Loner (Norseton Wolves #2) by Holley Trent Read Free Book Online Page A

imagine?”
    “Honey, I don’t even want to. Come on down. My cash register awaits.”
    Stephanie hung up and beamed at him while adjusting the top of her towel. “You’re getting a suit, wolf.”
    “Great.” He groaned at the slip of one of her breasts over the top of the towel. Instinctively, he reached for it, only to stop his hand at the last second.
    She was apparently oblivious to his distress, seeing as how she turned on her heel and hauled ass to the bedroom. “Brush your hair. We’re leaving in two minutes.”
    He had brushed his hair, so he just flopped onto the sofa and pulled on his boots. She came out a few minutes later wearing bright red lips and a lacy, cream-colored mini-dress that barely contained her delectable assets.
    She sighed. “Don’t like it?”
    “Huh?” He tried to discreetly adjust himself. He liked it a lot .
    The men in the pack were going to stare, and he might have to kill them a little.
    “I didn’t try it on before I packed it. It was one of the few things I didn’t give away or sell before I moved. I figured I’d use it for the ceremony. I wouldn’t be able to keep a straight face wearing a long white gown.”
    “No, it’s okay.” He wanted to bend her over and hitch it up to her waist, just so he could look at it from another angle. If his dick ended up in her sometime during that inspection, so be it. No one could blame him.
    “Just okay? Ugh.” She shrugged. “It’ll have to do. I don’t imagine I’ll get much opportunity to wear it out here.” She grabbed a little handbag and tottered over in sky-high heels as red as her lips. “Ready?”
    “Sure.” He cringed, realizing a moment too late what he’d said. He imagined most women liked to think they looked a little better than okay . He felt around in his brain for some better words, but she was already out the door, tossing her still-damp hair over her shoulder as she went.
    He paused in the doorway long enough to bang his head against the frame a few times.
    Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. He couldn’t even pretend to be civilized long enough to get past their honeymoon period. She was going to be one of those mates who never came home because her husband was such a loser, and he wasn’t the kind of wolf who’d go out and drag her home. He may have sounded unintelligent, but he was smart enough to keep his pride in check. Hubris was for flawless wolves, and he’d never be that.
    ___
    Darius leaned against the Norseton Town Square’s gazebo and folded his arms over his chest. He watched Mrs. Carbone fiddle with her camera, trying to get the settings right, and somehow managed to block out Colt’s heckling. He’d started the moment Darius had stepped into the executive mansion’s atrium before their civil ceremonies.
    “Are you letting a woman dress you now? Can’t pick out your own clothes? You might a well consider that necktie your noose, man.”
    Stephanie had glared at Darius, as if expecting him to lash out at Colt, but Darius was used to the taunting. It was easier to stay away from Colt than to try to change the man’s ways, so that was what Darius did. That tactic didn’t make their occasional interactions any more tolerable, however.
    And Darius was the only one in a suit. The other Pack members—excluding Beast and his mate, who for some reason, were missing—had worn their usual clothes. Well, the ladies had dressed up a little, but the guys had on their typical denim and leather. It was more or less clean, probably. Mrs. Carbone might have had a fit if it wasn’t.
    Mrs. Carbone pushed Darius and Stephanie into position near the gazebo opening and shooed everyone else away. Stephanie reached up and patted down his hair, her tongue appearing at the corner of her red lips as she manipulated it. So intense, her inspection of him. No one ever looked at him like that— touched him like that. It was an odd feeling, having a woman be completely his. He both liked it and dreaded the day it would