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Twenty Seven
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ALPHA'S CLAIM Twenty Eight
The total lack of recrimination was a balm to his wolf’s scarred soul. Onyx wanted nothing more than to take her mouth, but he forced himself to resist. Needing some sort of contact, he leaned his forehead against hers and traced her cheekbone with the tip of his finger. “See, you deserve better. But I’m going nowhere. I know that makes me selfish. I know another male shifter might have walked away. But I can’t do that, Tasha. I tried it once—it didn’t work. Don’t you get it yet? My life’s worth shit without you in it.” She did her best to ignore his words, to not let them worm their way inside her—she really, really did—but they crept into that lonely spot she had, warming it. The possessiveness in his eyes melted her wolf. As he rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip, Tasha almost shuddered. Having him invade her personal space like this, touching her, should have annoyed her, but it was instead arousing her. Her nipples were hard, and her clit was ti
ALPHA'S CLAIM Twenty Nine
When she woke, it was to find that it was dark and that Onyx was sitting on the sofa with her feet resting on his lap, watching the TV on a low volume. He must have sensed she had woken, because his eyes moved to hers. “Hey, baby. Feel any better?” She did, actually. The cramps had gone, and the edginess had eased. She nodded. “Good. Just so you know, your juicer is now fixed, the kitchen tap is no longer leaking, and your dinner’s in the oven, waiting.” Did he have to be so nice to her? “I noticed the faulty boiler, too. Your landlord will need to take care of it. I don’t want you having cold showers.” Ha. Her landlord didn’t address any problems. He’d say, “Oh, I’m starting to think I may have to sell the house, I can’t afford to keep repairing it,” which was, of course, an indirect threat—if she didn’t deal with the problems herself, she’d be out of a home very soon. “I’ll call him tomorrow,” she said cas
ALPHA'S CLAIM Thirty
After three weeks of Onyx doing his best to immerse himself in her life, Tasha was about ready to cry…because it was working. To her dismay, he was utterly consistent in everything he said and did. Each morning, he would be waiting at his car with a coffee and an offer of a ride, which she had given up on refusing. Each day at work, a gift and a text message would arrive that brought a smile to her face and made her want to laugh. Every lunch hour, he came to take her to lunch wherever she wanted to go. At the end of each day, he was there to collect her from work with a meal he’d cooked for her. And every Sunday, he helped her with grocery shopping and offered to do any jobs around the house. Although he touched her often and teased her with the things he’d like to do to her, he never pushed for more, never took advantage of the arousal that was coming close to ruling her body. That same arousal was responsible for the dream
ALPHA'S CLAIM Thirty One
Groaning inwardly, Shaya shot her a sweet smile. “Nothing.”“I have to say, I’m surprised he’s interested in you. I mean, I look at him…and then I look at you…and it just doesn’t make sense.”“Paisley,” cautioned Kent.“I’m not being insulting.” For once, it seemed that Paisley wasn’t being intentionally offensive. She appeared genuinely confused. “He’s clearly a very dominant guy—I’d be surprised if he doesn’t enjoy the D/s lifestyle. Someone like you, Shaya, well…I just can’t see you being able to cope with Nick as he is. You’re like the watered-down version of what he’d want—too testy and defiant, not to mention inexperienced. You…you’d be better with a guy who’s practical, sensible, sensitive, and gentle and all that stuff. Maybe a librarian or someone like that.”“A librarian?”“You know…someone safe and timid.” Paisley shrugged. “Now Nick, well, he’s far from that. I can’t imagine that you have experience with guys like him. And you might be sort of pretty, and you may
ALPHA'S CLAIM Thirty Two
When Danna returned to the reception desk to answer the phone, Jean said, “Well, if you’re set on going on this date, you can at least tell me about him.” “His name’s Jackson. He’s a web designer.” “Sounds boring.” “All you’ve heard is his name and occupation.” “Exactly. Already he sounds boring. Now, if he was a tall, ash-blond alpha male with an inner wolf—” “Jean,” she groaned. “Fine. So where are you going on this date?” “We’re going to the Moroccan restaurant near your place.” One of his brows lifted. “Oooh, maybe I’ll pop in then.” “No. You’ll grill him like he’s being interrogated for a murder charge.” “Yes, for your own good. For all you know, he could be a murderer. An ax murderer, even. There could be bodies hidden under his patio.”She growled, “You’re a pain in my ass.” She continued to be a pain in her ass all day—dedicated it to poking fun at a guy she hadn’t
ALPHA'S CLAIM Thirty three
Again Tasha had to resist the urge to fiddle with her new violet-black skirt. It had been one of those love-at-first-sight purchases. She loved how the outer edges, running from her hips to just over mid-thigh, looked to be laced up—as if just a tug would have the whole thing on the floor. She also loved the feel of the black silk underskirt against her skin. Shame it hadn’t had some kind of warning label to alert her to the fact that whenever she sat down it was going to creep up her thighs. She smiled at Jackson as he poured more wine into her glass. The guy had been okay so far. The date, as a whole, had been okay so far too. Therein lay the problem: it was “okay.” There was no sexual tension, though he had given her compliments that indicated he would happily take over for her vibrator. There was no teasing between them or banter. He seemed to be too nervous to joke. She had to give him credit where it was due, however—he was doing a fan
ALPHA'S CLAIM Thirty Four
“Hello, Tasha,” rumbled Onyx, though he didn’t look at her. He only had eyes for the nervous male opposite him. Despite the dark emotions circulating through Onyx , his voice was surprisingly even. He couldn’t believe that she’d done this. He’d thought he was making progress, thought she was coming to accept his part in her life. And he’d hoped to God that meant she’d soon let him in—even if it was only slightly. He was fine with letting things move at her pace, despite how much it was killing him not to claim her. But he wasn’t fine with her dating other guys. And if she’d thought differently, she didn’t know him at all. Tasha chanced a look at Onyx’s flawless face, and it verified what his stiff posture hinted at. He was boiling with anger. As he met her gaze, his eyes warned her not to challenge him. Her wolf shrank away—not out of fear, but because she had no intention of taking any blame here; her wolf hadn’t liked being around the ot
ALPHA'S CLAIM Thirty Five
Not sure if it was a good idea for them to be alone together right now, Tasha cautiously began, “Onyx—” But he wasn’t listening. He cupped her elbow, gently pulling her to her feet as he rose to his. His eyes were locked on her like a predator watching its prey that it suspected was about to flee…which wasn’t far from the truth. A part of her was thrilled about the effect this had had on him—it showed that he cared, that he considered her to be as important to him as she needed to feel that she was, that it wasn’t just all a “mine” thing and there was more to his actions than a sense of ownership. But a part of her was nervous as hell. Not that she thought he would harm her. No, never that. Still, the guy could be unnerving at the best of the times. Now, it was bad. With his hand caging her wrist, he guided her at a brisk pace out of the restaurant and into the Mercedes. Bracing herself for a typical dominant male explosion, T
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