Page 8 of The Wolf's Plus-Size Bride

“And she’s also my cousin. And best friend.”

“I thought I was your best friend,” a girl whines from behind the boys, playfully pouting at Jane as she sticks her head between them. “How you doing, boys? Haven’t seen you in ages.”

I recognize the girl as the same one who asked Jane to watch her drink. “You must be Sonya,” I surmise.

Her blond ponytail bobbles and swishes as she nods, pushing her way past them and squeezing in to reclaimher barstool. “Yup, that’s me. Sonya Riddles, Jane’s personal enabler.”

A collective “What?” is shared with some uncertain glances as we gape at the bold, pretty young woman.

She waves a hand in the air, dismissing our confusion. “What I mean is, when she needs someone to kick her out of her comfort zone, I’m the gal you call.”

“Well, if that’s the case, you and I should talk,” I say. “I may need your help on this one.”

Images of the kiss keep playing through my head. I can still feel Jane’s soft lips moving beneath mine, her stiff body melting into mine. I’m utterly fucked because I want more, so much more. For the sake of our little ruse, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to sneak in another kiss.

I quickly shoot down the idea, telling myself I’d just be increasing the problem. If I kiss her, I’ll want to do it again, and again.

“I’m just a little confused,” Sonya begins, darting her eyes between me and Jane. “I just assumed Jane was bullshitting when she said she was seeing someone. I figured if it was true, I would’ve been the first to know. So, why all the secrecy? And how long have you two been, you know…?”

An uncomfortable look crosses Jane’s face, but I pick up on something in the look on her face.Help.

“I don’t think I need to tell you Jane is a very shy and private person,” I say. “We agreed to keep things to ourselves for a while, at least until we were sure what was happening between us was worth telling everyone about. We don’t want to jinx it, right, sugar?”

God, the look on her face is priceless. She stammers, searching her brain for something to say, and bites her bottom lip. “Yeah. What he said. We thought it’d be a good idea if we kept things quiet until we got used to it first. No reason to get everyone worked up if things… don’t work out.”

I slip my arm around her waist and, without hesitating, plant a loud, smacking kiss on her cheek. When I turn back to the others, they’re all staring at us like our heads just switched bodies or something.

“This is really weird,” Riley says, mostly to himself.

“Nah, man, I’m down,” Lenny interjects. “It makes sense. It’s like yin and yang. Our sweet, mild-mannered cousin.” He points to Jane, whose face immediately screws into a defiant scowl. Lenny responds with a chuckle before turning his attention back to me. “With this fucking broody hothead. Just fits, ya know?”

Jane squirms, trying to pry my fingers loose, but I don’t budge. Shit, I actually tighten my grip. I bury my nose in her hair and inhale deeply. Her scent is so damn alluring that my body instinctively responds. I can’t stop it from happening, can’t seem to control it even the tiniest bit.

She slaps me with her other arm and starts whispering furiously. “What are you doing? Get off me, ass hat!”

“C’mon, sugar,” I respond, hovering my mouth just over hers, not even trying to ignore the instant hard-on I’m sporting. “It’s all for show, right?”

Sparks fly when I brush my lips against hers. It’s like a live wire trying to run current into my system. To my surprise, Jane visibly melts into me, inhaling deeply as I massage my lips against hers. The sensation is addictive and intoxicating. Having her pressed so closely to my body, I can feel her arousal growingas I slide my tongue through her parted lips. Soon enough, we start to forget about everyone else, quickly losing ourselves in our makeshift embrace.

Good God, this woman is going to be the death of me.

Chapter 4 - Jane

Reiner sucks my bottom lip into his mouth as if seeking to eat me alive, and hot damn, it feels amazing. His hands grab fistfuls of my ass, kneading roughly, and I’m surprised by just how much I like it. My pussy’s getting wet. Tingling, even.

I can’t seem to pull away from him. It’s like no matter how much I try, my body won’t cooperate. It wants to be closer to him, even if my head knows that’s not exactly the best idea. From the way his abs feel pressed against me, he wants to get closer, too. My movements are slowed, like I’m trying to walk through waist-deep mud. I grab his biceps, but it feels like my hands are encased in lead mittens. My fingers can barely bend, and in fact, they are merely splayed fingers resting on his muscles with no force to aid.

When he kissed me a year ago, I felt like this, too. I actually lost my senses for a bit, not consciously aware of anything except his heat, his passion, and his strength. This is what made me so sure he was my mate; the raw, consuming, blinding strength of a thousand suns, brighter than the hottest, most intense heart of a star. I swore I would spend the rest of my life with him, vowing to become one with him. That was before I found out what a two-faced bastard he is, though.

It’s that thought right there, the one that reminds me of just who he is as a person, that snaps me out of my stupor. Wrenching my head back and squeezing my eyes closed, I somehow manage to put just enough distance between us to come back to my senses, forcing myself to breathe in deep through my nose, steeling my spine, and opening my eyes to shoot daggers at him. A tiny whisper is there at the back of my skull, telling me to go back. To press myself against his hardnessagain. I try to push the voice back and banish it, hoping my breathing will deepen.

“Jesus, Jane,” Sonya’s voice sounds from somewhere behind me. It cuts through the fog in my mind, bringing me back from whatever fucked-up trance I’d fallen into during that damn kiss. “I’ve never seen this side of you before, girl.”

“Me either,” Lenny agrees. “And it’s disgusting.”

I’d completely forgotten where we are and the fact that there are literally dozens of witnesses to this hot display of passion. Trying to mask the intense embarrassment, I wriggle my way out of Reiner’s embrace.

Reiner growls. There’s no other way to describe it. His voice becomes so low, so rough, it comes out as a sort of scratchy, guttural purr. It sends the weirdest ripple through my entire body, like ants dancing on my skin. I reach out instinctively, running my palm down his arm as he drags me back into his embrace, hugging me close.

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