Rocked by her Alpha Read online

  Chalk and cheese didn’t cover it. Their worlds were not only totally different; they might as well have been in parallel universes. Destined to touch for the briefest of moments before spinning away from each other again.

  “It doesn’t bother me at all.” She forced a smile to her lips as she moved forward and into his arms easily. It had been a nice dream, while it lasted, but only a fool would think they would ever have anything more than a night. Although… she held out hope for a second night…

  Her lips whispered over his, the barest brush but he opened his mouth eagerly, the hint of a growl in the back of his throat. It wasn’t a sound of aggression but rather one of need and primal hunger as he pulled her closer into his embrace.

  She’d meant it to be a quick kiss before the breakfast she could already see laid out for them on a small table, but the instant his body pressed up against hers, she forgot all about the growing ache in her belly. Instead, she was intent on satisfying an entirely different hunger.

  Giving a little growl of her own, she lifted her hands to drive her fingers through his hair. It fascinated her. Soft and silky, like liquid satin through her fingers, it felt wonderful against her skin. Now though, she used it to hold him in place as she kissed him with a ferocity she’d never felt before.

  He broke away with a small, pleased male chuckle.

  “Careful, kitten. You’re showing your alpha side there. My wolf might think you’re challenging him as head of the pack.”

  “You’re a pack alpha?” She pulled away to look at him with interest.

  It was obvious to anyone with eyes in their head he was a werewolf, but she realized she knew nothing else about him. That was nothing new. She generally wasn’t much interested until someone had been dead a couple of centuries.

  What shocked her was the realization she wanted to know about Aaron. She wanted to know everything from what he ate for breakfast right through to which side he dressed to in his pants.

  Actually… Experimentally, she pressed her hips to his and smiled.

  Left. He dressed to the left.

  “Yeah.” His voice was a little lower than usual when he answered, with a husky note that told her he was aroused. Not that she needed his voice to tell her that. The thick, hard evidence pressed insistently into her stomach. “We’re only a small pack, mostly family, but I guess you could call me the alpha.”

  ‘‘Uh-huh.”

  Leaning back, she studied him intently. To his credit he didn’t bow away or squirm under her scrutiny.

  “Can I see? Your wolf, I mean,” she added hastily as the corner of his lips began to curve upward. She’d quickly learned that he had a dirty mind. A fact she’d taken advantage of last night.

  His grin froze midway and for the first time since she’d met him, he looked nervous.

  “What? Now?”

  Instantly, she felt bad for putting him on the spot. “Sure. I mean… only if you want.”

  What if he didn’t want to show her his wolf? Oh crap, perhaps that was a wolf faux pas… maybe asking someone you hardly knew to show you their inner animal was like asking for a dick pic on social media? Heat sprang to her cheeks and she couldn’t meet his eyes.

  “Sorry, that was rude. I was just curious.”

  His fingertips brushed her cheek in a gentle movement before a firm grip under her chin made her look up into his eyes. They were golden amber with his wolf, the human color all swallowed up. She bit back her gasp, the hint he was something more than human… something dark and dangerous… animalistic… sent a thrill through her so erotic she was surprised he couldn’t smell the rush of heat that dampened her panties.

  Then his nostrils flared and his wolf-eyes darkened with heat and she knew he had.

  “Lord, please kill me now,” she whispered, closing her eyes.

  “Shhh,” he chuckled. “It’s fine.”

  His voice was close, lips closer as they covered her mouth in a kiss that deepened immediately. Without prompting, she opened for him, allowing his tongue to sweep in to find hers. The kiss turned hot and heavy within seconds, his hand in her hair to hold her still as the other swept under the shirt she wore.

  Bright lights and the click-click-click of a camera shutter broke the spell, making them both jump. Aaron exploded into movement. Letting go of her, he chased after the photographer who had surprised them even as the guy raced away, leaping over the stone wall that separated the ground floor terrace from the gardens with a single bound.

  She couldn’t help but watch in fascination as Aaron chased him. He was tall and muscled, but lean rather than bulky… a body shape she thought he’d cultivated for the rock star persona but now she saw him running, she had to revise her opinion. He moved like the predator he was, his lean physique built for speed as he chased down the photographer. Her breath caught in her throat as, for a moment, she could just imagine him as a wolf, his powerful body made for the run and the hunt.

  It didn’t take him long to catch the intruder, an undignified tussle ensuing at the far edge of the gardens as Aaron pinned him down. As she watched, security guards appeared from nowhere, converging on the pair with speed. Anxious, she waited until she spotted Aaron again, jogging back lightly toward her over the garden. It was only when he jumped back over the stone wall she realized he was barefoot.

  “Sorted,” he said with a grin of triumph, a small memory card held in his fingers. “Asshole thought he could make a killing in tomorrow’s morning papers.”

  She shook her head, half at the fact that anyone would bother sneaking into a place like this to take pictures and half at the fact Aaron didn’t seem at all surprised. Like events like these were normal for him…

  “Now, where were we?” he asked as he walked toward her. Halfway, it stopped being a walk and became a stalk, the predator coming to the fore as he looked at her. Shivering, she held her ground, looking up into his face as he pulled her into his arms.

  “Clever kitten,” he breathed, whispering his lips over hers as though reacquainting himself with their feel and taste. “Never run from a predator.”

  She didn’t plan on running anywhere, not when he was kissing her like that. A small whimper in the back of her throat, she moved closer and pressed herself against him in blatant invitation. A growl rumbled deep in his chest as he walked her backward toward the door to the bedroom.

  Anticipation rolled through her, heating her blood as she matched him kiss for erotic kiss. But before they reached the sanctuary of the bedroom, the shrill demand of a cell sliced through the air.

  “Shit.” He stopped kissing her, his eyes closed as he rested his forehead against hers. The phone continued to ring, getting more insistent with each chirp. “Ignore it,” he whispered, kissing her softly. “They’ll go away.”

  She chuckled, digging him in the ribs lightly. “No, get it. It might be important.”

  “You’re important.”

  Her lips clung to his for a second before she stepped back. “Get it. Then I know I have all your attention.”

  “Okay, kitten.” Dropping a quick kiss on her forehead, he turned and with a few strides, scooped up his cell from next to his guitar on the couch. “Hey, Karlan … what’s up?”

  Melody wandered over to where the breakfast was laid out and poured herself a coffee. Checking Aaron’s mug, she refilled it to carry over to him.

  “Crap. You sure?” He sat on the edge of the couch, mouthing a thank you to her as he listened intently to the phone held to his ear. “No… no… that won’t work. Shit. And you’ve no idea how long she’s been gone?”

  She perched opposite him, concern rolling through her. Whatever the call was about, it sounded serious. The suspicion was confirmed seconds later.

  “No… don’t do anything. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  Clicking the phone off, Aaron looked at her. His expression was serious. “Kitten, I’m really sorry but I’m going to have to cut this short. My sister, Tempest… she’s gone missing.”


  “Oh, god, I’m so sorry!” Her disappointment disappeared under concern. “How long has she been go—” Instantly, she cut herself off. “No, don’t worry about it. You go. Sort things out.”

  “Thank you,” he breathed, standing and pulling her into his arms in one quick movement. His kiss was swift but no less breathtaking than the others. Letting go of her, he looked at his cell again. “What’s your number? I’ll call you when I know more?”

  “I don’t know it.” She wrinkled her nose into a grimace. “What? I don’t call myself!”

  Shaking his head with a fond sigh, he reached for her hand. Grabbing the pen next to the notepad on the table with his coffee, he scribbled a number quickly on the back of her hand.

  Five minutes later, he was dressed, his guitar on his back and his passport in his pocket. It seemed millionaire rock stars traveled light.

  “Stay for the weekend here if you like,” he said softly, his expression torn. Without him needing to say anything, she knew he wanted to stay with her, but his duty to his family came first. “But call me later? Please?”

  “Sure,” she smiled, the expression lost under another of his breathtaking kisses before he turned and her wolf disappeared out of the door.

  Melody decided not to stay. Despite the obvious luxury of the place and the attentive staff, she just didn’t feel right on her own. Packed before lunch, she bid Jones, the secret agent butler, goodbye and boarded the small plane back “home.”

  The flight itself was uneventful, just a short hop back to the airport nearest to the Claremont Estate. Her small bag over her shoulder, she left the terminal building only to walk into a barrage of cameras.

  “Melody! Ms. Simmons. How was your evening with Aaron?”

  “Is he as good in bed as they say he is?”

  “Did he tell you anything about the new album?”

  Fuck.

  Her heart pounding in her chest, she ignored them all and ducked, trying to cover her face from the blinding flashes. How the hell did they know where she was? How the hell did they know who she was?

  Running the gauntlet, she got back to her car. She slammed the door and locked herself in before starting the engine. Still shaking like a leaf, she put her foot down and scattered reporters left, right and center as she gunned Betty out of the lot. The old, yellow car almost careened onto two wheels at the unaccustomed speed. Mel winced at the tortured sounds the car made. While she might have been reliable, mostly, she wasn’t a high speed escape car.

  But she didn’t need to be. She only needed to be fast enough to get away from the airport before the reporters reached their own vehicles. The area around here was crisscrossed with small country roads that twisted and turned back on themselves. If you weren’t familiar with them, it was easy to get lost, a fact Mel could attest to. It had taken her a few weeks to get from the dig site on the Claremont land to the hotel without her sat nav.

  She drove as fast as she dared while keeping an eye on her rearview mirror. What would she do if they followed her? And what the hell did they want with her anyway… It wasn’t as if she knew Aaron all that well—as a person anyway. Intimately, well that was a different matter—but she knew nothing about the rest of the band.

  The shakes in her hands had subsided by the time she got close to the hotel. Relief filled her as she passed the turnoff for the dig. No one would be there this late on a Sunday, so she needn’t worry about checking in there.

  She’d head back to the hotel, draw herself a nice hot bath, and call Aaron find out how things were with his sister. She’d been worried since he’d told her Tempest was missing, and a quick Internet search had pulled up more information on the apparently most troubled of the Rixx siblings. The search had turned into an all-out stalking fest as she’d absorbed as much information about the band as she could. Most of which seemed to point to the fact they were fast-living, risk-taking exhibitionists who loved to shock.

  That didn’t surprise her. Werewolves were often very extrovert personalities. What she didn’t find so appealing were the news reports that labeled both Aaron and his twin, Karlan, as playboy rock stars. Although, to be fair, Karlan seemed by far the worse on that score.

  Sure things would be different now though, she mused. Aaron had wanted her to call. That had to mean something? The lights of the hotel sign were a welcome sight and she smiled despite herself as she turned the car.

  Out of nowhere, lights blinded her. There was a screech of brakes and a scream—hers maybe, she wasn’t sure—and then a horrendous crash. She was thrown sideways and then back again, her seatbelt biting into her torso painfully. Then something hit Betty hard and the world tumbled repeatedly on itself as they rolled.

  Melody closed her eyes. Aaron’s face was the last thing on her mind as everything went black.

  Chapter 6

  “What the fuck, Temp?”

  Aaron could hardly contain himself, the snarl of rage bursting from him as soon as he stormed through the door and saw his sister lounging there as though she hadn’t a care in the world.

  She lifted an elegant eyebrow, like she hadn’t just scared the crap out of everyone and caused him to fly halfway around the world. Worse. She’d made him to leave the most amazing woman he’d ever met and rush all the way back here expecting an emergency.

  Our mate, his wolf grumbled unhappily, reminding him that Melody wasn’t just any woman, but the one woman uniquely right for them. They’d had to leave her, their mate, something the beast was not at all happy about.

  It didn’t care about Aaron’s human dilemma on whether they deserved a mate or not, or the worry that if they claimed Melody as theirs it would mean that Karlan would never have the chance at his own mate. All it knew was that Melody was theirs.

  Tempest shrugged, her perfect bee-stung lips in a stubborn pout. “I needed to blow off a little steam, that’s all.”

  “A little steam?” Aaron advanced on her, his temper rising rapidly through boiling point and heading into full on supernova. “You leave your phone, your clothes. Your hotel room was totally trashed and the window was wide open! If we didn’t know you were a werewolf… if we couldn’t tell the only scent in the room was yours… we’d have thought the worst. Need I remind you that there are nutjobs out there that do know how to kidnap and hold a werewolf?”

  And there were. Some scientist attached to one of the many fur-hate groups had worked out how to alter horse sedatives to keep a werewolf under. They were illegal, but they weren’t hard to get ahold of, not after the asshole had released the formula onto the Internet.

  “Did you think of that? Huh? No, you didn’t, did you?” he demanded, advancing to loom over her. She shrank back a little in the couch. Normally he wouldn’t have used his bigger height and frame to intimidate a woman—he’d made sure he didn’t frighten Mel, for example—but Tempest wasn’t a woman. She was his sister and they didn’t count.

  The rest of the band were silent. Karlan was obviously unwilling to get into the middle of an argument with his two more headstrong siblings and Sav… well, Sav was just Sav. He couldn’t have been more laid back if he’d been stoned out of his skull, but he had a temper and a tendency to draw a line in the sand, even if the outcome was detrimental to himself. He didn’t seem inclined to draw that line now, looking away when Tempest glanced toward him.

  Her expression tightened with anger when she realized she would’t get any backup from the other two. The hurt look that flickered in the back of her eyes for a second cut Aaron to the core, but he didn’t let it show. He couldn’t afford to show weakness.

  After Melody had mentioned alphas, he’d realized something. The Lyric Hounds were a pack and he was pack alpha. He was in charge, no…more than that, he was responsible for them all. Responsible for their safety and wellbeing. And to do that, he couldn’t allow Tempest to undermine his authority.

  “Temp?” he let a small growl trickle from his lips. A demand she answer him. Now. And he’d better be happy w
ith what she said.

  “So what?” she replied with a rage of her own as she shoved herself to her feet, brushing past him. “So what if something had happened? It would be better than being…locked away like this!”

  Aaron paused, he and the others looking at her in surprise. “Locked up?” he asked with a frown. “Your room isn’t locked. You’re not a prisoner.”

  “I might as well be.” She wheeled away from him, shoving her hand through her hair. The movement was jerky with anger and frustration. “I never get to go anywhere or do anything…”

  She reached the window and looked out. Her shoulders slumped dejectedly. “We go from hotel to stage to studio. I just wanted to get out there and run… find the wolves I heard calling. There’s a pack around here somewhere. I just want to…”

  Understanding exploded through Aaron and he stepped forward.

  “Come here, poppet,” he murmured, reaching out and enfolding her into his arms. She turned and nestled against him like she was six again and he’d comforted her after losing their mother. She’d been a lone wolf, packless for reasons Aaron had never looked into, and she’d been all they had. When she’d gone to the forests in the sky, he’d taken care of them all, keeping them together as a family.

  Guilt stabbed at his gut. Because of that, he should have realized what Tempest was going through. The need to run was hard-coded in them all, as was the need to escape, and he understood. Hadn’t he felt just the same way about their life the other night? Like all he wanted was to drop everything and walk out of the door, find a forest and just run.

  He used to worry if he did that he might lose himself and never come back. The man unable to control the wolf and fold it back inside him.

  Now though, things had changed. Losing himself was no longer possible, not now he’d found his mate. Now he had Melody, he’d never have an issue finding his way back to her… or his human side again. How he knew that, he didn’t know, but he did.