The Alpha's Diversion

The Ride

He considered her for a moment, his gaze never leaving her face. It was too difficult to keep the appearance of being an asshole when she looked at him like that. She was cute when she was mad. He admired that when she should be upset, instead, she was ready to fight.

“And how will you get home, kitten?”

He fought off another laugh as she furrowed her brows, reaching up to rub her ear lobe as she tried to think of an answer that didn’t involve her admitting she needed help.

She was fit, she loved to run. She could make it to town. But she didn’t know how she’d get the bike back to her place. She’d have to call Bobby to come trailer it, and she’d rather not bother him.

Jeb could see that it would be a while before either of them conceded to the other and rolled his eyes. He didn’t want to be here all night. They would need a little encouragement from him.

“Addis, how about you and Cat take her bike back to town and I’ll meet you there in your truck?”

Addis c****d his head, waiting for her reaction with a smirk.

“How do I know you won’t crash my bike?” Cat asked with a hint of challenge in her voice.

“I can ride,” he scoffed, tossing the keys to his truck to Jeb before climbing onto the motorcycle.

He should have insisted she go with Jeb. He knew having her close to him would be torture, but the thought of her breasts pressed against his back, her legs tight around his, arms wrapped around his waist, was too much of a temptation. It was worth whatever agony the absence of her touch brought in the following days.

He steadied his breathing, resisting the urge to look back at her, and tried to appear patient. It was possible she would choose to ride with Jeb. He clenched his jaw at the thought. He’d been a jerk to her, after all. And she wasn’t a wolf; she couldn’t feel their connection.

He heard Jeb sigh in exasperation before his footsteps got lighter, leaving them alone. Still, Addis resisted looking at her. How long would the woman wait before she got on the bike? It felt like eternity, but he knew it was just his anticipation of having her near him. He could deny it to the others, he could be furious that she was disrupting his life, but when she was this close to him, his whole body burned for her, contradicting all spoken words.

Cat remembered what his touch had done to her at the bar. She’d dreamed about him every night since. She simultaneously dreaded and eagerly wanted to get on the motorcycle with him. But she was scared. Men had been easy for her to refuse up to this point. She’d been in one serious relationship. She knew what she was missing and didn’t deem it anything worth crying over. Addis scared her because he stirred something within her that felt different. Something she felt sure could break her heart.

But her hesitation to get on the bike could only get more awkward. She had to get home somehow. She willed herself to move, trying to look more confident than she felt.

Addis’ pulse quickened as he saw her move in his periphery. She came from the side and swung her leg over the back of the bike, straddling him. The smell of the rogue on her heightened his agitation. A wolf’s smell was far more sensitive than a human, and his wolf was infuriated to find Corey’s scent on Cat. He forcefully shook off the demand of his wolf to mark her and make her his forever so that she’d never carry any scent but his.

When he didn’t feel her arms slip him, he finally glanced back to see that she had instead grasped the luggage rack. She was a stubborn one.

He shook his head, handing her the lone helmet.

“You’re going to want to hold onto me, Cat.”

“I can hold onto the rack,” she resisted as she snapped the helmet into place.

“I go fast, sweetheart. So, this bike isn’t moving until your arms are around me.”

The way he spoke caused a throbbing need within her and she gritted her teeth, angry at the sensation. Nevertheless, she released the rack and gripped his sides. She felt a slight intake of breath from him, which made her realize that she affected him too.

Smiling mischievously, she determined she wouldn’t be the only one uncomfortable. As he cranked the bike, she pressed herself closer to him, wrapping her arms tightly around him. She could feel every ripple of his muscular abdomen as she spread her fingers against him, pushing the pads of her fingertips into his t-shirt to grip him tightly.

Addis bit his lower lip so hard that he was surprised it didn’t bleed. This was a terrible idea. Cat was trouble. As her hands explored his stomach, her warm center pressed against him, the heat rushed through his body, and his mind was a battlefield. Part of him wanted to turn the bike off and escape while he still could. The other part of him wanted to turn the bike off as well, but escape was most definitely not part of that plan. He wanted to explore her body the way she was exploring his, wanted to teach her what teasing would get her.

In the end, neither side won out. He wouldn’t leave her stranded, couldn’t bear the thought of her in danger. But he thought of his pack, his people, his family history- and willed himself to focus on driving the motorcycle back to her place and getting the hell away from her.

She gripped him even tighter, pushing her head against his back as the motorcycle took off swiftly. He wasn’t kidding about going fast. She didn’t know the Cafe Racer had that kind of get-up-and-go. She couldn’t deny that he felt right in her arms. He didn’t feel safe, there was nothing about Addis Lumeer that screamed safe, but Cat somehow knew that he wouldn’t let any harm come to her.