“Hi, sweetheart.” James glanced down at her from his place on the ladder. He was wearing overalls and had a roller in his hand, painting their bedroom ceiling. The top was hanging from his waist, and she bet that if he wiggled a little they would fall off. How convenient that would be! God, he was gorgeous up there all stretched out and glistening with sweat. They still had not made love, and Jess wanted to, badly. He insisted, though, that he wanted to wait to mark her until they could do it properly in their bed and in their new house. Jess picked up a roller and rolled it through the dusky-pink paint. It was lighter than the couch, but she decided that it would look nice. Her mother would be pleased with James’s color choice. The sooner this room was finished, the sooner she would get what she wanted. Jess started on a wall that was almost done. She didn’t see the point in waiting. The way Jess figured, they could be having sex right now. She didn’t care if the paint was on all of the walls.

***

James scented her arousal and rolled the paint faster. They needed to finish, and it would have to be soon, because the other wolves were getting more difficult to hold off, and now that he’d met her mother, he knew why. Jess was part wolf. He’d told her that he also didn’t want to take the chance of her suddenly changing in an apartment. His wolf was a nut case, though. Wolves are biologically engineered to mate as soon as a mate is found, but she was human.

Humans are sentimental and they don’t follow the same rules. He wanted everything to be perfect and he would never give her a reason to leave. Humans also left their mates sometimes, a lot of the time. Wolves were more inclined not to. Not that it never happened, but rejection was less common in his world. Jess would have everything a human woman could want, hearts and flowers. If that meant controlling himself, so be it. His wolf was going to have to be patient. “Soon, sweetheart.”

“Huh?” Jess turned around from the pink wall she’d just finished.

“I can smell your arousal. Soon.” He smiled at her flushed cheeks.

She loved those dimples. He was so flipping sexy.

“Soon.”

Jess grinned.

“Open the windows wider for me?”

She nodded and began raising them. The last thing that he needed was her arousal attracting the others.

“Sorry, I can’t help it.”

He smiled and went back to painting the ceiling.

“Hey, Cap, you need help?” Freddy asked from the doorway. Freddy was unmated, but as soon as he could get permission from her father, he and Charlie would mate. He was also smitten, so James felt that Jess was pretty safe with Freddy.

“Sure, grab a brush,” James said without looking down. Freddy whistled suddenly and four more men came into the room in work clothes.

Jess recognized Mark, David, and Duane. Mark and Duane were there when she came by the day after James got out of the hospital. She nodded at David, who nodded respectfully back at her.

James watched the interaction. He knew that David was attracted to her, but he was sure he was safe from any problems there. Jess didn’t seem interested in him. Good.

“That’s Austin. Austin, this is Jess.” James watched them all carefully. Of course they scented what he did, but they remained politely distanced and kept their eyes on their work.

“Ma’am.” Austin nodded and picked up a roller.

“Can you cook?” Freddy asked Jess.

She teeter-tottered her hand at him.

“What can you make?”

“I, um, can make a decent pot roast.”

Freddy’s eyes lit up, and she grinned. “Meatloaf, lasagna…”

He took the roller from her hand and rolled it in the pink paint.

“Um, I grill okay. I can roast a chicken, but I’m not really good at the fancy stuff like French food or anything. I do better at comfort food, I think.”

“Good, ’cause I like to eat, and I like to be comfortable. How are you at mac and cheese? Oh, and fried chicken?”

Jess grinned.

“I love me some fried chicken.”

“My favorites, and I’m awesome at them.” Jess was happy that they seemed to like her and she would be happy to feed them. It wasn’t often that she had the opportunity to cook since it was just her, but she knew how. She liked to watch cooking shows and she liked to experiment, but she never had anyone to try recipes on. Now she would.

“Good, let’s get this end of the house done so my new chef can move in and get cooking,” Freddy called to the rest of them.

Jess wandered out of the bedroom since there wasn’t a brush or roller to be had now. She found a man she hadn’t seen before squatted at an outlet. He was rewiring and replacing the old one.

“Hi,” Jess said.

“Hi.”

She nodded.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Alex. I work with the cap.” He screwed the tiny screws into the wall.

“Oh, you’re a policeman?” Jess stepped out of his way when he moved to the next outlet.

“Most of us are, except Dave. He’s a mechanic.”

She nodded.

“You went out with him once huh?”

She nodded again. No sense denying it. He probably knew more about her than she did. Number one, they were cops, number two, James had stalked her for six months, and she was sure that he had his pack helping him.

He was the Alpha of this bunch, and the captain, so he was in charge here and at work. That turned her on more than a little. She didn’t so much like the fact that James was a police officer, but she did like that he was an in-charge kind of guy. It meant she wouldn’t have to make all of the decisions. One of her boyfriends years ago could never make a decision. They spent most of their time together saying, “What do you want to do?” or, “What do you want to eat?” and, “Where do you want to go?” Gah! She broke up with him because he never had a plan or an original idea. She didn’t have to worry about that with James. He had a plan, a backup plan, and a bunch of ideas to go with them, not to mention a million meticulous details. The nicest part of it was that he was always considerate of what she wanted and felt. It seemed like he was always thinking of her, and she really liked that.

Alex finished another outlet.

“You’re good at that. You should’ve been an electrician.” Jess watched his hands move expertly over the wires and tools.

“Nah. All of the power is off in here. If I were an electrician, I would have to deal with live power sometimes, and that’s some scary shi…uh, stuff.”

Jess laughed at his flushed cheeks. “I’ve heard that word before, it’s okay, and I’m not offended. You guys don’t need to be on your toes around me. We are all going to have to live together and we should all be comfortable.” Jess smiled. “And while that doesn’t mean that anyone should run around in the buff, I have no objections to language of any kind.”

“Cool.” Alex smiled at her.

***

“What’s going on in here?” James came over and wrapped his arms around Jess, then kissed her cheek.

“Alex is updating all of our outlets and learning how to cuss.”

James grinned.

“Is the bedroom done?”

“Just about. They’re doing this room next so we can move in tomorrow.”

“Why not tonight?” Jess tried not to whine. She really wanted to get on with it already.

“Because I don’t want us breathing paint fumes. Soon, sweetheart.” He murmured the last part against her ear softly.

She trembled, and James kissed the hollow beneath her ear. “Why don’t you go wash your hands and we’ll go out to dinner, okay?” he suggested, not liking the scent or the vibe he was getting from Alex.

Jess nodded and let him kiss her cheek once more before leaving.

“Why isn’t she marked?” Alex was up and in James’s face as soon as Jess was out of sight. “You know how we all feel about her, but you have her here in our faces.”

James calmly removed Alex’s finger from his face. “Mine,” James said evenly, and stepped forward, showing no fear to his larger subordinate.

Alex backed up a step. The rest of the pack was watching from the bedroom door. James growled low in his throat. Alex backed up another step.

“She will be marked when I am ready to mark her, and if that takes ten years, she is still mine.” James took another step forward and Alex another one back until he was against the wall.

“It is at my discretion, like all things in this pack. Are we clear?” James’s voice never rose, his eyes never blinked, and he never wavered. “Alex?”

Alex tipped his head back to show James his throat, then hung his head in submission. James wrapped his arms around him in a bear hug, then patted his back like a brother. “It will be done tomorrow. I promise. I do not wish to cause any of you any pain or anxiety, but it will be on my terms. Understand?”

They all nodded and disappeared back inside the room they were painting.

“The living room is white,” he called over his shoulder, going the same way Jess had gone. She was on her way back, and she nearly ran into him.

“Hi sweetheart.” He turned her around and marched her back toward the kitchen. “I feel like steak, what do you think?”

Jess’s eyes lit up.

“Yes?”

“Please, I’m starved,” she said.

“I told you we shouldn’t skip lunch,” he growled, and she giggled.

She was beginning to love that sound. It sent shivers through her in a very good way. “I was hoping we would finish the bedroom in time to use it tonight,” she pouted, and James grinned. “Aren’t you anxious?” Her eyes traveled the length of his body.

“Of course, but I only get one opportunity to get it right on the first try and I want to get it right. It will set the stage for the rest of our lives.”

“We have plenty of time to practice and to make up for the first time if it’s not perfect.”

James sighed.

“Oh fine, but I think it’s bothering the rest of your pack. I heard you and Alex. Was he one of the wolves that wanted to…”

“Yes, and he still does. You aren’t marked, so technically you are up for grabs. The only thing holding them back is the fact that I am the Alpha. If you were Alex’s girlfriend, he would’ve marked you before bringing you here. The last thing he would want would be competition from the rest of us. It’s why Mark doesn’t bring Robbi or Bobbi or whatever her name is here. He’s been after her for months, but we’ve never met her.”

They were in James’s bedroom now, and he was pulling out fresh clothes. “And we don’t have the rest of our lives to get it right, Jess. I will only mark you once.”

She nibbled her lip. He was right. Of course. He shucked his overalls, and Jess gasped.

“What?” James looked around the room quickly for what had frightened her.

“That scar.” She pointed to the back of his leg. “Did a wolf do that?” she whispered, horrified.

James turned to look at it in the mirror and grinned. “Nope, that was a shark. I was snorkeling off the coast of Texas in the Gulf and the hungry little bastard came up and tried to eat my thigh like a chicken. He couldn’t have been more than four feet long. He was just a young little sucker, but man, did he have some sharp teeth.” James chuckled. “I knew I would live, but damn did it hurt at the time, and the salt water set the scar. I don’t even think about it anymore. If I weren’t wolf, this would be a really nasty scar; I may have even lost my leg.”

Jess grimaced, and James chuckled.

“What? Would a one-legged man not stand a chance with you?” He raised an eyebrow.

Jess walked to him and wrapped her arms around him. He was so gorgeous. Wide, strong shoulders set above a heavily muscled chest that tapered into a trim waist. His legs were long and powerful, nicely dusted with crisp dark hair. She sighed. She wanted him.

“It’s not your leg that I’m really interested in.” She kissed him softly. “Well, I am but it’s not all that I’m interested in.”

“Oh yeah?” His voice grew husky.

She shook her head. Jess let her hand trail down his strong shoulder and over his chest and belly, still dropping lower. James caught it and brought it to his mouth then kissed her palm tenderly while gazing into her eyes.

“Tomorrow, sweetheart.”

Jess pouted, and he kissed her lips then went back to dressing. Jess did her best not to sulk, but she was so frustrated that it was proving difficult not to lose it completely.