Page 6 of The Alpha’s Promise (Alpha Doms #3)

“I’m going to take a shower,” Cody growled, stalking away from the tempting little human. A cold shower. Christ, what was it about her?

He shut the door to the bathroom with a resounding click and stripped off his work clothes.

Ben Stone had seriously fucked up his life with this little alpha-to-alpha favor.

He sure hoped it was worth it. With cold water on full blast, he climbed in, letting it pelt his body until the internal heat began to fade.

He closed his eyes and rubbed a wet hand over his face, trying to erase the image of the way she’d looked with that tomato dripping down her chin.

That shouldn’t have been so erotic. But there was something unique about this female that made her different from other humans.

Maybe that’s why Ben Stone had fallen for her sister.

The fact that the powerful leader of the Denver pack—the billionaire CEO of a gaming company, who could certainly have his pick of any she-wolf in the world—had chosen a human said something.

He looked down at his cock, which still flew at half-mast. He’d better take care of it before he went anywhere near that human again, or there’d be trouble.

Fisting it, he leaned one hand against the tile and closed his eyes, allowing Melissa to screech into the forefront of his brain.

Images flashed before his eyes—the flash of white thigh when her skirt had ridden up on the motorcycle; the way her arms fit around his waist so perfectly; her scent, intoxicating despite its humanness.

He pumped his aching cock and let the next batch of images flash through his brain.

The dampness of her pink lace panties when he’d rubbed her clit, the flash of her pussy after he’d ripped them off.

It had been shaved bare—for whom? That asshole of an ex-boyfriend?

The thought made him grind his molars, the fingers on the tile wall curling into a fist.

He went back to replay the moment when he’d tossed her on the bed, on all fours, imagined what would’ve happened if she’d welcomed him—the look she might have tossed over her shoulder. A she-wolf would’ve bared her teeth, lowered her front haunches to give him her ass.

Yes… fuck, yes. He shot hot ribbons of cum against the tile wall, his eyes rolling back in his head with pleasure. Turning back into the stream of water, he rinsed off, noting that his cock still remained hopeful, despite the release.

Not going to happen, buddy. Get a grip.

Melissa drew several deep breaths to recover from the intensity of Cody’s presence.

His phone buzzed on the table and she glanced at it.

Was Jeremy calling back? She shouldn’t care about his welfare, but she couldn’t help it.

She picked it up, but the caller came up as ‘Ed Smith.’ Must be one of Cody’s acquaintances.

She’d really like to call Ashley back and talk some more about this wolf stuff, but her phone was back at her apartment. So was her laptop.

If Cody was serious about her not leaving his place, she would need them, or else her business would take a huge dive, which she couldn’t afford.

Her gaze wandered to his phone again. She wondered how long a shower he took.

She could call an Uber car to drive her by her place.

If it looked like the guys were still there, she’d just have the driver take her right back.

But if it looked empty, she could run in and at least put together an overnight bag with the basic necessities.

As much as she loved wearing Cody’s shirt, she needed real clothes.

And her toothbrush, and makeup, and—yes—her phone and laptop, dammit!

She downloaded the Uber app onto Cody’s phone and logged into her account, which had her billing details already loaded.

She quickly entered his address, which she got by poking her head out the door and checking the street sign and numbers on the house.

It was a decent neighborhood, she realized.

His property might be valued at twice what she originally estimated.

Which was weird. Who bought a house in the Old North End and turned it into a workshop?

Yes! The Uber confirmed for just five minutes. This just might work. She could get away before Cody came out of the bathroom. Of course, there’d be hell to pay when she returned, but she was half excited about that, as crazy as it seemed.

Punishment from a sexy, dangerous wolf? Definitely something she’d like to experience at least once in her life. She’d always been the reckless twin, as Ashley liked to point out.

Hearing the car roll up outside, she slipped out. Her outfit was ridiculous, but she didn’t care what the driver thought of her—this was an emergency.

She hopped in the car and the guy took off for her place, which was about fifteen minutes away.

It was a no-go, though. Lights lit up the place, and she could see the flicker of the television, and the dark silhouetted heads of two men sitting on the couch.

Damn.

“I’m not going to stop here,” she said quickly to the driver as he started to park. “Take me back to the address where you picked me up.”

He scowled in the rearview mirror. “That wasn’t what you scheduled.”

“I know. I’ll add the additional ride in right now,” she said, thumbing on her phone, her fingers flashing over the screen as she made good on her promise.

The driver grumbled, but took her back.

Her stomach dropped before the car even pulled up. A giant—seriously enormous—silver wolf sniffed the grass around the front steps. It jerked its head up and ice blue eyes stared right at her.

“Oh, my God, is that a wolf?” the driver asked. “Shut the door!”

“No, it’s my dog. It’s okay. Just a big husky. Not sure how he got out. Thanks, I’ll add the tip to my card. Appreciate it!” She swung the door shut before he could mention the wolf again.

Then she swallowed and forced her feet to move in the direction of the front door—and the enormous wolf.

A low growl came from the wolf’s throat and she froze in her tracks. Was it Cody? What if it was some other, enemy wolf?

The wolf narrowed its eyes and sat down, as if waiting for her. Okay, angry wolf. Definitely Cody.

“Hi, Wolf. Silver. Big boy.” Her voice only wavered a little. She turned the knob on the front door. The moment it swung wide, he pushed through, ahead of her.

Not really the gentleman, was he? It was probably a dominance thing. The alpha goes in first or some such rule. She thought she remembered that from that Cesar Milan dog training show. Not that she was comparing shifters to dogs.

She followed him in and shut the door behind him. He transformed before her eyes, shifting upright into human form, his magnificent male body stark naked, his cock jutting out at a perfect ninety-degree angle.

Her breath stalled in her throat. Whoa.

Damn.

As she’d suspected, his entire body was solid muscle. At least a dozen tattoos covered his body. Her mouth dropped open.

But she had an angry wolf on her hands. Irritation came off Cody in waves. His eyes hadn’t changed back to gray yet, the cold blue gaze icy. He definitely wasn’t angling for sex at the moment.

“Where in the hell did you go?”

She winced. “I took an Uber car to my place to see if they’d gone. I really wanted my phone and laptop. The guys were still there, so I didn’t stop.” The words came tumbling out quickly, as she hoped to answer all his questions at once.

He glowered and stalked away to the bedroom, presumably to put some clothes on.

A moment later, he returned in a pair of jeans, his torso still beautifully bare, apart from the ink.

She admired the tattoos on his bulging biceps—they were beautiful designs and patterns, like crop circles or ancient symbols. She wondered what they meant.

“What did I tell you would happen if you left?”

She flushed as his graphic words returned to her. I’ll spank you until this perfect ass is red and your sweet little pussy is dripping wet.

She couldn’t decide if she hoped he’d follow through or not. She nibbled her lip. “I’m sorry, but I can’t stay holed up here for days without my phone and computer. I have clients and a boss I need to communicate with. I can do a lot online—I might not even lose any business.”

His nostrils flared and he drew a deep breath as if to calm himself. “Your career won’t mean anything if you’re dead. And I made an alpha’s promise to keep you safe, which means if you’d been caught, your decision would seriously fuck my life up, too.”

He stared at her for a long moment, his expression inscrutable. She realized his eyes had gone back to normal without her noticing when they’d changed. Then he held out his palm, as if to hold her hand. “Come here, princess. Time for your punishment.”

He led Melissa to the side of the couch, pushed her torso over the arm, and gave her ass a smack. She sucked in a breath, but held her position, like she was interested in where this was going.

He slapped her ass again. He didn’t want to hurt her—not in a way that wasn’t sexual or didn’t feel good. For a moment, he indulged in the idea of Melissa being his mate. He’d buy one of those furry, padded paddles and give her spankings that never hurt but were only symbolic of his dominance.

He rubbed a circle over her adorable butt, then peppered it with a couple more smacks. How far would she let him take this?

He peeled his boxer briefs down her heart-shaped ass.

They were way too big for her and she’d rolled the waistband down several times, somehow managing to make them look both sexy and cute.

The fact that she’d gone out in this outfit—alone with an Uber driver—made him grit his teeth, wanting to kill the driver for having seen her like this.

He gripped her wrists and twisted them behind her back, pinning them with one hand as he dragged the briefs all the way off her with the other.