Chapter 15

Chapter

Fifteen

L inc took Grace by the hand and started her toward the door, encouraging her with an affectionate, but nevertheless hard, swat to her backside.

"I have this feeling that will be us someday," said Jed with a hint of longing in his voice.

"I assure you it won't be, and you are a fool if you continue to believe that," Kat said, trying to strengthen her resolve.

"Exactly what is it you think is going to happen when your parents get here?"

"My father is not going to let you simply abscond with me."

"Abscond? It appears that you've forgotten you left Italy to join this pack. So, while you may be Luca's daughter, my father is now your alpha."

"I have never asked for his protection. Marco is not only my alpha, but he is also my godfather."

"And the man who famously forced his sister to run and then endorsed her bonding to the Alpha of Galway."

"But you don't even know me," she insisted.

"That's bullshit and you know it. We've run in the same circles for years. We both know you are my fated mate. More importantly, so does your father and it isn't exactly a secret at this point. Kat, instead of fighting your destiny, why not embrace it? Why not spend some time getting to know me and settling in here?"

"What if I prefer to be Grace's sommelier?"

"We could make that work. The city is less than an hour's drive and an even shorter trip on the helicopter. I could easily fly you there when you need to go."

"Do you know what a sommelier does?"

"You pair wine with items on the menu, and then order wine."

"That's not all. You also work in the restaurant making sure the wines are handled correctly and find ways to enhance customers' dining experience. I am only a Level 3 Sommelier, but I would like to get certified as a Master Sommelier. The position is integral to the success of a great restaurant such as your aunt's."

Jed thought for a moment. "You're right, I didn't understand the job. Much of what I do these days could be done from the city, with a couple of monthly trips to the vineyard. But down the road, I will be alpha here, and that means this is where we'll need to live."

"You see? We are not suited at all."

"Not true," he rumbled quietly.

The sound moved through her body in a seductive wave, making her body betray her. She began warming, arousing, and softening in response as a shiver ran throughout her system, raising goosebumps and stiffening her nipples. He was a gorgeous specimen, and she couldn't deny that part of her was called to him on a very visceral level. If it weren't for the whole fated mate, being bonded forever thing, Kat wouldn't mind spending time in his bed.

Jed lifted the tray off the dresser and walked out to the oversized balcony, setting the food down on a side table before he returned to the room, flung the bed covers back and scooped her up in his arms. Returning to the balcony, he took a seat in the single chair and cuddled her into his lap. When she tried to squirm away from him, he tightened his hold and after one soft warning growl, rumbled soothingly to her. As much as she hated to admit it, even to herself, it had an immediate, calming effect on her. More than that, it made her feel as though she was right where she belonged and that everything was going to be all right.

But it wasn't. That thing, whatever it was and whatever they wanted to call it, had used her to leave New Orleans, where it had been trapped for centuries. It had used her as its conduit to the Hunters. What they didn't know was the malevolent glee the thing had emanated as it left her body, consumed one of their enemies, and then possessed another.

Granted, the Hunters weren't the threat they had been thirty years ago, but the Darkness could use their knowledge of the wolf-shifters and become an even greater danger to her kind. She needed to know where it had gone, but more importantly, how they could stop the thing.

Kat rested against Jed's chest, the strong, rhythmic beat of his heart reassuring. Hosting that evil presence had weakened her. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to rest for a while and enjoy the carnal delights she was quite sure could be found in his arms.

"It's beautiful here," she said, taking the bite of food he offered her. Closing her eyes, she sighed. Grace Steele was an incredible chef. "So good."

He chuckled. "Yes, very. The problem growing up as one of Grace's nephews is that you get spoiled for going to other restaurants. The only two chefs who can even come close to rivaling her are Riley and Travis Nichols."

"I agree. The food at the soft opening in New Orleans, what I can recall of it, was excellent, but this is better. But then I've always been a sucker for breakfast."

"Really? Me too. I'm most definitely a morning person. Let others have their sunsets, give me the promise of the morning. The Pacific Ocean is known for its spectacular sunsets, but there's just something about the soft light of sunrise that gets me every single day. When my father was courting my mother..."

"You mean when he dragged her into his bed like you did with me?" Kat asked, sweetly, trying to provoke him.

"Exactly, and see how well that worked out? But he used to sit out on their balcony every morning with her. He would tell me I was doing it wrong."

"How so? You mean I'm not supposed to be feeling your hard cock throbbing against my ass?"

"No. That part I got right. He would be quick to tell me you should be naked."

Kat rolled her eyes. "Philistine."

"My mother used to call him a Neanderthal. She still does."

"Does it bother you at all that he forced her to his bed and that you are proposing to do the same to me?"

"Honestly, not one damn bit. My parents may argue, and my mother may act out, but you'll never find two wolves more devoted to each other than my parents. Some of the most legendary pairings are of fated females who were coerced into their mate's bed one way or another."

"I suppose you think I should just lie back and let you have your way with me."

"That would be nice, but I assure you it isn't necessary. I may be California cool, but I am more than enough wolf to claim what is mine."

"I'm surprised we don't all lie in wait and rise up to kill the lot of you," she said.

"Frankly so am I, but I suspect that for all your bluster, you all like the fact that we are strong enough to quell your wanton natures and deadly desires."

She knew he was teasing her and deliberately provoking her to react, but she was smarter than that. Long ago she had learned the value of allowing others to think that she had acquiesced while she carried out her own agenda.

They finished breakfast in relative silence. Jed didn't try to force the issue and seemed content just to hold her. He was right, the sunrise was beautiful and serene, even though the California landscape didn't have the lush coloring of her home in Tuscany—a home that could no longer be hers.

For all her arguing, Jed was right. Her father had probably noticed the way she'd responded to him and would allow Jed to force her to run if she didn't acknowledge his claim. Especially in her weakened state, there was no way she would win that challenge.

"Don't you have something else you should be doing?" she asked.

"Nothing more important than looking after you. What would you like to do?"

"For starters, I'd like to get up off your lap."

He chuckled. "Done," he said and helped her up. "Now what?"

"I'd like to take a shower and get dressed."

"Would you like help with that?"

"I'm perfectly capable of getting dressed for the day without your assistance," she said, pulling away from him.

"I'm sure you are. I just know we'd have a far better time if we did it together."

Kat snorted. "Your mother is right. You're a Neanderthal."

"She says that about my father."

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Kat left him chuckling out on the balcony and went into the walk-in closet, smiling as she saw the clothes from her luggage were already hung up. She looked in one of the sets of drawers and found a bra, but conspicuously absent were all of her panties. Male alpha wolves were all alike.

She walked back into the bedroom to find him lounging against the door frame to the bath in a way that only a supreme apex predator could manage. Kat wondered what it might be like if he took the kid gloves off. She realized he had been nothing but kind and caring to her and while that appealed to a part of her, there was a greater part that knew she needed more.

"My panties seem to have gotten lost," she said, confronting him.

"They weren't lost. I tossed them out. You won't be needing them anymore." She shook her head, trying to push past him, but he blocked the way. "Kat, you're not human and you're not a virgin. You don't find me unattractive, so why not give in and let me truly court you?"

"How exactly would that work? You've installed me in your room. You've told the world and me that I am yours and you will be claiming me. Why bother?"

"Because I know how good it could be between us, and so do you. Like it or not, that thing almost killed you. Our doctor still isn't sure how you survived. But I know, as does every other member of this pack and your parents—we are fated mates. When you felt your life slipping away, you were able to draw on my strength and love to bolster you."

"Do you really think this is the way to court me? Make me feel as though I was too weak to fight off that evil presence? Do you have any idea what that was like for me?" she said, her voice edging toward hysterical.

"No, sweetheart, I don't, but I will listen to anything you want to share. I can't even begin to understand what it must have been like to be possessed by that thing."

"And yet you wonder why I am not eager to be possessed by you. Get out of my way, Jed."

This time when she tried to slip by him, he stepped back. "I'll be here when you're ready to talk."

She stopped with her hand on the door. "What if that never happens?"

"I'm you're fated mate, Kat. I will not let you carry the burden of what happened to you alone."

She let go of the door, entered the bath and laid her things on the vanity. She turned back toward the bedroom and approached him. She reached up and grabbed the front of his shirt, pressing herself into his hard, muscular body as she covered his lips with hers. The moment their lips met, she felt a strong surge of arousal race through her system.

Kat wasn't sure why she'd initiated the kiss. She only knew that it wasn't like any that had come before it. Male alpha wolves were not known for being passive when it came to sex, especially when it came to their fated mates. Jed was no exception.

She'd never allowed any man to dominate her, not really. She'd played at being a submissive in clubs but made it clear that she wanted nothing long term and had learned never to play twice with the same partner. Play was the word for it—it meant nothing to her. It was just a way to ease a need and not worry about the consequences. One so-called Dom had accused her of topping from the bottom, and she hadn't disagreed. She never went back to that club.

Jed was not only a Dom, but an alpha male wolf—one who had been born to dominate in any situation and most especially in matters of sex. Kat felt the instant he took command of the kiss, flooding her system with heat and desire. His fingers threaded through her hair and his mouth moved against hers, his tongue running along the seam of her mouth and demanding entrance.

She moaned as his tongue slid inside to play with hers. One hand moved to the back of her hair, fisting her mane while the other snaked down to cup her ass and draw her into his body. There was no doubt that Josiah Steele wanted her—his hard length throbbed as it pressed against her belly. She wound her arms around his neck, fitting her body to his.

The kiss wasn't enticing or seductive. It was demanding, dominant, possessive. His hand tightened in her hair as he tugged her head back to trail kisses along her jawline, lighting up her scalp and pebbling her nipples into hard peaks. She rubbed up against him, tempting him, provoking him.

He released her and gently pushed her back from him. "Unless you plan to follow through right now, you'd best go in the bath and lock the door."

"Afraid you can't control yourself?" she teased.

"You'd better hope I can control myself, mate. If not, you may well find yourself claimed with a well-spanked backside." Jed turned her around and nudged her toward the bath with a hard swat. "Behave yourself." He closed the door behind her.

Kat turned to look at the closed door, not sure what to think. She hadn't planned on kissing him, and sure as hell hadn't planned on him turning the tables on her. It wasn't what she'd expected, but it certainly proved that their chemistry was off the charts. She couldn't allow him to take control, she needed to be aloof and make him see they weren't right for each other. But they were, and she knew it.

The problem was, she had a score to settle. That thing had tried to make her its minion. And for that, it would pay. After all, the concept of vendetta had been born in Italy.