow. “And people?”

  “I run away from people, except for one specific guy,” I teased.

  Jayce grinned. “By the way, welcome to the pack.”

  I smiled. “Everyone’s so close.”

  “Don’t let that fool you either. We bicker all the time really, but at the end of the day, we know that we can always count on each other. You’re family now too. You know that, right?” he asked.

  “I’m honored actually that I was even welcomed at the table.”

  “As you can see, you’re not the only human here. We’re used to it. Some of my brethren are even married to humans.”

  “Really? You’re a young shifter pack then.”

  “No. Many of the leadership roles have just been passed on to my generation. We have elder shifters who advise us when we need it, but Draven runs a tight ship. They taught us everything we needed to know growing up, so when it was time to hand over key positions within the pack, we were able to hit the ground running from day one. Being chased out of town two years ago threw us all for a loop. I have a feeling many of us aren’t even going to bother with moving back into it.”

  “The mountains are so peaceful. Privacy and seclusion right when you want it. I probably wouldn’t bother with it either.”

  “Sounds like you’ve warmed up to this place.”

  “I think I needed the change of pace and scenery more than I needed to get away from what would have turned into the marriage from hell.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Well, I’m glad you didn’t go through with it. But I’m biased.”

  I frowned. “I’m sorry about Donovan tracking me here. Obviously invading someone’s privacy is okay to him.”

  “As a lawyer, you’d think he’d take the hint and back off. You don’t have to be sorry about that. It was bound to happen sooner or later. I know you have people who love you in Green Bay.”

  “Yes. I’ll break the news to my dad as soon as he gets back from his trip. My mom already knows I wanted to be left alone for a bit.”

  “And your ex just couldn’t take the hint…?”

  I shook my head. “Apparently not. I turned off my cell before we left town. I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t try to track me again.”

  “It would be a bad idea on his part if he came here. My pack mates and I were restraining ourselves back at the jail. If he brings himself here uninvited with that attitude, things won’t be pretty.”

  “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m not looking forward to leaving.”

  “Then don’t,” he stated, firmly.

  I sighed. “You have a life and—”

  “You are my life. Don’t you remember what we talked about?”

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  “What I’m trying to say is, I don’t think I can let you go either.”

  “There’s so much to work out…”

  “We can work them out one day at a time. There’s no rush.” He smiled. “Don’t worry. There’s time. Look how long it took for us to meet each other. I’m over thirty and you’re pushing it with only a few years left.”

  I gasped. “Hey!”

  He laughed. “Just teasing.”

  “Yeah…it’s not my fault that the love of my life would be hiding out in the mountains.” Before I could catch myself, the words had already been blurted. I blushed and looked away.

  Jayce slipped his fingers under my chin and tilted my face gently until we were making eye contact again. “I love you too.”

  I leaned in and kissed him and then backed away as the day’s events ran across my mind. “Isn’t my reputation in this town ruined?”

  “What do you mean?”

  I took a sip of my drink and then used the stirrer to swirl the ice around in the glass. “The journalists were everywhere. I won’t be able to get a job here.”

  “Who says you need a job to stay with me?” he asked.

  “Oh, come on. I’d have to work somewhere. Certainly, some law office in town needs a runaway paralegal.”

  “As a matter of fact, I think I know just the man.”

  “Before you call him, let me dust off my resume first.”

  “You’re something else, Violet West,” he exclaimed, sliding his palm against my cheek.

  “I know,” I whispered, parting my lips just as he pressed his lips to mine in a soul-searing kiss.

  One kiss turned into two. Then we just couldn’t get enough of each other. I needed more of him.

  “Jayce?” Draven called out from down the hallway. “Everyone’s here.”

  “I’ll be back soon,” Jayce said. “Then we can go home.”

  “Yes, take me home so we can finish this.”

  With that, he rose from his seat, tore off his shirt, and laid it across the bar. I bit into my lips, thinking about how good his body felt against mine. My insides heated and I felt my nipples pebbling against my bra. He must have known what this was doing to me because he gave me the most devilish grin.

  He closed the distance between us and kissed the delicate skin right behind my ear. His wet tongue trailed downward until I was writhing against him.

  “I want you just as bad as you want me,” he mumbled against my skin.

  “Then, hurry back.”

  “Yes, mate.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  JAYCE

  I watched as Draven scribbled on the map as two other alphas and various other members from the three different packs looked on.

  “Here’s the arrow—here,” Draven stated drawing an illustration of an arrowhead on the map and then divided it up between the 4 original shifter territories. “The Black Ridge rogues are out.” He placed an “X” in the center of some uncharted territory on the map. “No one knows where their shelter is in Canada, but we’re going to find out. Chances are, that’s where they took hostages—women and probably children and babies too. Now here we are and here are our different territories, split up equally when we branched off into our respective packs.” He circled the area. “Timber Rock has the valleys and we’re closest to the main town. Crystal Lake has the area west of here and Iron Ridge has the eastern region, which is respectively the most mountainous region of them all. At all times…”

  As Draven spoke like the true alpha leader he was, the other two alphas listened carefully and intently.

  Once all the interim plans were made, Cliff, the alpha of the Crystal Lake shifters stated, “We’re missing women. Not as much as your packs, but we couldn’t account for everyone after we were chased out of town. We just thought they left the region to get away from the ban created by Lakely’s Law and decided not to return. As far as getting back our women, I say we take some men, a few from each pack and raid them. Keeping them out is one thing, but in the end, we could lose our people forever if they have our girls.”

  Draven nodded. “Let’s say we start with three men from each pack. We’ll take rotating shifts scouting out the camps and shelters. When the time is right, we’ll go in and retrieve what’s ours before that pack vanishes altogether.”

  After the meeting, our run and hunt lasted just under an hour. This was our town. These were our mountains and we would protect it for our future generations. I was just as excited about coming together with the other packs on a common goal. I envisioned that we’d stay separate packs for the distant future, but we still had one common agenda.

  My run ended back at Draven’s home. He was waiting under the huge tree in the front yard. There was still a wooden swing hanging from the tree where we used to play together as brothers. Draven had lots of renovation done on the home, adding another thousand square feet and even having a ten-foot tall fence erected around the yard by some contractor na
med Silencer.

  “Hey.” I grabbed my jeans from the tree limb where I had hung it earlier. “You okay with all of this?”

  Draven was already dressed. “I have to be,” he commented. “I wanted to thank you for taking care of that problem for us.”

  “It’s my duty.”

  “I hate that we have to bring down our own kind, but he caused a whole lot of problems for us.”

  “Not to mention all the men and women he murdered in the process. He could’ve killed more people. He would’ve,” I added.

  I tried not to think about how he ran my mate down in the forest. I was still so worked up about it that my fists curled tightly. I didn’t regret what I did. I’d kill him again if I had to. I likely would’ve killed him that same night I found Violet if I’d seen him.

  “Will Violet be alright?”

  “I’ll take care of her.”

  “Are you leaving?” Draven asked quietly.

  “Where’d you get that idea from?”

  “She’s your true mate, cousin. I can’t be mad at you if you want to leave to be with her,” he replied.

  “She wants to stay actually. I think she’ll be happy here and that’s what matters the most.”

  Draven smiled. “Whew, that’s good.”

  I gave him a bear hug and nudged him playfully in the gut. “Man up, big cousin. I’m not going anywhere. Remember the promise you, Treyton, and I made to each other when we were kids.”

  “Yeah.” He grinned. “Blood brothers until the day we die.”

  “And that’s the truth. We swore mutual loyalty to each other. Violet is part of that now. We’ll show our kids the way just like grandpa did us.”

  “Kids? I ain’t having no kids,” Draven retorted.

  “Oh yes, you are. Don’t make me do this on my own, cousin?”

  “Don’t rush me. I’ve got time.” Draven chuckled, threw his arm across my shoulder and we walked up the pathway to his home.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  VIOLET

  I rushed into the kitchen the next morning with the newspaper I found laying out in the foyer.

  “Did you see this?” I thrust the paper at Jayce as he scrambled up some eggs in a bowl.

  He looked down at the article I was referring to and laughed. A loud, hearty laugh.

  I gasped. “This is so not funny.”

  “Those journalists are pretty creative, aren’t they?”

  I reread the headlines, this time out loud. “ ‘Rich, prominent city paralegal jilts groom-to-be at the altar to run away and elope with a hunky country rogue with a healthy rap sheet.’ This is so not true. We never even made it to the altar. I didn’t jilt him.”

  “And the part about the hunky country rogue…?” Jayce teased.

  I swatted at him with the newspaper. “Of course, you’re hunky and hot and all that, but they made it seem as if I purposely left the city to elope. Look at this…” I read another part of the article. “ ‘It seems the heiress of West and Kingston Ltd. has chosen a hot country bad boy over one of Green Bay’s most eligible bachelors. Word on the street is that the bad boy has close ties to the shifter community in Arrow Lake. So, is West’s lover a shifter? If so, this runaway bride has done a complete one-eighty on us. Either way, residents of the small Arrow Lake community won’t talk. We interviewed a work colleague at the law firm here in Green Bay where Ms. West works and she stated that ‘I didn’t know Violet was into bad boys, but look at him. He’s hot as hell. I’d pick him too. Where’s this little town at now?’ No one was home at the West mansion and the jilted groom has denied to comment on the matter…’ ”

  Jayce put down the fork and said, “Who cares what they think, Violet? Years from now, do you think they’ll still talk about that?”

  “No.”

  “You took a vacation to get away from the stress and the lifestyle of always having to live up to a certain reputation.”

  I sighed. “You’re right. I don’t want to go back to that.”

  “Good, because I want you here…with me…always.” He kissed me as he whispered each word.

  He pulled his body to mine, slipping his arms around my waist. His mossy, green eyes were bearing down me as if I were his prey, only this time I loved it. I wrapped my arms around his neck and ran my fingers up and down his hair and along his nape.

  He walked me back to the table until my ass touched the edge of it. While he kneaded my ass with his strong fingers, I worked to tear his shirt from his body. I ran my fingers up and down his chest, loving the way he growled and moaned softly into my lips.

  My tiny tank top and pajama shorts came next. When his lips dropped to my naked breasts, I moaned. His tongue lapped hungrily at my hardened peaks.

  “You taste so good,” he growled. “And you smell good too.” His fingers slid between the lips of my sex. “You’re already wet for me. Tell me what you want.”

  “You. Inside me,” I purred.

  He picked me up and dropped me on top of the table. “My tongue?”

  I nodded. “Yes, that too.”

  Hooking both of my thighs over his shoulders, he bent his head and went to work on my pussy, diving into my depths like a famished wolf. He licked my clit until my juices spilled freely. I rocked my hips into his face with my thighs gripping his face and digging my heels into his back. My climax came long and hard.

  “Please fuck me now, Jayce,” I pleaded.

  He rose above me and positioned himself between my thighs. I kissed him, sharing the taste of my essence on his lips. Spreading my legs wide, I took all of him.

  “Oh, fuck,” he groaned as he entered me. “I’ll never get tired of this. Of you. All of this is mine. All of this belongs to me.”

  “Yes. Yours.”

  He grabbed my ass and drove himself to the hilt and immediately set a pace that rocked another orgasm straight out of me. He plunged and pounded until the sounds of our love-making filled the kitchen. He buried his head and suckled my nipples.

  “Bite them,” I urged.

  He nipped at my buds and I threw my head back to give him full access.

  “You like when I bite you like that.”

  “Yes!” I cried out when his wicked teeth scraped across my nipple.

  “I love how your pussy sucks me deep inside…like that,” he panted. “Just like that.”

  “Jayce…oh, God…I’m coming,” I shrieked.

  My wet pussy milked him. I could hear his cock dipping in and out my juices. Sounds of our flesh coming together intensely filled the room.

  “Ah!” He tongued and nipped the column of my neck. “Violet…fuck.”

  His facial expression contorted as he focused his energy on taking me over the edge. This time we came together. As he released his seed, white-hot energy consumed me, fully taking over me.

  I panted as the last remnants of our climax faded away, but when I felt his cock hardening in my sex, I knew there was more to come. And I wanted more.

  I licked my lips. “Fuck me again.”

  He growled and his cock throbbed to life.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  JAYCE

  I couldn’t get enough of her. There were no words to explain how much I needed this woman. She was my mate. She was my life. All I wanted to do was please her and make her happy.

  Picking her up off the table with my cock still embedded deep inside her, I walked us into the living room. I felt my cock growing long and thick as she kissed me softly, sliding her tongue up the column of my neck.

  I laid her out on the couch. I plunged with raging desire until she was swirling her sexy hips and moaning for more. She was super slick and tight. Her pussy felt like heaven as I entered her over and over again. And when I gazed down into her violet eyes, I knew I’d love her forever. I silently thanked the fates for sending her to me.

  “I love you, Violet.”

  “I love you too.”

  We got lost again in our own little world. Just me and Violet. This was th
e way it was supposed to be. When she came again, I didn’t take my eyes off her face. She was beautiful— unquestionably the most beautiful woman I had ever known. I couldn’t believe she was mine.

  Unable to hold my climax any longer, I let go.

  In the aftermath, we cuddled together on the couch.

  I spotted a tear rolling down her cheek. Confused, I brushed it away. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m not lost anymore.”

  My heart literally melted. “And I’ve found my future,” I said.

  Her tummy growled in hunger and I thought it was the cutest thing ever the way she hid her face against my chest.

  “I’m going to the farmer’s market today. Make a list. You’re going with me,” I said.

  Her smile lit up the whole room. “I love shopping!”

  I grinned. “I figured this much.”

  I heard my cell phone ring on the kitchen counter where I had left it. “Ugh,” I moaned. “I’ll get that later.”

  Not a few seconds later, I heard the familiar jingle of Violet’s cell phone on the console table in the foyer.

  “Are we Arrow Lake’s most wanted or what?” she joked.

  I chuckled. “That’s the way it is sometimes.”

  “I’m not running anymore.” She grabbed a blanket from the couch, wrapped it around her gorgeous body, and then raced to answer her phone. The phone stopped ringing before she could reach it. “Damn. It was my mom.”

  I rose from the couch and joined her in the foyer, slipping my hand around the back of her neck, I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’d like to meet her,” I said.

  Violet toggled through her cell and called her mom back.

  “Violet!”

  “Mom, hi.”

  “Where are you? I saw you in the newspaper! What’s going on?”

  “It’s true, mom. Well, not all of it, but what matters is that I met someone. His name is Jayce. And he’s been helping me through a tough time…”

  My ears perked up as she consoled her mother with the facts. I couldn’t help myself. I hated listening in on conversations that weren't intended for me, so I excused myself.