Page 45

“I’m sorry again,” I said. “For being the reason you went through that.”

Avery set her champagne flute aside and looked me dead in the eyes. “Everything happens for a reason. Without all that, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.”

“You’re a pretty amazing woman today, so maybe that means it was worth it.”

“ Amazing , am I?” Avery said coyly, leaning closer. “How about you show me how amazing you think I am?”

A low, insistent growl rumbled deep in my chest.

Avery chuckled softly. “Did I ever tell you how horny that sound makes me?”

I yanked her toward me, pulling her on top of me.

Our lips met, and it was like we were trying to devour each other.

The setting, the proximity, the alcohol—it all put us into a heedless frenzy.

We ripped and tore at each other’s clothes as we continued to kiss, our tongues fighting, pressing against one another.

Pulling Avery’s dress over her head and tossing it aside, I looked up at her, hungry intention in my eyes. “Do you have any sentimental attachment to this bra?”

She frowned. “What? No? Huh?”

I hooked my fingers into the band in front, then yanked it apart, my shifter strength ripping it in two like it was nothing more than tissue paper.

Avery’s gorgeous breasts swung free, and she gasped.

“Holy shit,” she murmured. “That was hot.”

Bucking my hips, I rolled her over onto her back and took her nipple in my mouth, suckling at it while I kicked my pants off.

Avery ran her hands through my hair, digging her fingers into my scalp.

Once my legs were free, I lowered a hand to the warm, wet cleft between her legs.

She moaned as I slid two fingers into her, and I smiled against her breast.

“You’re so wet,” I whispered, flicking my tongue across her nipple again.

“I want you,” she said, breathing out the words only a notch above a whisper.

I fucked her with my fingers, my palm gently smacking her clit with each thrust. Avery gritted her teeth and gyrated her hips, pressing herself toward my hand with each push.

I gasped as she curled her fingers around my cock and stroked me hard. Our eyes locked on each other, my fingers slipping in and out of her soaking wet pussy, her hand gliding up and down my throbbing shaft.

“Do you like that?” Avery asked, running her tongue across her lower lip.

All I could do was nod and thrust my fingers into her faster. Avery moved her hips quicker, riding my hand. I had to have her, nothing else would do. I ached to be inside her. Pulling my fingers free, I grabbed her hips and rolled her over.

She giggled as she flipped onto her belly and parted her knees for me. My eyes locked on the glistening pink flesh between her legs, and a deep, throaty growl rippled through my chest.

“I told you what that sound does to me,” Avery said, raising her ass, pressing her pussy toward me.

“Fuck,” I hissed.

Straddling her, I grasped the base of my cock and pressed the head at her opening, then moved it back and forth, up and down. Across her clit, over her pussy, then up and across her asshole, then back down, the head of my dick growing wetter with each stroke.

“Put it in, Cole,” Avery whined. “I want your cock in me.”

A contented sigh fell from my lips as I slid into her. Hot, wet flesh embraced me. Avery cried out, clutching at the sheets until I was fully inside her. Fuck, she felt so good.

I lay down, my chest to her back, and slid my left hand beneath her, rubbing her clit as I began to rock against her, plunging my cock deep with each thrust. My lips were right next to her ear, my breath puffing her hair as I breathed deeply.

“Does that feel good?” I whispered.

“Uh-huh,” she grunted, face pressed into the sheets.

“Are you gonna come for me?”

“Uh-huh,” she moaned again, pushing herself up to meet my dick with each movement.

“Good girl.”

Picking up the pace, I crashed into her, Avery’s ass slapping against my stomach.

Beneath me, Avery tensed, nearly dragging the comforter off the bed.

I couldn’t help but smile as I watched her mouth drop open in a silent scream, veins standing out on her neck, breathless and descending into a dark, glorious well of pleasure.

Spurred on by her reaction, I fucked her harder. When her first orgasm ebbed, she sucked in a breath, and another slammed into her. I grabbed her ass, a cheek in each hand, and rammed in deep. Avery cried my name out in ecstasy as waves of pleasure washed over her.

A pressure, delicious in its insistence, built at the base of my cock and deep in my balls.

“I’m gonna come,” I cried as I thrust deeper, grunting as I came.

With slow and languid strokes, I rode out the orgasm, enjoying the slick, soft clench of her body on my cock. At last, I collapsed next to her, breathing heavily.

“Holy shit,” Avery said, her voice still muffled by the sheets. “That was fucking good.”

“Same,” I agreed, running a loving hand up her back and then down to her ass. “Let’s go to sleep.”

“That sounds like a great idea, but that means I’ve got to move.”

“I could lift you, if you want?”

“No. I’ll make it work.”

She groaned and sat up, using a towel I handed her to clean up. A sudden and intense exhaustion struck me, and I was sure Avery felt the same. We didn’t even bother with pajamas, simply falling into bed once we’d brushed our teeth and sleeping the sleep of the dead.

T he next morning, I woke before Avery. She was curled up beside me, snoring softly.

Not wanting to wake her, I eased from the bed and dressed as quietly as I could before checking my phone.

To my relief, I had an email from Trent confirming that the cash had been transferred and would be waiting at the bank.

He’d added the address and the account number.

It was a few minutes after nine, so the bank would be open.

I could get everything done quickly, then spend the day with Avery.

After scribbling a note to Avery on hotel stationery, telling her I was taking care of the money and would be back soon, I placed it on my pillow in case she woke up. That taken care of, I snuck out of the room and let the door close with a faint click .

The whole thing was surprisingly easy. Lots of paperwork and showing my ID, and then the bank president came out to meet me. It appeared that even in Atlanta, most people didn’t usually make withdrawals this big.

The entire time it was going on, I had a weird feeling. More thoughts and doubts crept in. This thing with Kyle had to be about more than money.

By bank procedure, a security guard had to escort me to my truck. It was a little bizarre and gave me the impression that it was, in fact, drawing more attention to me than if I’d left by myself, but who was I to complain?

At the car, I nodded my thanks to the guard. “All set. You’re good to go.”

He grunted some response and departed. Once he was around the corner, I tucked the bag into a hidden compartment below the backseat of the truck. I mostly used it for tools, but it would work as a sort of safety deposit box until I could give it to Kyle.

As I drove back to the hotel, I pondered what else could be going on with this thing.

What could my father have done to Kyle? Could Kyle be working for a rogue alpha?

Maybe a splinter pack was trying to force us out of Harbor Mills.

Maybe. Hell, had my father gotten his willy wet with someone else?

God, I hoped he hadn’t fucked Kyle’s mate or something.

That would be a reasonable explanation for why he was being so creepy with Avery.

Avery was still asleep when I returned to the hotel room, so I took a seat by the window and watched her as she breathed slow and deep.

Worry nagged at the back of my mind. Not about Kyle—I was worried about me .

The sale of the two businesses would ding my accounts for months.

Having a steady flow of income was always good, and it had kept me pretty stable.

Now, that was gone. Trent and I had a few other things going, but it still hurt.

Also, my savings would be depleted soon if I continued to cover the pack’s necessities.

Once we’d paid Kyle off, we could work on getting the pack’s finances straight, make some investments, and so on.

But that would all take years . Ashton was growing like a weed, and he’d eventually need his own car, plus college and other things.

Avery didn’t seem too worried about it, but I was.

If I was to be her mate and provide for her and protect her, I needed to be able to do that financially.

How was I supposed to be the mate I wanted to be if Avery would end up buying my groceries?

Even as I thought it, I realized it was a dumb and chauvinistic thought.

Why couldn’t a woman support a man instead of the other way around?

Yet, no matter what kind of mental gymnastics I did, the worry still crawled at the back of my mind.

That old feeling kicked in, and the reedy, ancient voice at the back of my head returned.

The one that told me to run. To get out now while I could.

That the pack would be better off without me.

I pushed at it, my wolf snarled at it, but it wouldn’t go away.

It was the coward in me. A coward who demanded to be heard.

This time, though, it wasn’t telling me to run by myself like it had all those years ago.

It was telling me to take Avery and Ashton with me.

We could vanish, and Harbor Mills could figure out all its shit on its own.

I’d never really wanted to be alpha to begin with.

My phone rang, ripping me out of the dark, bitter thoughts. I hurried out to the hall so I didn’t wake Avery, then answered the call.

“This is Cole.”

“It’s Trent.”

“What’s up?”

He sighed, and from the sound of it, I already knew I wasn’t going to like what he was about to say.

“I’ve got a few pack members here.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I hissed. I was not in the mood for this.

“Yeah, I know,” Trent said. “Look, we’ve got some issues with some of the businesses.”

“What now? More overdue bills?” I ran a frustrated hand through my hair, irritation rising.

“A little more involved than that, I’m afraid.”

“Spill it. Might as well get this over with.”

“It seems that the building inspections have, for want of a better word, fallen by the wayside in recent years. I’ve got Leo Bissette here, who owns the hardware store.

The roof is leaking. Badly. Samantha Wells has a termite issue in her hair salon, and John Moore’s gas station needs new tanks for his gas pumps.

All shit that should have been caught years ago and been taken care of, but now it’s all coming up at once. ”

Clenching my eyes shut, I hissed out a breath of anger. No matter how far ahead I got, something Dad did or didn’t do kept kicking me back down the stairs.

“Fuck it,” I said. “Tell them all to get estimates, and we’ll look at costs. When I get back in town, I’ll make the calls to get everything fixed. And find someone to inspect the rest of the pack-owned buildings.”

“I’m on it. Cole, I’m sorry to bother you on your time away. I really am. But they wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“And they shouldn’t have to,” I growled. “It’s not their fault. I’ll see you when I get home tomorrow. Oh, by the way, I got the money. We’ll pay that ugly prick off soon and have one less thing to deal with.”

“Sounds great. See you tomorrow, bro. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Once I was off the phone with Trent, I stood in the hall and tried to stifle my rage, but it kept building.

Taking Avery and Ashton and leaving the whole shitshow behind was beginning to sound very appealing.

But she and Ashton had only just gotten here.

They were settling into their new lives.

Ashton was making friends, fitting in for the first time in his life.

I couldn’t take that away simply because I didn’t want to deal with the shit my father had created. I had to suck it up.

Once I thought I had my anger under control, I went back into the room. Avery was sitting up in bed, the TV on a morning news show.

“Oh, hey there,” she said with a smile.

Usually, having that smile shining in my direction would make every problem I had vanish. This time, it did nothing. Even the love of my life couldn’t pull me out of my funk.

“Hey,” I said, the word barely more than a grunt.

Avery’s brow furrowed. “And why are we being a sourpuss this morning? Did you not get enough last night? Did I leave you wanting?” She grinned mischievously.

“No, nothing like that. I’m fine.”

She turned the television off. “What do you want to do today? This evening? I’m excited to have a whole day with you, doing whatever we want.”

She was so thrilled to have a day away in the city, and I didn’t want to dampen that with my issues, but I was having a hard time.

“I don’t know, whatever you want to do,” I said, the words coming out harsher than I’d meant.

“Excuse me?” Avery crossed her arms. “Why are you in such a shit mood right now?”

“I’m sorry,” I said, slumping down on the bed. “I didn’t mean that. It was a rough morning at the bank getting the money. That’s all.” A white lie, but better than the truth.

“Really?” She looked dubious.

“Yeah.” I nodded. “This isn’t on you. I’ll get in a better mood. I promise. Okay?”

“You better,” she said, and that gorgeous smile of hers returned.

I hoped I could keep my promise.