Wicked Cravings (The Phoenix Pack #2)(9)
Author: Suzanne Wright

“I’ve had enough.” With a humph, Greta rose from her seat. “I don’t have to sit around here and be insulted.” She practically marched out of the room, mumbling to herself.

Lydia shook her head, chuckling. “That woman will outlive us all.” Tao smiled, running a hand through his tousled chocolate-brown hair. “She’s more strong-willed than all of us put together.”

Strangely, Jaime found herself wondering why though she favored the shade of chocolate-brown over walnut-brown, she preferred Dante’s hair to Tao’s. In fact, if any of the enforcers should be her type, it was Tao. All her past boyfriends had been similar to him: intense by nature, hair that was short but long enough to ruffle, and with a body that was muscular but more athletic than burly.

Dante didn’t fit into her type at all, and yet it was him she was drawn to. And didn’t that just chafe.

“So,” drawled Trey, turning to Dante. “Tell us more about this meeting you went to.” Once Dante was done telling the tale, Taryn cursed a blue streak that would have made any sailor proud. Oh, he’d definitely made the right decision by not telling her sooner.

“I never liked that bitch. She flirted with Trey when I went to that mating ceremony on Nick’s territory. I was five feet away at the time.”

“Yeah, but you scared her off.” Trey affectionately rubbed circles on her belly.

“Want me to kill her?” she asked Dante, sounding hopeful.

“No, I don’t,” he chuckled.

“Seriously, Trey can hold my hair back out of the way and I’ll—” Trey cupped his mate’s chin. “You will not get into any kind of confrontation with anyone.

Besides, Nick’s said he’s dealt with it. Let’s hope that’s the end of it.”

“There’s still the matter of her brothers,” Marcus pointed out, running a hand through his short, dark curls as if trying to straighten them.

Dante crossed his arms behind his head and sank farther into his chair. It was pissing him off that his eyes kept darting to Jaime of their own accord, but he managed to veil his irritation from the wolves around him. “It might be better to let Glory and her brothers sweat, leave them wondering what we’ll do or if we’ll do anything at all.”

Trey nodded. “According to Trick, her brothers are loons.”

“I don’t think they’re loony enough to turn up in pack territory looking for him, though,” said Trick. “That would be an act of suicide, and they’ll know that.”

“So you think it’s more likely that they’ll try to corner him somewhere?” asked Trey, to which Trick nodded. “The way I see it, then, is we can deal with this by going on the attack instead of waiting for her brothers to make their move, or we can deal with them when the time comes.”

“I have better things to do than hunt down a group of crazies.” Dante had to restrain himself from growling at Dominic for twirling a strand of Jaime’s long hair around his finger—something he had found himself wanting to do many times. Her hair was so shiny that it was kind of inviting. He wanted to know if it was as soft as it looked. “I wouldn’t give Glory the satisfaction of a reaction anyway.”

“You do realize you brought this on yourself, don’t you?” Dominic shook his head incredulously. “Out of all the girls out there, you picked her. Don’t get me wrong, I love women and I respect them, but come on, there are just some girls you make a point to stay away from. Glory’s like a bowling ball. She gets picked up, fingered, and thrown in the gutter, and yet she still comes back.” Trey laughed and looked about to say something, but his attention quickly went to the hand he had resting on Taryn’s belly. “Whoa, that was a big one.”

“How’s the little guy been today?” Marcus began giving Taryn one of his infamous shoulder massages.

“She’s still kicking the life out of me. It’s almost like she’s trying to kick her way out. I think she’s just as eager to get the birth over with as I am.”

“What, you don’t like being pregnant?” Trick frowned. “I thought females loved it.” Taryn pursed her lips. “Let’s see…I’m constantly tired, emotional, hungry, and horny. Most of my clothes don’t fit, my back always aches, and I can’t see my feet. It’s such a magical experience. Oh, and I walk like a fat, deformed penguin.”

“Aw, don’t say things like that about yourself, Taryn,” begged Dominic. “You’re beautiful. If you were words on a page, you would be what they call ‘fine print.’” Everyone groaned, except for Jaime, who laughed.

There was no doubt that Trey would have hit his enforcer if he’d been within reach. “How many times do I need to tell you to stop using those lines on my mate?” Dominic placed his hand over his heart. “I try, I really do, but my love for her is like diarrhea

—I just can’t hold it in.” Again there were groans.

Taryn looked unimpressed. “Getting compared to diarrhea—awesome.”

“Only eight weeks to go until the baby’s here.” Dante’s gaze again wandered to Jaime. As if she sensed it, she looked right at him. He guessed that he was wearing a pretty intense expression, because her eyes briefly widened. She didn’t avert her gaze, though. Instead, she gave him an expectant look, one that dared him to speak his mind and explain what the hell his issue was. His wolf liked that.

“Maybe then you’ll all stop smothering and coddling me.” Taryn flicked a disgruntled snarl at Trey.

“Now, Taryn, we just want you and the baby to be safe.” Trey gave her a soft, placating kiss. It didn’t work.

“Safe or confined? Seriously, I’m surprised you haven’t placed me in a sterilized room where everyone can wave to me through a window.”

“Sorry, Taryn, but I’m pretty sure that all this Glory crap will only make him worse,” Tao said with a cheeky smile and no sympathy whatsoever. Taryn gave an almost imperceptible nod to Ryan, who nodded back and then whacked Tao over the head obligingly.

“Hey, don’t mess with the hair,” Tao whined. Although his chocolate-brown hair was tousled, it was purposely styled that way.

“Why don’t we all go for a run?” suggested Dante. “We’ve all got a lot of frustration to burn off.” Everyone rose from their seat and went to leave the room with him. Well, almost everyone.