Rutledge Werewolves 1: Scent of Passion (17 page)

“The chef’s burger and coffee will do fine, thank you, ma’am.”

The waitress took one look at the Rutledge brothers and scurried off into the kitchen. Artemais fairly growled with anger, his brothers simply standing by him, waiting for him to calm down and make a decision. Sophie noticed the chef, a tall, fat, balding man with a greasy apron come out of the kitchen, obviously angry at the possibility of a brawl in his café.

Deciding the levels of testosterone in the room were way too high, Sophie wrapped an arm around Artemais’ neck. Bringing his head down, so she could whisper in his ear, she softly said, “I went shopping in the ladies’ store, Art.” As he froze, obviously his full attention now tuned in to her, she continued the light, breathy naughty words as they simply poured from her soul. “Did you know there’s an adult part to the shop in the back? Well, they had these tiny, blue lace, crotchless panties. Seeing as I had
your
Gold Card with me, I thought I’d put some of your money to good use. There’s nothing better than a pair of tiny, skimpy lace with an oh-so-large hole right where my slit can be accessible just for you.”

As Artemais started breathing heavily, his pupils dilating and his breath choking in his lungs, Sophie heard what sounded definitely like a snort coming from Dominic’s mouth. Glaring at him and dragging Artemais even closer, whispering softer, she finished with, “The blue is the same bedroom blue of your eyes. I bought them just with you in mind. Can we go home now? They’re in the bag under the table by my chair. I’m feeling a little…hot, darling.”

Artemais stood up straight, glared at Roland for a moment and then pointed one long finger at him.

“Don’t you leave town. I’ll come speak to you later this afternoon.” As he glanced once more at Sophie, he amended, “Or maybe closer to dinnertime.”

Picking up the small bag Sophie had indicated under the table, he grabbed Sophie’s hand and hauled her to the door. Snickering, Sophie followed, waving at the chef and waitress and jingling the keys to the Jeep.

When reminded to buckle up, Artemais simply snapped, “Drive,” and she laughed outright. He could be such a straight-laced stick in the mud, but Sophie figured she almost had hang of him.

This would certainly be fun.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Artemais tried his best not to howl in sexual frustration. Sophie had turned him into a frustrated, muddled idiot of a sexual slave. When he had caught sight of her talking to that man, her hand lightly resting on his arm, her face so very serious, he had wanted to rend and tear something, to kill anything that came into his path.

As he had halted his progress, and turned to storm into the small café, he had seen Rita cut between the two, and Sophie had looked so confused he had realized she hadn’t had any sort of sexual meaning to her light touch.

That knowledge had eased his hurt, but hadn’t tempered his anger any. She was
his
, they were as good as mated. He hadn’t had time to utter any of the pretty words she obviously expected, but still, he couldn’t believe the jealousy and possessiveness coursing through him.

He decided then and there to marry her in a hurry—as soon as possible in fact. When she had pulled him close, trying to distract him, and started whispering those naughty, heated things, his mind had scattered and only her scent, her breath, her words had mattered. Everything else in the world had faded away, until only Sophie’s softness, and her heated words, the images they brought to him, had held him.

Looking down to the plain plastic bag sitting in his lap, he threw a heated glance over to her.

“So what else is in this bag, or were you simply teasing me?”

As Sophie blushed, he knew she hadn’t lied about the panties. Opening the bag eagerly, he saw the dark purple, skimpy lacy camisole. Pulling it out, he admired it.

“Very nice, but not quite what I was looking for.”

Before he could dig deeper, Sophie had reached across him and snatched the bag out of his lap and shoved it under her seat.

“You can’t look just yet. Some of that is a surprise. Leave a girl a few secrets, would you?”

Grinning deeply, he leered, pressing close to her shoulder.

“Aw, come on, darling. You’ve worked me up into a frenzy, just like you wanted. You’re not going to leave me hanging now, are you?”

At the potent, heated look she gave him, he nearly swallowed his tongue. She definitely wasn’t planning on leaving him hanging long, if her glance had anything to do with her feelings.

The dirt and gravel spewed everywhere as she turned into their driveway in third gear. Artemais held onto the side of the door, swearing to always wear his seatbelt while Sophie sat behind the wheel. As she slammed on the brakes and pulled the parking brake on, Artemais opened the door carefully.

Sophie ran ahead of him, laughing and taunting him.

“Catch me if you can, big boy, or if you dare!”

He watched her leap up the front stairs and throw open the door, leaving it open as she ran in the direction of the stairs up to his rooms.

Artemais followed at a more sedate pace. He wanted to give Sophie just enough time to change into those panties. Some things were definitely worth a bit of patience. Getting a glass of water from the kitchen tap, and taking his time walking up the stairs, Artemais felt the excitement build up in him.

As he paused in front of his own bedroom door, he raised his hand and knocked briskly.

“Who is it?” came the sultry reply.

“It’s me,” he stated, slightly impatiently. He had merely knocked to warn her of his arrival, not to be polite.

The door opened a crack, and Sophie’s blonde curls, mussed adorably, peered through the crack, her gray eyes sparkling with mischievousness.

“I know a few ‘me’s. Which one are you?” she pressed, the mirth in her eyes plain for him to see.

Artemais decided there and then to play this game of hers out to the end. He had a lot of experience winning his games.

Pushing the door open gently, he was careful not to exert enough force to hurt her, but enough to have her backing up to let him in.

“I,” he said softly, “am your Lord and Master.”

Sophie’s eyes twinkled so much he knew she had to be repressing her laughter.

“Oh really?” she stepped back to allow him into the room, and after he closed the door behind him and faced her he took a deep breath. Which promptly caught in his throat.

She wore a royal blue lace bra, which did nothing to hide her soft brown nipples and pale creamy complexion. Her lovely full breasts—which were already a mouthful for him—rose up, high and firm, taunting him. With a matching blue short pleated skirt, she looked as if she were getting dressed. As she reached over onto his bed to pick up a dark cream silk business shirt, and began to put it on, he held out an arm to stop her.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Getting ready. You said we were going out remember?”

Artemais had never felt so off-kilter in his life. He didn’t want to stop the game Sophie played with him, but neither did he want to go out anywhere with her, when he knew what was—or more to the point, what
wasn’t
—underneath that skirt.

Stopping her from buttoning up the prim but pretty shirt, he softly ran his hands down the cup line of the blue bra.

“We don’t need to go right now, do we?” he challenged, “Surely I can show you how much I appreciate you dressing up for me?”

Not letting her answer him, he crushed her mouth in a hungry kiss. Flicking one nipple through the lacy cup, he felt power rush through him at her moan, as she arched further up into his body.

At her moan, Artemais could smell her sex growing damp. That heated, musky smell of desire he had come to know as hers alone. He inhaled the scent deep into his body. He would crave that scent like a drug for all of his days.

His cock hardened and lengthened, pressed uncomfortably against the fly of his jeans. If he didn’t get out of the damn things soon he knew he would probably come in his pants like a schoolboy.

Keeping his lips and tongue pressed against Sophie, he frantically pulled at his jeans, pushing them down his legs to his ankles. Finally placing his hands back on her breasts, exactly where he wanted them to be, he pulled one breast from the bra cup. As he played with the breast and nipple, he pushed her gently down onto the bed. For a short moment, he stared down at her pointed, aroused nipple before taking it into his mouth.

Biting gently down on it, he wallowed in the combined scent of Sophie and her arousal. She grabbed his head roughly and pulled him closer, spreading her legs underneath him in obvious invitation.

“So, Oh Lord and Master,” Artemais had to grin, the way Sophie said it made it sound so mocking, but so arousing at the same time, “are you simply going to tease me, or are you going to fuck me properly?”

Trying hard not to laugh, Artemais lifted his head from her luscious breast, and glared down at her. Pressing his groin into her, and pinning her lower body simply beneath his hips, he ground his iron-hard cock into her soft skin.

“You
are
a saucy thing, aren’t you? Next time you call me your Lord and Master, you’d better use a little respect, girl.”

Grinning at their play, he flipped the pleated skirt up to her waist, and nearly choked on his laughter.

She wore the skimpiest piece of lace he’d ever had the pleasure of seeing. The same royal blue as the skirt and bra, it couldn’t possibly pass as a pair of panties. It looked like a pair of hipster panties, with a low-cut waist, yet the legs were cut scandalously high. It seemed to be literally two triangles of scanty lace barely held together. With her legs drawn wide, he could literally see everything, barely encased in blue lace.

Losing all his thoughts of teasing her and taking her inch-by-inch, so slowly she’d be begging for hours, he dipped his head to taste her sweet juices. Licking, then suckling her clit, he gloried in the fierce reaction Sophie had to him. As she arched into him, pressing down to get more pressure, all Artemais’ good intentions flew out the window.

Rising, still with the taste and scent of her driving him nuts, he pushed his briefs down to tangle with his jeans, dropped back down on her, and thrust into her in one long stroke.

They both moaned at the filling pleasure. He felt so incredibly hard, he worried for a moment he might split her in two. When Sophie grabbed his ass and pulled him deeper into her, nails biting into him, he felt his control snap.

“Please don’t tease me,” she whimpered. “I need you right now.”

Bending down to kiss her fiercely, he pumped himself into her, with long hard thrusts, flicking her clit to make her cry out. As she screamed her climax, he let himself go and exploded inside her, over and over.

Finally spent, he collapsed on top of her, breathing heavily.

After a few moments, having collected his wits, he smiled into her neck and enjoyed their combined scent.

“I never realized the full potential for crotchless underwear. I think I’m going to enjoy these panties.”

Sophie laughed, holding him closer. He nuzzled her neck, enjoying the softer moment. Remembering his earlier jealousy, he spoke before he thought.

“Marry me, Soph.”

She froze underneath him. Trying to think through the red haze of lust and possession clouding his brain, he tried to work through his confusion. When she boldly asked “Why?” his brain deserted him. Sitting up, he rubbed his head and nearly fell off the bed as his legs tangled with his jeans and created a large mess. What had been a moment of peacefulness became an awkward, confusing mess.

“What do you mean, why?” he stalled.

“I mean,” Sophie replied calmly, pulling her skirt down and tugging on the silk shirt, “Why do you want to marry me?”

“Uh,” he thought madly. “Because you’re carrying my baby.” At her raised eyebrow, he thought some more, “And because I go mad with jealousy every time I see other men, my brothers included, flirt with you.”

Sophie shook her head.

“You know your brothers mean well. They flirt because that’s the only way they know how to be friendly to a female. It means nothing and you know it. And I refuse to marry you simply because of the baby. We can work something out about her.”

“Him,” he corrected automatically.

Sophie sighed. “Whatever. You might want to think a little more about that proposal of yours, Artemais. My answer is no.”

With that, she stood up, pulled on a pair of running shoes, which looked ridiculous with the sexy skirt and shirt, and left the room, slamming the door behind her. Artemais felt totally stunned for a moment, he simply sat on the bed, his jeans around his ankles, staring at the closed door. Hearing the truck coming up the driveway, he wriggled to get himself dressed again, and rushed out of the room.

Racing down the stairs, he came to the kitchen just in time to see Sophie walking towards the woods, and his brothers piling out of the truck.

“Sophie!” he called out, knowing she wouldn’t turn around or acknowledge him.
Since when had women become so damn difficult?
he wondered.

Having all three of his brothers watching his embarrassment didn’t help matters. He stormed back into the kitchen and put the kettle on.