Island Stripe Pride - Chapter 21: Chapter 21

But, to put it quite frankly, sex had always been the last thing on her mind. She had a drawer in her bedroom full of her favorite adult toys. Plenty of book boyfriends to satisfy those occasional needs.
But even her Womanizer and favorite steamy paranormal romances by literary goddesses like Julia Mills were letting her down.
And yes, fine, she could admit it. After all, Maggie was an adult. It had been that way ever since he rolled in and disturbed her orderly life with his stupid hot body and unwavering sapphire stare.
It wasn’t helpful that he was also good at everything he did. The SOB had actually managed to get them fully booked for their opening weekend. Plus, he was adding a private infinity pool on the rooftop for exclusive clientele.
In fact, the entire top floor design was on a need-to-know basis, and apparently, Maggie did not need to know. Even Jo-Jo was invited to see upstairs. Not Maggie. Just her baby sister.
Hmmph. Well, she didn’t care, anyway. Must be costing him a fortune, though. Oh well, she was pretty sure he deserved it.
Jerk.
“Dammit,” she slammed her hand on the desk.
Maggie hated feeling like this. She was, ugh, she couldn’t even name what she was.
Angry. Interested. Frustrated. Annoyed. Curious. Horny.
How about all of the above? Yeah. That pretty much summed her up.
God, she was sick. Clearly, she needed help. So, the guy had come onto her, and then he lost interest. Big deal. It happens. She should just move on. After all, she was the one who’d refused him.
The decision rankled, but she was finally ready to accept the fact she’d missed her chance. So, what. Hitting thirty-years old that Friday with her virginity intact was not a big deal. Like not at all. For real.
FML. She wanted to scream,
Instead, the roofers arrived and parked their large work trucks in the driveway in back of the hotel, and Maggie put on her professional face. The Sunset, scratch that, the Oasis Beachside Resort was closed to the public until Memorial Day weekend, but she still had not liked the idea of them blocking the street.
Happy that they remembered the phone call she’d had with the owner and foreman, Maggie went outside to welcome her old classmate. Tim Ball was her age, an only child, and a nice figure of a man.
They’d gone to Maccon City High at the same time but hung out in different circles. She knew now, of course, that it was because of his Wolf status.
Her father had done her a disservice not raising her with knowledge of the Pack, but she tried not to hold it against him. His old Alpha, Zev Maccon, was a bad man from the way everyone tells it, and he did not approve of non-Shifters in his Pack.
His son Rafe was a much better leader. So much so, that it was rumored he was to be chosen as High Alpha, a sort of mega ruler for Wolves.
Still, she tried to think of her father fondly. It wouldn’t do any good for her to behave any other way. She was happy to see Tim. And even happier that a local company had won the bid.
She realized now that Alex kept his word when he’d said he planned to help the local economy. From his reputation for good work alone, no one deserved the job more than On the Ball Roofing. Tim inherited the company from his father and officially took over for him some years back.
“Hi Tim,” she smiled.
“Hello Maggie,” he grinned back, “We’ll have you fixed up in no time at all.”
“I believe it. Listen, I set a cooler on the stairs with waters and soft drinks for you and your crew,” she said, noting the single female member of his crew unloading equipment with the others, “There are sandwiches as well.”
“Thanks, Mags, you didn’t have to do that,” he said and tugged on her ponytail teasingly.
The rumbling growl that sounded from behind her caught both their attention, and she snapped her head to see Alex standing not ten feet away. He was trembling, and his eyes glowed sapphire with his Tiger. Was it wrong she found his blatant display sexy beyond measure?
Yes. Definitely wrong. And yet she reacted with a sudden moistening between her legs. Tim’s eyes widened, and the Wolf backed up a step. From one predator to another, the message was clear, even to her human eyes. Everything about Alex’s stance sent one message, and that was back the fuck up.
Fine, so it was sexist and downright rude, but it was still hot as fuck. She should tell him to quit it. Really. She would too. In a second or so. And then she would tell him he had no right to act that way. Certainly not. The big pussy cat had no claim on her. Not at all.
Tell that to my pink bits, she thought with an inner sigh.
“Uh, should I do something here,” Tim interrupted her train of thought, and she turned back to him with a professional smile in place.
“Not at all, Tim, I will handle this. Thanks again,” she patted his arm, ignoring Mr. Grumbles and walked over to him.
Then, Maggie surprised herself when she grabbed him firmly by the ear lobe and pulled him towards the office door. The idiots foolish enough to snicker at Alex were treated to a loud roar which paralyzed them for a minute or five.
Something she knew from her recent Ghoulgle searches about Tiger Shifters and their wild cousins. One of the benefits of being honorary Pack was of course access to the occult web whose premier search engine was invented by a Ghoul named Nostradamus and his super fly girlfriend Emily. That was exactly the way they were described on Ghoulgle, by the way, not something Maggie had coined.
But she agreed, Emily was sweet and beautiful. Anyway, back to Tigers. The powerful predators were capable of emitting a low-pitched sound that could travel far distances and penetrate walls. She wondered what that would do to her if he made it while kissing her or doing other things.
Quit it, she scolded herself and tugged harder on his ear. Alex whined a bit and looked back at her with his Tiger shining in his eyes.
“Damn, kit, that is some grip you got there,” he grumbled, but went with her when she tugged him close, only to release him with a shove.
The office was empty, thank fuck. No one else should be privy to what she was about to say. But hey, he was being a jerk, and that meant all bets were off. Maggie was pissed.
“Listen here, you overgrown furball,” she hissed, “You don’t get to go all macho on me when you haven’t said two words about anything other than work since day one. Who the heck do you think you are? Growling at a guy for talking to me!”
Blue eyes followed her every move, but she was not about to be moved by his steady stare or his adorably disheveled appearance. Sweaty from his run, which apparently was a daily thing, according to Charley Maccon.
Shit. The Tiger Shifter looked good enough to eat, but Maggie needed to make a point here. Only, she’d damn near forgotten what it was.
“No. You are not going to fool me again,” she shook her head, “Now, stop looking at me like that. You’ve been ignoring me for days, and the first time I smile at a man you go all growly on me? Well, that is not going to work,” she said, trying to keep her mind on the reason she’d dragged him in there.
It was pretty dang difficult, considering the way he was standing there, staring at her like she was the last cookie in the jar. Hell, Maggie couldn’t remember the last time a guy had looked at her like that. And there was the additional fact that she was doing plenty of looking herself.
The tank top he wore was tight and practically sheer where his sweat had soaked through the fabric, revealing rippling, tanned muscles. The shorts he wore should’ve looked ridiculous since they ended a good six inches above his knees, but fuck, they were hot too, revealing his long, thickly muscled thighs and calves.
He was built like a professional athlete. With rugby player muscle, and a soccer player’s lean, long limbs. Simply put, the man had a body that would not quit.
Embarrassed by the way she was sizing him up like a piece of meat on the auction block, Maggie blinked and looked away. Even in her own mind, she sounded like some kind of sex maniac. Coming from a virgin that was something else.
But what could she say? He’d had her all hot and bothered since their almost kiss that very first night.
“Well?” she asked a little more loudly than intended, “What do you have to say for yourself?”
But Alex didn’t respond with a word. Oh no. Mr. suave and sexy simply growled again, only this time the sound went straight to her core, igniting a burning desire so potent she felt the whole room starting to close in on her.
He closed the space between them with two purposeful steps. Then he was looming over her, Maggie’s face in his gigantic hands, and before she could register the fact he was touching her, he leaned in and inhaled a deep breath.
Dear God, he was touching her. Yes. Finally. Her body hummed in anticipation as he angled her head and met her gaze with his own sapphire eyes burning. His message was clearer than the roar he’d fired off when she was talking with Tim.
It was right there in his poignant, unwavering stare. Alex was telling her without words what he wanted, and damn if she didn’t want it too. Then he pressed his lips against hers in a kiss that left her knees knocking and heart pounding.
Maggie moaned under the pressure of his mouth, giving him the opening he seemed to be waiting for. Then the kiss turned deeper, lustier, rocking her to her very core.
She tasted him on her tongue, and it was everything she’d imagined. Spicy and exotic, like mangos and habanero peppers. She’d craved those plump lips of his ever since he’d told her that very first night that he’d wanted her.
I want you. Those were his words.
“I’ve been dying for a taste of you, kit. Dreaming about kissing you since I first saw you leaning over the balcony,” he growled against her lips.
“Oh yeah? With all that sludge in your eyes?” she quipped.
“Only the left one,” he returned, nipping her with his teeth, “my right eye was perfectly clear.”
“Was it?” she moaned when he backed her up against the wall.
He leaned into her, parting her thighs with his hard, hot body. Then he was there, the steel length of him pressing against the apex of her thighs.
“Want you,” he growled, ignoring her sassy comments while he gripped her waist with his hands and lifted her clear off the floor.
“I’m too heavy,” she gasped as he ran his tongue and teeth over her neck to the deep v of her t-shirt.
“You’re perfect,” he growled, and she snapped her eyes to his, “say it,” he commanded.
“I’m not, oh god,” she moaned when his mouth closed over her hardened nipple but pulled up when she couldn’t speak.
“Gonna say it, kit? Or I stop here and now,” he said, but then his mouth closed over her again.
“Say it,” he commanded with his mouth full of her breast.
Hot moisture soaked through the fabric of her shirt as he held her there, his eyes on hers expectantly.
“I’m perfect,” she said, nodding, needing him to do more than just keep her there in the warm cocoon of his mouth.