Page 17 of Diners, Damsels & Wolves

Seventeen

Thomas

P arking next to Clarissa’s car, Tom frowned. According to the home nurse company, someone was supposed to be here right now. Were they neglecting Clarissa’s aunt?

Getting out of his car, he smelled an unfamiliar human and vehicle, Rachel’s fresh scent mixed in. The nurse must have taken Rachel somewhere.

Going up the rickety front steps, he felt naked, showing up without something. He always brought her flowers, should he have today too? When he got her text, he was in such a rush to get here, he hadn’t thought about it.

He had scarcely enough time to ensure Nathon and Sam were spreading the word to the other shifters about Clarissa not knowing. Tom knew Maria said she’d take care of it, but he was too anxious. He’d asked Sam and Nathon to tell everyone to call their Alphas ‘boss’ instead.

Resigned that it was now too late to worry about her discovering the secret and him forgetting flowers, he knocked on the door.

He heard her run across the trailer. Why was her heart rate accelerated? Was something wrong? Perhaps that was why she wanted him to arrive early. Mentally he braced himself for whatever terrible news she was about to tell him.

The door flung open to reveal her beaming face. His breath caught. Her chestnut hair fell in a halo around her petite frame, catching stray rays of sunlight illuminating her immaculate face. Large hazel eyes stared up at him as if he’d made her whole day just by existing.

“Hi, come on in.” She opened the door wider. “I’m happy you were able to get here early, I wasn’t sure if you were busy with cooking or something.”

Remembering how to talk, he chuckled. “A cousin who just moved into the family house loves to cook. He demanded I let him be in charge of the menu. Michael all but threw me out this morning when I tried to grab breakfast.”

Thomas looked around the trailer for signs of distress or anything out of the ordinary. The only thing noteworthy was her aunt’s absence.

“Rachel’s out with a friend.”

Odd. Why did she say a friend took Rachel out, did she not want him to know she had a nurse coming to help? Whatever the reasons, he kept his mouth shut.

Clarissa cleared her throat, her face colored. “Since she’s out, I just thought it might be nice if we spent some time together.”

Tom was confused. They’d spent hours together. If she wanted to see him sooner, she didn’t have to wait for Rachel to leave. Studying her face, the blush deepened on her cheeks.

Stepping closer, she reached up on the tips of her toes and kissed him. Albeit confused, he reciprocated. Leaning into her, he opened his mouth. Tongue flicking inside to explore, she moaned. He reached one hand up to grab the back of her head, the other her waist. Grabbing his shirt, she tugged him down to her. He smiled against her lips.

“Hmmm?” she hummed.

“We’ve been together a lot lately,” he said.

“I mean alone . We’re always at the diner full of my coworkers or we’re here with Rachel. I wanted to be with you.”

An easy grin pulled at his mouth as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Warmth pooled in his chest at her words. Pulling away, he let her guide him to the small kitchen table. Scooching a chair right up next to his, she tucked herself into his side. He draped an arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head.

For half a second, he wondered why she hadn’t taken him to the sofa, then he remembered the first time he’d been here. Sitting up late with her and Rachel talking, they’d moved into the TV room. The sofa had been unbearably uncomfortable.

That first night at the trailer, he noticed little signs of neglect and age. Cracks in the cupboards, rust on the bottom of the oven, and the odd breeze that seemed to be ever present inside, as if there was a hole in one of the walls.

He had to fight back his wolf’s urge to whisk Clarissa away with him that first night. She and Rachel both; he didn’t want them living like this, but he knew it was too soon, way too soon, to present her with the offer. His mate needed more time.

His mate?! When the hell had he started thinking of her as his mate? No, this wasn’t right, he couldn’t think of her as that. Not while she was ignorant to his hand in her life, not when she didn’t know what he really was. He needed to take a step back. He didn’t want to, but it’s what was best. She needed more time to adjust to him being in her life, and he needed more time to tell her the truth.

“Thank you for inviting me today, and I wanted …” She sighed. “I wanted to apologize again.”

“You don’t—”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” she cut him off. “I do have to apologize. You’ve been nothing but wonderful to me, and then I … I can’t believe I treated you like that, you didn’t deserve that.”

“You already apologized.” He ran a finger along her jaw. “We talked about this. We got a bit carried away with ourselves, it was an emotional response. It’s alright.”

“It’s more than that though. You’re always doing everything for me and I’m not exactly reciprocating.”

Pulling back, he looked down at her. What in the world was she talking about? Did she think she needed to repay him for his adoration?

“What I mean is,” she continued, “I feel like we aren’t exactly balanced. I’m sorry for that too.”

“Listen to me.” Pulling her chin up, he forced her gaze to meet his. He needed her to see the sincerity of his words. “I do these things for you because I want to. I never expect you to feel like you have to repay me. I don’t want you to repay me. If you did, it would kind of defeat the point.”

Her jaw locked, eyes skeptical. She clearly needed more convincing.

“You’re in a tight spot right now with taking care of Rachel all by yourself. Besides, with any relationship, it’s not always going to be fifty-fifty. Sometimes you’ll meet eighty-twenty or sixty-forty, and there’s nothing wrong with that. So long as you keep meeting me somewhere along the line. We’ll be okay.”

Her eyes broke from his gaze. She absently traced a finger along his chest and chewed on her bottom lip. The urge to lean down and suck on that lip rose up in him, instead, he ran his thumb over the outline of her mouth.

“So … we’re in a relationship?”

He blanched. Blinking down at her, he couldn’t think of how to respond to that. Had dating changed that much since he’d last done it? Were the flowers and the dinners not enough? What else was he supposed to do, hire a barbershop quartet to sing it to her?

Clarissa snorted. Snorts turned into a full belly laugh. “I didn’t mean to give you a stroke.”

Getting up, she swung around to straddle his lap. A glimmer of humor still lingered in her eyes. She leaned forward, pressing her lips to his.

“You want to keep meeting me along the line?” she said, her voice somber.

“As long as you’ll have me, I’ll meet you anywhere.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she leaned into him. He grabbed her hair, soft and fragrant, and pulled her close to his chest. Their beating hearts thrummed against each other.

Closing his eyes, he let himself become lost in her. This beautiful, fragile, human woman; she was more resilient than any shifter he’d known. Whatever he did to deserve her, he would never know. One thing he did know was when, if , she wanted him, his pack, the full package, he’d go to bat with anyone who tried to tell him this human wasn’t suitable for an Alpha.

He just needed to find the right time to tell her. He needed to stop being so afraid of her rejection. Because the truth was, he needed her; she was a bright spot in a world that rarely made sense.

She was one of the few he could be himself around without her asking, demanding, anything of him in return. Perhaps that was part of the reason he hadn’t told her. Being with a human, with her, meant there were no expectations of him. He didn’t have to be Alpha when he was with her. He could just be Tom.

Maybe that was selfish of him, keeping her in the dark so he could enjoy this peace. She deserved to know the truth, he knew that. He also knew accepting the supernatural underground was no easy feat. The last thing he wanted was to scare her away.

Opening her mouth, a small moan vibrated in her throat. Her hips ground down on his lap. His grip tensed as his greedy dick reacted instantly. With a sharp intake of breath, she rocked her hips into it.

Realization punched him in the gut. There was more she wanted with their alone time. He didn’t think she’d want to again. Of course he couldn’t stop thinking about what she felt like, how she tasted on his lips. But he’d accepted the idea that it might be a while before she was comfortable being intimate again.

A thrill ran through him, making his dick rock hard. Moving his hand from her waist, he grabbed the swell of her ass. She nipped his bottom lip, taking it between her teeth and sucking. His hands moved of their own accord, lifting her dress to palm her thigh, pulling her in closer.

“Clarissa,” he rasped against her kisses, “do you … are you …?”

“I need …” She licked his neck. “I need to feel you.”

He stood, placing his hand under her bottom. Stumbling forward, he pressed her into the kitchen wall. Moving the hand from the back of her head, he wrapped it around her neck, careful to keep his grip relaxed. She mewled beneath him.

Human.

Soft.

Breakable.

He repeated the words in his head, ensuring he didn’t get carried away.

Breaking the kiss, he moved his mouth to her chest. He untied the bow of her dress with his teeth and pulled the fabric aside. Burrowing his face into her breast, he took her nipple into his mouth. The sudden intake of breath made him moan.

Suckling her breast, he licked and nipped at the hard nubs of her nipple. His fingers brushed her panties, her warmth soaking through the fabric. Her breasts bounced with each gasp, her musings spurred his actions.

Taking her from the wall, he spun around and set her on the counter. He pushed her panties aside, petting up and down before spreading her open. The hand around her neck flexed. Gripping his forearm, she wrapped her legs around him, inviting him in.

Releasing her breast, he kissed her lips, pushing his tongue into her open mouth.

Taking her hands from his arm, she worked at the buttons on his shirt. In seconds her fingers were caressing his bare chest, nails scraping him up and down.

With a grunt, his body shuddered, and he pushed two fingers inside her. She whined. The noise made his dick leak.

“Wait.” Her voice was rough in his ear.

He froze.

“I wanted …” She swallowed against the hand on her neck. “I wanted to do something for you first. Step back for a second.”

Letting go of her neck, he pulled his fingers out of her. Arching a brow, he took a step back. She laughed.

“Don’t look so worried.” Hopping off the counter, she grabbed his hips and giggled.

Grinning, he let her guide him, they spun in a circle until his back was against the counter. She shoved him; if only she knew how much force was actually needed to knock him over.

Her hands moved from his hips to grab at his belt. Undoing his jeans, she yanked them down to his ankles. Groaning, his erection was set free.

Kissing him sweetly, she wrapped her hands around his length. He laced one of his hands through her hair while the other gripped the counter. She tugged.

Choking, his knees went weak. She tugged again. Pressing her thumb into his tip, she swirled the pre-cum over his foreskin.

His eyes blew wide as she knelt down. One hand cupped his balls, the other held his base steady. She lapped at his head.

Breathing in ragged gasps, he came undone, watching her. Making a deliciously indecent noise, she wrapped her mouth over him. Her pink lips swelled then stretched as she moved her mouth up and down.

His hips bucked and he gripped her hair. Oh no, he hadn’t hurt her, had he?

Her eyes locked onto his. A deep hunger raged in her as she bobbed her head over him again and again.

He had to grip the counter to keep from falling on her. Losing all sense of what she was doing, he drowned in the sensations. Her warm mouth, sucking, saliva running down his skin, her tongue twisting, it all blended together. At this rate, he wouldn’t last much longer.

Taking his hand from the counter, he cupped her jaw and pulled her back. He left her mouth with a pop , thick strings of saliva falling from her lips. Looking up at him, she pouted.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he panted. “I’m not done with you yet.”

Bending down, he lifted her up. Bunching her skirt over her hips, he set her on the counter. He pulled the neck of her dress further down, releasing her other breast and squeezed it.

“What kind of gentleman would I be if I finished before you?”

Spreading her legs, he knelt, hooking her knees over his shoulders. Using his fingers, he opened her vulva for his tongue to explore. Tongue teasing her, he circled her entrance, he teased, running his mouth up and down. He flitted just shy of her sweet spot, swelling with anticipation.

Moaning, she wriggled beneath him. He flicked his tongue over her clit. Yelping, she grasped his hair, her legs tightening around him. Burrowing his face in further, he lapped at her, drinking her in.

With her legs trembling and chest heaving, he pushed his fingers inside of her. Sucking in a breath, she went limp. Moving in and out he worked her open at a leisurely pace.

Looking up, he saw her eyes roll in the back of her head and her mouth agape. Her breath came in whimpers.

Standing, he nuzzled and nipped at her neck while massaging her hips. Something crinkled in her pocket. He pulled out the foil and smirked.

“Someone was prepared.” Leaning in, he whispered, “Do you still want me to use this? Or have you had enough?”

Her hazy eyes locked with his. “Please, more.”

He took her mouth in his, sweet and brief, before pulling back. Tearing open the foil, he rolled the rubber onto himself. One hand cupped her face, the other held her hips steady as he lined himself up with her opening. He pushed inside. Fully sheathed, he paused to catch his breath.

Sliding out, he pushed back in, moaning. She rocked herself into him, her back arched. Slanting his lips over hers, he licked deeply, claiming her mouth. Rocking his hips slow and steady, burying himself in her warmth. Her nails scraped at his bare chest and back.

He wanted nothing more than to take her away somewhere they could be alone for days. Where he could thoroughly worship her, memorizing every inch of her body, her moans, her taste, her pleasures, until he knew her better than anyone else ever would.

The other night had been frantic. He wanted this time to be slower, sweeter, even if it was on the kitchen counter. He wanted to savor every second of her in his arms. The feel of her legs wrapped around his waist, her hands tangled in his hair, clutching his chest.

Her hips moving in time with him. Body spasming, she broke the kiss, screaming his name. Dipping his head, he buried his face in her neck, nipping at her collarbone. A grunt tore from his chest, his release coming hard and fast.

Hugging her tight, they gasped against each other, catching their breath as they came down from their high. Cradling his face, she kissed him sweetly.

“Hmmm,” she hummed into his lips. “We should probably clean up if we’re still planning on going to your party.”