The Wallflower
Page 17

One of his hands moved to the back of her head, gently bunching her hair in his fist in a show of dominance as the Alpha in him took over. He could feel chills run up and down his spine as his climax neared, but he kept his rhythm steady, trying not to choke her while forcing her to take everything she could. He crooned to her, telling her how wonderful her hot mouth felt against him, how beautiful she was to him.
He moved the hand not holding her hair to just under her chin as he felt her incisors turn sharp. “Suck, Emma,” he commanded, his power flowing free as he lost control, his climax almost on him.
She gave him a teasing flick of her tongue before she obeyed, her cheeks hollowing out as she sucked on the head of his cock, pulling the orgasm out of him as she increased her purr at the same time. He erupted into her mouth, back arched, head thrown back as his cry of completion came out more like the primal snarl of his Puma. His mate took everything he gave her, swallowing him down as he held her head in place.
With a final, rumbling purr, she licked him clean then stood. She gently tucked his softening cock back into his jeans, zipping and snapping them shut before she gently patted his chest.
“You still owe me a shirt, Lion-O.” With a wicked grin, she sauntered off to the bedroom, her ass swaying beneath his shirt. Max grinned, eggs forgotten, and followed her into the bedroom.
Emma felt edgy all day. She’d had yet another fight with Max, insisting on going to work that afternoon and giving Becky her allotted evening off. She could feel the Puma crawling under her skin, trying to break free; Max had warned her what could happen if she allowed the change to occur without him present. Like she wanted to change into a mountain lion in the middle of her store! He’d grumbled all the way to her apartment, the entire time she changed clothes, and all the way to Wallflowers. By the time he dropped her off, she was ready to bite him, and not in a good way. She felt caged, pacing the storeroom when she wasn’t waiting on customers. She’d managed to keep her eyes from changing, a trick Max had taught her quickly when he realized she wouldn’t give in. He’d also told her he would be picking her up after work. She agreed with him that she was in no condition to drive.
She barely made it through the day, closing an hour early and leaving the receipts for Becky. She needed more room to pace, more room to…run.
Emma walked the six blocks to Max’s office. Both Adrian and Max were there, as was the receptionist, Lisa Pryce. Emma waved hello to a puzzled Lisa before sitting in the waiting area, tapping her foot impatiently.
Adrian Giordano walked out of one of the examination rooms, talking quietly to Livia Patterson. She looked thoroughly disgusted, completely ignoring the hunky doctor as he tried his best to get her to pay attention. Adrian spoke to the receptionist as Livia, without even a glance at Emma, flounced out of the office.
“Emma?”
“Hi, Adrian.” Emma smiled tightly. “Was Livia upset she got you instead of Max?”
Adrian grinned. “So Max told you about her attempts to get to him?”
Emma had a hard time not baring her teeth. She wanted to rip Livia’s heart out. It took all of the self-control she had to keep her eyes brown instead of gold. “Yup.”
Adrian coughed, turning away abruptly. “Max? Emma’s here.”
“Emma?” She could hear his muffled voice from behind one of the examination room doors. It opened abruptly and a frowning Max stepped out, followed by the elderly Mrs. Roman. “Why didn’t you wait at your shop for me?”
Emma grinned at him, her expression tight, her body strung out. Her foot jiggled impatiently. It felt like the worst caffeine high she’d ever been on. Her skin itched and crawled, her gums ached, and her eyes hurt with the effort to keep them brown.
“Oh.” Max sighed and turned to Mrs. Roman. “Here’s your prescription, and a copy for your records, Lena. Why don’t you have Lisa help you pick out a pair of frames? We can see to it that they’re sent off to the lab first thing in the morning.”
Mrs. Roman grinned wickedly. “Hot date, Max?” She waggled her eyebrows at him when he merely smiled smugly. “Taking Emma out, eh?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Max smiled and winked at Emma, who had to bite her lip to keep from snarling.
“Well, you take good care of her, you hear? From what Jimmy said, she’s a keeper.” Max’s grin froze on his face. “You mark my words, if you haven’t snapped her up by the time he gets back this way, he’ll steal her back out from under you.”
“Who’s Jimmy?” Max asked. His tone was pleasant, his expression wasn’t.
“Jimmy was Emma’s boyfriend until about four months ago when he had to leave town to deal with some family issues. Rumor has it he’s headed back this way any day now. Who knows? He might give you some competition!”
Emma groaned and put her head in her hands as Max’s attention swung back towards her. “We broke up two months before he left town, Mrs. Roman.”
“Not to hear Jimmy tell it, you didn’t,” Mrs. Roman replied with a laugh.
“I’ll just have to make sure Jimmy knows Emma’s taken.” Max’s hands went to his hips as he took in Emma’s red cheeks and guilty eyes.
Mrs. Roman cackled with glee; she was the biggest gossip in town, and Max had just handed her a prime piece to chew on.
“Can you do me a favor, Mrs. Roman? Can you wait to tell anyone that Emma and I are together until the masquerade party on Saturday? We want to surprise a few people.” Max smiled down at the elderly woman, using all of his not inconsiderable charm.
“Those few people being Olivia Patterson and Belinda Campbell?” When Max merely shrugged, Mrs.
Roman grinned. “Max, anything that will make Livia and Belinda squirm is okay by me. But…” she wagged her finger under his nose, ignoring his little boy grin, “…you have only until Saturday!”
She was so happy she forgot to wait around and pick out the frames for her new glasses, heading straight out the door with an absent wave good-bye. Emma knew the story of Max’s declaration would be all over town by mid-afternoon Saturday. She stared right at a smug Max, torn between laughing and screaming. “Happy, Captain Caveman?”
Adrian’s choked laugh and Lisa’s snort of amusement broke the tie. Emma laughed up at Max, who was still grinning like a schoolboy.