39. Monica

39

MONICA

I entered the cozy little cabin, its windows not proving much of an obstacle to the ambient noise from the ongoing party at Joe's. Power chords, drums, and Bryan Johnson's voice were drifting through with ease. A fire crackled merrily in the fireplace but there was no sign of Raul.

I made my way to his partly open bedroom door. When I peeked in the seeds of temptation flared in my core. He was standing in front of his bed naked, giving me a chance to marvel at his sculpted body.

"Hmmm…" I hummed, red heat rising to my cheeks. "That is not helping."

"Helping what…?" he laughed turning towards me. "You don't want to…"

"Don't be silly," I urged, smiling through my embarrassment. "Sex with you is always amazing. It's just that we need to be someplace tonight. And if I'm being brutally honest, we're late. I stole you from the party, that's at least partly in your honor. I mean, how long have we been gone from the party?"

"Two hours, give or take," he said, glancing at the clock on the wall. "But you do have a point. I could stand them up a little longer, but you know how sensitive their noses are."

"Well then," I said in a raspy voice. "Let me give you a preview of what you can expect once we come back."

I placed my fingertips against the skin of his lower stomach. I pressed my palms flat, my right hand sliding further down. I drew a circle around the base of his shaft with my index finger, feeling it twitch and lengthen under my touch. Staring into his eyes, I licked my upper lip seductively.

"Oh, you little minx," he whispered, his gaze darting from my eyes to my mouth.

"I'll have mercy on you, Mr. Alpha," I smiled, stepping back. "Now, get dressed. We're already late."

A grunt of annoyance served as his response. I would have loved to have taken my clothes off and played with him in bed. I had missed the sensuality and sexual tension between us. Yet, I had to face the facts. Dawson had dressed up for the night in honor of the one who had led them to victory. He and his fellow shifters had risked their lives to defend their homeland. This was their reward. He needed to enjoy it to the fullest and they needed him there too. If we were going to make this work, there would have to be compromises like this, from both of us. Besides, we could have all the fun in bed we wanted to in the future.

Ten minutes later, we were back outside. Holding hands with him as we walked towards the bar, I gazed at the cheer in the street. Three young children were chasing one another, under the watchful eye of their mother, while a group of four men expressed their gratitude to their Alpha. Either by exchanging hugs or high-fiving him. There was no mistaking the respect in their eyes.

"You people are too friendly," I remarked. "You don't see that much in New York City, at least not these days."

"That's because we're not afraid of being stabbed in the back," Raul explained. "We don't always get along. We might fight a lot, but we never betray one another. Betrayal is a human trait. No offense."

"None taken," I assured him. "I think I'm going to like being part of your world. In fact, I already do."

"Good," he said, pausing our walk to pull me close and lay a claim on my lips.

I loved the way our bodies melded together as if they were molded to fit. He broke the kiss, and we resumed our walk, but there was no doubt neither of us wanted it to end. My lips tingled with the memory of his as we walked. The closer we got to the bar the louder the revelry became. At the edge of the packed parking lot, he paused and looked down at me.

"I'm not so sure about what you're going to see in that bar," he warned, perplexing me.

What in the world was he referring to? Before I could voice my confusion, a loud thud disrupted the relaxed mood of the street. Looking at the adjacent building to Joe's bar, I was able to see for myself what had transpired. Two, large men were lying on the ground. One of them was banging his arm into the concrete, whereas the other was peering skyward. Both of them were cackling.

"What happened there?" I asked.

"They probably fell off," Raul presumed, pointing at the table on the edge of a makeshift bar that had been set up close to the building.

I noticed another man running towards that same table while dozens of others were clapping their hands in rhythm. At the last minute, he tossed his arms forward and leaped over the table. His short flight sent him across the parking lot. Landing hard fifteen feet from his comrades, his laughter joined theirs.

"Don't worry about that," Raul said, holding in his laughter. "Thank God for our strong bones. I don't remember anyone ever breaking anything."

"Hey!" Nora called, peeking her head out of the front door of Joe's. "What are you doing standing out there for? Come on in!"

"You're not going to do that, are you?" I feared the answer to the question as we climbed the three steps into the bar.

"Maybe later," he teased, clutching my fingers in his palm. "I'll have to drink my ass off first."

"He's here!" Ray announced, approaching us with raised arms, while the rest of the bystanders burst into loud applause.

" We are here," Raul corrected him. "To those of you who don't know her, this is my girlfriend, Monica. You'll be seeing her a lot from now on. I advise all of you to be nice to her."

"Or he'll rip your throats out," Ray's joke brought on a huge fit of laughter.

A big man I didn't know walked up to Ray, sloshing beer from his glass as he chuckled.

"Good one," the new man praised, holding his glass up. "To our Alpha, boys and girls. To the biggest, baddest motherfucker in the valley! Under his rule, we managed to send those bloodsucking pricks right back where they belong. To fucking hell!"

"Yeah!" The pack's loud cry rocked the bar from side to side and their happiness made my smile even wider.

"Poor thing…" Nora patted me on the back, offering me a glass of gin. "You don't have the first clue what you've gotten yourself into."

"I think I do," I clinked glasses with her. "I'm the Alpha's girl. No one's going to lay a hand on me unless they have a death wish."

"That's true, but it's not what I meant," she claimed. "This place reeks of testosterone. We've only got a few females in the pack, but, when it comes to celebrating, we all become kind of…" She paused and looked around. "Overgrown boys who loves to get drunk and break stuff. Are you sure you can live with that?"

"Yep." I smiled and tipped my head down. "Because I'm with him."

I glanced over at Raul and my heart swelled with both pride and love. Nora gave me a toothy grin and downed the rest of her drink. I had every intention of keeping up our banter, but she chose to join the ones playing that silly game of jumping out the window.

Raul drew me close with his arm around my waist, and I rested my head on his shoulder. Under the sounds of AC/DC's "Highway to Hell," I watched caught up in the easy bliss. They were a happy bunch, but Nora was correct to call them "overgrown boys." They acted like ten-year-olds in grown men's bodies. Nonetheless, I wouldn't complain. I couldn't complain.

I had the strongest of them back in my life. His nobility and his acts of self-sacrifice convinced me to give him another chance. I had his love, his care, and his gorgeous figure all to myself. Raul wasn't entirely human, but he was by far the most humane creature I had ever crossed paths with.

I could think of a few possible explanations for this, but did they matter? No, not really. All that mattered was that he and I were together. No more running. No more second-guessing the principles which governed his kind. I knew better now. I knew that our worlds were light years apart, but it didn't matter because he and I were so close.

If I had any hope of being happy in my life it would be because I held on to him. The man who had jeopardized his own life for me and to the wolf that had faced the darkest, most vicious of creatures and had triumphed. The one with the strength of five men and yet had a fragile heart.

And let's not forget the sexiest lover I have ever had. My very own, Raul Crawford.