Terr4tory by Susan Bliler Page A

rough.  We got a lot done.”
    “Thanks for that.”  She paced to the far end of the porch, needing to keep distance between them.  “But you didn’t have to.”
    He spoke around a bite of cookie.  “You keep saying that.”
    “And I keep meaning it.”
    He didn’t respond and she turned to find him licking chocolate from the tip of one finger.
    Fuuuuck!   Her womb clenched and she couldn’t keep from licking her lips.
    Barron stilled, his finger just out of his mouth.  “Keep looking at me like that, Alpha Hutchinson and I’ll…”
    She didn’t let him finish.  Snapping her eyes away she jerked herself out of her reverie and turned away from him.  “You’re welcome to stay a few days in the guest house.  We’ll talk tomorrow about what’ll happen after that.”
    “I came to help.”
    She gave him a conciliatory smile over her shoulder.  “I’m sure you think you did.”
    He finished his glass of milk, set the empty plate aside, and slowly got to his feet.  As he paced slowly to her, she could only watch, mesmerized by his lithe grace.  When he got near enough, he turned her to face him and wrapped his arms around her.
    “Can I help you?” Her head titled back so she could keep eye contact, and she knew her authoritative tone failed.
    One of his hands lifted to gather her long hair at the nape of her neck.  “Oh, I know you can.” He smiled, his eyes challenging her to back down.
    “I’d appreciate it if you’d take your hands off me.”  She said the words, but they came out husky, practically a plea for him to do the opposite.  Why had she given him cookies?  Christ, now he smelled like chocolate and sin!
    “You sure?” His thumb skimmed over his mark on her neck.  “Because I really, and I mean fucking really , enjoy touching you.”
    She liked it too.  Willa shuddered at the glancing touch to where his bite was still healing.  Mate marks were notoriously sensitive, and alarmingly erogenous.  Her breathing hitched.
    “You know, this mark,” his thumb glided over it again, and her pussy creamed at the touch.  “It...”  He didn’t get to finish.
    Willa wanted to scream when Jase came sauntering out to the porch.  “Willa?”  His voice sounded sleepy.  “Arden went to bed and I’m…” Jase swallowed as his eyes fell on Barron and she could tell he was debating his next words.  “It’s too dark for me to go down alone.”
    She smiled softly.  Jase was still afraid of the dark and the monsters he often believed lurked there.  When she went to pull away, Barron held her firm and offered quietly, “I’ll take him down.”  Then he turned to Jase.  “Let’s go, buddy.  We can’t have you falling down the stairs in the dark.”
    Jase smiled proudly at the fact that Barron hadn’t recognized, or commented on, his fear of the dark.  “No.”  He shook his head.  “I don’t wanna fall.”
    Willa’s heart squeezed when Barron grabbed the boy and hoisted him up onto his shoulders with a, “Mind your head.”
    She watched them go and wondered at the day.  The ease with which her pack accepted Barron was more than startling.  It was terrifying.  What if they get attached?   The fear was a real one.  Hell, even ornery Arden and leery Sarya had dropped their defenses already and it’d only been one day.  Willa shivered.  They were all still dealing with the loss of Garner, she didn’t want the kids getting attached to Barron only to wind up disappointed and hurt in the end.  Things could be bad if he stuck around for too long, and as she entered the house she concluded that Barron needed to leave. But she couldn’t make that happen.  He was willing to help, and she needed help.
    She didn’t wait for him to come up from the basement.  She didn’t want to see him, because she knew he’d touch her, and for some reason she lost all logic when he did that.
    Up in her room, she left her door open to listen intently for his departure.  A few