The Mating Game by Lana Ferguson - 16

I can tell she’s stalling; it’s clear by her expression that she didn’t expect me to be out here when she came. She clutches what looks to be one of Jeannie’s old robes to her chest, eyeing me warily. Which seems silly, really, considering I’ve already seen her naked. Still, I look away to give her some sense of privacy so she can undress.

I hear the rustle of fabric as she no doubt discards her boots and hat, hear her slight hiss that must mean the robe has come off and the cold air has hit her fully. Her soft footsteps pad across the deck until she’s just beside the tub, and only then do I glance her way again.

It shouldn’t affect me like it does, seeing her in her forest-green sports bra and matching boy shorts—no doubt she didn’t think to bring a suit when she came to this part of the country—but I can’t pretend that noticing the way it molds to her body to accentuate every supple curve doesn’t have my dick twitching in my swim shorts.

“ Shit ,” she hisses. “That’s hot.”

“Hot tub,” I remind her.

She sucks in air as she tries to settle in a little more naturally, sitting up a bit as she acclimates to the warm water. She sighs as she settles in front of one of the jets, a sound of contentment leaving her when she falls back against it.

“Oh God, that’s perfect,” she hums.

“Mm-hmm.”

She finally glances over at me, finding me watching her quietly. “So, uh, a hot tub is definitely something you should mention on your website. It’s a real perk.”

“I haven’t messed with that damn thing since it got up and running,” I say with a shrug. “It gets the job done.” I smile then. “Didn’t you know? We’re a real hot commodity. We got people coming in all the way from California, even.”

“I mean,” she says, laughing, “with the right marketing…this place could be booming.”

“Yeah, right.”

“No, really. Pretty spot like this? Seclusion factor? You spin it like some sort of secret getaway and people from LA and everywhere else would be all over it.”

“I’ll bet.”

“Honestly? You just need the right exposure. My social media channels will help a little, but I do know this guy at Travel Quarter who covers smaller locations like this all the time. He’d probably wet himself over this place. He’d have the rest of California tripping over themselves to stay here. They’d want to plaster it all over their Instagram.”

“Is that what the internet people call ‘influencing’?”

She laughs loudly at that, the sound of it warming my belly. “You say it like a curse word. I don’t think you have to worry about it anytime soon. You’d have to get Wi-Fi first, anyway, and apparently that goes against your moral code.”

I roll my eyes. “Well, we snagged one, at least. No Wi-Fi and all.”

“Yeah, well,” she chuckles. “You could probably count me as a fluke, since you sort of hired me.”

“Lucky us,” I laugh.

“I could try to call my friend…” she says.

I shake my head. “I doubt they’d be interested. Probably isn’t worth your effort.” I gaze out at the snow wistfully. “Honestly, I keep finding myself wondering if all this reno is even worth it. If it will make any difference. For all I know, we might be closing our doors within a year.” I blink a few times, shaking my head. “Sorry. I don’t know why I said that.”

“You can talk to me about it if you want,” she says. “Sometimes it’s good to unload to an unbiased third party.”

“Unbiased third party, huh?”

“I mean, mostly unbiased.”

“Right,” I laugh.

I stretch my arms above my head then, and I notice that she eyes me, her gaze following the motion in a way that makes my alpha preen. So if I flex a little when I push my wet hair from my eyes after, well, that’s no one’s business but mine.

“We used to be so much busier than this,” I tell her.

She nods. “Jeannie told me a bit about it.”

“She told you about the new highway?”

Another nod.

“Well,” I go on. “After that…everything slowed to a crawl. We bleed money every year now, and sometimes I don’t even know how we’re keeping the lights on. We had to get a loan just to pay you and your brothers.”

Her mouth parts, and I immediately give myself a mental kick for saying that.

“Sorry,” I say. “Again, I don’t know why I told you that.”

And I don’t, really. For some reason, I find it easy to talk to Tess. Maybe it’s because of all the helping I’ve been doing. It’s hard not to feel comfortable with someone you half fucked in the snow.

“It’s okay,” she says gently. “I get it.”

“I guess you could say all this”—I wave my hand aimlessly in the direction of the lodge—“is a last-ditch effort.” I huff derisively. “Pretty pathetic, huh?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t think so. You’re trying to save something you love. That’s admirable.” She gives me a stern look. “And it’s obvious that you love the place.”

I cast my eyes down to the water, trying not to think of my parents. The last thing I need to do is get all morose on her. “I do love this place. My entire childhood was here, and the thought of changing things terrifies me.”

“I get that,” she answers. “I’m doing my best to revamp more than revise, if that makes sense.”

“I can tell,” I say. “And you have no idea how much I appreciate it.”

Her answering grin is blinding, and I feel my gut clench with want that is sudden and fierce.

“So tell me more about you,” I say, trying to take the focus off me.

“Well, you know what I do for a living and that I have three brothers.”

“True,” I say, “but there’s gotta be more to Tess Covington than that. Did you always know you wanted to do this for a living?”

“For what feels like forever,” she tells me. “It just seemed right.”

“Seems like it’s working out for you with all the social media stuff.”

She looks sheepish then. “Actually…I’m in talks with HGTV for my own show.”

“What?” My brows raise. “That’s pretty fucking cool.”

“It’s…overwhelming. And there’s a chance they’ll pass, but…I guess it’s cool just to be considered.”

“Your family must be thrilled about that.”

Her smile immediately falters, and she suddenly looks unsure. “Well…I mean…I’m sure they would be…if they knew.”

“You haven’t told them?”

“They have a lot going on.” She fidgets in her seat. “I’m sure you don’t want to hear about my drama.”

“Unbiased third party,” I remind her. “Remember?”

“Right,” she snorts. “Well…I told you that my dad had a stroke ten years back, right?”

“I remember.”

“Yeah, well. It was a rough time. The physical therapy and rehab he had to go through just to be able to get back to the eighty percent mobility he’s up to now was gruesome. The medical bills were ridiculous.” She reaches to rub at her neck. “It’s why I changed majors to take over the business. I knew how much it killed my dad to not be able to continue it, and I figured I could kill two birds with one stone. Keep the business going and help out with the medical bills.”

“That’s really great of you, Tess,” I tell her honestly.

She shrugs. “Yeah, I mean…I was happy to do it. I love this business. I love what I do.”

“What did you want to be before you switched majors?”

“Hmm?” Her nose wrinkles. “Oh. I had some silly pipe dream about getting a degree in design. I thought I could sign on and help out my dad that way.”

“So either way, you always planned to help your dad.”

“I guess you could say that, yeah.”

I get the sense that she really admires her dad and, what’s more, that she really loves what she’s doing, continuing his business and watching it thrive.

“So why haven’t you told them about HGTV?”

Her face falls. “This last year…See, they put him on all sorts of medications after the stroke. He had AFib—that’s atrial fibrillation. Basically, it means that the upper chambers of your heart don’t squeeze right, so clots can form in your heart and move to your brain. That’s what caused the stroke. For a long time, his meds kept everything managed.”

“But this year…?”

“Apparently, his medications haven’t been doing what they should. He’s still in AFib even with them. So his heart rate stays irregular. He’s been having all sorts of fatigue and dizziness.”

“You said ‘apparently’…You didn’t know?”

She shakes her head. “They didn’t want to worry us, so they didn’t let us know until recently. The doctors want him to get a pacemaker put in; actually, they said it’s imperative that he does. They said that his life expectancy doesn’t look good without one, but…”

“But?”

“But his insurance isn’t great. Even with it, the damned thing will cost like twenty grand. They don’t have that kind of money. And the business is doing well, but… I don’t have that kind of money lying around. I’m hoping if I can land this HGTV deal, the signing bonus will help cover the costs so we can move forward with the procedure.” Her lip trembles. “I have to land this deal.”

I watch her expression crumple, and suddenly everything in my body screams that I give her something, anything to make her feel better. With that thought coursing through my body, I scoot closer to her on the bench under the water and gently wind an arm around her shoulders.

“Hey,” I offer. “I’m sorry. I know I’ve only seen you work for a few weeks, but you’re really great at it. They’d be stupid not to sign you on.”

I remain perfectly still when her head tilts to rest on my shoulder, a sigh escaping her. “I hope you’re right.”

“I usually am,” I deadpan.

That draws another grin out of her. “Somehow, I knew you’d say that.”

“I think it’s great what you do, Tess,” I tell her honestly, because in these few weeks I’ve known her, I’ve seen her exude passion for something as simple as floor stain just for the sake of making someone— me —happy, and that says more about her than anything else, I think. It’s clear she finds great joy in this, even more so in bringing joy to others through it. “And I think you’re fucking amazing at it.”

I hear the small catch in her breath, and I can’t help but wonder if anyone has ever told her that. I can’t say why the thought that I might be the first fills me with a sense of pride and satisfaction. Like in this small way, I’m taking care of her. It seems like Tess always makes sure to take care of everyone else —but does anyone ever really take care of her?

I find that lately…I like taking care of Tess a lot.

“I haven’t told them about what’s going on with me either,” she says quietly.

“Why not?”

“I guess…I don’t know. My mom has spent all this time taking care of my dad, and she’s the only one working now, and she’s always so stressed-out. I guess I’ve just gotten really good at being self-sufficient. It’s easier not to be a burden that way.”

“I don’t believe your family would think you’re a burden if you told them what’s going on,” I say. “Based on what you’ve told me.”

“I know it’s silly,” she says. “But…with my dad’s health being so bad for so long…I’ve always done my best to make sure I take care of myself as much as possible. It felt like I was making things easier on them that way. Like I was one less thing they had to worry about. I guess I still feel that way. With all this stuff happening with my dad’s pacemaker and them worrying about money…it feels almost wrong to dump this shifter shit on them on top of everything else.”

“I really don’t think they would see it that way,” I tell her.

She shrugs one shoulder, looking down at the water. “Maybe you’re right.”

I pull her closer to my side, leaning into the instinct to do so, to have her closer. She surprises me by curling her body, burrowing her head in my chest as my fingers tangle in her hair. I turn my head and bend forward so my nose can skirt along her shoulder, unable to resist the chance to breathe her in deeply, to revel in her warm scent, which never fails to make my mouth water.

I’m so wrapped up in it that I forget myself, forget to be careful. It takes me by surprise when the scent gland on her throat grazes mine, making us both gasp. I’m unprepared for the shiver that passes through her, despite the heat of the water. The effect is like adding gasoline to a flame, causing her scent to bloom and ripen, surrounding us in the small space, so thick I could choke on it.

“Hunter,” she whispers hoarsely, shaking against me.

Shit.

My fingers tighten their grip on her hair, my face burying in her throat to try to breathe in more of her. “Tess, are you…?”

“I think so,” she whimpers. “I’m sorry.”

“Fuck. I’m sorry. I didn’t think. I didn’t mean to—”

“It burns, Hunter.”

“I know, I know,” I soothe. “I can help. I’m sorry, I can help. I— Fuck , Tess. The way you smell.”

“ Hunter .”

“I need to—Can I taste you?”

She pulls back, her pupils blown and her eyes glazed. “Taste me?”

“You smell so fucking edible. I’ve wanted to taste you since that first night.”

Her head whips around, noting how exposed we are. “Here?”

“Your brothers aren’t here, and Jeannie will have already gone home.” My hands slide to her hips under the water, urging her upward. “Let me make it better with my tongue. Please. ”

Her nod heats my blood, and already I’m helping her scramble to the edge of the hot tub, tugging down her boy shorts as she goes. And when she’s bare from the waist down, I waste no time diving between her thighs. No warning, no pretense—just my tongue in her pussy like I’m starving for her. With her scent thick in the air, threatening to suffocate me in a way I would say thank you for, I guess that I am.

“ Hunter! ”

I close my eyes as I lap at her slit again and again until the slight tinge of chlorine gives way to the heady taste of her . I grab her thighs and pull them over my shoulders, unable to stop tasting her for even a moment. She gasps and writhes against my face when my tongue touches her clit, and I swirl it around the little bud ravenously as I curl my hands over her thighs to hold her tightly against me.

My cock throbs in my shorts, swelling to the point of pain, but I can’t stop what I’m doing. I’m dizzy with want and high on the taste of her, and I think distantly that I could do this for days without ever coming up for air if she let me.

Her fingers grip the back of my head to twist in my hair, and I relish the slight sting. I can tell this won’t be slow, won’t be drawn out; I’m too desperate, too keyed up by the scent of her heat. A dozen images flit through my head as I lap at her now-drenched pussy—of her riding me, of her stuffed with my knot, of me bending her over the side of this tub and fucking her until she screams loud enough to bring down the mountain—but none of that calls to me as much as the taste of her on my tongue at this very second.

Even as my cock swells to dangerous levels, so close to the edge that I can barely stand it, I grip her tighter. I lick at her soaked cunt. I suck on her clit until she’s gasping my name.

Make her come , my alpha chants. Make her come all over you. Mark her. Make her yours. Make sure everyone knows who she belongs to.

“Hunter— ohmygod, Hunter. ”

I hum against her, my nails biting into the soft flesh of her thighs as animalistic sounds rumble in my chest. I feel it when it happens, and it’s far too late for me, but the sensation of her pretty pussy quivering on my tongue, of the gush of her slick that coats my mouth and chin—it’s enough to have me licking a wide stripe down the center of her, slower now, like she’s a treat to be savored. My eyes are heavy lidded and my body thrums with energy—and it almost feels a little like being in heat myself, tasting Tess.

I can hear her panting above me as she comes down from the furious orgasm I just gave her, her head thrown back and her chest heaving when I peer up the line of her body. And all the while, I’m still tasting her, almost as if I need to collect every drop of her orgasm so that it doesn’t go to waste.

“What about—” She sucks in a breath. “What about you?”

“M’fine.” I swirl my tongue slowly around her clit, enjoying the way she shakes from the aftershocks. “You taste too good.”

Her eyes widen, her fingers tugging at my hair and forcing my head back to look up at her. “You came?”

“I did,” I tell her with a dazed nod.

“Jesus,” she breathes. “That’s…that’s fucking hot.”

“Not exactly comfortable,” I mutter, already feeling my knot swell because of the heat-like pheromones she’s pumping out. “But worth it.”

I’m about to dive in and give her another orgasm as quickly as possible, but Tess is already wriggling out of my hold. “Not comfortable? Are you okay?”

Her scent is already changing, the heat ebbing away now that she’s been satisfied, but my knot is full and heavy, throbbing in my shorts with nowhere to go.

“Your heat,” I say through gritted teeth. “It forces me to knot…outside.”

She looks confused. “Knot?”

“Yes.” It dawns on me then, that she likely has no idea what I’m talking about. “When an alpha and omega…have sex, the alpha…you see, his dick, it…swells.”

Her brows shoot up. “Swells?”

“Fuck. It would just be easier if I show you.”

I stand with effort, drawing my shorts down only low enough for her to catch a glimpse of the base of my cock, flushed with blood and swollen to a round mass that should be inside her, making sure she keeps my cum. As it is, it fucking hurts.

“That’s…Wow. Why does it do that?”

“Well, at some point…it was to ensure conception. It’s…part of our biology.”

“So if we were having sex…” Her eyes look a little glazed now. “That would be…?”

“Inside you,” I murmur, watching the way her pupils dilate.

She lifts her hand as if considering, then looks up at me. “Can I?”

I nod shakily, the idea of her touching me making my head rush.

Her little fingers reach out tentatively, brushing against it, and I hiss as it throbs from her touch.

“It hurts?”

“When it happens…like this. Yes.”

“Like this?”

“…Outside.”

Her mouth parts in surprise. “Oh. Oh. ” Her teeth press against her lower lip, considering that. “How can I help?”

“Usually I just…” I reach down to grip it, squeezing it roughly, massaging the dull ache away. “Like this.”

I watch as she licks her lips, her breath puffing out of her. “I could do that.”

“You don’t have to…”

She touches me again, and my knees almost buckle.

“I want to,” she tells me.

And with the same fervor I showed her, Tess tugs at my swim trunks, freeing my cock, which is still half hard, and going straight for the swollen base to wrap both hands around it and squeeze it like I did. I have to lean back and grip the edge of the tub to keep my balance, my breath rushing out of me as if I’m being punched in the chest when she starts to massage my knot.

“Fuck. Fuck , Tess. Just like that.”

She looks dazed again, and her scent burgeons slightly—not like when she’s in heat, but enough that it makes my cock twitch with interest all over again. It makes me bolder.

“Harder,” I murmur. “You won’t break me.”

She shudders with my command and does as I ask, squeezing me tighter. The relief is instant—I can almost imagine it’s the warmth of her pussy gripping me, can almost imagine that my knot is safe and snug inside her.

Where it should be , something whispers.

And even as she’s wringing the swollen flesh of my knot, she still takes me by surprise by leaning in, licking at the head to taste me too.

I hiss through my teeth, watching as she does it again, humming her approval.

“You want to taste me, Tess? You want my cum in your mouth?”

Her scent blooms, and I can smell it, how wet she is all over again. It’s clear she likes it when I talk. If her scent is any indication, she fucking loves it.

“Suck me,” I groan. “Please, Tess. Just the head. I’m—I just need— Shit. ”

Her lips close over the head of my cock, sucking gently even as she kneads my knot. It feels impossible that we’ve gotten here, that she’s down on her knees with her pussy freshly licked and my cock in her mouth while she massages my throbbing knot—but I can’t find an ounce of regret inside. Not with her looking so sweet, not with her being so good for me as she swirls her tongue around my glans, flicking the tip against the sensitive slit at the head.

And that’s all it takes to have me careening over the edge all over again.

My eyes roll back, and my cock pulses, and another burst of cum spurts out of me, just enough to make the throbbing at the base of my dick start to quell, finally. My breath is ragged, and my limbs feel like jelly. Tess gives me one more kitten lick before pulling away, licking her lips as she does so.

“Feel better?”

I swallow, my throat dry and my voice scratchy when I answer, “I don’t think there are words for how I feel.” I slowly slide down to my knees, reaching to cup her face with one hand. “And you? Do you feel better?”

She gives me a slow, languid smile. “Much.”

“We should…probably get out of here before your brothers come back.”

She winces. “Yeah…Not a conversation I’m dying to have. Ever, maybe.”

I don’t know why that makes me want to wince—it’s not as if I’m dying for her to tell her brothers about us either—and yet the idea of her keeping it a secret…irks me. Is that my instincts, residual feelings from my past experiences, or is it just…me?

“You go to bed,” I tell her, trying not to dwell on it too much. “I’ll clean up.”

She nods as she finds her underwear and wriggles back into them, then climbs out of the tub, grabbing for her robe to hastily put it on. I watch all this, mostly because I can’t seem to tear my eyes away from her. I’m fighting the urge to drag her back here and touch her some more. Something that is proving to be incredibly difficult.

“Good night,” she calls from the door. She makes a face. “I feel like I should say thank you. Is that weird?”

A laugh burbles out of me. “No weirder than anything else that’s been happening.”

“Well…thank you,” she says with a soft chuckle. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

I nod at her, watching her go back into the lodge as if she didn’t just turn my world upside down in what was possibly the most gratifying sexual experience I’ve ever had—furious as it may have been.

But more pressing than the thought of what just happened, more urgent than wondering what it will mean if we keep doing it…is the overwhelming realization that I don’t want to stop.