A/N Same disclaimer as the prologue, you need to have read Book One for this to make any sense. Book One was rated M for language and sexual references. This one is rated M for the same reasons, but I'm also adding a warning for implied drug use (nothing graphic and no, I don't condone it), and werewolf action scene violence. Because come on, who doesn't like werewolf action scene violence? Lol. Laters.
The Imprinted Chronicles: Book Two
Chapter One
The club was on fire.
Not literally, although Cassie thought that if it were going to burn up, there were worse ways to go. The music was good, really good, and her skin was slick with sweat from dancing for so long. Normally she only stayed out on the floor until a light sheen hit her, because while a gleam made you sexy, pouring sweat like a horse made you less so. But tonight she didn't care. She wasn't trying to get laid, she wasn't trying to get drunk and hell, she wasn't even trying to meet anyone to talk to. Tonight she was just dancing and god, it felt good.
There was a man behind her, his arm around her waist and his hand on her hip, and he was moving to the heavy bass with enough skill that it didn't annoy her that he was holding onto her. It didn't really matter that much to Cassie, she was dancing, and she liked to be touched, and if it wasn't him it was going to be someone else. His tall strong body gave her something to move against and around and she liked that. The music was caressing over her limbs like a lover, giving her something else to move against and around, and she liked that more. She had been out here for nearly three hours now and it showed in her movements, she had stopped all of those playful hip-hop tricks that made clubbing so much fun and had gotten down to business. Her trendy blonde hair clung to her neck in damp piecey clumps and she wished that she hadn't cut it so short that she couldn't put it up any longer. It didn't matter, nothing really mattered, because the music was good and she felt good and that was enough for her.
The man behind her gripped her hips and whispered something in her ear, and if Cassie had cared enough to listen, she might have smiled at the base innuendo in his voice. She glanced over her shoulder at him, grabbing him behind the neck as she moved, and she gave him a once over. Not bad, not bad at all. If he'd caught her last night, he would have been about to have a lot more fun. But not tonight. Tonight Cassie felt alive, felt a high that she hadn't had in her blood naturally in years, and 'not bad' was not good enough to be willing to share her good mood with. Now that brunette in the corner, the one with the pretty eyes and the pouty lips that Cassie had been eyeing this whole night, the one with the not nearly attractive enough boyfriend behind her…well, she might be good enough to share, but Cassie knew a lost cause when she saw one.
The beat increased, the heavy bass pounding her ears, and for a moment again Cassie was lost. When she surfaced, her eyes still closed and her arms still folded above her head, she looked again at her dance partner. His eyes had darkened sexily, filled with lust as he pressed harder against her and Cassie considered it, was still considering it when the song came to an abrupt end, the club going pitch dark and silent for one long breathless moment. When the lights rose again, blue and red and green, the man's arms were empty because Cassie was halfway to the door.
She made sure to wink at the brunette on her way out.
The bouncer knew her, made sure to have the rope down for her before her high heels had even stepped out of the club, and the valet was running for her car. The cool night air brushed over Cassie's bared arms and torso, drying the sweat on her skin. Patiently Cassie waited, throwing the bouncer a smile as he stood next to her, intimidating with his massive arms crossed over his chest.
"Hey, Roman," Cassie grinned up at the muscular man. Roman wasn't handsome and he wasn't particularly tall for a man, but when he didn't have his work face on he was really pretty sweet. He kept his eye out for Cassie, had for the year that she had been in and out of this town, haunting the Seattle nightlife. He had even made it into her bed a few times. Cassie liked Roman, liked that he made her pancakes the morning after, liked that he wasn't pushy for anything more than the occasional good time. Cassie specialized at the occasional good time with nothing more. Tonight Roman was looking particularly muscley in his tight black shirt, and Cassie grinned bigger when he gazed down at her seriously, his mouth a frown. She loved breaking that frown, although it took some work and a bit of ingenuity.
"Leaving early, Cass?" Roman rumbled, and she shrugged, glancing at her watch. Only one-thirty. Apparently she was.
"You know me, Rome, gotta get home and get my beauty sleep," Cassie chuckled, and Roman graced her with the faintest shadow of a smile. Roman wasn't too interested in club rats but he made an exception for her, something that Cassie found utterly entertaining. Someone emerged from the club behind them, the man Cassie had been dancing with most of the night, and he made to come over and talk to her. Roman's smile fell immediately and he stepped in between them pointedly, but it didn't matter because Cassie's sleek car was already pulling up in front of the club, its engine purring. Cassie passed Roman a twenty out of her back pocket, knowing that he'd take care of tipping everyone for her, and she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Later Roman," she said, waggling her fingers in goodbye to the man being intimidated back into the club.
"You be good tonight, Cass," Roman told her as the valet hopped out and adjusted the seat as far forward as it would go before holding the driver's side door open for her. "Don't be getting into any trouble, girl." Cassie grinned as she tucked her slender body in the vehicle, having to stretch to reach the pedals because there was still too much legroom.
"Trouble? Me? I have no idea what you're talking about," Cassie smirked, and Roman rolled his eyes as the valet shut her door carefully. Cassie wasn't trying to, but her heel slipped and she accidentally revved the engine as she swung out into the street with a touch too much gas. She pretended that she didn't make Roman and the valet flinch when the grey Corvette ZR1 gunned itself and leapt out into traffic. First gear wasn't happy with her so Cassie shifted into second, then third as she merged onto the highway. Once the road opened up in front of her, she slammed it into fourth and let the car out to play, having a little too much fun as she weaved in between the other vehicles.
Cassie had never been particularly impressed with Seattle. It was just like any other city, a lot of cement and a lot more people, although it did have the benefit of being near the water. But at night it was pretty, and she liked how the golden city lights reflected off the rippling waters of Elliot Bay. She had spent more hours than she could count simply driving the city and staring at the water, but not tonight. Tonight Cassie headed home, with was not very far from the club she had just left. Home was a hotel, had been since she had first come here, and she'd never bothered to find something more permanent. She wasn't exactly a permanent person. She had come to Seattle on a whim, and perhaps on a whim tomorrow she'd leave and never come back. It didn't matter, Cassie preferred to live in the now.
The now was much more interesting anyway.
The young valet at the hotel was half asleep on his feet when she pulled up. When he saw who it was, the boy brightened and hurried over to get the door.
"Heya, Cassie," Jonathan greeted her, holding out his hand to help her from the car. Jonathan was another sweetie, and not because he had been kind enough to ignore her throwing up on his shoes last Saturday night. Cassie and Jonathan had a deal, and it involved the eighteen year old getting to take her car out joyriding on the town between the hours of seven and eleven in the morning every day, times where Cassie was almost sure to be finally asleep, and her never having to worry about the vehicle ever being in need of gas or oil changes or car washes. It was a deal in which they both thought they got the better end of the bargain. He quirked an eyebrow at her and offered her an arm back to the sidewalk. She took it, giving him a friendly bump with her hip.
"You're in early," Jonathan teased, smiling. "And alone, too. The sky isn't falling, is it?" He glanced above them in mock nervousness. Cassie stuck her tongue out at him, and followed it up with a sigh.
"Roman said about the same thing," she shook her head sadly, feigning insult. "Here I am, just trying to get a good night's sleep, and everyone has to make a big deal out of it."
"The day you sleep before sunrise is the day I own this place," Jonathan snorted before greeting the car by patting it lovingly. Jonathan Wells lived on the west side of town, the bad part near Delridge Way, with his grandmother Baba Wells and his two little sisters. Getting this job had been a break for him and his family, and Jonathan wouldn't be owning any hotels anytime soon. It was too bad, the kid was too smart to be running cars for people who didn't give a shit about him.
"Well, we all have our own personal idiosyncrasies," Cassie chuckled, tossing Jonathan the keys. "Tell Baba I miss her cooking," she added mournfully, and Jonathan grinned.
"Check your fridge," he winked at her. And then because the head valet was poking his nose out of the building suspiciously, Jonathan stood up a little straighter. "Will you be needing anything else tonight, Miss Fedorova?" he asked her professionally. Cassie almost said no, but then she grinned. It never hurt to help a kid out.
"Yes, I think I do. I want a chilled bottle of '59 Chardonnay delivered to my room, you know the right brand, a Caesar salad, you know how I like it, and some gummy worms."
"Sour or regular, ma'am?" he questioned seriously, and Cassie almost laughed when the head valet nodded in self-important approval. Jonathan's eyes were twinkling as she pretended to think about it.
"Sour. Thanks Jonathan." The kid had absolutely no idea what she liked in wine or salad selections, but his boss didn't need to know that, and if she knew Jonathan, whatever showed up would be good enough. At least running errands would get him off the curb and not bored stiff for a few minutes. Cassie wandered into the hotel, idly glancing towards the bar to see if she knew anyone, although it was a slow night. Weekdays usually were. Not particularly interested in drinking, and remembering Jonathan's grandmother's food, Cassie went up her room. The answering machine light was blinking, but Cassie ignored it, making a beeline for the fridge.
"Oh yeah, baby, come to momma," Cassie cooed at the casserole dish that she found in there, and she groaned in pleasure when she peeled the tin foil back to reveal saucy cheesy goodness smothering what used to be healthy rice and lean ham. She grabbed a fork and stuffed a bite in her mouth, moaning softly. "You are a good good woman, Baba, and I will remember you until the day I die."
Cassie walked past the answering machine and hit the play button before collapsing on the couch in the adjoining media room, the casserole balanced on her bared midriff, her booted feet kicked up on the coffee table. The first three were in Russian. Her mother didn't know why she kept insisting on changing her cell phone number. Her mother didn't know what she could possibly have better to do than to pick up the phone. Her mother would call her tomorrow, and she better pick up the phone this time. Two calls from Gerritt, he was having a party this weekend in Vancouver and wanted her there. Oh, and she should bring a date, as if she wouldn't have already, and to not go slumming it. He did have some taste, even if she didn't. Cassie snorted at that one, and crammed another forkful of awesome in her mouth, chewing blissfully. The following two messages were from a guy and a girl that she had met this week, but she didn't really pay any attention. She met a lot of people, and it was sometimes hard to keep them straight. The next was a very deep masculine voice, one only vaguely familiar when he spoke her name.
"Cassie? Hey. This is Paul."
Ooh, Paul. She might have a hard time remembering some people, but he was hard to forget. Native American, a couple years younger than her and insanely hot, if a little freaked out by being around her.
"Hi Paul," Cassie chirped back at the machine, licking cheese off of her fork. "Are you still gorgeous?"
"We met yesterday," he rumbled over the message, his voice deeper than she remembered.
"Yes we did, Paul," she hummed, kicking her foot idly. "You never answered my question, though."
A pause and then the awkward clearing of a throat. Aww, the poor guy still wasn't good at talking to her, was he? True he'd said all of four sentences to her during the movie and she'd gone her own way afterwards, so maybe it was a constant thing with him. "I'd like to see you again, if you're interested. Give me a call if you want to." He left his phone number and then the answering machine beeped, signaling the end of the messages.
"Hmm, am I interested, casserole?" Cassie asked the pan on her lap, but it didn't give an opinion yes or no. She checked her watch. It was two a.m. and five hours past the time that respectable people called virtual strangers. But then she grinned. Paul seemed like the shy type, and as hot as he was, shy and her just didn't mesh well. He had called her though, and that took some guts, so he might not be a lost cause after all. Plus she'd been drawn to him, more so than she normally was with people, and Cassie was pretty sure that her ridiculously good mood since yesterday might have partly to do with the huge man. She'd just have to see, Cassie decided with a smirk as she headed for the phone. She'd shake him up a little, see how he reacted. If he couldn't hang, well then, no loss. If he could…
Cassie set her casserole down next to the phone and, even though it was two in the morning, she dialed Paul's number with one manicured finger. It rang several times but he didn't pick up, and it went to the answering machine. Oh well, she decided with a shrug, it was no big deal. The night was still young, and she'd find something else to do. Maybe she should call back one of those two that had left messages? The girl was pretty, but Cassie had gotten the needy vibe from her. The guy however…Cassie smiled a little to herself and reached again for the phone.
It rang beneath her fingertips.
"She's going to call. It might take her awhile, but five bucks says she's going to call."
At Brady's statement, Collin let out a snort as his best friend slapped a five dollar bill down on Jared and Kim's coffee table. "Bullshit, Brady. He totally freaked her out! Ten bucks says he has to go stalker boy to see her again."
Collin smacked down a ten over Brady's five smugly. Both wolves had recently come off patrol and were on the floor eating a very late night dinner, much to Jared's annoyance. He had had other plans for tonight, things that would not be happening if Kim thought they could be overheard in the next room.
"No way, have some faith man!" Brady argued between slurping up mouthfuls of Kim's leftover spaghetti. "This is Paul we're talking about. Freaked out or not, she's still gonna call."
Brady was often a figure that could be found at Jared's, not so much because he got along so well with them, but because Jake had made it clear he expected the older wolves to take the youngest ones under their wings. Obviously no one but Jake would feel comfortable dragging Seth around, and Sam had played babysitter enough to last him a lifetime, so that left Jared with Brady and Paul with Collin. Being the one that was in charge of making sure that Collin wasn't allowed to stray too far off course, Paul felt completely comfortable in lobbing an empty beer bottle at the back of the pup's head.
"Oww," Collin yelped, and from his place in the corner, leaning against the wall, Paul calmly popped open his next one with the end of a lighter.
Kim walked into the living room with Jared trailing behind, and she gave both wolves a superior look before slapping down a twenty dollar bill on top of their money. Jared dropped down on the couch and grabbed Kim around the waist, pulling her across his lap. Kim relaxed back against Jared's chest and smirked knowingly, saying, "Twenty says that Cassie calls immediately, and you two are morons for even wondering. You didn't see the way she was looking at him."
"You mean the slightly green expression of disgust as he was losing his lunch?" Collin snickered and earned himself another beer bottle in the back of the head. "Oww, man! Enough already!"
"Is it really necessary to still be discussing this?" Paul wondered, staring at the ceiling above his head.
It was late, but it seemed as if the entire Pack just couldn't get enough of rehashing every single glorious detail of Paul's less than stellar imprinting experience yesterday. Once the general howls of laughter had worn off, it had become a guessing game whether or not Paul's tiny imprint wanted anything to do with him. Earlier that afternoon, Emily and Kim had deemed it necessary to pick apart everything that had been said, not that there was much on his side, and if Paul hadn't been Pack inclined to indulge the imprints nearly as much as Jared and Sam did, then he would have been tempted to have lobbed beer bottles at them too. Still Kim's faith in him was nice. Unfounded but nice.
Paul was pretty sure she wasn't going to call.
"Knock knock, kiddos," came a cheerful voice at the front door, and Seth stuck his head in. "Did I miss anything interesting?"
"We're betting on if Cassie calls Paul back," Paul said dryly, still staring at the ceiling. "So far there's a general consensus that she will, although it's possible that Collin will be leaving tonight twenty-five dollars richer. I'm inclined to throw my money in with Collin."
"Don't sweat it man, it'll be cool," Seth said with a smile, striding into the apartment and giving Paul an understanding look before dropping five bills onto the table. "A hundred says that she calls." Seth's faith was nicer than Kim's, but still unfounded.
"Ooh, the Beta's upped the stakes," Collin said, drooling after the wad of cash on the table. "No offense dude, but I'm kinda hoping she doesn't call you, cause I could really use that. I've been shelling out way too much money paying off Emb's girl lately, and I'm about cashed out."
Seth seemed to find that amusing as he plopped down on the couch next to Jared and Kim. "You're still letting Sims blackmail you into doing your homework for you? Why don't you just sneak her answers when she's not looking? That's what Jared used to do with Kim, didn't he?"
Jared tried and failed to look utterly innocent as Kim raised an eyebrow. Collin smirked but then shook his head.
"I tried. Emb keeps catching me when I think about it later," Collin sighed, looking down at his empty plate sadly. Then he lifted his mournful eyes to Kim with such regret that she rolled her own and climbed off Jared's lap.
"I swear, you've got that perfected, Collin," Kim grumped as she took his plate from him, but she also grabbed Brady's plate before heading back into the kitchen to get them a second round.
"Does anyone not love Kim?" Brady sighed contentedly and got himself kicked in the back of the head for it by an annoyed looking Jared.
"Hey Kim, can I get some too?" Seth called in hopefully, and Kim made a noise that indicated agreement. "Yay," he murmured happily before turning his attention on Paul. "Out of curiosity, how long has Paul been hiding in the corner?"
"Paul's not hiding," Jared said with a smirk, sharing an amused look with Seth. "What was your word for it, man?"
"Contemplating," Paul grunted.
"Yeah, that's right," Jared nodded in agreement. "Paul's contemplating. What exactly were you contemplating again, Paul?"
Paul took a drink of his beer. Then when Seth raised an eyebrow, Paul grunted. "I was contemplating the situation." Seth waited, and then Paul grimaced. "You know, the situation where fate decided to totally fuck with my life insofar as I've ever known it. That was what I was contemplating."
"Is it helping?" the Beta asked curiously and Paul drained his beer.
"Not particularly."
"Things worked out for the other guys, Paul. The odds are pretty good in your favor," Seth reminded him, and Paul gave Seth a flat look.
"Emily got maimed, Claire's parents are still trying to decide if Quil's a pedophile, and last week Jared willingly signed up for a couple's Friday night book club."
"There's that too," Seth chuckled as Jared shot Paul a dirty look. "Either way she'll call."
"What if I don't want her to?" Paul muttered, glancing down at the carpet between his knees. "I was pretty content with how things were, and now…You weren't there, Seth. This girl…she's not…I'm not…No. It's really better if she doesn't call. I'll figure out how to deal with the rest of it."
"Maybe you should go talk with Jake," Seth suggested softly, and Paul's head snapped up. He shook his head in the negative quickly, ignoring the other wolves quietly listening to the conversation.
"I'm not going to go whining to the Alpha about this, Seth. Jake's got bigger things to deal with."
"Bigger than a new imprint? Bigger than a new Pack member? That's pretty big, Paul, for all of us," Seth reminded Paul before he suddenly grinned. "The sooner you man up and get the girl, the sooner the rest of us get to meet her. Personally I'm pretty stoked, I love having the imprints around. We're all one big happy family with them here too. Of course, the imprints love me the most, so of course I love them back the most."
Kim chose that moment to walk back in with plates of food and after she had safely delivered them to the pups and Seth, the Beta hooked her around the waist with his free arm and squished her breathless against his side. "Right Kim?" he chuckled while she squeaked in surprise. He gave her a little jiggle as Jared let out a strangled growl, which he tried to cover by feigning coughing. Growling at the Beta was bad. Seth laughed and jiggled Kim again, making her giggle. "Riiight Kim?"
"Umm, right?" she asked back in confusion, and Seth dragged her across his knee, beaming as he hugged her close.
"I'm her favorite," Seth declared contentedly, giving her a wet kiss on the cheek and making her giggle. "Just how it should be."
That was about as much as Jared could handle, so Seth released Kim and straightened her up before launching into his spaghetti, humming innocently despite Jared's glares. Kim laughed and dropped a kiss on Seth's head, making Jared grumble under his breath as she hugged the Beta back before returning to her wolf. Seth smirked at Jared as he inhaled his spaghetti, and Paul was wondering if he should go get himself another beer. They hadn't been helping so far but maybe…
His cell phone rang.
Paul had ditched his phone on the coffee table earlier after his awkward call to Cassie, so when it buzzed in the middle of the room, vibrating in place on the clear glass table top, they all stared at it stupidly for a moment. It was two in the morning, and there was no way it was her. But Brady was closest and when he looked at the caller ID, his jaw dropped open.
"Holy shit, she called," Brady said in astonishment as Paul lunged for his cell phone. Unfortunately Collin got there first, snatching Paul's phone and leaping over top of Seth to the dubious safety of behind the couch.
"Give me the goddamn phone, Collin!" Paul snarled as he scrambled after Collin with a touch less grace, his foot landing squarely in Seth's abdomen as he jumped the couch. Seth kept his easy smile and his hold on his food, but retaliated by hooking Paul's ankle and sending Paul face first onto the accent table behind the couch. Paul recovered quickly and leapt at Collin, making a grab for the younger wolf, who was disgustingly quick as he ducked behind the recliner. Collin was holding his hands up in treaty, but he kept darting out of Paul's grasp. Kim was screaming something about her furniture, but no one was listening, not even Jared who was too busy laughing his ass off.
"No man, no!" Collin was talking a mile a minute even as he narrowly avoided losing an ear, the phone still ringing in his hand. "Hear me out! It's two in the fucking morning, dude! Just listen, Paul. Why would a girl call you for the first time at two in the morning? Why would that girl call you at two in the morning?"
The phone stopped ringing and Paul let out a curse, kicking the coffee table in frustration. Kim shrieked as glass shattered and ended up all over the carpet. Brady calmly picked his five dollar bill and Collin's ten off his lap and stuffed them into his pocket, a pleased smile on his face. Collin realized that Paul had ceased briefly in his Collin assault and took the opportunity to plead his case.
"Dude, you said she's hot, right? Like crazy hot, and that she seems like she's got money. A girl like that is only gonna call a guy she doesn't know at two in the morning for two reasons. One, she wants a booty call, or two, she's a lunatic."
Paul let out a second snarl and Collin yelped, this time not managing to escape the other wolf. He was whimpering and stuffed inside Paul's chokehold, getting punched repeatedly in the ribs by Paul's heavy fist, but he still managed to maintain hold of the phone and continue trying to explain as they rolled around the carpeted floor.
"Dude…if it's just…fuck, man, that fucking hurts…if it's just a booty call…don't you want to know that? Oww!"
"Enough," Seth drawled lazily, but the command in his tone was sufficient to force Paul back to his feet, and Collin scrambled away, gasping for breath. "Kim's having a heart attack."
Kim was having more than that. She was having kittens, she was so pissed off. Kim grabbed up the closest thing she could find, which happened to be a pair of Jared's tennis shoes and she hurled each one at Paul vindictively.
"You broke my coffee table, Paul!" Kim shrieked. A pair of sandals and one work boot punctuated her words. "It was brand new! Jared, eat him!"
Brady choked on the last bite of spaghetti and then snickered, sharing a look with Collin, who was rubbing the back of his neck to regain the feeling in his head.
"He'll buy us another one, honey," Jared shrugged, and then he grinned at Paul who wasn't bothering to duck the shoes. They were both used to flying objects in this household. "Collin's got a point, man. It does kind of seem like a booty call. Which is cool, you know, if that's what you're into. Which you're not, so…made we should hope for the lunatic option?"
Paul's snarl was deeper this time. He didn't know Cassie, and yeah, she might be a lunatic, but she was his imprint and Paul felt that this was a little uncalled for.
He wasn't sure about this whole imprinting thing, had not really seen it coming, but Paul accepted it for what it was. Cassie was his imprint, she was a part of the Pack, and it was their job to be there for her. If Emily called them in the middle of the night, there wasn't a single one of them that wouldn't be running to answer her. Maybe Paul's imprint had needed something and he hadn't picked up the phone. And he never said shit about Kim or Claire or Emily. Hell, he even never said shit about Sims, so he really didn't appreciate this. The Beta seemed to recognize his anger for what it was and interceded, not that the grinding in Paul's jaw was hard to miss.
"Leave him alone, guys," Seth said, setting down his empty plate and relaxing back on the couch. "Collin, give him the phone back and pick up this mess. Good intentions aside, that was kind of stupid."
Collin grumbled but did as he was told, tossing Paul's cell back to him. Paul snatched it out of the air and stalked past Collin, smacking him across the back of the head with it as he went into the kitchen. He grabbed another beer from the fridge and walked down the hallway, ignoring Kim's glares and Jared's grins as he headed towards the back porch. They would be able to hear this but Paul didn't really care. Screw 'em. He sank down on the step and stared at his phone. Yeah, it was a little strange that she'd called this late, but Paul shrugged and scrolled down to Cassie's number.
It rang three times before she picked up the phone.
"Hello, Paul," Cassie said, her voice sending a small shiver up his spine, and Paul felt his wolf rouse itself and take notice. Normally the wolf rarely cared about Paul's human emotions or activities, but it was very interested in their mate, even when just hearing her voice over the phone. "It's a little late for phone calls, isn't it?"
…Umm, what?
"You called me," Paul reminded her after a moment of silence. Cassie laughed, a soft breathy sound that sent the shiver right back down his spine and onto other parts. It was a laugh that would've caught his attention even without the imprint, and in that moment Paul didn't give a shit if she was a lunatic or not. The wolf was more than interested now; it was practically thrumming with intensity as it listened to her sounds.
"And you called me back," Cassie chuckled. "It's two in the morning, Paul. Shouldn't you be doing more important things, like sleeping perhaps, instead of answering phone calls?"
"I could say the same for you, Cassie," Paul stated, and she made a little noise in her throat before answering, like she was swallowing. She was eating, he realized, and she sounded relaxed enough. A tension that Paul hadn't realized he'd been feeling slid away. If this middle of the night call was because she needed something, it wasn't something major.
"You could say that," Cassie continued, "but you might be inaccurate." His imprint must be grinning, because he could hear it over the phone. "Sleeping is pretty far down my list of important things to do at this time of night. Hey, it's a little last minute, but do you want to come to a party?"
"I'm sorry?" Did she just ask him to a…?
"A party. A gathering. Revelry, merrymaking, a general good time. Want to come?"
"Now?" Paul asked, a little confused. "At two in the morning?"
"Of course now. Unless you're busy, or too far away. That's right, you live in La Push, and so you are too far away. It's a four hour drive to Seattle, huh? Well, it was a nice thought, and maybe some other time. Goodnight, Paul," Cassie chirped and then she hung up the phone.
She'd hung up. She'd hung up on him. What the fuck?
Paul stared at the phone in his hand dumbfounded, and then he hit redial. This time Cassie answered on the first ring. "Hello, Paul," Cassie purred, her voice dropping seductively. "Did you miss me?"
"The three seconds were torture," Paul found himself saying back, and she laughed again, making Paul smile slightly. They had pleased her and the wolf approved. "I'm closer than you think. Give me an hour."
"Hmmm," she murmured thoughtfully. "An hour's a long time. Make it a half hour and bring me something."
"Make it forty-five minutes and wear something nice," he shot back just for the hell of it. "Where do you live?"
"The Hotel 1000 off of First Avenue, and I always wear something nice. Does that mean you'll always bring me something?" she countered immediately, and Paul suddenly barked out a laugh. Damn, this girl was fast on her feet.
"I'll think about it."
This time he hung up the phone. Paul didn't realize he was smirking until he walked back into the apartment and saw the expressions on his Packmates' faces. They had heard, obviously, their ears were good enough to not only hear Paul but Cassie too, and even Seth seemed a little shocked. Jared must have shared because Kim didn't seem mad anymore, instead she actually had a sympathetic look on her face, causing Paul to raise an eyebrow.
"What?"
Kim and Jared shared a look, and Jared coughed uncomfortably. "Umm, Paul? You know how last year I took Kim to Seattle for the weekend and went all out, spared no expense? "
"Yeah. So?"
"Hotel 1000 is where I wanted to take her but I couldn't," Jared said quietly, trying very hard not to embarrass his best friend. "If Cassie lives there…"
If Cassie lives there, then he was too broke to come within fifty feet of her. Well no shit, Jared. Paul had figured that out yesterday. But she was Pack and that didn't leave Paul a lot of options in this, so he just shook his head at his friend, stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked out. Paul had made it halfway across the tiny parking lot when Jared came jogging after him. Jared tossed Paul the spare key to his used Toyota and when Paul raised an eyebrow, Jared just shrugged and quirked a smile at him.
"I'll park my car down the street from the hotel in one of those cheaper parking garages, okay?" Jared said. "That means you'll look cheap, but it'll be less weird, you know, if you stay the night and she sees you leave in the morning. You'll have to distract her for at least three hours so try not to…well…"
"Throw up repeatedly until she kicks me out?" Paul quirked a half-smile as he pulled his shirt off. He might have been able to make Seattle in half an hour, but he needed to get a change of clothes and a trash bag to carry them in if he was swimming the Sound to get to her. And apparently he had to find a present.
"Something like that," Jared chuckled, but he hesitated before heading to his car. "Hey, man?" Paul looked at him, and Jared coughed uncomfortably. "Listen, this'll probably go good for you, I've got faith and all that. But if it doesn't…well, we'll figure it out somehow. Kim and I, we'll help you figure it out. The whole Pack, bro, we've got your back."
Having said his piece, Jared trotted off to his car, leaving Paul to stride into the woods alone. Paul pulled the small bungee strap from his back pocket and unbuttoned his jeans, smiling a little to himself. This would be okay. The Pack had his back.
It had never occurred to Paul that they didn't.
He'd had the audacity to tell her what to wear. That amused Cassie enough to be willing to do it, although of all the clothes in her closet, less than ten percent could be counted as anything other than 'something nice.' If Paul had meant to throw her for a loop, he'd have to try harder.
Still it took Cassie her whole shower to think of something appropriate. He might get the wrong idea with what she was intending, but then again he might get the right idea. Cassie wasn't sure if she was planning on seducing Paul, but it was pretty high up her list of options, so the ultra short, skintight sheathe dress wouldn't hurt. The creamy colored cashmere fabric covered her from wrist to the very tops of her thighs, and her butter soft tan boots were truly thigh high, leaving only an inch of bared skin visible. Of course that inch was a very strategic inch, and if Paul was interested at all, a few crossings of her legs beneath his gaze should be enough to do the trick. Pleased with her choice, Cassie had just finished her light application of makeup and drying her short hair when a knock came at her door.
Damn, he was there already? Cassie glanced at the mirror in annoyance, unhappy that her hair was less than perfect. Then she realized that it had to be Jonathan, and since that kid had seen her in much worse than messy hair, Cassie hurried to the door.
"So Jonathan, is it a good thing that I sent you on a scavenger hunt-?" Cassie started to joke as she unlocked the door and opened it, but her words died on her lips as she looked up and then up some more. Dark caramel colored eyes locked onto hers, dragging her in so deep that for a moment she was left undone.
Yesterday when she had first seen Paul, Cassie had been unable to pull her eyes off of him, so much so that even though he had sickened up right in front of her, she had still stared. And trying to focus on the movie had been practically impossible because the entire time she had wanted to turn and just look at him, meaning that she had missed most of the storyline. She didn't know why Paul had that effect on her, only that he had pulled at her in a way she wasn't used to. Once she had been out of his presence, Cassie had brushed it off as just being interested in a particularly attractive man, but now that he was standing in front of her again, Cassie felt her knees grow a little weak. Paul wasn't simply attractive. He was gorgeous.
Paul had one hand stuffed in the pocket of his jeans and the other behind his head as he leaned on his elbow against the doorframe, towering over her. Cassie watched him take her in, those incredible eyes moving over her from head to toe, evaluating and categorizing every single inch. It was only when he paused ever so slightly at the strategic inch that Cassie regained her composure. By the time his eyes had returned to hers, Cassie had raised an eyebrow, a smug smile on her face.
"Like what you see?" she smirked as she crossed her arms across her small chest, leaning against the doorframe where Paul was and deliberately pushing into his personal bubble.
"Who's Jonathan?" Paul rumbled in response, and Cassie laughed when he shifted forward instead of away. It hurt her neck to look up at him, Paul was at least six and a half feet tall when Cassie herself was barely five one, although his height didn't intimidate her. Even in heels Cassie was used to everyone being taller than she was, and even though there were worse things than being at chest level with a torso this muscled and toned, she kept her eyes on his face. There would be plenty of time for ogling the goods later.
"I didn't tell you which room to go to, Paul, I'm impressed," she said archly, leaning in just a touch closer. "Or maybe I'm a little weirded out. How did you find me again?"
"I thought it was a party?" Paul ignored her question, glancing over her head into the empty hotel suite.
"I thought you were bringing me something?" Cassie countered, ignoring his question as well, and Paul chuckled, a deep sexy noise that made her shiver a little in anticipation. From where she was standing, Cassie couldn't see anything but an attractive Quileute man in jeans and a snug white t-shirt, so maybe he was her present?
"I used my nose, Cassie," Paul told her teasingly, his eyes once more locked on hers. "You're not that hard to find. You should work on that."
"A party's just a state of mind, Paul," Cassie quirked a smile. "But it's always a state of mind better shared with at least two, don't you think?"
"I brought you something," the huge man murmured, shifting even closer. "And if you can keep my attention long enough, then you'll get it later."
"Ominous," Cassie smirked, "Or maybe interesting…"
Paul shook his head once, face growing serious. "No," he said quietly, never breaking their gaze for a moment. "No, never that, Cassie."
"Which one?" she grinned. "Because ominous I can work with, but even I can't fix a terminal case of boring, and I am convinced that I am the most interesting person I have ever met."
He stared at her for a second, as if he wasn't sure if she was being serious or not, and then Paul barked out a laugh. Cassie thought that maybe his fingertips had just brushed her hip, even though when she glanced down his hand was still in his pocket.
"Jake's going to love you," Paul chuckled to himself, and then he let his eyes deliberately roll over her once more. "And yes, I do," he added, the tiniest touch of a smile coming to his lips. He liked what he saw.
Cassie chuckled and reached up, patting his cheek lightly. It was supposed to be playful, but the moment her skin touch his, his heat pulled her in seductively. He watched her as she left her hand there for a moment too long, once more thrown off her game. Then Cassie ran her hand behind his neck, pulling Paul's head down towards hers. He seemed surprised, but came with the movement, leaning down until his lips were nearly brushing hers. Cassie could feel his body shifting towards hers, and then, just before he closed the distance between them, Cassie licked her lips.
"Jonathan's bringing my salad later," she chirped brightly, and with that she turned and headed back into her hotel rooms, leaving the door open for him to follow. Paul stayed at the doorway, watching her with interested eyes as Cassie walked halfway through the living room of her suite. When she noticed he wasn't moving anywhere, Cassie turned around and smiled at him.
"Cold feet?" she asked, and the corner of his mouth twitched upwards.
"You never invited me in," Paul told her in his rumbling voice and Cassie chuckled.
"Uh oh, you're not a vampire, are you Paul?" she teased the huge man lightly.
"Nope," he shook his head, and then suddenly Paul hit her with his full smile, bright and amazing. "I'm a werewolf, actually. But even wolves have manners."
Cassie barked out a laugh and went back to the door, taking his huge hand in her tiny one. His skin was burning hot. She didn't invite him in, but she did pull Paul across the threshold by the hand. This time he followed, and she could feel him taking in the suite, his eyes cataloguing it just as he had done to her. Cassie glanced over her shoulder, checking his reaction. The hotel wasn't the nicest she had stayed in, but it had suited her tastes thus far. Her suite was on the top floor, which she preferred, and it was spacious enough for just her. Two bedrooms, a parlor and a media room, and a kitchen that was decent, not that Cassie ever cooked in it. Her mother didn't understand why Cassie was determined to live trashy. Cassie personally thought it was quaint.
When Paul caught sight of the adjoining walls in the parlor, each one ceiling to floor windows and giving a panoramic view of Elliot Bay and the Puget Sound, he paused and whistled through his teeth. Cassie left him there, choosing instead to move to the media room so she could put on some music.
"You live here?" Paul asked quietly, his voice carrying the edge of disapproval that she was used to hearing from some of her more affluent acquaintances, and Cassie chuckled. She hadn't expected a guy in Wrangler jeans to be so discerning.
"For now," Cassie shrugged his disapproval off, choosing instead to thumb through her collection of music, looking for something appropriate. "It works. Are you hungry?"
"You have a fireplace," he mentioned, as if that was of consequence. There was a double sided fireplace connecting the two rooms they were in, and if she had bothered to look, Cassie would have probably been able to see Paul's shoes through the grating. Cassie hummed, trying to decide if she was in the mood for mellow or upbeat. She was good at upbeat, not so much at mellow.
"The Smashing Pumpkins or Missy Elliot?" she asked suddenly, and Cassie heard him chuckle as if she had made a joke.
"I'm not dignifying that with a response," Paul said. "And for once in my life, no, I'm not hungry."
"Missy Elliot it is. The hotel has a fireplace," Cassie replied after a moment of fussing with the player. "I am merely borrowing it."
"You chose wrong, Cassie," Paul told her as the music came on, rolling around the corner and leaning his hip against said fireplace as she adjusted the volume so it wasn't annoyingly loud. Cassie gave him an impish smile, having to crane her head up to do it.
"Perhaps you chose wrong, Paul," she countered teasingly, and he shifted closer, making her have to lift her chin to still see him.
"I don't choose wrong," Paul informed her, his voice deepening as he invaded her personal bubble this time. Cassie held her ground, arching an eyebrow as he very carefully took her face in the palm of his large hand. His other hand had found her slim waist, and when his grip on her tightened slightly Cassie's heartbeat jumped despite her relaxed demeanor. "You're so tiny," he murmured softly, as if he was talking more to himself than to her. "I can work with that, I guess…"
"Don't lower your standards on my account, Paul. Of course, it's always good to try new things," she purred, closing the remaining distance between them. She was a little surprised, Paul wasn't taking nearly the effort to seduce as she had expected. In fact, it was so easy, it was almost no fun. Where was the shy, tongue-tied man she'd met yesterday? But he was insanely attractive, so even if he ended up not being worth the trouble, he would at least be worth the view.
Keeping her eyes locked on his dark caramel ones, Cassie moved in for the kill.
Paul stepped back suddenly, his head twisting as he looked across the suite towards the door that they had left partially open, and to Cassie's surprise he growled lightly. No one was there, but Cassie only had time to blink once before a familiar head backed through the doorway, carrying a fully laden tray.
"Hey Cass, sorry it took so long," Jonathan chatted, not looking up as he bumped the door closed behind him with a hip. "Believe it or not the wine was the easiest thing to get, but I had to drive everywhere for those damn sour gummies-" He trailed off when he glanced up and saw Paul. Then he awkwardly cleared his throat, throwing her an apologetic look. "Sorry, I didn't realize you had company," the teenager muttered, hustling to the kitchen with his tray.
Cassie pulled free from Paul and went to Jonathan, giving him a friendly smile. "Last minute impromptu thing," she told him easily. "Jonathan, this is Paul, whose last name I have yet to learn. Paul, this is Jonathan Wells."
She watched Paul move across the room gracefully, and Cassie paid close attention as he approached Jonathan. If Paul handled this wrong, Cassie would throw him out of the door faster than he could blink. If he handled it right, well then…
"Paul Coho," Paul said, extending his hand for Jonathan to shake. Cassie had never thought of the valet as being particularly slender, but next to Paul he looked every inch the young kid he was.
"Jonathan," he grunted back, trying to deepen his voice to match Paul's. In Paul's credit he simply nodded solemnly, and didn't crack a smile or puff up in an intimidating way. Jonathan coughed uncomfortably and turned back to Cassie. "Yeah, sorry it took so long. But thanks for making me look good tonight."
Cassie was already poking around the tray, ignoring Paul's quietness and Jonathan's awkwardness as she by-passed the wine and the salad and found the—
"Gummies!" Cassie crowed happily, uncovering a silver plate heaped with the things. She popped one in her mouth, and sighed happily, making a little noise of contentment in her throat. "You are wonderful, Jonathan," she declared, kissing the teenager's cheek before she ignored her company completely and attacked the plate of gummies. It was at this point where Cassie's new friend Paul learned just where in fact he ranked in the scheme of things in Cassie's life. It was somewhere below valets and candy, but above evenings spent alone, the same as all the others that she brought here in the middle of the night.
Jonathan smirked at Paul on his way out.
Cassie needed to put some more clothes on.
Paul had decided this the moment that she opened the door. He didn't care that so little skin was showing, her dress practically outlined every single curve she had with disturbing detail, and he was pretty sure that if she bent over even the smallest bit, he would see just as much skin as he wanted to. Even though Paul had always liked a girl with more meat on her bones than Cassie had, he had to admit that the girl was hot as hell. Despite her slender body, she had one of the prettiest faces he had ever seen, and she practically extruded confidence in herself, something infinitely attractive in a female. And she had to be wearing another pair of those damn boots…The wolf was very seriously considering pouncing, and even though Paul had absolute total control of it, he wouldn't lie. He was considering pouncing too.
The fact that Cassie seemed sure that he would pounce was one of the major things holding him back. Paul wasn't particularly pristine and being what he was, he enjoyed a good lay as much as the next shape shifter. The animalistic side of their natures made sex more important to the male wolves of the Pack, but Paul had never let that rule his decisions on who he bedded and who he didn't. His nose was sharp, and he could tell that in the last three days that there had been another male in this room for those exact purposes, and that left his wolf less than happy. Raging fucking pissed was a better term for it, but Paul was almost as uninterested in his wolf's opinion of things and it was of Paul's opinions. Paul was in control, so it would just have to deal.
If the look the valet had given him was anything to go by, Paul was only one of a string of men that Cassie had brought here, and therefore was relatively unimportant. In fact, Cassie seemed more excited to see the gummy worms than she had to see him, something that was a slight blow to his masculine pride. The wolf wanted the valet out. The wolf wanted her naked beneath him. The wolf wanted to set up guard at her door and keep the rest of the world outside where it belonged. Paul however wanted to leave. He wasn't particularly interested in being just another notch on his imprint's belt.
"Want one?" Cassie offered when Jonathan had gone and it was just them again.
She was smiling at him, even though he was pretty sure that he had been frowning at her. Most people tended to shrink back from him when he was frowning, but it didn't seem to faze Cassie in the least. When he didn't answer, Cassie very carefully draped a gummy worm on the end of her finger and presented it to him, smiling even bigger. Paul let her stay like that for a moment, but then he took her tiny hand in his huge one and lifted it up to jaw level. He dipped his head and ate the worm from her finger, keeping his eyes on hers and nipping the pad of her fingertip as he withdrew, and despite the curve of her lips, he saw her tense slightly before leaning in towards him, licking her lips.
He wasn't sure why, but Paul decided that something was off.
Something was missing here, he wasn't sure what it was, but he wasn't sure he wanted to leave until he figured it out. Therefore Paul decided to play along and he moved in closer to her, tipping her face up to his the way she had been expecting him to. Her lips against his were soft, with just enough passion to show she was interested, and when he deepened the kiss, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed into his body eagerly.
Paul's arm around her waist hooked her off her feet, and he lifted her up and set her down on the counter next to him. The wolf was practically purring in his head, matching the noises coming from Cassie's throat when he stepped between her thighs and guided those long leather clad legs around his waist. A hand in her soft hair, tipping her head back as he slid his tongue between her teeth. Another hand tracing dangerous patterns up her torso. Cassie moaned encouragingly and arched her body into his, her right arm still behind his head, and her left hand already hooking into the waistband of his jeans. She wanted him…
Actually, no, she didn't. That was what was missing. Despite the fact that she had been flirting heavily with him from the moment he had showed up at her door, Cassie wasn't aroused at all, at least not at the level she should be. It was a smell that changed from girl to girl, but it was an obvious one and Paul knew that his imprint wasn't anywhere close to being truly interested in him. It was almost like she was…
A tap of her fingertips against the back of his neck, like someone strumming their fingers against a desk because they were…
Paul broke off the kiss and pulled back, unaware of the huge grin spreading across his normally serious face. Cassie seemed surprised at his sudden retreat, and even more surprised when he burst out laughing.
"Oh my god, Cassie, you're bored, aren't you?"
Cassie crossed her legs at the knees and leaned back on her hands, giving him a considering look. Then she smirked at him. "Paul, I am always bored. I fail to see your point."
Paul shook his head and went back to her, putting his hands on the counter on either side of her slim hips. His grin had softened to a quirky smile, and even like this he had to lean down to look in her eyes. "You made a strategic error, Cassie," he chuckled. "Now I'm tempted to never sleep with you. However if you're bored, you should have said something. Your surprise is in my back pocket, it should help."
Cassie blinked, then she tipped her head to the side and grinned. "Well then turn around," she told him. Paul raised an eyebrow at her and Cassie made a little circle in the air with her finger. Paul rolled his eyes and did as asked, trying not to feel too molested by the time his imprint was finished digging through his jeans. When he turned back around, she was eyeing the old pack of playing cards with interest.
"You know, my father always said that the game a man plays says a lot about his personality," Cassie told him archly, hopping off the counter and dropping lightly to her toes. She took his hand and led him out of the kitchen and over to the parlor, where a long cherry dining table was set in front of the fireplace. Cassie sat down at the head of the table, her back to the windows and utterly ignoring the amazing view behind her. Paul wondered what kind of life this girl had come from that she was as blasé about this insanely nice hotel room as she was with having sex with a total stranger.
The wolf was wondering why the hell they still weren't in the kitchen.
Paul shushed his inner wolf, banishing it to the far corner of his mind so that it wouldn't distract him anymore, and it obeyed, albeit with a little grumbling. Paul sat in the chair next to her, angled so that he was facing her, as Cassie skillfully shuffled the deck.
"So, Paul," she drawled lazily, and for the first time he heard the slightest touch of a European accent to her voice, so discreet that only wolf ears would have picked it up. "What game?"
"What can you play?" Paul asked, watching her cut the deck and restack it.
"What can you?" she countered, placing the deck flat on the table in front of him. Paul cut the deck a second time and then took it.
"Poker?" he offered, and she shook her head.
"Tsk tsk, Paul," Cassie teased in mock disapproval. "So clique. And besides, a man that chooses poker is a man who is confident in his ability to lie to someone else's face. I'm not big on liars."
"Go fish?" Hard to lie there, when you were telling someone the cards in your hand.
"Less clique, and means you're not the type that has anything to hide. But since you chose poker first, I'm betting that we shouldn't play that either," Cassie teased. "Besides, if you're going for less boredom, we were doing better in the kitchen."
Cassie smirked and Paul flicked a card at her playfully. His imprint giggled and fetched the card off the ground next to her, the hem of her dress riding so far up her hip when she leaned over that Paul made himself look away. Her hazel eyes were bright in amusement, and he decided that she had done it on purpose.
"You choose the game then, Cassie," he told her, handing back the deck.
"High card," Cassie decided, dropping the deck in between them and cutting it in half. "Because life's no fun if you know what's coming next," she added playfully, and Paul simply shook his head as he slid the right handed stack in front of him. This girl had no idea. "You choose the stakes."
Paul glanced around the hotel suite, and then shook his head. "Money's out," he told her. "It won't dent you in the least, but I have rent to pay."
"Hmmm, how about-" Cassie started suggestively, but Paul cut her off firmly.
"No."
"But I didn't even-"
"No. Be good, Cass," he told her idly, but then Paul hit her with another full grin. "Why do I have the sudden feeling that I'll be saying that a lot from now on?"
Cassie stuck out her tongue at him and grabbed her own stack, drumming her fingertips lightly on the table. Paul could already see her shifting restlessly in her seat. "So what are the stakes?"
"Information," Paul said, and Cassie frowned slightly, so he pushed it harder. "Real information too, none of that favorite color crap. No repeats, either. You in or out?"
Cassie glared, but then her expression smoothed and she laughed. "I'm in and I start. Why aren't you sleeping with me tonight, Paul?"
She threw down a nine, and Paul slapped a jack down on top. "For me to know and you to find out, Cassie," he rumbled at her. "What with the accent?" He flipped over a four in annoyance, and Cassie looked smug for all of two seconds before she dropped down a two.
"That sucks. My father is Russian, and my mother is half Russian. We spent a lot of time in New York, even though the family homes are in Moscow and Rostov Veliky. Father felt it more appropriate if his children could tone down their accents depending on the social situation, so he hired vocal coaches. He used to hate it when we were back home and were talking like Yankees."
Cassie made the word louder and nasal sounding and Paul chuckled. "Got it. You said you have Native American blood, what side is that on?"
They both threw down and Cassie smirked at him. "Sorry Paul, that's to be discussed at a later time and place. Are you currently dating, involved with, or screwing anyone?"
Cassie's ace destroyed his seven, not that Paul minded. "No to the first and last ones. As of yesterday I unwittingly found myself very involved with someone," Paul told her, and he held Cassie's eyes pointedly. She hummed lightly in response, but she didn't panic. However she did throw out the next question, which caused him a mild amount of panic.
"Why did you throw up when you saw me yesterday?" Cassie asked, watching him carefully. Paul grunted and threw down, then sighed in relief when his eight beat her six. His imprint exhaled, and tapped her fingers across the table again, glancing idly out at the river behind her. He was losing her. Time to up the stakes again.
"You don't know me and I don't know you, Cassie," Paul said bluntly. "You apparently only want me around to distract you tonight, primarily by screwing you senseless, and I want other things from you that I'm not ready to talk to you about. High card to you and I'll make those damn nails stop tapping and start digging into something instead. High card to me and I tell you even though I don't want to."
That got Cassie attention, and she turned back to him. "So what do you get out of it?" his imprint asked in a calculating voice, and Paul shot her a quirky smile.
"Nailing a hot chick or not waiting six months to get something off my chest," Paul told her, and Cassie's eyes gleamed in renewed interest.
"Deal," she said and slapped down her top card. It was a king. Heat rushed through Paul's limbs as Cassie stood and leaned over the table, smirking at him sexily. God, she was gorgeous. "Pay up big guy," she purred as Paul turned over his own card.
It was an ace.
Paul stood up and leaned across the table as well, so that he was mere inches from Cassie's face, and he paid up. "I'm a bartending Quileute shape shifter who turns into a wolf at will. I'm a little broke because I kill vampires in my spare time instead of working extra shifts. The moment I met you, I imprinted on you, which means that my wolf side decided that you were my mate, my soul mate, the one I was destined to be with. It means that when you call at two in the morning, I have to come, even if I was perfectly happy sitting at home drinking beer instead."
Cassie blinked.
"That being said," Paul continued, "I won't be your lap dog and I've never been the type to be at anyone's beck and call, so don't try. But I will have your back, Cassie, and I'm going to rip the throat out of anyone who even thinks about messing with you. You're my imprint and that's not a responsibility I take lightly. To be honest, I'm more interested in why you're wearing boots when your legs hurt that badly than I am in sleeping with you."
Cassie blinked again.
Paul suddenly put his hand behind Cassie's head and this time when he kissed her, she didn't expect it. He loved the fact that the noise she made when his tongue slid across hers was real. He couldn't help himself and Paul snatched her up, leaving Cassie wide eyed and breathless when he finally deposited her back down on her feet. The top of her head barely came up to the middle of his chest and Paul felt a rush of protectiveness run through his veins. She was his. His.
"So you-" Cassie started to say, but he cut her off by kissing her one last time, a light friendly kiss.
"See you around, Cass," Paul said with a little smile, stuffing his hands in his pockets and heading for the door.
Well, this didn't exactly go as Paul had thought, but it could have been worse. He probably would have to go stalker boy after tonight, though. Paul grabbed a handful of gummy worms and let himself out, because Cassie didn't follow him. That was okay, Paul decided as he popped a worm in his mouth. He hadn't wanted her to anyway. So his imprint was bored, huh? He'd just have to shake her up a little then. Paul grinned at the thought as he swallowed the rest of the worm in one gulp.
Cassie had no idea of what was about to hit her.