Finding His Mate Read online

  FINDING HIS MATE

  By

  M L BRIERS

  Copyright © 2013 by M.L Briers

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

  may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

  without the express written permission of the publisher

  except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER ONE

  Kate put the gear box into reverse and swept the back of her hand over the light sheen on sweat on her brow. She’d had enough of men to last her a lifetime and the next one she saw she was damn well going to run him down!

  She stomped her foot on the accelerator pedal and the car shot backwards. The loud thump caused her to squeal out in the silence of the car, as she hit the brake and glanced in her rear view mirror.

  Nothing! That’s how her damn day was going. Her eyes flicked to the wing mirror and she saw a pair of legs on the ground, the rest of the poor sucker hidden by the back end of the car. Every muscle in her body tensed in fear. She slammed the gear box into park and yanked on the handbrake.

  “Oh my god-oh my god-oh my god…” The words just kept flowing from her mouth as she ripped off her seat belt and tore out of the car. Just as he was pushing up with his hands from the floor and shaking his head like a dog as if clear his dazed mind.

  “I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you…” the words spilled from her lips at brake neck speed, fuelled by guilt and remorse. But her words trailed off as she watched him draw himself slowly up to his full height from the floor, and she gulped down at the sheer size of the man in front of her.

  The guy had to be at least six foot five tall, with the broadest shoulders and hard muscled chest that a gladiator would have given his right arm for… well maybe not his right arm…

  And then he turned his attention towards her and she saw the dark scowl of his brow and the even darker eyes that fixed on her in a menacing glare.

  “You didn’t see me?” He motioned to his body, and she took a long lingering look, because that was some body, she reasoned, and he had invited her to do it. Before she snapped out of her drool-fest and turned innocent eyes back up to him.

  “Ok, so that sounds kind of implausible…”

  “You’re either drunk. Blind or you didn’t bother to look. Which is it?” He scowled down at her and she swallowed hard, taking an involuntary step backwards.

  “Look, I said I was sorry…” She started. His attitude had got her back up and she was going to argue her corner.

  “Oh well, that’s alright then. No harm, be on your way. I think the old people are about to come out of bingo, maybe you could mow them down like skittles.” He growled at her, an actual growl, and she balked at his attitude.

  “Look. I really don’t need to be berated by an overinflated steroid popping…”

  “Steroid popping, lady you…”He swung his whole body in her direction and that size XXXL chest was inflating with the anger that was making those dark eyes even darker.

  “I said I was sorry. People make mistakes…” She wasn’t going to be spoken over. She intended to say her piece.

  “Mistakes?” He shot back in disbelief. Was he really hearing this? What was it with damn women that they could do something incredibly stupid and then bat their eyelashes and think they would be forgiven? He’d had enough of females to last him a lifetime.

  “What you’re Mr perfect are you?” She demanded. The fire was in her belly and in her eyes now, as her hands went to her shapely hips and she gave him that look, the one his mother used to give him, with the raised eyebrows and the questioning stare that bore into your very soul. He hated that stare. Dex growled again.

  “At least I look in my bloody mirror before reversing…” He growled down at her, the whole top of his body leaning towards her, as if he was about to swoop down and shake some sense into her.

  “Don’t you dare try to intimidate me Mr-Doesn’t-Bother-To-Look-For-A-Reverse-Light-Before-He-Walks-Out-Behind-Unsuspecing-Motorists…” She folded her arms across her ample chest and didn’t give a thought to the fact that her forearms were now pushing her boobs up towards him like scaffolding. His eyes really had nowhere else to look with an invitation like that, and they dropped to the rounded flesh that was now peeking out from the tight little sweetheart top that she wore. The pink lace of the bra cup waving a hello as she followed his eyes down.

  In horror she dropped her arms to her sides and screwed up her nose at the sheer cheek of the man.

  “Oh my god you are so staring at my breasts!” She hissed out and he jumped back almost immediately. The look of shock at being caught red handed, mixed with what he hoped was innocent denial swept onto his face and battled it out right in front of her.

  He opened his mouth to speak and she wagged a finger at him.

  “And don’t even bother trying to deny it.”

  He swallowed down the fact that he had been caught, the fact that he had been about to lie and that she’d busted him on it before he even got the chance, and the fact that the arousal in his jeans said otherwise.

  “Look lady…”

  “Don’t you look lady me…” She warned him and he rolled his eyes.

  “No problem. The word lady doesn’t exactly spring to mind when I look at you…” He shot back feeling the heat rise within him. This female was infuriating to the point that he would quite easily punch his brother in his face if he walked past.

  Damn he did want to hit someone, or something. If she was a male it would have been her. Damn females!

  Kate looked at him like he had slapped her in the face with a slimy fish. He could see her ample chest inflate with the breath she was drawing in, and knew she was preparing for another tirade.

  “Firstly you jump out behind my car when I’m reversing… probably for the insurance money, and then you try to intimidate me… probably so I’ll admit it was all my fault, and then, when you can’t get your way, because I’m so onto your little scam, you insult me…?” She took a breath and that could have given him an opening to put her straight, but he didn’t care, he was too dumbstruck to even speak.

  How did her hitting him with her car, because she was being careless become his fault? Women!

  “I have a good mind to report you to the police…” She threatened and her hands were back on those shapely hips of hers again, and he was blowing fireless and smokeless dragon breaths down his nose.

  “For what? Being stupid enough to walk around when you’re driving?” He growled back and watched her mouth drop open, and then she slowly closed it again. Her eyes grew dark like a raincloud and she glared back at him.

  “I’m not even going to acknowledge that with a reply.” She tossed back, flicking her chin up in the air and looking down the road away from him.

  “You just did.” He growled back at her in annoyance.

  Kate huffed, turned on her little heels and walked away from him with a swing to her backside that he couldn’t peel his eyes away from if he tried. She was certainly all women, and he wouldn’t mind grabbing a handful of her backside… Oh God, what was he thinking?

  “And where do you think you’re going?” He demanded and she snorted at him.

  “You are obviously fine, Mr-Scam-Artist. I’m out of here.” She shot over her shoulder as he growled out low and menacingly.

  If she thought
she could mow him down. Give him a mouthful, and drive off, well she could think again! He stalked towards the driver’s door and went to reach for the door handle, but she clocked what he was doing and hit the lock. All four doors snapped shut and he glared at her through the window.

  “You can’t leave the scene of an accident.” He informed her and she put the car into reverse and dropped the handbrake.

  “The law says if I feel threatened I can…” She snapped back and he raised his brows.

  “Threatened? Let me tell you…” She hit the accelerator and shot back away from him, just as he pointed his index finger at her. His head snapped around on his neck to glare at her and Kate flipped him the finger and drove off, leaving him standing there with his finger still out in front of him, long forgotten as he seethed.

  Females!

  Kate sunk lower in the bathtub and let the hot water sooth her frayed nerves. Not only had she driven all the way out here today on a rush, because the damn client decided he needed her now. But when she got here she was told by his sister that there had been a problem and he couldn’t possibly meet with her until later tomorrow.

  She was so damn mad she could spit. Well, not quite, because that would be gross. It was only ever acceptable to spit out something disgusting that you’d accidentally gotten in your mouth. Like a bug when riding a scooter, she’d done that. Or her best friend putting Calamari into the pot luck, instead of onion rings, that sucker flew out of her mouth with one bite.

  She was a lady damn it. No matter what the Neanderthal man said, so spitting wasn’t an option. But she did want to scream and pout and moan for the fact that she could have spent one more day with her best friend before she moved to the other side of the country.

  But oh no. Mr Big-bucks had to have her here today. The site had to be ready for the summer, and she was looking at a nice juicy profit that would cover the price of the land she wanted to purchase for her own dream holiday home down on the coast.

  Men! It had to be their way or not at all. They thought the world revolved around them and women should just be the pretty frosting on the cake. Bah humbug!

  Kate let her body slip down under the water until her whole head was submerged and she floated there in the peacefulness of her watery cocoon, not hearing the buzz of her mobile going off.

  As Dex was in town anyway he thought he would kill two birds with one stone and pay a visit to the woman that he had signed up to oversee the final stages of the holiday home development. The parcel of land that the pack had brought under the previous Alpha had been sitting idle and doing nothing for the last twenty years. The pack had spent some serious money of late, buying up another parcel of land from one of their neighbours that would be perfect for their needs. A nice dense wooded area where they could stretch their beasts legs in seclusion and privacy and not need to worry about being seen. But now they needed a return on money spent, and the development would do that.

  He generally liked to do business with the people he knew, but he had never had need of someone like her before and had to defer to another Alpha for advice on who to use.

  A few checks later and he found she was damn good at her job. She had the talent and drive that he needed to complete this project in time and hopefully on budget, and she was somewhat free from any contractual obligations, so she could start immediately.

  Dex took the concrete stairs three at a time as he bounded towards her hotel door. He’d called on his mobile, but she hadn’t answered, so he thought he might drop her a note to apologise for the mix up in scheduling. If his sister had a brain, she didn’t feel the need to use it that often and this had been one of those times.

  Dex lifted his hand and wrapped on the door. Turning on his heels he scouted the outside parking lot and noted the car that had mowed him down not two hours earlier. Hmm, that woman was here, and how he would like to give her a piece of his mind if he ever saw…

  The door behind him was gingerly pulled open and he turned to see that woman poking her head and naked shoulders around the door. Fresh from a bath the water still dripped from her hair down onto the milky white skin of her shoulders and chest and he watched the drops follow a path until they disappeared inside her towel. At first she regarded him with curiosity, and then her eyes went wide and she gasped in a breath.

  “You!” She slammed the door shut in his face, just as he had lifted his index finger accusingly and the door hit the tip. He growled out in sheer annoyance as the pain radiated down his digit and into his hand.

  “God, give me strength not to kill this woman…” He growled to himself as he dropped his forehead against the door and closed his eyes.

  “I heard that!” She shouted through the closed door and he growled again.

  “Good to know your hearing isn’t as bad as your eyesight.” He shot back and heard her curse in a steady flow of swear words that would make a sailor blush.

  “Go away…” She hit out at the door with the side of her closed fist and he felt the jolt go through his forehead.

  “If only I could.” He groaned as he lifted his head and stared at the wood for a long moment, trying to rethink everything that had happened, and how the hell he was going to get out of the water tight contract that he’d had her sign.

  “I’ll call the police…”

  “And tell them that your new boss has come to welcome you to town?” He shouted back and heard the sudden intake of breath from the other side of the door. Closely followed by another stream of obscenities, and he winced and waited.

  The door was pulled open again and her head and shoulders peeked out on a grimace.

  “I don’t believe you…”

  “I don’t care.” He shot back and she frowned at him. He could see the wheels turning within her mind. He could see the calculating going on behind the scenes and he didn’t much like it. Females!

  “My boss is busy today…”

  “Getting run over by a lunatic…” He tossed back and she glared at him.

  “Are we back to that again?”

  Damn, he wished she would close the door again, because he really needed something to beat his head against.

  “Dex Thornton.” He didn’t hold out his hand for fear she might accidentally cut it off with a chain saw.

  “Kate Brown.” She was still eyeing him with a certain amount of suspicion, until her towel started to slip and she made a grab for it. But not before her ample breast tried it’s damndest to make an appearance and Dex’s eyes shot downward, just as she looked up in embarrassment.

  “Oh my god your staring at my breasts again.” She accused and kicked the door closed in his face.

  Dex rolled his eyes and thumped his forehead against the hard wood of the door.

  “If you’re going to keep offering them up to me like that…” He drawled, giving a quiet snigger to himself as he heard her cuss on the other side of the door.

  Kate gave the closed door the finger and turned on her heels. There was no way she was doing this naked with only a damn towel wrapped around her body. Kate dropped the towel and started to sort through her suitcase for her clothes.

  “I don’t think I’ll be able to work for you Mr Thornton.” She called out, yanking a pair of black undies from her bag and slipping into them.

  “Now hold on a minute we have a contract…” He growled back through the door and she sighed. Yes, she might be shooting herself in the foot here, and it might take her a little longer to get that parcel of land, but work for him?

  “Contract or not. I don’t like you.” She tossed back. Giving herself a mental pat on the back for sticking two fingers up to him in the proverbial sense. She might just as well get it all off her chest, because she wasn’t about to take the damn job.

  Kate reached for the black lace bra that matched her panties just as the door flew open and he stepped into the room. His eyes flashed black with anger until he saw her standing there in complete shock, half reaching into her case for something, and totally nake
d except for the black panties that adorned her shapely hips.

  Dex knew he should have backed out, turned away, covered his damn eyes, but he had never had a feeling like it. It was as if someone had reached out and punched him right in the gut and he couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, and couldn’t think beyond taking in a detailed appraisal of her ample curves and consigning them to memory.

  Holy crap, but she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. How the hell had he missed that when she was denying mowing him down? When she was ranting like a lunatic, or when she was flipping him the finger?

  He wanted to drop to his knees on the floor and praise her. Never had a woman spoke to so many places within him at once, and not just the rock hard penis that was threatening to explode within his jeans.

  She screamed and grabbed for her towel and his brain rebooted somewhere within his head. Human. The woman was human and he was standing there staring at her and possibly even drooling.

  “Crap!” He practically had to force his legs to turn an about face and walk back out of the door. Back heeling it shut behind him, he rubbed his hands over the sheen on his face as he stared out at the nothingness of the parking lot below him.

  “You… you… I can’t believe that you… oh my god!” She was ranting from inside the room, and he guessed that this time she had every right to do that. This was going to take some major league grovelling to get past, to get over, and too keep her here. But damn, he wanted to keep her here now more than he had before.

  There wasn’t a muscle in his body that wasn’t tensed with a need to take action, and that included his damn manhood that was twitching like a cat on hot coals in his pants. His body had never fired up with a need for a woman like this before. This was unchartered territory for him. He’d even broken out in a damn sweat, what was that about?

  Dex could feel the restlessness of the wolf within him and for the first time in his entire life he cursed his Lycan blood. He needed his wolf to settle so that he could try to put his brain into gear.