That made sense. “Do you think my father is okay?” She’d been trying hard not to think about him today. She had Joshua, but her father was out there on his own.
Joshua snorted. “He’s fine. The last person you need to worry about is James LeVeau.”
“It’s weird to hear you call him that.”
“That’s the only name I ever heard him called until recently. He’s practically a legend where I come from.”
“Really?” It was strange to think of her father as anything but, well, her father. “Tell me about him.”
He hesitated. “I’m not sure how much he wants you to know, but I guess it’s moot now. You’ll hear all the stories when we get back to Wolf Creek. You almost done?”
She’d eaten three slices while they’d talked. Joshua had almost finished plowing his way through the rest of the large pizza. She was pleasantly full. “Yes, thanks. Help yourself.” Taking her at her word, he pulled the box over in front of him and started on the two remaining pieces.
“Why don’t you brush your teeth and crawl into bed. That way it doesn’t matter if you fall asleep while we’re talking.”
Made sense to her. “Okay.” She grabbed the toothbrushes, toothpaste, comb and lotion as she stood. Only when she was on her feet did she realize that with both hands full, she couldn’t tug down the hem of her shirt. Joshua seemed occupied with eating so she made her way to the bathroom as nonchalantly as she could, while pretending it was no big deal that he could probably see the bottom curves of the cheeks of her ass as she went.
When she pushed the bathroom door closed behind her, she leaned back against it and groaned. A quick glance in the mirror told her that her face was indeed as red as it felt. Dumping the stuff in her hands on the edge of the sink, she buried her face in her hands and groaned again.
Yes, Joshua had already seen most of her body, and yes she wanted him, but this was all still very new to her. She was twenty-two years old, but he was the first man to ever see her naked. And that had happened when she was already in the grip of passion, which was much different than walking across a motel room floor with nothing underneath her shirt while he was casually eating pizza.
She’d better get used to it if she was going to try to seduce him over the next few days. She knew he wanted her, but he wouldn’t take her because of his honor. While she respected that, she wasn’t about to let the next few days slip by without trying to solidify some kind of relationship.
It would be easy for him to walk away from her when they reached Wolf Creek. That thought made her stomach lurch with panic. She wanted to make sure that didn’t happen. It would be much harder for him to do so if they’d established some kind of physical and emotional bond.
“Okay,” she muttered. “Get a grip on yourself.” Scrubbing her hands over her cheeks, she raised her head. At least Joshua hadn’t seemed to notice the fact that the shirt was just a tad too short to adequately cover everything.
She had to act like a mature woman who was used to having a man see her half-naked. No big deal. Her sex spasmed, reminding her that it was a huge deal. Ignoring the growing ache between her thighs that never seemed to fully subside, she brushed her teeth, combed her hair and slathered some of the lotion Joshua had purchased for her over her pink nose and cheeks. She’d gotten a bit of sun on her face today as they’d tromped all over town.
When she finished, she used the bathroom and washed her hands. She was as ready as she’d ever be. Resting her hand on her stomach, she tried to calm the butterflies beating within her. She was going to sleep with a man for the first time in her life. Granted, all they’d probably do was sleep, but still. His large body would be lying next to her and that bed wasn’t all that big. They’d be bound to touch one another at some point. At least they would if she had anything to say about it.
Joshua dropped the piece of pizza in his hands back into the box the moment the bathroom door shut behind Alex. He was a dead man. Watching her walk across the room clad in nothing but the T-shirt and a pair of socks had been torture. His gaze had followed her every step of the way. The seductive sway of her hips, the enticing nape of her neck and the tantalizing glimpse of the milky white globes of her ass had all but made him swallow his tongue. His cock was harder than a steel spike.
His skin itched as the wolf within him fought to emerge. The animal part of himself wanted to claim her now, didn’t want to leave anything to chance or to give her the opportunity to choose from the other single males of the pack. His brother’s words echoed in his brain.
Take her.
Growling, he grabbed the pizza box and the empty bottles and stuffed them in the garbage can that sat beside the ancient television. When the remains of their meal were cleared away, he began to stalk back and forth across the room, trying to tame his raging hormones.
Alex was everything he’d ever hoped for in a mate. She was strong and independent, but her strength was tempered with gentleness, a kindness of spirit. She didn’t know that he’d watched her walk to work this morning, seen her give her coffee to the aging prostitute who’d she’d stopped to chat with. Watching her with her father had told him even more about her. Alex was loyal. When she was committed to someone there was no half-measure. It was all or nothing.
He wanted that loyalty, strength and gentle spirit as his own.
If he were home, he’d change into his wolf and race through the night, allowing the animal part of himself full rein. The smell of the night air, the thrill of charging headlong into the dark would calm him. But he couldn’t do that here in the city. The air was filled with the stench of man and all that went along with city life. Plus, there was no way he’d leave Alex unprotected.
The only other way to calm himself was with sex. Hot, hard, grinding, sweaty sex. The kind of sex that lasted for hours, only ending when the two participants were so exhausted they couldn’t move and melted into sleep. The kind of sex that had been missing in his life for a long, long time.
The last time he’d had that kind of a night had been almost twenty years ago with a widow from the pack who had made it clear from the start that their short-lived relationship was only about sex. That had suited the young man he’d been then, but he wanted more than a few hours of mindless passion now.
Since that time he’d had the occasional one-night stand with other widowed females from the pack or with a human female, but he’d stopped even that about five years ago. It was unsatisfying and left him with an even deeper yearning for something more. Not that he’d had time for anything deeper over the past decade, not since his father had been killed and he’d assumed the role of protector of the pack.
He wanted sex, but he wasn’t going to get any tonight, wouldn’t allow himself to take it. Not from Alex. She was special. The only way he’d ever know for sure if she would have chosen him was if he gave her the opportunity. It would be too easy to take advantage of her at this moment when she was off balance and dependent on him. And that he would not do.
Call it honor. Call it pride. Joshua didn’t care. He only knew that he already thought of Alex as his future mate and as such would do nothing that might bring her dishonor or shame.
But that didn’t help his raging hard-on. Yanking his shirt out of his jeans, he let it hang down in front of the heavy bulge. It helped, but not much. As he paced, he began to take one deep breath after another. His brothers would all howl with laughter if they could see him now. They often accused him of having ice water running through his veins, but Alex made a joke out of his self-control. Around her, his blood ran hot and thick.