Marisa Chenery - Roan's Fall

As Roan’s gaze locked on her lips, he asked, “When do you get off work?”

“Ah … ah six.”

Roan gave her one last look that made her blood heat even more before he turned away and walked out of the salon. Ansley stared at the door and tried to force her body to cool down. The sound of Roxie chuckling brought her out of the daze Roan had put her in.

“I had better go catch up with Roan,” Roxie said. She gave Ansley a wink. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Roxie then went over to the front desk to pay. Ansley sat down in her chair once Roxie left the salon. She looked up at the large clock on the wall. She had another four hours to get through before she could leave. Ansley had a feeling it would be the longest four hours of her life.

Roan watched Roxie jump out of the car and hurriedly make her way to the front door of her house. He let her go inside before he slowly got out of the car. He figured he would let her tell the others about what had taken place between him and Ansley at the hair salon. It wasn’t as if he was embarrassed about it, quite the opposite. He had always secretly longed to find his mate. He just hadn’t expected the mating urge to hit him quite so hard when he did find her. With lust pounding through his body, walking away from Ansley had been the hardest thing he had ever done. Even now, he had to fight the urge to get back in the car and go to her. The only thing that stopped him from going back to the salon and claiming her as his mate was the fact she was mortal. If she had been a werewolf, he would already have had her under him by now, pounding inside her. With a sigh, Roan headed up to the house. He wanted to take things slow with Ansley. He didn’t want to scare her off. It would be a lot harder on him than her, though. Until he claimed her fully as his mate, the mating urge wouldn’t loosen its grip on him. Even his dreams would be filled with erotic dreams of Ansley, of touching and tasting her.

Once inside the house he followed the sound of voices to the living room. He let his gaze skip over the occupants of the room. Roxie and her mate, Beowulf, sat on the loveseat while his two brothers by blood, Skylar and Jager, sat on the large sectional couch with his brother-in-arms, Leif. From the looks of pity all his brothers gave him, Roan knew Roxie had told them about Ansley.

Roan headed over to sit down on the sectional next to Leif, but Leif held out his hands to keep him away. He shook his head. “No way are you sitting next to me. I don’t need you rubbing off on me. I’m quite happy without a mate, thank you very much.”

He rolled his eyes and shook his head before he sat down on the large armchair across from his brothers. Roan expected as much from Leif. Leif loved women too much to want to find a mate, not that he would have much choice if the right woman came along. Roan only had to think of Eli, his sister’s mate. Eli had felt the same way Leif did, but he fell hard for Saskia and couldn’t be happier.

“It isn’t as if I’m contagious, Leif,” Roan said. “And I didn’t plan this. You wait until your turn comes.”

Leif gave him a look of abject horror. “That will be the day hell freezes over. I like that I can have my fun then walk away when I want.”

Even with that type of attitude towards women, Leif still managed to get any woman he wanted—mortal and werewolf alike. “I’ll have fun throwing that back in your face when you find your one and only.” Roan turned to his other two brothers. “Well? I’m sure the both of you have something to say.”

Jager spoke first. “As long as you can keep your dick in your pants long enough to help protect Roxie I couldn’t care less.”

That was Jager—always short and to the point. His brother wasn’t one to mince words. “Thanks. I’ll try not to turn into a sex fiend.” He looked at his other brother.

“What about you, Skylar?”

Skylar shrugged. “I’m happy for you. I’m just glad it’s you and not me. I’m not ready to take on a mate.”

Roxie drew Roan’s attention her way when she quietly cleared her throat. “So, Roan, are you going back this evening to see Ansley?”

“Yes.” Not that he had much choice in the matter. As it now stood, he would probably drive himself crazy thinking about her until he saw her again.

“I thought you would. I’m going to give you one piece of advice—tell Ansley what you are before you sleep with her. From personal experience,” Roxie gave Beowulf a hard stare, “it isn’t exactly easy to accept the whole mated thing if you aren’t told what to expect.”

Beowulf pulled Roxie under his arm. “I don’t see you complaining.”

“Not now, but I didn’t take the news of you being a werewolf all that well in the beginning, if you remember.”

Beowulf turned to look at Roan. “Roxie’s right. It’s best to be upfront right from the start.”

“I’ll take that into consideration. Now if you don’t mind, could we change the subject? Talking about Ansley is making me a little antsy, if you know what I mean.”

As Beowulf and Roxie started talking about Wulf’s Den, the nightclub Beowulf owned, Roan let the conversation wash over him. With half an ear, he listened to his brothers and Beowulf talk about who would be going to the nightclub with him and Roxie that night. At least Roan knew he wouldn’t be expected to go along with them. With the mating urge riding him, he doubted he would be any good to them anyway. The demands of his body would be a lot harder to ignore until he made Ansley his. Until then, he wouldn’t be good for much of anything.

For the rest of the day Ansley found herself distracted by thoughts of Roan. She couldn’t help wondering if he would really show up when she got off work. He hadn’t exactly asked her out, just what time she got off. As the hours went by, Ansley felt more than sure Roan wouldn’t show up. Yes, he had looked at her with arousal in his eyes, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t change his mind after he had some time to think about it. By the time six o’clock rolled around, Ansley had herself thoroughly convinced Roan would be a no show. After cutting her last client’s hair, she cleaned up her workstation then headed out. Once she hit the sidewalk, she looked around. Like she had suspected, Roan didn’t seem to be anywhere in sight. Trying not to let it bother her, Ansley made her way to the parking lot behind the salon. She decided a large bowl of ice cream was in her future, along with a glass or two of wine. She’d just reached the driver’s side of her Pontiac Sunfire when a heavy hand landed on her shoulder. With a shriek, she swung around to see who had come up behind her. Her eyes widened in surprise. “Roan? What are you doing here?”

“Why do you look so surprised? I told you I would be back.”

Ansley shook her head. “No, you didn’t. You just asked me what time I got off work.”

Roan looked down at her. His brows drew together. “You didn’t think I was coming back.” He said it as a statement not a question.

“Why would I? It isn’t as if you asked me out on a date.”

He crowded her back against her car. He put his hands on the roof on either side of her, effectively caging her in. In his deep voice now gone husky, Roan said, “Well, I’m asking now.”

Ansley swallowed. “You’re asking me out on a date?”

Roan smiled. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

With Roan this close she had a hard time thinking straight. “Are you … are you sure you want to go out with me? You’re so good looking, and let’s face it, I’m no beauty queen. You could find someone much prettier than me. Compared to you I’m—”