Lorenzo sat to my left with his right elbow propped on one of the steps. With his left hand, he tenderly caressed my cheek, then my neck, and suddenly his fingers were traveling much, much lower. Over the curve of my breast, down the slope of my flat stomach, and then he brazenly cupped his warm hand between my legs.
“Nothing is more damaging to my willpower than seeing a woman in her prime. This’ll be your first time in heat, won’t it?”
All I could feel was the warmth from his hand, and my body quivered from his touch. Sparks shot through me and I closed my eyes, listening to the sound of his hypnotic words. The inflection in his voice had power and reminded me of how Austin spoke. It made the wolf inside me want to submit.
Over my sweatpants, his thumb slowly began to stroke in tight, small circles. I arched my back in response, unable to control the effect Lorenzo had on my body. The craving was beyond what I’d ever experienced before, and all he was doing was touching me.
Barely.
“I can make it feel so good your first time,” he said in a low, rough voice in my ear. “You’re going to want to bend over for me, because the instinct will be strong to be taken from behind. It’s deeper that way.”
My breathing grew heavy while his thumb continued circling. Images of bending over for Lorenzo flooded my mind, him slowly stripping down my sweats to my ankles and, oh God. His mouth was against my ear and I was getting close… too close.
“I’m an experienced alpha, Alexia. I know how to handle you properly. I know what will make you feel good and ease your discomfort. I know how to draw out the pleasure.” Then he breathed in deeply. “You’re so close,” he said in a broken whisper. One that barely maintained control. “Come with me, Nashoba. Come into my pack. Come into my bed. And then just come for me.”
His thumb changed direction and I muffled a cry, my body trembling as I gripped the railing with my right hand. His fingers didn’t stop, his knuckles putting pressure against my core while his thumb rolled in mind-blowing circles.
“That’s it,” he said, softly kissing my jaw. “Stretch out and let me take care of everything.”
It was too much and then I panicked. What the hell was I doing on the stairwell letting a guy I barely knew bring me to orgasm? Even worse, I was on the verge of experiencing one that was so intense that I was liable to scream. Imagine explaining that to the cops.
I flew forward and ran down the stairs. I staggered across the grassy lawn, panting as he strode up behind me. My heart thumped against my chest with such intensity that I could barely hear myself talking.
“What are you doing to me?” I said in quickened breaths.
He held his arms out, palms up. “Showing you what I have to offer.”
“Why me?”
“You’re different, Alexia. You don’t act like the other bitches.”
My face tightened. “Don’t call me a bitch.”
His brows pinched together as an indulgent look crossed his face. Lorenzo closed in and threaded his fingers through my hair on one side. “If you don’t like the word, I’ll stop using it,” he said with a heated breath against my ear. “But you’re still the only bitch I want coming in my bed.”
Two seconds later, all hell was about to break loose when Austin’s car roared around the corner.
He didn’t bother to shut his door, just ate up the lawn with one hell of a stride. Made me want to curl up beside him.
I knew that look on Austin’s face and he wasn’t about to have words with Church. He was about to break bones.
These were two alphas, and I didn’t know the rules when it came to fistfights.
“Evening, Cole,” Lorenzo greeted him. “Still mad about Winnie, I see. She made a great bitch, but I had to pass her off to one of my packmates. Turns out she wasn’t up to my speed.”
So that’s what it was about. Bad blood my ass; Cole hated Lorenzo because of girl trouble.
Austin took my left hand and held it tight as Lorenzo posed a question.
“You have no official claim on her, Cole. So tell me what your intention is?”
I looked up expectantly.
“She’s always been my pack,” Austin said in slow, threatening words. He surprised me. I thought he’d pull a Beckett and go at Lorenzo with fists flying. But he maintained his composure and stayed in control, which made him even scarier.
Lorenzo brushed his long, straight hair away from his eyes. “Tell me why a Shifter was living with a human family.”
“That’s why I’d like to find my father,” I interrupted. “Only he knows where I came from.”
Some of that fire extinguished from Lorenzo’s eyes and they skimmed over me. “You don’t know your real parents?”
I shook my head. Austin inched so close I could feel his body heat.
“How old are you?” Lorenzo asked.
“Twenty-seven.”
Lorenzo reached in his shirt pocket and lifted a box of cigarettes, pulling one out and lighting the end with a red plastic lighter. “That’s interesting.”
Austin picked up on it too. The way Lorenzo said it wasn’t conversational; it was the way you sound when you know something.
“What’s interesting, Church? She’s not yours.”