“Take her out to the House?” he asked on a huff. “When? Every five seconds around here someone has a new problem. Then the Rochert deal went bust, and I spent two days patching that.”
“Which is holding, by the way.” Ellis gave him a thumbs up. “So Jace and I think you should take Joy away. The House is a perfect escape. We’ll put the word out to everyone to steer clear of it for a few days for maintenance issues. Between Jace, Dana, Willow, Rain, Oliver and I, we’ll hold down the fort. You go work your magic.” Ellis wiggled his brows.
Quince sighed. “I get within scent of her, and she’s gone. I don’t know how she does it, but she’s fast.”
Jace shook his head. “What dumbass meant but didn’t say—”
“Hey!”
“—was that she’s a Bermin. Joy’s too smart to fall for ‘nice’. Tie her up, kidnap her, whatever it takes. But you need to do something about fixing your unmated status pronto or you stand to lose the pride.”
“Shit. I know that. But I don’t want…”
“What?”
He didn’t want to mate Joy to grab the pride. He wanted the woman to come to him because she couldn’t do without him. Except she wouldn’t let herself talk to him, let alone make love to him again. It just figured she’d be a pain in the ass about everything.
He groaned. “Damn. Fine. Just watch things for me tomorrow. Joy and I will be busy as of tonight. But not a word, I’m telling you. The woman hears and sees all. It’s a little scary.”
“Yeah, she’s a sharp one.” Ellis nodded. “Come on, Jace. Let’s get his schedule to Willow so she can reroute meetings.”
“Okay. And I’ll take the northern run. Got a few felines I need to double-check.”
“Right. I’ll grab the immediate coast. We’ll put Oliver and Rain on as leads.”
They left discussing pride business, and he knew they’d take care of things in his absence. Quince loved the guys. After Miles had immersed himself in work, Ellis, Jace, Rain and he had found common ground working for Michael. Watching over the pride, fixing problems, reporting any and all issues. They’d grown tight, so when Michael had gone missing, they’d known something was wrong.
While Quince had gone undercover acting like Lex’s trusted lieutenant, the guys had publicly snubbed him while secretly keeping him in the loop about goings-on in the pride. They’d helped protect the weaker members while he did his best to smother Lex’s efforts when it came to those who fought back against him.
Because they’d had his back and supported him taking over the pride, many of the others had accepted his return. Then too, with Dana, Willow and Oliver’s help spreading the word about what had really happened with Lex—as well as recovering nearly fifty million dollars in pride funds—he’d found himself welcomed back wholeheartedly…except for Lex’s friends.
Ayers, Watson and a handful of others continued to raise discontent. He had to stop fucking around and take a mate. As distasteful as he found the notion of running the pride forever, he believed in sacrificing his wants for the good of the many. Besides, he wanted Joy like he needed his next breath. Time to stop letting her lead him by his nose and show her who was in charge.
Hell, what did he have to lose? He’d told her the truth about the past and thought she believed him. But maybe she didn’t realize how serious he was about dating—claiming—her. They’d had sex only once. He needed to reaffirm how much he desired her, and no time like the present.
Quince waited to pounce until later that night. He drove to Joy’s house, a nice place in Pinecrest. Quiet, suburban and upscale enough that she didn’t need to worry about an onslaught of break-ins. He parked in her driveway and walked to the front door as if he belonged there.
Before he had a chance to knock, she opened the door and peeked her head out, frowning. “Quince?”
“Good. You remember my name,” he drawled, wishing the woman would smile at him once in a while.
“What are you doing here? Slumming?” She smirked.
Considering he’d taken over Michael’s five-million-dollar spread in Palmetto Bay, her neighborhood could technically be considered a step down. But the house he resided in currently housed a dozen cats. The property was on a private compound nearly six acres large, offering plenty of room for cats to roam under secluded trees and behind a secured gate. Yet it had never felt less like a home without Michael…or someone special to share it with.
Keeping to the plan, he lowered his voice. “I need to pull the SUV into your garage. There’s something I need to show you.”
“What?” She pushed open the door and stood with crossed arms over her unbound breasts. Which made him take a good hard look at what she was—or wasn’t—wearing. Talk about good timing. He’d caught her ready for bed in a pair of thin cotton boy shorts and a light blue tank. Even better, she smelled like soap, all clean and fresh. Ripe for the plucking.
He swallowed and willed his dick to behave. “Look. This is pride business, and I can’t chance anyone seeing. This is important.” And it was. He needed her like crazy.
She stared at him, and he prayed she couldn’t read the lie in his eyes. His cat chuckled at his female trying to out-think him, pleased she liked to keep him on his toes. But this time his prey was within reach, and he had no intention of letting her go tonight. Not until he made himself clear.
“Well, okay.” She turned and headed toward the kitchen. “I’ll meet you in the garage.”
He hurried back to his vehicle. The garage door opened and he pulled into the deep garage, next to her sleek coupe. The car fit Joy. Fast, tight and beautiful. He let himself out of the SUV and then closed the garage door. In one hand he held the restraints he knew he’d need to make this happen. He shoved them in his back pocket just as she entered, now unfortunately wearing a short robe.
“It’s in the back,” he murmured.
She looked from him to the SUV, her curiosity roused. As he’d hoped.
She moved behind the SUV and opened the back hatch. As she rose on tiptoe to look in, Quince made his move. He jerked her arms behind her and put the slip tie around her wrists. Then he knelt and did the same to her ankles while she kicked and swore.
Trussed up good and tight, she wouldn’t be able to shift and break free once he gave her a good taste of her own medicine.
“You son of a—”
He rose and gagged her before she could finish and tied the scarf behind her head. “Uh, uh. No talking. And relax. You know I’m not going to hurt you.” He pushed the robe aside to bare her left breast clad in thin cotton.
Alarm widened her eyes.
“That’s right. Time for a reminder of where you belong. Time to stop avoiding me.” He lifted her tank and sighed at her beautiful body. Then he kissed her breast, sucking on the nipple with a gentle hunger.
When she moaned, he smiled and let her go. He pulled her tank back down and covered her up with her robe. Then he moved her aside to fully open the back door of the SUV. He gently positioned her on the blanket on the floor, curling her knees to her chest to make her fit. She didn’t fight him, but he was more than aware of the rage in her eyes.
Then he withdrew another treat from his pocket. “See this? It’s the same dart you tagged me with in Montana. I had a friend give me a light sedative that won’t hurt you, but it will make you groggy for a few hours.”