Date Me (If You Dare)

Just having Sienna in my car, her scent filling the entire space, was enough to make me completely lose control.

It was hard enough to suppress my alpha instincts under normal circumstances, but the Haze was making it damn near impossible.

But I was committed to showing Sienna a different side of myself today.

~No matter how much I want to pull over right now and fuck her in the backseat.~

We finally arrived at the destination, not a moment too soon, and I parked, ushering her toward an upscale clothing boutique.

It was Jocelyn’s favorite place to shop and probably one of the poshest stores in the city.

But Sienna deserved the best, so money was no object.

The saleswoman spotted us and flashed me a flirtatious smile. I, of course, did not return it.

“What can I help you with, Mr. Norwood?” she asked. Her eyes shifted to Sienna, and her smile disappeared, her gaze turning into a full-on glower.

I tensed up, waiting to see how Sienna would react.

She didn’t know we were mates, after all; she might be attracted to me—the Haze had made that abundantly clear—but so far, she had been fighting that attraction.

I didn’t really understand why. It was natural for wolves to be uninhibited and unrestrained. But Sienna was different…

Then again, I had the advantage of knowing she was my mate, and she was very much in the dark.

This moment was important. I needed to know how she would react to any sort of ‘threat’ toward me, if she considered me her man, her partner for the season, mark or no mark.

In short, I needed her to be jealous, and if she wasn’t…

To my relief, Sienna’s lips curled into a snarl that could say only one thing:

~Back off. He’s mine.~

I had to hold back the urge to howl in triumph.

The saleswoman looked away quickly, and Sienna seemed to be so startled by her own reaction that she said, “Will you help me find something, please?”

The saleswoman nodded curtly and led her deeper into the store to try out some dresses.

While Sienna was finding a dress, I picked up some blue slacks and a white shirt and dressed quickly in a vacant dressing room.

I tried to tame my unruly dark hair, something I usually didn’t bother with, but it refused to bow to my will, so I let it be. Once I was ready, I waited for my mate to reappear.

A few minutes later, Sienna stepped out of the dressing room, clothed in a navy-blue dress that fit her like a glove, accentuating each and every mouthwatering curve she owned.

I drank her in, my eyes roaming over her body, lingering on her shapely hips and amazing tits. I felt my cock rising to attention.

The Haze wanted to burst out of me, but I battled it and won, holding it at bay. That wasn’t why we were here. Swallowing hard, I raised my eyes back to her face and said, “You look…breathtaking.”

She blushed, her eyes taking me in as well, but I didn’t let her stare at me for too long since I didn’t want our Hazes to overtake us again.

~Or that dressing room is going to see some action real fast.~

Once I had paid for everything, I drove us downtown to my favorite restaurant.

It was also very ‘in’ at the moment, thanks to a picture taken of me throwing a business dinner there with the West Coast Pack alpha. Now it was nearly impossible to get a reservation.

It had food to die for and, most importantly, privacy.

After I parked, I opened the passenger door for Sienna, and she got out like a movie star about to go down the red carpet, which made me smile.

I led her to the restaurant, my hand on her lower back, wishing it was lower, on her ass, but I kept myself in check.

As an alpha, you get used to the stares and whispers that follow you every time you make an appearance in public. When accompanied by a virtually anonymous woman, the stares and whispers, naturally, were amplified.

Which was exactly what happened when I walked in with Sienna.

I had learned to deal with such things, so I just ignored the looks. I was surprised to find that Sienna kept her head high, not caring for the attention.

I seemed to forget I was dealing with a proud dominant wolf; she’d just let it all roll off.

The hostess took us to an intimate table in the farthest corner, my favorite spot in the restaurant.

It gave me an advantageous view of the entire restaurant but kept me separated from everyone else. It was perfect for private encounters, which was exactly the point.

We sat across from one another, and I leaned closer, watching her tense slightly at my sudden proximity. “Is this so bad?” I asked.

“That depends,” she replied, and when I raised an eyebrow, she smiled and added, “on how good the food is.”

She laughed, and I laughed too. I couldn’t remember the last time I had laughed so genuinely or felt so light and young, as if I didn’t bear the responsibility of the entire pack on my shoulders.

And it was all thanks to her, to Sienna; she brought this out of me, this side of me that I tried to hide underneath my alpha armor.

I had buried those feelings deep down. Warmth, laughter, being carefree…I thought I’d lost those things when I lost Aaron.

But here she was, a nineteen-year-old woman who, without even trying, could make me feel the happiest and most content I’d ever felt.

Feeling the need to be closer to her, I reached for her hand. She flinched, but after a moment, relaxed and let me take her hand. It felt so small in mine.

I brought it to my lips, pressing a soft kiss to the back of it, needing to cherish this woman, to cherish who she was to me.

She sucked in a breath, and her scent became heightened, growing more potent.

I raised my eyes to her, and when I saw the slight flush in her cheeks, the way she seemed to struggle to breathe, my own Haze woke up and with it the possessiveness of my wolf.

My cock was so hard it hurt; I felt as if I was physically restraining myself from jumping her. “Sienna,” I bit out, “you’re…”

“I know,” she said breathily, her tongue flicking out to lick her lips, making me wish she’d lick mine. “You are too… Mr. Norwood.”

~Again with the formalities,~ I thought, a growl rising in my chest.

“Aiden,” my voice was low, “call me Aiden.”

For a moment, I thought she would refuse, but then her lips shaped my name, “Aiden,” and I almost came right there and then. It didn’t help when she closed her eyes and sucked in another sharp breath.

“Oh God, Aiden. I feel so hot.”

~Fuck.~ This wasn’t how the date was supposed to go. We were meant to leave the wolves at home tonight, to just get to know each other without sex getting in the way.

But our wolves—and the Haze—had other ideas.

She was so red she looked as if she was ready to strip bare, and I had started to sweat too.

It was taking everything in me to keep myself rooted to my seat, my wolf so close to the surface, I could almost feel my eyes glow.

“Keep that up and we won’t make it past the first course,” I rumbled, my voice strained.

She didn’t respond, she couldn’t. Her Haze was riding her hard, and I wasn’t faring much better myself.

In the back of my mind, the voice of reason, the moral compass I used to own before finding my mate, was being drowned out by the Hazed howls of my wolf.

~Get. In. Control.~

I’d made a promise to myself not to do this, but I couldn’t think coherently.

My Haze was at breaking point.

I wanted to fuck Sienna Mercer like I’d never wanted to fuck anyone my entire life.

It was torture, pure torture, just sitting there and doing nothing about it.

Yes, she was marked, but I needed more than that. I needed to bury myself deep inside her. I needed her to feel what I was feeling from the inside out.

A waiter came and asked for our order. I ordered randomly—food wasn’t on my mind; the only thing on the menu for me now was Sienna.

I had to stop myself from licking my lips, thinking about how sweet she’d taste.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, shut up!”

I blinked, my Haze shocked into submission for a moment by Sienna’s unexpected outburst.

“Are you going crazy?” I asked. She looked as if she had just snapped out of a daze herself, her expression embarrassed.

She shot me a blazing look that had nothing to do with anger. “You make me go crazy,” she murmured, voice husky, full of lust.

It was as if she had hit ‘play,’ my Haze was suddenly supercharged, once again consuming every part of me.

“Is that so?” I said, barely aware of what was coming from my mouth at this point. “I thought you wanted to be chased.”

Before she could respond, I grabbed her wrist, bringing her palm to my lips.

“Your skin is so soft,” I murmured, pressing a light kiss to her palm. “So silky and soft. I want to put my tongue on every inch of your body.”

The man was gone. The wolf was in charge.

I slipped one of her fingers into my mouth and heard her moan, which made my rigid cock jerk, pitching an even larger tent in my pants.

~Fuck.~ “Sienna,” I said with a sudden urgency. “I can’t wait. I want you now.”

Her eyes met mine, and I tensed, steeling myself for her response. And then she said it. “Take me.”

Everything after that was a blur—one moment, we were sitting across from one another, and the next we were stumbling into a dimly lit back room.

I placed my hands under her thighs, lifting and pinning her to the wall.

My lips found the tempting mark on her neck, sucking on it, kissing it, wanting to sink my teeth even deeper into her skin.

She moaned, and my hands moved to her inner thighs, inching closer to her pussy, slowly, savoring it.

I was fighting for some semblance of control, trying to slow down, but then she groaned and almost screamed, “What are you waiting for?”

~Fuck self-control.~

I pressed my fingers against her wet panties, growling as her legs trembled.

My mouth watered at the thought of taking them off, putting my lips on her, fucking her with my tongue until she wanted to tear my hair out.

I was suddenly shoved back, a feat of strength Sienna could achieve solely because I didn’t expect it. She bolted out of the room as if running from her own Haze.

I was stunned for a moment, but then my wolf howled, and I felt my body stiffen, my bones start to crack.

When the realization hit me that she was running away from me, running from us, something came over me. Anger. Rage. But most of all…

~Fear.~

I was losing her.

Feeling more feral than I’d ever felt, I ran out of the restaurant, tracking my mate’s scent in the night air. I was moving so fast that everything was just a blur.

And when the scent led me to the woods, I didn’t bother stripping; I simply shifted, ripping through my new clothes.

An instant later, I was on four legs, my wolf ferociously pleased to be free.

Because we were going on a hunt. And when we’d caught our prey…

~I’ll feast on my mate tonight.~