Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 137004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Okay, that was true. When they were kids, Jaime had followed Dante around like a lost little kitten, trailed after him like he was the answer to all her problems. The guys had all thought it was hilarious that this short, plump little girl who was four years younger was crushing on him. She’d even played practical jokes on his girlfriends, and no amount of Trick’s teasing back then had made her stop. Apparently, she was immune to Trick’s nature. But Dante wasn’t, and because of Jaime he’d been subjected to daily doses of it.
Dante had expected that her crush would have died by now. Apparently not. She hadn’t flirted shamelessly with him or harassed him, but she had made her interest in him clear with bright smiles, subtle touches, and heated looks. Dante, however, had no intention of responding to her interest—
something that he had made perfectly clear to Trick last night.
It wasn’t that Dante wasn’t attracted to her. Although she didn’t have the kind of face that made a guy halt in his tracks, within minutes of her company that guy would be wondering why he hadn’t noticed how stunning she was. And her mouth…Dante often found himself wanting to bite it. Her honeysuckle-and-caramel scent that his wolf had always found…intriguing…now had the distinctive tang of a mature female, and it incited his wolf.
Before Jaime, his wolf had never been attracted to submissive females. For that matter, neither had Dante. He liked feisty females whose strength matched his own, and he absolutely loved seeing them submit to him. Not that Dante had any wish to see women bound, kneeling, and calling him Milord—although that one time in Barcelona had been kind of fun. No, he liked women who would challenge him, because it made their eventual surrender that much more gratifying, and it meant that his dominance over them was real. They weren’t submitting because it was in their nature, they were submitting because he was in total control.
It wasn’t that either he or his wolf had no respect for submissive wolves; they were as important to a pack as dominant wolves, in that without them, there would be no balance. A pack of purely dominant shifters would never work. Being a submissive wolf didn’t mean they were passive, weak, soft-spoken, or quiet. Jaime sure as hell wasn’t any of those things—in fact, she was quite the opposite. A submissive wolf could actually be mentally stronger than a dominant wolf. However, they would never be physically stronger than one. As such, submissives never issued challenges on anyone of a higher rank. Most avoided confrontations at all cost and had an extremely difficult time saying no to anyone. Jaime had never suffered such problems because of her strength of character.
Despite such strength, he didn’t believe that she—or any other submissive wolf, for that matter—
would be able to handle the full force of his personality.
But even if Jaime hadn’t been a submissive wolf, Dante wouldn’t have responded to those heated stares. He would never have even so much as a one-night stand with a female from his own pack. He didn’t want his true mate feeling uncomfortable when he finally found her and brought her home. Dante had seen how awkward it had been for Taryn to be around Selma, and he didn’t want to put his own mate through that. Taryn hadn’t been heartbroken when Selma decided to leave the pack.
Dante didn’t want a relationship anyway. Not just because his time was already in demand, but because past experience had shown him that a relationship between shifters was a dangerous thing. It could make things very difficult when one suddenly discovered a true mate. Dante had no intention of repeating that experience.
“You could learn a thing or two from Jaime,” said Trick. “She knows how to have fun.” Dante snickered. “She’s also incredibly stubborn and a little crazy.” Feisty he liked, but crazy? Not so much.
Shaya held up her index finger. “She prefers ‘spirited.’”
“She definitely knows how to have fun,” chuckled Dominic. He turned to Dante. “The other night, I found her and Shaya drinking like there was no tomorrow while laughing at a bad porn film.” Marcus nearly choked on his coffee.
Shaya sighed dreamily, smiling. “Ah, good times.”
“Were they touching themselves, too? Or better still, touching each other?” Marcus looked as though he was genuinely trying to picture it.
“No,” replied Dominic, “but they were playing ‘catch’ with an unused butt plug. The one you got Jaime for her birthday simply because you’re odd like that.” Marcus shrugged. “At least she’s using it somehow.”
Knowing Dominic as well as he did, Dante easily guessed, “You joined in, didn’t you?” A smile crept onto Dominic’s face. “Yeah, okay, I did. It was fun.” Trick cocked his head as if listening to a distant noise. “Ah, I think that’s her coming now.” It was. There was no mistaking the source of that husky laugh. That was another thing about her that got the attention of both man and wolf. She had a voice that could liquefy rock. Didn’t matter though, Dante told himself. Didn’t matter how much of an appealing package she was. Didn’t matter how much his wolf wanted her. Didn’t matter how bitable her mouth was or how tantalizing man and wolf found her scent. Dante was not interested in having any type of relationship, no matter how casual, with Jaime Farrow.