The Bounty Hunter's Mate

First Kiss

LEXI POV

Luke led me along a path in the dark. This was a new experience for me, trusting someone. For all I knew he could be leading me straight into a tree or off the side of a cliff and I was following him, all because he smelled good. And because of the thing his presence does to my body.

We finally broke through the trees and ended up on a little beach. A small lake spread out in front of me, reflecting the silvery light of the moon.

“Look up,” Luke whispered.

I looked up and gasped. The millions of stars all twinkled at me, seemingly just out of reach. The ones closest to me were the size of dimes and I was struck by how small I truly was in the grand scheme of things. I spun around slowly, wanting to take it all in.

“Thank you for showing me this!” I whispered in awe. “This is beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful,” Luke whispered back to me. That stopped me in my tracks. No one had ever called me beautiful before. I have been told I was pretty and that I had sexy legs, but no one has ever looked at me and said that before. Tears sprang unbidden to my eyes and I looked away. He kissed me gently on the jaw.

“What’s wrong?” He was gentle with his words. The mate bond was lulling me. I wanted to melt into his arms and never come up for air. I leaned into him and he put his arms around me.

“Nothing is wrong.” I snuggled into him further. He tipped my head upward and gave me a gentle kiss on the lips and then held me again. I looked up at him and then past, into the sky, and rested my chin on his chest. I peeked through my lashes at him and he smiled mischievously.

“I already gave you a kiss. You want another, you have to come get it.”

I raised up on my tiptoes and pecked at his lips.

“Oh, baby girl. That’s not a good kiss. Try again.”

I blushed. “I don’t know how.”

He looked amused. “Who doesn’t know how to kiss?” I looked away and he lost his teasing tone. “Oh, Lexi. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. Do you really not know how to kiss?”

I shrugged, burying my face in his chest. “I don’t let myself get too close to people. Kissing isn’t something you generally do with acquaintances.”

“Let me show you.” He reached down and tipped my head back and then gently, so gently, put his lips on mine. He cupped my head with his hand, entwining in my hair. He used his tongue to caress my lips, pushing in until I opened my mouth slightly. Then his tongue penetrated my mouth, dancing around my tongue and my teeth. I found myself responding. He used his hand to tip my head further back, deepening the kiss and my body pressed into him, trying to touch as much of him as possible. He stroked my cheek with his other hand and I moaned into his mouth, the sense of arousal I was feeling new to me. I spayed my hands across his chest and he pulled back and smiled at me. My knees were weak.

“I think I have the gist of it” I whispered to Luke.

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Yeah.” I whispered back.

“Prove it,” he said.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We stayed out for hours, watching the fireflies dance over the water in the moonlight and kissing. The night was turning out to be one of the most erotic nights of my life and I still had all of my clothes on. When we reluctantly turned to leave, he put me down and my knees were wobbly. He laughed at me when I staggered and he held me upright, leading me back through the dark forest to the Packhouse. We said goodnight in front of my room where we shared one more kiss. I went into my room and shut the door, leaning against it. My body was doing weird things and I wasn’t sure I liked it.

He likes us, Kya said to me.

I know. I like him, too. But it won’t work out.

She huffed at me. You don’t want it to work out.

You’re right. I don’t have room in my life for a mate.

You don’t know that. You haven’t tried. Kya was angry with me. I was just confused and a little sad.

Who will take care of dad? Who will run the business? I can’t move here and play house for an Alpha who will put his work over mine.

You don’t know that. She was getting angry with me. Have you even asked him?

Tonight was a mistake. I could see that now. I have a job to do and Luke is a distraction.

What about us? Kya asked me. When can we start thinking about ourselves and quit worrying about everyone else?

I don’t know, I told her sadly. Maybe when the job is done.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The next morning I ate a quick breakfast and met Hagrid who was already out in the car waiting for me. The man didn’t sleep most nights, instead taking a few days at the end of each month and binge sleeping. It’s a giant thing, I guess. I didn’t know of any other supernatural who slept like that.

I knew I was being a coward but I didn’t want to see Luke this morning. He confuses me and I needed a clear head for the full day I had planned. I would interview Luke last thing before I left to go back to the city, hopefully with some leads as to how to find Kevin.

I started at the Training Center as there were some warriors I wanted to speak with. It was in a huge arena towards the edge of the village. I entered through a side door and stopped, awed. The place was even larger inside, if that was possible. It was set up as a huge gym with a weight area, cardio and ropes area. The middle was empty, leaving it open for sparring or group workouts. The arena was packed with men and women, working out, lifting weights and working on hand-to-hand combat. I had never seen anything quite this magnitude before.

I wandered over to a man who was putting chalk on his hands, getting ready to bench.

“Do you know where Adriene Jones is?” The big man grunted and pointed over to a large man who was working on the ropes. I wandered over to him.

“Hey Adriene. My name is Lexi. Wanted to ask you some questions about Kevin.”

The man ignored me and started stretching his arms.

“Wondered if you might know where to find him. We’re offering a reward for information that helps us find him. Just wanting to bring him in for a talk.”

He reached for the ropes, still ignoring me. I put my hand out to stop him. He growled at me.

“Listen, big boy. How about we make a deal. I’ll race you to the top of this rope. If I win, you talk to me. If I lose, I’ll get the hell out of here and not bother you anymore.”

He looked at me like I was a dead mouse. “I don’t have to talk to you at all. Why would I race you?”

We were gathering a crowd so I decided to play to his pride. “That’s fine. You’re afraid you will lose?”

Someone jeered and he growled at the group. “Fine. Beat me to the top and I’ll talk to you. I win, you leave. Not just this gym. The pack. Get the hell out of here. No one wants you here.”

I reached for the bucket of chalk. “Deal. But you have to give me some good information. Not just garbage.”

“Doesn’t matter. You won’t win.” He said it with finality. Hagrid snorted behind me. He knew me well.

We both grabbed our individual ropes. I felt it between my hands, reaching high, but not too high, angling myself sideway. Adriene faced his rope head on.

“On three” someone said. Someone else said “Three, two, one, GO!”

Adriene leaped on the rope pinching it between his feet and using his upper body strength and his feet to work his way up the rope. I grabbed the rope and put it to the right side of my body, put myself in a seated position and started using my arms to pull myself up the rope. Even though I started later, I easily surpassed the level Adriene was at and made it to the top while he still had a quarter of the way to go. The wolves below us hooted and hollered. Adriene looked at me with disbelief.

“You part witch? Did you fly?” He made it back to the ground and fist bumped me.

“Naah. Fairy.” We both laughed. “I didn’t fly, though. Kicked your ass fair and square.”

I led him around the corner behind a set of bleachers and he sat down. I leaned against the wall.

“You roomed with Kevin in college?”

“Yeah. Lots of late nights. Lots of girls. Not a whole hell of a lot of studying, at least on my part. Kevin did better in school than I did.”

“You guys still good friends?”

“We still get together for a few beers now and then.” He was being cautious with me, not knowing what I wanted.

“Where to you have these beers?”

“Bar called Goldens, sometimes. Sometimes at a nightclub. We like Blood Moon and the Voltaire.”

So that was something I could use. “Any idea why he won’t come in? I know he says he’s innocent.”

“He’s looking for a woman. Saw her leaving the house when he was driving up. He was too late for Ella and her family. He doesn’t know if she was the one who did it or if she has information that will help him find who did it but he wants retribution for his family. He wants the person who did it.”