“How could you have been so stupid?!” Dean growled at himself. The wolf had caused him to do some ridiculously impulsive things in the past– things that could ruin his career if they came to light–but this time, it had simply gone too far. “She’s barely legal! What the hell are you thinking?”
Dean punched the steering wheel a little too hard and suddenly remembered that this wasn’t his vehicle to beat up. It belonged to the moving company. He would have to try to be more considerate than he was being if he wanted to stay on good terms with the people of Stonybrooke. Although he had been the alpha of his pack there once before, not giving a damn about anything or anyone but ruling the world, afterward he had chased true success, and the pack that had formed beneath him dissolved as he toured the world and left the town he was raised in behind.
“You might as well give up the company to Kiera right now if you’re going to be pulling this shit, because everybody is going to be talking about what a pervert you are. Who’s going to want to protect their kids with equipment made by a man who can’t seem to keep his hands off of young women?”
The wolf seemed unimpressed with his logic, which made the whole thing that much more infuriating. Maybe, in nature, it was better to simply claim your mate and move on, but he had already been there and done that. Dean had claimed his mate and she had turned out to be a psychopathic bitch who wanted to tear down everything he had spent his entire life trying to build. What good would come from allowing that to happen again? The whole notion was absurd.
“It wouldn’t even matter if Janie really was different from Kiera. I’m not different. I’m not going to treat her better than I’ve treated any of the other women in the past, especially not during all of this shit with the divorce. In fact, I’d probably treat her like the worst rebound girl of my life. I can’t let myself do that to her.”
But the wolf already knew what it wanted, and he could still feel his cock burning heavy and hot against his thigh. All he wanted was to turn the van around and ask Janie for a second chance. Ask forgiveness for being so forward and let her in on all of the bittersweet details of his life. And, ultimately, to make his claim on her official.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what he had done with Kiera, and it had all turned out to be one expensive and soul-crushing waste of time. He couldn’t let that happen again. No matter which way you looked at it, it seemed destined for failure. And that was the sad truth of the matter.
“Hey, you’re back!”
The human-wolf hybrids that had loaned the van out to Dean were still waiting in the office when he got it back to them, and he forced himself to smile at them. Even if he gave the wolf its way and eventually mated with Janie, the two of them would end up having human-wolf hybrids like these two weaklings. What kind of alpha would he be? There were so many reasons to fight his feelings, no matter how hard the wolf tried to claim Janie.
How shocked Janie would be to know he was thinking such thoughts. The man she considered to be the face of shifter and human integration was balking at the idea of his first pups being hybrids.
“Thanks for helping us out today,” Dean said, fishing in the pockets of the swim trunks for his wallet. He cursed when he realized that in the shift earlier in the day, he’d left his personal possessions back at the office. “I’ll send over compensation.”
The men nodded. Everybody in Stonybrooke knew that Dean Resner was as good as his word.
By the time he got out of there, it was already getting late. The sun had set, and the moon was rising high in the sky. Dean headed straight for the forest and stripped off the terrible smelling thrift store clothes that Janie had gotten him. His cock was still aching for release, but this wasn’t the place for it. He would shift into his wolf form and head back home.
At least there, he wouldn’t be thrown off by the power of his temptations. Nothing would stand in his way there.
***
Dean tossed and turned that night, lost in a deep, fitful sleep. Janie was hovering about his dreams, more beautiful than he had ever before seen another person in his life. Not even Kiera could compare to the sensual inner glow that radiated through Janie and touched the deepest part of him.
In the dream, Janie was dressed in a long white gown, her hair finally out of the tight bun she wore to work and laying loosely on her shoulders. Her smile was serene and beautiful, and her eyes completely hypnotic; it was as if they moved the same way as the crashing of ocean waves would ripple throughout the ocean. He simply couldn’t look away.
When she finally crossed the earth to stand in front of him, the gown was slipping from her shoulders and Dean sank his teeth deep into her neck. She let out a soft gasp of pleasure, and then suddenly, in the fragmented but fluid motion of a dream, Dean’s cock was inside of her and he felt the heat of her body tighten around his shaft. He closed his eyes in pleasure and shock as the feeling filled him up entirely. It was so much more intense in his dream, and he closed his eyes as he surrendered his control to Janie for once, and a hot flood poured from a deep, tingling well inside of Dean’s abdomen.
He seemed to know immediately that the seed took, and he pulled away from Janie, falling from the heat of her body and looking at her as if in a new light. Now, not only was she peaceful and serene, smiling as if she knew the answers to every secret ever uttered in the universe, but she was with child, and the fruit of her belly was round and ripe. He had never seen anything so beautiful.
Dean woke up with a start and cursed, realizing that he had climaxed in his sleep. He got up groggily to take a quick shower and try to get at least another hour’s worth of sleep before he had to get to work. He had fallen behind the day before, helping Janie with the move.
Still, the image of Janie’s pregnancy haunted him and refused him his next hour of sleep. It felt profoundly important, almost prophetic, but he knew he was only having these thoughts because of how insulted she’d been when he had asked if she was pregnant. It had seemed like a joke to him at the time, but he quickly realized it was more of an inside joke to him and more of an insult to her.
How strange, considering seeing Janie pregnant was the most beautiful image he’d ever had implanted in his mind.
Besides, now that there were more bear shifters hanging around, it meant that all pregnant women were in danger from the bear shifters. In the beginnings of the war between the bears and the wolves, countless pregnant women were killed to lower the numbers of wolf shifters. It hadn’t happened for a long time, but with the recent surge of bear shifters in Stonybrooke and the fact that they were grasping for power, particularly his company, things were looking grim and shifter women had been advised not to conceive.
It was just a dream, though, fortunately. He doubted he would be able to breed with a human anyway. Not unless she was his one true mate.
Dean got ready for work in a daze. It would be easy to avoid Janie, if nothing else. And if it wasn’t, and she hated him for what he had done, then that would be fair too. He could simply put her in another department so they would never have to see each other again.
Simple as that, right?
***
Dean was surprised when, bright and early, his secretary came on the line.
“Sir, Ms. Alexander is here to see you.”
“All right,” was what Dean said aloud, but “Fuck!” was what he was thinking. He wasn’t sure he was ready to face her. Not after what had happened the night before, both in the waking world and in his dreams.
A few moments later, Janie entered and the whole room filled with her delicious scent. The wolf immediately became alert and Dean sat rigidly at his desk, silently demanding it stay silent.
“What can I do for you this morning?” Dean asked, doing his best to maintain an air of authority, even though they were probably both thinking the same thing. It had felt so unbelievably good to touch her body. But now, just remembering it made him feel sick to his stomach. He had been rejected. And rather fairly, at that. It was kind of a first for him.
“I wanted to talk to you,” Janie said, gritting her teeth and looking down at the floor. “Privately. Is it all right if we arrange dinner tonight? The team was hoping to meet you and I thought that you might want to have a quick bite to eat.”
“Of course,” Dean said automatically, when what he was really thinking was “Shit!” The wolf seemed to be grinning smugly at him for thinking he had any real control over these matters. Apparently, when he was with Janie, all bets were off.
“Great,” Janie said, standing up. She was about to head out the door, but seemed to think better of it and looked at him with a smile playing her lips and a twinkle in her eye. “You look much better in your business suits.”
Dean laughed despite himself and Janie’s features visibly relaxed.
“I’ll see you at dinner,” she said.
“Right. I’ll arrange for the limo to take us tonight. I’ll give you a call when I’m ready.”
Janie nodded and walked out the doorway, and Dean could almost hear her heart beating. It wasn’t that she wasn’t interested in him. He could tell from her body language–not to mention the maddening scent of her arousal–that she was. There was something else stopping her. Something she wasn’t saying...beyond how utterly inappropriate it was for him to be interested in a young employee. Maybe he would be able to get it out of her during dinner.
Dean looked down at his desk and sighed at all the work he had abandoned in his stressed state the day before. Worrying about Janie and her feelings toward him would have to wait. For now, he had more pressing matters. Most importantly of which involved his ex-wife.
It was time for him to stop puttering around and entertaining thoughts of a fling with a young woman who didn’t want to be with him and start focusing on what really mattered; saving his business.
Nervous butterflies hurled themselves against the confines of Janie’s stomach as she waited in the lobby for Dean to come down from his office. He had sent her a text message a few moments beforehand telling her that he was ready to meet and that the limousine was on its way. Truth be told, she had never been in a limo before, and the idea of being in one and going to dinner with Dean Resner, of all people, was exceptionally exciting.
Except for the fact that he had made a move on her the night before. That kind of put a damper on the whole situation.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like Dean. She really, really did. The issue had more to do with her own insecurities. She was just a small town girl from California with no dad to speak of and a mother that seemed to care more about what she looked like than what she was doing with her life. The only support she’d ever had was from Leah. Otherwise, she was a self-made woman who had put herself through school and used old-fashioned hard work to achieve her goals.
She didn’t hold a candle, physically or otherwise, to women who were born with everything handed to them on a silver platter, or with women like Dean’s ex-wife, who seemed to be sticking it to him for all it was worth. She knew the divorce was hitting him hard, but fucking around with an intern wasn’t the way to cope with that. And she couldn’t play second-fiddle to a woman like Kiera. There was no way she would ever be able to compare.
“Good evening.”
The masculine rumble of Dean’s voice electrified Janie immediately, and she turned around to greet Dean, who looked tired, almost haggard.
“Are you all right?” she asked, frowning. “You don’t look like you feel very well.”
“It’s just been a long day,” Dean said, avoiding her gaze. “Come now. Let’s grab dinner before we meet up with those hooligans.”
Janie laughed but shook her head. “They’re not hooligans. They’re kids with nothing to lose who need something to look forward to. Let’s try to give them a chance, all right?”
Dean’s eyes were suddenly fixed on her, intense and dark, and Janie shifted under their scrutiny. He walked to the limousine and opened one of the doors for Janie to enter. She smiled gratefully at him before he joined her on the other side of the limo, let in by the chauffer. It was all very elegant, and Janie took in the experience in awe. There was a bucket of ice and champagne between them, but neither made any effort to break it out as the driver settled into his seat and began his trek beyond the limits of Stonybrooke and toward the city.
“I thought I would treat you to a five-star experience,” Dean said. “There aren’t many places in the world I love to eat, and you’ve already been to one of them. So I thought I’d take you to the other.”
“But they’re both so close to home,” Janie said, a little bit puzzled by the fact. Still, it was amusing, and Dean nodded.
“I am loyal to this place, for whatever reason. It’s where I’ve laid my roots and hope to stay for the rest of my life. There’s no reason why not.”
“Agreed,” Janie said.
They were quiet for a moment before Dean finally turned to her, his voice lowered.
“I’m sorry about last night. I shouldn’t have done that. I’ve got to admit, I’m in kind of a vulnerable place right now. The divorce has left me with a lot of things to deal with, and I guess, somehow, you make me feel…I just really love to be around you. And I don’t know why. But I shouldn’t have allowed that to interfere with our working relationship.”
Janie blushed. In a way, she had hoped he might try again, because after he left, all she could think about was feeling his hands roaming her body and succumbing to the power of his touch. It had been a long, sleepless night, haunted by possibilities and the memories of Dean’s body. But she had to control herself.
“I forgive you,” she said carefully, trying to figure out what to say to him. She had been burning to talk to him about their relationship; to maybe find some peace in the chaotic physical and emotional entanglement they were beginning to share. But if he was going to stick with an apology then there was no reason she should make herself vulnerable by talking too much about what she had wanted to do with him.
“It was harsh of me to accuse you of sleeping with your other interns. That wasn’t very professional. I can tell that things have been difficult for you lately…because of the divorce and all…and maybe it was a sore spot that I shouldn’t have ventured into.”
To Janie’s surprise, Dean laughed.
“How are you supposed to know what I do in my spare time? Of course it would make sense for you to come to that conclusion. I’m honestly shocked at myself for my lack of restraint. And I want to assure you that it will never happen again.”
Janie opened her mouth to respond, but closed it again. It would never happen again? That was an oddly disappointing thing to say. What if she wanted it to happen? Maybe under different circumstances…like if they weren’t working together, perhaps. But she was exactly where she wanted to be, professionally anyway, and it was better to stick to the plan. Nothing could get in her way if she did that.
They finally pulled into the parking lot for the restaurant and Dean smiled at her.
“Let’s get in there,” Dean said, his eyes sparkling. “I’m starving.”
Janie’s heart thudded hard in her chest. It was going to be difficult to stop having feelings for Dean. That much was certain. But she was just going to have to try. After all, her career was at stake.
***
“Welcome!”
As soon as they walked into the restaurant, Dean and Janie was ushered swiftly away to an upstairs dining hall surrounded by huge windows that looked out over the beautiful lights of the city. There were only a few tables, spaced far apart from each other, and in the center was a baby grand piano with a woman sitting at the keys, playing a soft, pleasant melody.
“This place is incredible,” Janie breathed.
“I’m glad you think so,” Dean said, but for some reason, he looked agitated. He kept looking over his shoulder and frowning.
“What’s the matter?” Janie finally asked, after he’d done it for the fifth time after they sat down at their table.
“I smell bear shifters,” Dean said quietly. “I mean, we’re in the city, so it’s probably not a big deal…it’s just…”
Before Dean could finish his sentence, a terrifying growl escaped his lips as a loud group ascended the stairs toward them and sat down at a table on the other side of the room.
“What is it?” Janie whispered. But Dean didn’t seem to hear her. His eyes were locked on the other table, and Janie ventured a peek of her own. When she did, she gasped. It was Kiera, sitting amid a group of huge, broad men with thick hair and beards. They were all in dark brown business suits and talking loudly amongst themselves. It took a few moments before Kiera managed to look across the restaurant and catch Dean’s eye.
“Well hello there, pet,” Kiera said, standing from her seat and striding across the room. “And who might this be?”
A trail of large bearded men followed Kiera on her trek across the restaurant, and soon, the whole table was surrounded by Kiera and her crew.
“That’s none of your concern,” Dean answered, his voice still deep and growling. It was a sound that gave Janie goosebumps.
“Actually, I think it is. I wouldn’t want her putting her grubby little paws on anything that is rightfully mine.”
“Nothing in my possession is rightfully yours,” Dean snarled. “Except my contempt.”
“Oh, ouch!” Kiera said, and the men surrounding the table all burst out laughing. Why was it that bullies were always the same? Was there safety in numbers or something? Janie couldn’t tell.
“Get the hell away from this table,” Dean warned.
Janie was terrified of what might happen if they didn’t do as he instructed. Although he was getting up there in years, Dean was certainly well-muscled and spry. She had experienced that for herself, and it was a memory that she was all too fond of. Still, the idea of a brawl right there in the five-star restaurant seemed intimidating.
“We’re not going anywhere,” the biggest of the men said. He was standing close to Kiera and draped a thick arm over her shoulder possessively. “We’re going to stay here and honor our woman.”
“Your…what?”
Dean’s eyes quickly turned from angry, to confused, to furious all in a matter of seconds.
“You heard him. She’s ours now. Finders keepers!”
“Yeah!”
“Get the hell out of here, man!”
“You heard them,” Kiera said, her eyes flashing maliciously. Janie had never hated anybody on first sight as much as she hated Kiera. It seemed like she didn’t have a nice bone in her body. “It’s probably better for you and your little friend here if you get lost. None of us are going to be able to eat in peace, you know. Somebody’s got to give.”
“Best get your asses moving then,” Dean said stubbornly. “Because we’re staying put. I’m not going to be scared off by some hairy group of rabble rousers and their whore.”
The group roared with anger and Dean jumped to his feet, snarling and baring his teeth at them all.
“Please, everybody just stop fighting,” Janie said, standing between Dean and the group of men. “It’s not going to solve-”
Suddenly, Janie was being pushed aside and she fell to the floor, smacking her head hard on the corner of one of the tables. She cried out in pain on impact and gripped the wound. It was bleeding pretty badly, and everybody froze in their places as if they could smell the blood.
“You should not have done that,” Dean said darkly, shifting into his wolf form and snarling menacingly. He lunged at the tallest of the bear shifters and tackled him to the ground before the man had a chance to change into his wolf form, nipping at the man’s face ferociously.
“Hey! No shifting in here! There are rules! This is a dining establishment!” a frantic waiter exclaimed suddenly, waving a dishtowel in the air as if that would be ammunition enough to break up the fight.
The men froze in place and began to snicker. Dean was the only one who had transformed into his wolf form. Everybody else still hadn’t had time to react.
“What happened to her?” the waiter exclaimed, gesturing wildly at Janie, who was sprawled out on the floor holding her head.
The men suddenly seemed released from the spell and all began to clamor at once.
“Enough, enough,” the waiter said. “Please, everybody just leave. We will forgive the offense this once, but if it happens again, you are all banned for life. Do you understand me?”
Dean flared his nostrils before shifting back into his human form. He scowled at Kiera across the room.
“You and that sorry group of misfits over there are going to regret what you’ve done. You hear me?”
“Mr. Resner, please! We’ve had enough of a scene here today. Now if you’ll please just get back into your limousine and come back once everybody has cooled off, I think that would be best.”
Dean said nothing, but picked Janie up and held her close to his chest before he strolled out of the restaurant without even bothering to dress himself. And how would he? The clothes he’d been wearing were in tatters on the floor. Who knew how he managed not to lose his wallet every time he got the urge to shapeshift?
“Are you all right?” Dean asked once he finally got Janie into the limo. He pulled out a pair of sweatpants from a small compartment she hadn’t noticed and slipped them on over his impressive body. She blushed.
All eyes had been on the world’s sexiest entrepreneur as he strolled carelessly out of the restaurant, naked and cradling her to his chest as if she were the most precious thing on earth. Her head was still bleeding, and Dean sighed heavily.
“I’ll be all right.”
“I don’t think we’ll be able to meet the team with you in this condition. Let me give them a call.”
Janie said nothing as Dean took out his cell phone and handed it to her. “I need you to put the number in if you know it.”
“Of course,” Janie said, closing her eyes to try to remember the phone number for the coach.
Finally, the line was ringing and she handed the phone over to Dean.
“Hi. This is Dean Resner. Yes. We were supposed to have a meeting today, but unfortunately, my colleague has been injured and we won’t be able to make it. But next week will be fine.”
Dean was quiet as the man on the other end of the line spoke. Finally, he took a deep breath and replied.
“I understand you’re disappointed, but the one thing kids like that need to understand more than anything else is that things, even though they don’t always go their way, are not worth giving up on. The good things are hardy and will make it through, and even when they don’t, they’re going to have to be. Because what comes of your life is up to you to decide, and if you make shitty choices that affect the rest of your life because you’re disappointed for about five seconds over something that turns out not to be so bad after all, then you’re the only one responsible for your fate. Now tell those kids I’ll be there next week, and if I’m not then you have my full permission to meet up with me in my office building. We can fly you in and everything.”
Janie listened in admiration as Dean quickly calmed the irate coach, who was trying to protect his kids from disappointment and heartbreak. But Dean seemed adamant on sending them a message of strength, even before meeting them, and Janie smiled. Whether he knew it or not, Dean was a great man. And she felt beyond honored to be with him in his limo, even if it meant her head hurt like hell.
***
Before long, the limo was pulling down a long, winding driveway that had been hidden by tall grass and thick, voluminous trees. The forest was so dense that it was almost impossible to see out the window, but Janie found it fascinating. She had grown up near beaches and palm trees. Being so suddenly immersed in a new type of forest, the wild kind, not the type cultivated and maintained around towns and city areas, was incredible.
“Thank you,” Dean said to the driver once the limo stopped. It took a few seconds for Janie to realize that this was where Dean lived, and he got out of the limo and offered his hand to her.
“I thought shifters didn’t thank people,” Janie said, getting out of the car slowly. She was still a bit dizzy from her wound, although Dean had quickly wetted a clean handkerchief and pressed it carefully against her forehead during the drive. Even though it hurt, the tenderness in his touch had left her feeling weak in a completely different way.
“We don’t thank people for doing things they want to do. But Joseph is my driver. He is doing this because it’s something he has to do to earn a living. I’m sure you know the difference.”
Janie was quiet, wondering to herself about the line of opening doors for customers to ensure further business versus opening the doors for an old friend. Maybe she would never understand the nuances of shifter culture.
The place was so thick with trees that it took Janie a few minutes before she realized that they were walking in the direction of a large house. It blended in perfectly with the trees, and it was the biggest place she had ever seen. It wasn’t like a typical mansion, the marble and polished kind that human billionaires liked to flaunt. It was a practical type of elegance that seemed to suit Dean and other shifters like him.
And it was private, that was the biggest thing. Nobody would have been able to find it on their own even if they had already been there once before. It was nice in a way, though it seemed lonely.
“Come in,” Dean said. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
Janie climbed several stone steps to a vast porch, and followed Dean through large double doors made of thick cedarwood. She paused in the foyer, her body trembling as a cold draft struck her from inside.
“I said come in,” Dean’s insistent voice called. The foyer alone was already bigger than the apartment she’d lived in during college. What would be in store for her next if she followed Dean’s voice?
She crept through the open archway and into an elegant little room, presented with only a long, spiraling staircase and two options; a doorway leading left and a doorway leading right.
“I’m in here,” Dean said. She heard him begin to rummage through cupboards and cursing quietly to himself as he sought something that was eluding him. Finally, he sighed in satisfaction, a disembodied sound that immediately brought her mind to the other types of satisfaction he might receive, and called impatiently to her to come inside.
When she finally went through the doorway on the left, she gasped in shock. It was an elegant dining room, with a huge kitchen through a door in the back, and a huge washroom to the left. Dean emerged, holding gauze, a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and antibiotic ointment, and sat Janie down promptly in one of the beautiful wooden chairs. They looked hand-carved.
“Now this might sting,” Dean said, pouring the alcohol onto a white cloth and pressing it against Janie’s wound. She flinched away but Dean held it adamantly.
“Who were those people?” Janie asked miserably.
Dean sighed heavily. “Bear shifters. Like the guys I told you about when you first moved here. Things are getting pretty bad with them. There’s even a ban on pregnancy for shifter women.”
“What? Why?”
A ban on pregnancy? That just sounded ridiculous.
“The bear shifters, long ago during the wars, used to strike against the wolves by destroying the new prodigy. To be safe, it’s been advised that women avoid pregnancy. The bear shifters are gaining more power than ever before, and the elders fear the worst. Terrible things happen to the women and the men who impregnate them once the bear shifters get a hold of a pregnant woman, and the man who comes to save her.”
Janie felt an inexplicable chill down her spine, but Dean smiled comfortingly at her. “It’s all right. You’re safe with me now.”
He finished dressing her wounds, his broad chest bare and tantalizing after being pressed so protectively against it.
“There,” Dean said with a handsome smile. “All set.”
Janie’s heart fluttered despite herself and she swallowed hard.
“Come, let’s go to the living room. It’s more comfortable there.”
“All right,” Janie agreed reluctantly.
It seemed strange to be in Dean’s home, and although it wasn’t flashy the same way most modern billionaires homes happened to be, it was still extravagant in its own way. She had never been so close to such valuable items before, and it frankly made her feel a little bit nervous.
Dean didn’t seem to notice her reserve, and brought her to a long, comfortable couch and gestured for her to sit down. She did, and he disappeared from the room, leaving her alone to take in her surroundings.
As dazzling as the brick fireplace was and the beautiful silver decorations on the frieze of the walls happened to be, still, the only thing on her mind was Dean’s rugged features; his handsome, capable body and the way he so easily lifted her in his arms and carried her away from danger. He had nearly gotten himself killed over her. Janie somehow doubted he would have done the same for any of his other interns.
When Dean returned, his dark gaze lingered on her and she felt drawn in by the longing she had been holding back for so long. Dean sat down beside her and offered her a cool glass of water.
“This seems familiar,” she said with a small laugh. She had done the same for him not long ago.
“Are you all right?” Dean asked. He wasn’t in the mood to joke. He was worried about her.
“Yes, I’m fine, thank you,” Janie said, a blush creeping across he cheeks. It seemed so strange for him to have someone who cared so deeply for her well-being.
“I’m sorry that this happened to you,” Dean said with a heavy sigh. “It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have listened to the stupid wolf…”
“What?”
Dean smiled sadly and shook his head. “I lost my temper. It shouldn’t have happened. And I could have just taken you to any other restaurant…”
“Do you always do this?” Janie asked, raising an eyebrow at Dean. “It’s not very productive. I don’t know how you would get anything done in that case.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Dean said with a frown.
“I mean if you always look for reasons to blame yourself for everything, then you’re never going to get anywhere good. At least not in your own headspace, which is probably the most important place to be all right. Don’t you think?”
Dean considered this and then a broad smile spread across his face.
“I think that makes sense,” he said. “How did you get so wise?”
“I don’t think it’s wisdom so much as common sense,” Janie said softly, looking away from Dean. If she had any common sense she would get the hell out of there before she did something she was going to regret. Her self-control was waning.
“Oh?” Dean said, his mysterious eyes boring into hers. She felt heat rising to her face and nodded. He was coming closer to her, the thought on his mind clear to them both. The fire inside of her blazed instantly and she swallowed hard before answering.
“Yes.”
She had to leave. One false move and she would be past the point of no return. She could lose her job. All of her plans…everything she’d worked so hard for would be for nothing.
But when Dean’s lips found hers again, all of her attempts to resist melted away. She wanted him, more than she had ever wanted anything else in her life. He seemed to sense and reciprocate it, and their bodies were soon caught in a blissful rhythm that sent shivers of pleasure through every nerve in her body.
Janie closed her eyes and gripped Dean’s bare shoulders as he devoured her sensually, refusing to hold back as he showered her with kisses and touches that left fire in their wake.
Every sense in her body was awakened by the delicious torment of Dean’s hands and mouth, and soon, he was standing, leading her by the mouth to a deeper, darker area of the house, until she was lifted and set onto a low bed. Dean pushed her legs apart and she cried out in pleasure when she felt the suggestion of his cock, hard and urgent, against her middle.
It was all Dean needed to strip her of her clothing, and she sat on the bed, breathless and naked as Dean hovered over her, his eyes flashing with need.
“I’ve wanted this for a long time,” Dean whispered.
Janie lost herself in pleasure as Dean buried his face into her breasts. So had she.