24

“Where do you want me?” Mara asked. She stood in the doorway of the main room, toweling her wet hair, fresh out of the shower. She was waiting for Jackson to look up and acknowledge her but he didn't. He couldn’t. Instinct had hit him so hard he was reeling. "HEL-LO? Earth to Jackson..." she tried again but he still didn't answer.

Her scent hit him first, or rather, his scent on her hit him first. His whole body shivered involuntarily. That may have been the most mouthwatering thing he'd ever smelled. His body burned at her presence and he found himself wanting even more. For a wolf, his mate mixing her scent with his was like a natural aphrodisiac. A strong one. It reinforced a wolf's need to seal the mate bond and he felt his body working against him. His erection painfully pressed into the laptop open over his thighs.

Where did he want her? Everywhere. Anywhere.

Jackson inhaled and exhaled roughly, his fingers twitching where they’d paused mid-word in an email to the Delta he had securing their packlands. It was a standard check-in but he could hardly remember what he was supposed to be doing.

He turned his head to her, finally seeing her in an old tee shirt and some of his old underwear. He'd forgotten he put his donation clothes in the guest room. It hadn’t seemed relevant until now, to ask her if she needed clothes to wear. His throat seemed to constrict as her nipples rubbed against the fabric while she dried her hair. It was such a worn down shirt, the fabric left nothing to the imagination, a fact Mara somehow didn't notice. She shook her arms back and forth as she ruffled her hair and Jackson's eyes couldn't leave her chest. Her nipples were waving at him, beckoning him to go and have a taste. He swallowed.

She doesn't know what means to mix our scents, Jackson insisted to himself and his feral wolf, turning back away from her to grip the laptop. Every fiber of his wolf side wanted to claim her as his, sink his teeth into anywhere he could find. Any soft, supple, delicious, sexy...Fuck his mind was beginning to wander again. And his human side wanted to fuck her until neither of them could stand anymore. He couldn't help but imagine her right there, sprawled out against the wall as he pressed himself to the root.

His erection was so firm it hurt. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the thought.

"Hey, are you listening to me?" Mara asked, dropping the towel onto a side table and walking toward him.

Jackson opened his mouth and bit off a pained growl "Those are my clothes..."

"Oh? Yea sorry, I still don't have any clothes... I figured you wouldn't mind.” She snorted. “The alternative wasn’t going to happen. Seriously though, are your eyes reflective in the light or something? It reminds me of this set of contacts they gave me on set to look more supernatural. I swore your eyes were brown when we met but—” She’d crossed the room before he could react, leaning over him to stare at his eyes. “The green is so pretty..." She leaned in closer, not noticing the way Jackson's nostrils flared. She smelled so good he had to hold his breath. She couldn’t know that the color was his wolf riding him hard, or that he was barely in control.

His wolf clawed at his skull, digging deeper and deeper into his brain until he was barely holding control. Even his canines ached to mark her. She slid onto the couch beside him, her leg brushing his. He felt his body go into overdrive. Mara needed to get as far away from him as humanly possible or he was going to fuck her senseless and claim her on the living room floor.

Fuck. Sheila. Think of Sheila. Of all the things that made this moment impossible. He cleared his throat, using monumental control to shove his wolf into the corner of his mind. There was no way he could overpower the feral animal when he was riding his mating instincts but he could still do what needed to be done.

“Where will we be filming?” he asked, his voice so low he cleared his throat again.

“Right, right.” She nodded. “So it’s actually a funny coincidence that my main residence is actually in the same small town we’re filming in.”

He paused, urging her to continue with her eyes.

“It’s a town called WolfHaven,” she admitted, and the name startled him so badly that his laptop slid off his thighs, clattering to the floor.

“WolfHaven, C-Colorado?” he stuttered, knowing exacly where that was. His packlands started only about fifteen miles outside of the popular tourist trap. They stretched for miles of private property but still, knowing Mara would be so close to his home. To his pack…

“Mmhm. I just happened to be visiting during my off season and I fell in love with the place.” She had a dreamy expression on her face as she turned toward him, her eyes snagging on his lap and pausing. “It just felt like home, you know.”

He swallowed roughly. “I do.”

***

When Mara got back to the guest room, she paced. Then she used the bathroom. Then she surfed through the television for at least forty minutes. When that didn't help, she surfed the social sites and read comments, the one thing she vowed never to do. But she was willing to try anything if it would distract her from the voice in the back of her head.

She’d seen something she shouldn’t have and now she couldn’t stop picturing it. She groaned. Thinking of Jax’s dick imprint was beyond inappropriate but she couldn’t stop. It wasn’t her fault he’d dropped his laptop and left his thighs bare.

Eventually, Mara put her phone on silent and got into bed. She spent thirty minutes just tossing and turning because she couldn't settle her mind and for the life of her, she couldn't understand why. Sex appeal and horniness alone couldn't have such an effect on her. She spent a lot of time around some of the most beautiful people and still, she didn’t feel this hot and bothered. What was it about Jax? Was she having some sort of out of body experience? The feeling that came over her was inexplicable. She felt like she had to touch him.

But she wouldn’t. Blowing out a tense breath, Mara readjusted her pillow. He was in a relationship for fuck’s sake. She had just met his girlfriend. What was wrong with her?

She threw her face into her hands, and squealed in frustration. Shame seemed to seep into her soul as she thought about how inappropriate she was being.

And yet, as bad as she felt, there was still a tiny little voice in the back of her head that said it wanted more. She enjoyed being close to him like that and therein lay the problem. Why was she having those feelings? Why did she find herself pulled to him like gravity?

She flopped her head into the pillow and started to count down from a hundred. She really needed sleep if she was going to survive the awkwardness to come…

But the dream she slipped into was anything but restful.

His hands found the small of her back, slipping up the thin t-shirt until it fell to the floor. Mara leaned into his touch as he stroked her right nipple, then her left. Her back arched away from the bed when Jax swirled a piece of ice around her areolas. The mix of cold liquid touching hot skin created a sound deep in her chest she hadn't expected. A growl. Something primal and raw.

He smiled at the sound.

His lips sucked and teased her breasts, groaning into her skin. She reached down to palm the firmness pressed against his sweatpants. She reached inside, loving the feel of his tensing muscles. She rubbed at the moistened tip as he returned to her lips.

What do you want, Mara? He whispered into her ear, licking at her earlobe. She was a puddle beneath him, showing him exactly what she wanted. He dampened his fingers as he rolled her clit.

Say it. Tell me what you want, baby, he growled into her mouth.

But before she could answer, a loud alarm shocked her awake, and the dream dissolved.