Shifter In Ascent (Louisiana Shifters) (12 page)

Tessa envisioned dating Declan for a moment. He was easy to be around, and nice. A girl could do a lot worse.
You’ll probably like Declan,
Jace had said.
If everyone in the pack was this attractive, no wonder Jace had warned her to stay at the house. Tessa wasn’t sure what would happen if all these sweaty, muscular Shifters started fighting to court her, but she would almost surely like it. The only thing that would make it better was Jace making an appearance, showing off his toned abs and shoulders. And that incredible butt…
Tessa’s thoughts turned sour, and the smile vanished from her face. Jace was the last person she ought to be thinking about right now.
“All right there, Tess?” Declan asked, his eyes suddenly on her. Tessa tucked a wild strand of hair behind her ear and nodded.
“Just thinking.”
“Right then. How’s about a drink?” he asked, rising to open the cooler Jesse had left on the table.
“It’s like… one in the afternoon,” Tessa said.
“Precisely!” Declan replied, “So will that be beer or something harder?”
Tessa couldn’t help but laugh.
“Surprise me,” she said.
“Ah, the magic words. I do believe we’ll be fast friends, my dear.”
Jesse poured her a plastic cup of something clear and strong-smelling, then settled in next to her on the bench.
“BALL!” screamed the referee from the field.
Declan and Tessa both ducked as a soccer ball whizzed past them with astounding speed. Tessa looked at Declan and they both burst into laughter, and then clinked their plastic cups together.
A girl could really get used to this
, she thought.

Jace stared Maddie down as if he could will her to stop being suspicious of his unannounced arrival and close-mouthed answers to any questions about what happened to be going on with him. Maddie tossed her long, deep-brown mane with a sigh and readjusted herself on her front porch swing, folding up her long legs to get comfortable. Her violet-blue eyes narrowed.

“Are you SURE there’s not a game today? I could have sworn there was one,” Maddie asked, distrustful.
“They’re redoing the field. You know how much Shaw loves that damned field,” Jace replied nonchalantly.
“He really does. That man needs to get laid,” Maddie said, standing up and stretching.
“Well, thanks for coming out and visiting your old maid of a sister, J.”
“See, when you say things like that, Madd, I begin to suspect that you’re up to something.”
“Me? Well, I might have a plan or two for tonight. Nothing too wild,” she said with a huge grin.
“Wild is a relative term for you.”
“Yeah. Thank god,” Maddie said mischievously.
“Are you leaving the Den?”
“A girl has to get out and socialize from time to time. Don’t start in about my safety again. I can bench press my own body weight.”
“Why can’t you just date within the pack?”
“Please. Like any of your BFFs in the pack are gonna try to take your little sister out. They all look at me like I’m a time bomb. Besides, I like a little adventure.”
“Who are you going out with?”
“
Who are you going out with? What time will you be home?
” Maddie mimicked.
“Fine,” Jace said as he rose from the swing, “I’m off. I have a lot of things to take care of this weekend, so I might not be around much. Just call me if you need anything.”
Maddie’s face softened a bit, and she gave Jace a quick hug.
“You don’t have to be my mom and my dad anymore, J. I’m a grownup. But thanks.”
Maddie turned and vanished inside the house, leaving Jace alone on the porch. Maddie wasn’t very into expressing emotions, so it was to be expected. It ran in the family, Jace thought.
Jace headed back toward the Den, intending to stop in and get the latest news before heading back to his house… and his houseguest. Refusing to think of Tessa and the fact that she could be walking around his house naked, or maybe doing dirty things in the shower, Jace steeled himself and thought about his sister instead.
Maddie wasn’t perfect, but she could have turned out a lot worse considering the circumstances.
Jace and Maddie’s family was originally part of the Atlanta wolf pack. Before Jace and Maddie had moved, the pack had been outed to a human extremist group just crazy enough to go after a group of people who might or might not be werewolves.
The humans came in the middle of the night, and they didn’t leave until the morning sun lit upon the smoking remains of the Atlanta pack’s Den. Bodies of all sizes littered the ground, children and their parents felled together.
Jace and Maddie had survived the massacre by slipping into their storm cellar. If the door hadn’t been well concealed and the stairway hadn’t led into a packed-earth room…
Too often Jace found himself back there, listening to gunfire and screams. Crouching over Maddie protectively and praying that his parents would come back and bring them to safety.
No one ever came, of course.
Jace sighed, pushing the thoughts away. Better to think of anything but that. Even Tessa, who was nothing but trouble with her knowing eyes and that ass he couldn’t stop checking out every chance he got.
Jace came up behind the mess hall, intending to stop for a moment and see if there’d been any sightings of Jasper or his stooges. He heard the boom of Rhett’s laugh, and the garble of excited voices. Following the sounds, he headed for the patio to the side of the dining area. Shifters were crowded around a few picnic tables, talking animatedly about the game Jace had missed.
He spotted Rhett’s lumbering form just as he was moving aside, and then Jace could see what the group was gathered around. Or who, rather.
Sitting right in the middle of all the wolves, positioned as if she were the Queen speaking to her court, was Tessa. She was perched on the end of one of the tables, with Declan to one side and Cord to the other. Every male in the pack was staring at her, enraptured. Even Kat seemed to and Cord to the other. Every male in the pack was staring at her, enraptured. Even Kat seemed to

Tessa was wearing an obscenely short skirt that showed her smooth legs to full advantage, and a tight shirt that begged you to stare at her full breasts. When she laughed and leaned forward a bit, Jace got a glimpse of creamy cleavage. Tessa’s giggle washed over him. She was drunk. She’d been at the game, and one of these bastards had gotten her drunk. Jace could smell the moonshine coming off her.

Jace’s vision started going red, and he barreled into the circle of Tessa’s admirers. Tessa looked up at him, and gave a startled smile.
“Jace!” she said, affecting a light tone, “we were all wondering where you were! Look, I

Tessa laughed and everyone else joined her. Jace didn’t laugh, and he didn’t miss Declan placing a possessive hand on Tessa’s bare thigh. Red washed over his vision again. Let them laugh when he turned Tessa over his knee and smacked her ass so hard she couldn’t sit for days. Or maybe he’d just detach Declan’s hand. With his teeth.

Jace’s eyes went to Tessa, who had paled and lost her teasing expression. She bit her lip, uncertain.
“Jace, cool off,” Rhett’s voice thundered in his ear.
Jace struggled for another moment, and then stopped pushing against the hands that held him back. He raised his hands over his head in defeat.
“I’m fine. You can let go.”
Shaw pushed in close and looked Jace in the eye for a long moment, then nodded.
“Let him go.”
Rhett and the others released Jace, who crossed his arms and glowered.
“All right, folks. I do believe dinner is served. Winners to the front of the line!” Shaw announced.
There was a half-hearted cheer, and the crowd broke up as the Shifters headed inside to eat. As the others drifted away, Rhett and Shaw stayed between Jace and Tessa. Declan stayed sitting next to Tessa, but had taken his hand off her leg.
Shaw looked at Jace, then at Tessa.
“Are we going to have a problem here, Copeland?” asked the Alpha, spitting Jace’s last name out like something bitter. Jace took a deep breath, and lowered his gaze slightly to show Shaw the proper respect.
“No. We’re fine,” Jace said solemnly.
“And Miss Tessa?” Shaw asked.
“No, no problem,” she said, giving Shaw and Rhett a big saccharine smile.
“O’Riley. With me,” Shaw barked at Declan. Declan stood stiffly, giving Tessa a long look before following his Alpha to the mess hall.
Rhett gave Jace a look, and shrugged.
“Call me later,” he suggested to Jace. Then he too turned and headed toward the wafting scent of steak.
Jace didn’t move for a long minute, trying to calm himself down. He kept seeing Declan touching Tessa. He couldn’t stop imagining that she liked it. Her sweet, clean scent was heavy in the air, which meant Declan and the others had been drowning in it. They’d all been looking at her body and imagining what they would do to it.
Just as Jace was doing now, even though he was infuriated.
“O-kay. I’m starving,” Tessa said, that falsely sweet smile pasted on her face again. She pushed off the table and brushed herself off, then turned to head to the dining hall.
Jace was on her in a flash, pinning her arms loosely behind her back. He felt Tessa’s sharp gasp as he leaned down to whisper in her ear, rubbing his face in her scent as he did so.
“We have other plans,” he rumbled, barely restraining himself from pushing her back onto the picnic table and freeing himself to take her right there, in front of the whole pack.
“We do?” Tessa breathed, firmly ensnared in his embrace.
Jace dropped her left hand abruptly and turned, pulling her along by the right.
“We do.”
“What, um- what are our plans exactly?” Tessa asked.
“We’re going back to the house. You will stay in the house, and I will keep you safe,” Jace growled.
“I was thinking-“
“No.”
“But-“
Jace stopped and turned to face Tessa, pulling her close.
“Do you want to have this discussion here?”
“I just-“
“You don’t. Trust me.”
With that, Jace turned and dropped Tessa’s hand. He took up a near-jogging pace on his way back to the house, making Tessa work to keep up with him.
When they reached the house, Jace slammed the door open and headed straight for the fridge. He stood with the fridge door open and cracked open the beer, taking a long pull from the bottle. He stood like that until he’d finished the beer a minute later, ignoring Tessa’s coming in the house and alighting on the couch.
Shit, he was mad. Jace drank another beer as quickly as the first, and then opened a third. He savored the crisp bubbles, and tried to calm down. Three was the optimal number of beers, because it would take the edge off without dulling his inhibitions. He needed all the stiff upper lip he could get tonight.
Finally he closed the fridge and turned around, looking at Tessa for a brief second before closing his eyes and pressing the cold beer to his forehead.
“Can I have one of those?” Tessa ventured. She didn’t slur her words, but she didn’t enunciate as clearly as normal either.
“I think someone already gave you plenty to drink. Let me guess, my
mate
Declan?” Jace spat.
“Well, he had this homemade stuff and Kat gave me some lemonade to mix it with. She has a bad rep, you know,” Tessa said, all seriousness.
“Kat? No, Kat is a stone cold bitch. You must have entertained her or something, otherwise she would have scratched out your eyes. She hates other females,” Jace countered.
“We have plans to go shopping together. I think. I don’t know, she was pretty tanked. Anyway,” Tessa rambled, “Everyone was so nice. I got along with everyone. Especially Declan,” she said, her mouth twisting wryly.
“YOU,” Jace said, setting his beer on the kitchen island and advancing toward Tessa’s spot on the couch.
“I didn’t know I could feel the pull with more than just you. I felt like this line was coming out of my chest and drawing me to certain people like a magnet. They must feel it too. Declan, Cord, even Shaw. Not, Rhett, though. You have a loyal friend there,” she taunted.
“You felt the pull? Declan?” Jace demanded, though his question didn’t even make sense.
“And Cord. Cord is lovely, isn’t he? Got that Jack Johnson vibe-“
Jace cut her off with a low growl, falling to his knees next to the couch and grabbing Tessa by the shoulders.
“You. Will. Not. Talk. About. Him. In. My. House.”
Jace could smell a bright note of anxiety in Tessa’s scent, which lay heavy on his skin. Good. Let her understand.
He leaned in close, sinking her back into the deep leather seat of the couch. He brushed his nose along the curve from her collarbone to just behind her ear, and she shivered.
“Jace?”
He inhaled deeply, and then exhaled gently into her ear. His hands slid to her waist and gripped her firmly.
“Yes, Tessa?” he asked.
Jace nipped her ear lightly and she gave a half moan. Instantly Jace was thinking about last night, imagining watching her hand slip down into her panties. Imagining her mouth opening with one of her little breathy gasps as her fingers probed, and then found the right spot. Imagining pushing her hand away and exploring for himself, touching and licking her wetness.
Jace couldn’t help tilting her chin up, tempting her to instigate something more. She looked up at him with heavily-lidded eyes for a few beats, and then stood on tiptoe to brush a soft kiss against his mouth. His lips searched for the rhythm of hers, and quickly found it. He nipped and licked at her bottom lip until she opened her mouth, and then thrust his tongue deep in her mouth. His kiss demanded submission, and he fed his anger and jealousy into her mouth. Let her feel him, let her feel his anger and frustration.
Her mouth was soft and sweet, and after a moment she responded to his kiss in kind. She nipped his lip and gave a soft moan into his mouth as he punished her with his tongue.
Jace slid a hand up to cup her breast, and Tessa nipped him again. Taking that as encouragement, Jace slid his hand along the outside of her cool thigh. His other hand moved up to grasp the nape of her neck, and he pulled her off the couch.
Tessa slid down to straddle him. She fit against him perfectly, her heat pressing against his cock. Even through his jeans, he imagined he could feel her dampness.
Jace grabbed her hips and rolled her against his hardness. He thrust slowly at the same time, eliciting a squeak from Tessa when he rubbed the right spot.
Taking her mouth again, Jace let her mimic his thrust tentatively and then with more vigor. Tessa was all over him, her scent invading him. He needed to be inside her, needed to feel her innermost muscles clench as she came around his cock.
Tessa moaned impatiently into his mouth, driving Jace mad. He broke the kiss and lifted her up to flip her around. She would have him like a wolf. He needed to feel her wetness, and mark her as his own.
“Yes,” she whispered, pulling the miniskirt up and exposing a tiny white cotton thong. He only glimpsed the roundness of her ass for a second before she was pressing back against him, running that tiny strip of fabric against Jace’s cock. Too much fabric.
Jace unzipped and freed his erection, grasping it to push inside her. Images of what he Jace unzipped and freed his erection, grasping it to push inside her. Images of what he