Chapter 5 Five

She woke when Paris threw herself onto the bed beside her and had a brief panic attack, sitting up to check her bedside drawer and make sure she had put away her vibrator the night before.It was safely tucked away in its habitual spot.

She groaned her complaint, putting her pillow over her head to block out her friend, and the sun that slanted brightly through the claw holes one of her grandmother's long deceased cats had left in the curtains.

"So, how did things go with Raiden last night? He is super-hot, hey? And such a sweetie.I was so not surprised when he offered to take you home last night.The moment he set his eyes on you, I could totally tell," Paris tugged at the pillow."These men are so different, Lia, so grown up."

"I kissed him," Lia admitted.

Paris squealed in high pitched excitement and Lia complained trying to hide under her pillow.Paris would have none of it, tugging it away and tossing it aside so that Lia had nowhere to cower behind."Go on! No way! You never kiss anyone."

"I know."

"So, tonight?" Paris prompted.

Lia's heart leapt within her chest.She wanted to see Raiden again, desperately, and that desperation was warning that perhaps she had better apply some caution."If he offers to take me home, maybe."

"Oh, you are so gone on him, I can tell," Paris nudged her with her shoulder."Admit it."

Lia flushed.Raiden had featured heavily in her fantasies during her quality time with her vibrator, and she had brought herself to orgasm twice remembering the heat of their kiss.Even after, she had felt unsatisfied.Her vibrator simply was not the man, and her body craved his against it with an intensity that was almost frightening.

"I barely know him," she said the truth that frightened her most of all about the raging desire she felt for the werewolf."I served him a few drinks and he gave me a lift home.I don't know.Maybe, if I get to know him better...?" Please, Lia, she told herself.Wait until you know him better.You are an adult, you can resist your hormone-filled desires.

"Chemistry, baby." Paris smirked.

"I don't know about that," Lia lied."But, seeing as you have been rude enough to wake me up early, I am going to go for a run."

She was twenty-minutes into her run when a familiar motor bike roared up the street and pulled into a driveway ahead of her.By the time she reached the house, Raiden had removed his helmet and jacket, and leaned his hips against the dilapidated picket fence, looking very edible, she thought as she slowed and walked the last distance to where he stood.

"You live here?" She panted, bracing her hands on her hips in order to open her lungs.

"At the moment.My timing is not normally so good," he commented, straightening as she came within a meter of him."I have seen you run by a few times.Come in for a drink of water?" He reached out a hand in invitation.

She hesitated, knowing that the invitation was for far more than a glass of water, as the ride home the night before had been weighted with far more than a simple lift home.

He waited, patiently, applying no pressure, letting her think it through.

She put her hand in his.

He drew her past the bike, its engine still putting off heat and heavy metallic scent from use.There was a new Ute parked before it, with an image of a snarling wolf in a circle on the side, under which was written Lycan Graphics.

"Your business?" She asked.They were flaunting what they were in a world which believed werewolves were fictional, and there was a sense of humor behind it that she liked.

"One of them," he replied lightly."I like to diversify.At the moment, I am mainly renovating old houses in this area.This one is mid reno, so forgive the mess." He led her up the stairs onto the porch.The front garden held pallets of construction supplies wrapped in plastic, and a wide array of tools, and very little grass.

She could hear power tools being used inside.

The door was open, and they stepped into a house very similar to her grandmother's, except this one had been stripped back, the floorboards sanded ready to be polished, and the old wallpaper peeled off the walls, patch marks showing the preparation was underway to paint.

"They are great houses," Raiden said, following her gaze."Nice heritage-style details, generously sized rooms, and usually en-suites to most bedrooms, which is unusual in houses of this era.Give the bathrooms, kitchen and laundries a refit, strip everything back, polish up floorboards where they are good, slap down carpet where they are not, a bit of paint, and they will sell well."

"I would love to do this to my house," Lia admitted wistfully."But it is so expensive."

"You will have to show me through some time," he drew her down the hall towards the kitchen."I can give you an idea of how much it would cost."

The kitchen was almost finished, slick in white, with wooden bench tops.The plastic wrap was still on the dishwasher and oven.He opened a cupboard and pulled down two glasses, filling them from the filtered tap, handing her one.

She took a mouthful gratefully admiring the new cupboards and benchtops, and how they had laid it out in such a way that the small space felt much bigger.Of course, she thought, they didn't have a small table in their kitchen, and that contributed to the feeling of space.

"Ideally I would have moved the kitchen," he said, following her inspection of the room with interest."Modern houses go more for open planned kitchen and living areas, whereas houses from this era have them closed off.But moving it would be too expensive for the market we are aiming for, and the kitchen location won't be enough to dissuade buyers, provided the kitchen itself is new."

"You do the work yourself?" She asked, intimidated.

In daylight, he was very big, and, as Paris had said, very grown up.She wondered how old he was and speculated that there was a good ten years between them.

He had money; the bike he rode and the Ute in the driveway were both of expensive makes, and he was a regular at the club.The gap between them, in age, experience, sophistication and wealth, made her uncertain what they could have in common and made her feel very raw, naive and gauche.

And yet, she very much wanted to taste him again.Damn it, Lia, she reprimanded herself when she felt the heat of lust rise in her, picking up her heartbeat and heating her skin.Sure enough, she saw him inhale slightly, and the Other flashed in his eyes.

"I work with family," he replied with a good effort at disguising his reaction to her scent although he shifted slightly, easing the press of his hard on against his jeans and disguising it."It is my brother that you can hear on the tools."

"Oh.Do you have a big family?" She took another drink of her water trying to reason with herself.There was a great big, flashing neon sign over the werewolf's head that said that he was danger to her, and everything her grandmother had ever told her cautioned her against exactly what she was contemplating.She was dressed to run, and that was exactly what she should do, she knew that, and yet, she lingered.

"Very big," he said, with a smile."We are having a family barbecue tomorrow.I will pick you up."

"Meet your family?" She was shocked, taken out of her more primal and base thoughts of what she would like to do to and with him, and thrown suddenly into the very wholesome image of a family backyard barbecue.

Her friends always spoke of how meeting the family of their boyfriends as a big deal, and yet, here was Raiden, casually telling her that he would take her to a family barbecue not even a full day since they'd met.She regarded him in utter confusion, taken from the very family-unfriendly craving of her body to the prospect of meeting his parents in a heartbeat.

"Of course," he was laughing at her again, knowing exactly what he had done.He reached out and caught her by the elbow, drawing her towards him as he took the glass from her hand and placed it on the bench behind him.

"I am all sweaty," she protested half-heartedly.She wanted to feel him against her, she wanted to feel the heady race of her body as he pressed against her.

"I know," he pulled her against him.

The heat of his stomach against hers through the thin fabric of their tops, and the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed was intoxicating intimate, she thought, raw in his openness.He unashamedly let her know that he wanted to f-k her without any coyness of delicacy, treating it as naturally as breathing.

Her hands rested against his shoulders, and she could feel the muscles shift as he stroked his hands down her back, the smoothing motion pushing her tighter against him.The Other was in his eyes as he leaned down and drew his nose along the length of her neck, breathing in – scenting her, she thought.Vaguely recalling it as something Others did, but werewolves most of all.

"You smell fantastic," he murmured, his lips against the pressure point below her ear, and the timber of his voice made her shiver, her body needy, craving."Sweat releases pheromones.I think I could smell you all day." He inhaled again with a groan.

She could feel his hard on pressing against her and felt a heavy ache in her core.Her skin was on fire, she thought, the touch of his breath a torment against its sensitivity."Raiden," she breathed, the word near to a plea.

"Yo, Raiden," the door to the kitchen opened.Lia jumped, but Raiden did not release her, his grip remaining pointedly firm – he was not going to let her shy away from where they had been heading.

"Oh, sorry, man," the man in the door grinned at her cheerfully."Hey, Lia.I was going to say, Rai, I am going to go get something for lunch.You want? Should I pick up for three?" She saw him inhale, scenting the room, and no doubt very aware of how turned on she was.

"Stay for lunch, Lia," Raiden looked down at her.He continued to hold her firmly against him, his hard on very much still present between them.He had not phrased it as a question, but nor had he used the magic of the alpha command on her.He was making her recognise what was between them, without magically forcing her to comply with it.

"Oh, I can't," she protested trying to pull back from him, embarrassed.He relaxed his grip, but only slightly."I need to finish my run and go home and shower."

"Sure, next time, maybe, eh, Lia?" The door closed.

"He knows my name," she realized.

"Of course," Raiden replied, and closed his mouth over hers.

She sagged against him, her head dropping back on her neck, leaning into his kiss.He took the invitation, stroking his tongue against hers, deepening the kiss until she wrapped around him, her fingers tangling in his curls, the hair heavy and silken.

He rocked his hips, pressing against her, his hands cupping her arse, and she was not entirely sure who was grinding against whom, except that her breath was a sob of need and desire, and his jeans were an obstacle between her and what she wanted.

"We should take this somewhere else," he said against her cheek, breaking off the kiss.

Oh god, she wanted to."I..."

"There are lots of ways to have sex," he said softly."Without penetration, Lia, if that is what you are worried about." She was breathing so hard, she was dizzy with it, and his eyes were the only thing holding her grounded."You are in control," he added.

"Alright," she said.God, she needed something, she thought.She needed him to touch her.

He eased her away, and took her hand, leading her through the kitchen door into the hallway.The floor plan was very close to her house, and the room he took her into was in a similar position to her own.

The room had not been touched and still had the original carpet and wallpaper, even the original shade on the light.The bed was a basic, futon style, one step above camping.It made sense, she thought.They did not really live here and were just staying whilst they renovated it for the convenience.She wondered if he had a place or just moved from house to house.

Despite the basic bed frame, the sheets and the cover he had on them were of good quality, the mismatch an insight to the complexities of the man.

He closed the door and pulled off his t-shirt.He was breath-taking.Broad, heavily muscled arms and shoulders, tapering into a lean and narrow waist.Each stomach muscle was perfectly delineated, begging for her to run her fingers down them.The tattoos curled up his arm, to just below his ear, of a wolf, and a full moon.

Not hiding what he was, she thought again.He did not need to, the glamour kept humans from seeing the truth parading beneath their eyes.Werewolves existed in stories and movies, and not in real life, to them.

He stepped up to her, and lifted her crop top up, over her head.She reached out, laying her palm against his skin wanting to feel the hot silk of it, and his eyelids dropped to half-mast, the look within them burning.

"Yes," he said, barely more than a breath."Touch me, Lia."