Her Werewolf Lover: Michael and Samantha (The Macconwood Pack Tales #15)

Chapter 15

P retty girl. Hair and eyes just like her Dad , Samantha thought as she went to change out of her smokey clothes.

Michael had wanted to talk, but she begged for a moment to shower. She combed her long red hair and pulled it back into a haphazard bun with curls coming out around her face.

The look would have been sloppy on most, but she hoped to pull it off.

Samantha pulled on a pair of loose pants and a snug top and added a pair of sneakers. She headed downstairs. Michael looked nervous about bringing Maya, and whatever she might be feeling about their fast pivot into a sexual relationship, she did not want him to think his child was an issue for her .

Sam loved kids. But she didn’t expect to feel that powerful rush of longing that hit her when she saw Maya and Michael together. To have a family of her own, that was one of her deepest wishes.

Her stomach had clenched, and that same old desperate hope filled her. The one she thought had died when her ex had denied her request for children of her own.

Michael wouldn’t do that. She knew it instinctively. That man clearly loved kids. He was nothing like Gary.

Thank God.

Her ovaries seemed to go off like fireworks every time he came near her. Oh yes, she had fantasies of Michael Duarte. Dreams that included happy-ever-afters Samantha thought she’d given up on.

They were even stronger now since she saw proof of his paternal abilities. Right now, as she walked into the kitchen and saw his head bent as he helped his daughter do homework, Sam felt that same yearning desire stirring inside of her.

What a picture they made! It warmed her on the inside. Maya sat at the counter with her sneakered feet dangling. Her dark head was bent studiously over a sheet of paper. The young girl was so intent on what she wrote that she didn’t even notice the intrusion.

Samantha had the urge to read over her shoulder, but she knew better than to trespass on Maya’s work. She just tucked away the image into that secret place inside her heart and mind. It made for a good memory. Something to take out later when she wanted to remember the day.

She grabbed her cell phone and went to sit on the stairs, trusting Michael to find her when he was finished.

The sound of his crew already working in the living room told her not to go in there. She was fine right there.

An email caught her attention, and she had to read it twice before she understood what it was. Sam had received an offer for an article she’d submitted to a local teen online magazine.

It was all about the importance of maintaining a healthy outlook on food to achieve physical goals and challenging societal beauty standards.

She’d submitted it late one night after pondering what she was going to do for money for the millionth time. She honestly could not believe Michael had not asked her for more money yet, but anyway, it looked like she had finally found a way to pay him.

“Hello Ms. Jones, I’m Eric Marlowe, chief editor of Teen Global Mag. First, thank you for the opportunity to read your article. To put it plainly, we want it. I have included the standard contract and would like you to look it over. What we are proposing is a series of articles, not just one, along with the possibility of a book. I work out of our New York offices and can meet with you once the contract has been submitted. Looking forward to hearing from you.”

Samantha reread the email several times before letting out an ear-piercing screech.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

Tears pricked her eyes as her heart sped up. Sure, she didn’t expect to be given her pick of assignments the way she’d once been, but that was okay.

She was going to work. To earn her living and not rely on another damn person for as long as she lived!

“SAMANTHA!”

Loud footsteps had her turning her head to see Michael racing towards her.

“Sam? Are you okay?”

“Yes! Oh my God, yes, I’m okay,” she said, jumping at him .

Good thing the man was huge and could take it when she plastered her entire body to his.

“Not that I’m complaining,” he murmured, holding her tight, “but why did you scream?”

“Oh, um, I am so sorry. Well, I’ve had a proposal?—”

“Excuse the fuck out of me?” Michael snarled, and she froze at the rolling growl she felt filling his body.

“Oh my God, it is you? All that growling I’ve been hearing? Michael?—”

“What fucking proposal, Sunshine?”

“What? Oh, I mean a job! I am talking about a job. Now explain that!” Sam shouted, pointing at his face.

His eyes were glowing. Actually fucking glowing. This wasn’t just flecks of gold scattered throughout the brown. This was full on neon light fucking gold.

“Shit,” he grunted, rubbing a hand over his face.

Sam felt heat rush to her cheeks. Something weird was going on. Her pulse was racing, and she would almost swear she could feel the anxiety rolling off him in waves.

“Hola, everybody,” Eileen walked in, catching Michael and Samantha in the hall. “What’s going on? ”

“Tia, can you please watch Maya? Sam and I have something to discuss,” he said.

“Okay, sure, mijo .” Eileen said warily.

“Maya, what is going on?”

Eileen whispered her question, but Samantha would swear she could hear the woman even above the noise of the crew working on the floors downstairs.

“Samantha,” Michael tried for her attention, but she raised her hand, shushing him.

“Daddy bit Sam without explaining what it means. Now he is all gaga crazy, and she still doesn’t know about us,” Maya replied in that same hushed tone that to Sam sounded like she was speaking through a megaphone.

“What the hell is going on? Why can I hear Eileen and Maya inside? And what does she mean you bit me and are gaga crazy now?”

“Sam—”

“Oh my God, do you have rabies?” She gasped.

“What? No!”

“Okay good. This is nothing, right? Something to do with the new acoustics because of the walls, maybe you should work on that,” Sam said eyes wide and bordering hysteria.

She backed away from him. But Michael was not about to allow that. He stopped her with a hand on her hip, then he bent down and picked Samantha up and over his shoulder.

“Looks like we are doing this now, then,” he muttered.

“Oof! What the heck are you doing?” she asked, struggling against him until he swatted her ass.

“Stop it. I don’t want to drop you,” he grunted, and he carried her up the stairs.

“Making sure you can’t get away,” he told her, not stopping until they were in her bedroom, far away from the others.

Her heart was pounding. The muscle was beating inside her chest a mile a minute, and her imagination was running wild.

The constant growling. The changing eye color. Samantha licked her lips, wondering what the heck was going on.

Why was it she felt so strongly about him? How had she come to trust this man so quickly?

She didn’t believe in fairytales. Not anymore. Maybe not ever. But some things here weren’t adding up.

“You want to know why my eyes glow and why I growl all the time? Want to know why I’ve wanted you from day one? Why I can’t stay away from you?” he rumbled.

Her vanilla fragrance wrapped around him, teasing his Wolf, and clutching at his heartstrings. Goddamn, this woman meant so much to him.

“Yes,” she said, straightening her shoulders. “I want answers to all those questions. And I want to know why I could hear Maya and Eileen even though I know I shouldn’t have been able to.”

He released a deep breath. It was now or never.

And Michael Duarte never said never.

“Because I’m a Werewolf and you, Sunshine, are my mate.”