Shelly Laurenston: The Beast in Him

And she might have—if she could actually walk.

With all that late-night tusslin’, Smitty thought he’d worn her out. He should have known better.

Her naked body landed right on his stomach and she slapped her hands against his chest like she was playing bongo drums.

“What?” he groaned, trying to turn over and go back to sleep.

“It’s morning!” she cheered.

“And?”

“Let’s go hunting! You and me taking down a deer or elk. Wouldn’t that be romantic?”

“No, go back to sleep, Jessie Ann.”

Those hands slapped at his chest again and he snarled. Unfortunately, Jessie didn’t seem too put off by that.

“Come on, Smitty! It’s a beautiful morning. Everything is covered in snow and the sun is shining bright. But it may snow again later, so let’s do this now.”

“What time is it?”

“It’s morning,” she insisted.

“Jessie Ann.”

“Six-thirty.”

His eyes popped open and he glared at the beautiful naked woman on his chest. “You woke me up at six-thirty in the morning? Woman, have you lost your mind?”

“Come on, Smitty,” she whined. “I need my wild dog morning greeting.”

“Which is?”

“Ummm... let’s see. Hugs, chaste kisses, and nose rubs between Packmates.”

Smitty shook his head. “Nah, I can’t do all that.” She pouted, looking more adorable than was fair. In resignation, he offered, “I can fuck you until you pass out.”

Jessie shrugged and sighed. “Well... if that’s the best you can do.”

Smitty turned his muzzle away, refusing to participate. Jess tapped him again, forcing the issue. Her Pack wasn’t here, so he’d have to do for now. He still tried to ignore her, so she slapped the deer’s femur against his head and whined just enough to be annoying but not make him storm away.

Growling, Smitty looked around like he expected to find someone watching them. When he seemed to conclude the coast was clear, he gripped the other end of the bone between his massive jaws and pulled. Jess pulled back and Smitty dug his feet in, forcing Jess to work.

It was true. Somehow, some way, she’d gotten Bobby Ray Smith to play tug in the snow with the remnants of their morning meal.

She gave herself another month before she’d have the snobby wolf bastard chasing his tail too.

It wasn’t until her elbow hit his ribs that he woke up.

“You’re missing the best part.”

“There’s a best part?”

Jessie sighed. “See? Once again proving my point we have nothing in common.”

“I’m sorry. I just can’t get past the ears.”

She turned off the DVD. “They’re elves. They’re supposed to have pointy ears.”

Smitty yawned and sat up straight. “There’s gotta be something we can both agree to watch.”

“Like?”

“Uh... westerns?”

“You’re kidding, right?” Jessie finger-combed her hair behind her ear. “What about a good British mystery?”

“British? Isn’t that like the elves?”

“Forget the British.”

“How about horror movies?”

“You mean like scary ones that are psychological in nature, taking you to the ultimate brink of fear?”

“Nah, I meant zombie ones.”

“Zombies?” Jessie shrugged. “I never got the zombie thing. I mean, they’re already dead. Why do they need blood?”

“Forget the zombies.” Smitty glanced at the bookshelf holding one of the Pack’s DVD collections. Floor to ceiling and three cases deep, it seemed to have every geek movie ever made. Amazing. All those movies and nothing they could agree on. On a sigh, hope gone, he mumbled, “The Godfather?”

“One, two, or three?”

“That third one doesn’t exist for me.”

Jessie turned to face him, her eyes wide in shock. “The third one doesn’t exist for me either.”

Afraid to hold out hope, Smitty asked, “Goodfellas?”

“In my top five. But anything by Scorsese or Coppolla is a must-see. If not a must-see two thousand times.” She took his hand, held it against her chest. “What about the old black and white ones? From the thirties and forties?”

“Anything with Jimmy Cagney.”

“I love Jimmy Cagney.” Her grip on his hand tightened. “We actually have something in common, Bobby Ray. I’m so happy I’m gonna cry.”

“And if we have one thing in common, I’m sure we have others.”

Jessie patted his hand. “Let’s not push it, baby.”

“Good point.”

Jess sat on the couch by the window, staring out at the snow-covered trees just outside the house. Except for the fire blazing in the fireplace, the house was dark and quiet. She’d called in earlier, made sure her Pack was okay. They were and apparently having a great time during the storm. Although Shaw had been heard muttering, “I’m so calling a zoo for those pups.”

Strong fingers stroked down the column of her neck. “You all right, darlin’?”

“I’m fine.”

Smitty sat on the other end of the couch and they stared at each other. Jess had no idea for how long, until Smitty opened his arms. “Come here, darlin’.” She did, crawling over to him and settling in between his legs, her back to his chest. He held her tight, his chin resting on her now-healed shoulder, although she had no doubt it wouldn’t be the last time he tore into it. She expected it to look like his mother’s one day.

They fell asleep like that, holding on to each other. Surprisingly early in the morning, Jess woke up to Smitty kissing her body. They enjoyed each other for hours, took a break to eat, then went back at it.

The storms had ended and they decided to have a late lunch/early dinner in town. But when Jess walked out of the bathroom in a pair of panties and nothing else, she found Smitty getting dressed.

“What’s wrong?”

“Get dressed, Jessie Ann.”

“What’s wrong?

“I figured with all the snow, Wilson’s plane out of JFK would be grounded until the storm passed, but he’d be forced to stay inside. I sent the Reed boys to watch out for him. Put your Pack and mine on alert. But he’s gone. So’s his Pack.”

She dropped to a crouch and dug into her duffle bag. “And?” She knew there was an and.

“He knows I’m with you. His momma has already got word to my daddy’s cousin.”

“Eggie?”

“Yup.”

Eggie Smith was a hardcore Smith who spent the majority of his time as wolf in the hills outside of Smithtown. The man hated everybody and everything except his mate of twenty years and being a Smith. Eggie was the one you called in when a Smith got crossed. He had no boundaries and no problem taking down anyone he deemed a threat to his family.

She felt panic slither down her spine. “I’ll be dressed in two minutes.”

“It’ll be okay, Jessie Ann. My daddy and momma are still here. We’ll talk to ’em.”

For some reason, she really didn’t think that would help.

“It’s nothing personal,” Kristan said firmly. “I really just don’t like you.” She nodded. “What do you think?”

Johnny shrugged. “Seems rude.”

“You think?” She bit into her candy apple. Mr. Shaw had told them where to find the staff kitchen. And the staff at this hotel had the hookup. She couldn’t tell her mom or Jess. They’d finish off the cabinet filled with chocolates in less than thirty minutes.

“Maybe you could tell him you’ve got some school things coming up and you changed your mind about visiting this summer. You know, blow him off. Like you did that kid who helped you with biology.”

She glared at him over her apple. “I did not blow him off.”

“Yeah, yeah. Sure. I found him sobbing in the locker room before gym because he was PMSing.”