Series: Werewolves of Wall Street Series by Renee Rose
Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
I immediately release her, and she stumbles back.
As I watch her expression shutter, my wolf surges to the fore. I almost had her. He’s furious I let the opportunity slip by.
“I sense I missed something that is important to you,” I say.
The more we get out in the open, the better I can negotiate. I need to know what her pain points are. What she wants from me. What she won’t stand for.
What did I leave out? She can’t possibly want a relationship. She would never want to be associated with a man like me. Just like I wouldn’t want to be associated with a female like her. A human. A hippie artist who leaves a wake of chaos and trouble behind her.
I shrug my shoulders in the most casual way I can manage. “This is a negotiation. Feel free to submit your counteroffer.”
The mutt she brought to annoy me chooses this moment to bark. He’s some kind of Shih-poo mutt–still a puppy. Probably the runt of the litter. We have that in common.
“Uh-uh.” I make the reprimand sharp, and he instantly responds, lowering his head and rolling to his back to show his belly. At least he’s smart.
Mastering a dog is easy for a shifter. The pup recognizes my alpha dominance, and we share low-level telepathy as fellow pack animals.
Aubrey’s face is flushed, giving her brown skin a glorious glow. She lifts her chin at me. “I’m the one in charge. You submit.”
Ha. She’s fucking adorable. A hundred times cuter than the little rat of a puppy at our feet gazing up at me with his big brown eyes. Aubrey wants on top. I love it.
I’m reminded of last Christmas when Brick’s four-year-old niece, April, put us all in her “jail” and then served us tea with her new china tea set. She was intoxicated by the power gifted to her by six hulking adult male shifters willing to pretend to be at her will for a half an hour.
So, sure. Like with Ruby’s pup that afternoon, I’ll play along. If Aubrey wants to call the shots in bed, I’ll let her ride on top. Or sit on my face. Or whatever her wild and weird imagination can conjure. I’m happy to give her the illusion of control, so long as my wolf gets to taste her. Nevermind that I could physically overpower her with the twitch of a finger.
Her pillowy lips press together. The silver nose ring winks at me. I can tell she expects me to reject her counter-offer. In fact, she thinks there’s no way in hell I would ever submit to her in bed.
But she underestimates my masculine security. She couldn’t possibly know I was raised by an alpha who was the definition of toxic masculinity. His paranoia that my small size as a youth would mean I wouldn’t grow to alpha size and take his place made him relentless in indoctrinating me in all things he considered masculine.
By the time I was ten, I could fight and win any match against sixteen and seventeen-year-olds in my pack. I fought with claws and teeth to win my battles. I was vicious. Unrelenting. And always on the offense. By the time I was a teen and still hadn’t hit the growth curve, I could outwit, outmaneuver, or outrace any adult in the pack.
I didn’t complete my growth spurt until well into college, when my father had already written me off, and I’d won the position as Brick’s second in command. Brick found in me a ferociously loyal pack brother. And beyond that, with him or any of my new pack members, I had nothing to prove.
I don’t need glory. I don’t have to save face. I’ll play the bad guy or take the fall for any of my brothers.
I open my hands and spread them. “I’m yours to command.”
Aubrey
I stare at Billy, shocked.
I would not have seen this coming from any direction. He just…doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who would ever abase himself. Especially not to someone like me.
I mean, Madi said he’s a classist fuck.
Why would he ever agree to submit to me?
The logic eludes me, but it doesn’t matter.
I was pissed off when he said no commitment or relationship because I took it to mean I’m not worthy of being his girlfriend. But whatevs. He’s not worthy of being my boyfriend, either.
That doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun.
Right now, all I can think is that he’s mine. Those muscular forearms are mine to command. I could strip him naked and—
Billy disproves his pledge to submit by taking charge. Moving faster than I can track, he grips my waist and boosts me up to straddle his waist.
Pepper gives a yip of excitement, noting that it’s playtime.
One growl from Billy quells the little dog’s enthusiasm.