Doggy Tales

In the Doghouse

Genna lay in the king-sized bed and stared at the TV, remote in hand. Three days had passed since surviving the attack by her ex-boyfriend, Lester. While she still bore faint bruises, she couldn’t believe the worst of the pain and injuries had already faded.

Perk of being a shape-shifter’s mate, I guess. Not that she was complaining about that. Have Jeremy Bruin as her husband for life?

Um, yes, please.

They had some issues to work out, however.

Massive ones.

Like the fact that the reason he hired her in the first place, which led him to taking her to be his mate, was to get revenge on Lester after his conviction for killing Jeremy’s cousin.

Jeremy stuck his head in the bedroom door. “Are you okay?” he cautiously asked.

She nodded and put the remote down. “Yeah.”

He stepped inside, looking sheepish. Sometimes, she wanted him right next to her.

Sometimes, she couldn’t stand to look at him.

Lindsey Biendino, Ivan’s mate and wife, had spent a few hours with her that morning, explaining the basics of shape-shifter 101 to her. Lindsey met Ivan in his wolf form when he saved her from an attack while she was out jogging. Their mating had gone without a hitch.

“Do you want to talk?” he asked.

She nodded and patted the bed next to her. He quickly and fluidly climbed onto the bed without jarring her. When he settled into position, she looked at him. “How am I supposed to trust you?”

He looked even more abashed. “I know, Genna. I’m so sorry. I’ll do whatever it takes to earn your forgiveness.”

She studied him. She’d thought about this for a while after her talk with Lindsey that morning. “I want us to go to a counselor.”

He nodded. “Okay.”

“No problem with that?”

“Well, I think we need to leave out the part about the shape-shifting, but I mean it. I’ll do whatever it takes to make this up to you.”

She nodded and carefully cuddled up next to him. No matter how conflicted she felt in some ways about how they got together, she wasn’t too proud to admit he was a handsome hunk of man flesh. She wasn’t about to turn away an opportunity to snuggle with him.

Genna had to hand it to him. He didn’t try to grope her, either. He protectively curled his arms around her and held her, even though she felt his cock harden against her thigh through his shorts.

His scent filled her lungs. He smelled good, earthy, sensual. She loved that about him. She wasn’t afraid to admit she loved him, either.

Trusting him, on the other hand, might take her a while. Well, she didn’t doubt the part about taking care of her. He and Ivan killed Lester after Lester attacked her while out on bail. She knew Jeremy would protect her. She knew he would take care of her and provide for her and try to make things up to her for what happened.

And the conflict of her heart-melting attraction to him before all the shit hit the fan, versus finding out the truth about why he first started this relationship, understandably had put her through the ultimate mind fuck.

“If it’s any consolation,” he said, “Ivan is giving me holy hell every chance he can get.”

“It is.” She couldn’t believe she’d gone from being terrified of dogs to enjoying Ivan’s company whether he was in dog or man form. Technically, Ivan had been the one to spill the beans about the shape-shifting in the first place.

And he’d totally disagreed with how and why Jeremy claimed Genna as his mate.

He nuzzled the top of her head. “I love you, Genna. Really.”

“I know.” He’d said that a hell of a lot over the past couple of days, and she believed him.

She just needed time to adjust to her new life with him. And to the fact that he could shape-shift.

The next morning, she was surprised to look in the mirror over the bathroom sink and see the last vestiges of her bruises were completely faded. Jeremy quietly hovered, attentive and wanting to make amends with every ounce of his being. When Lindsey showed up a little after nine that morning to take Genna out shopping, Genna jumped at the chance to get away for a little while.

“Do you know somewhere we can get good discounts?” Genna asked as she buckled her seat belt.

Lindsey snorted. “Discounts?” She fished a credit card out of her purse. “Honey, Ivan gave me a corporate card and said the two of us should have fun. Specifically, that I should buy you whatever you want and run up one hellacious tab.”

Genna smiled. “On Jeremy’s tab, you mean?”

She laughed. “Ooooh, yeah. Believe me, he deserves it.”

Genna smiled. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

They’d plowed their way through their third high-end department store, with the trunk of Lindsey’s car nearly full already with shopping bags, when Genna needed a break. “I call lunch,” Genna said. “Uncle.”

Lindsey smiled. “You need endurance training. This credit card isn’t even slightly warm yet.”

Genna laughed as she plopped down at a table in the mall’s food court. “Yeah, but I’m worn out.”

Lindsey sat with her. “You okay?”

Genna nodded. “Jeremy and I talked more yesterday. He agreed to go to counseling with me.” She studied her hands. “I believe him in my head, but my heart is still having trouble wrapping around everything. Or maybe it’s the other way around. I still feel like I’m being spun around in the middle of a tornado.”

“Counseling? Really? Good. Maybe I can quit calling him Mr. Shit Weasel then.”

Genna laughed. “You really call him that?”

“Yeah. He told me to stop, and I told him he wasn’t the boss of me. Which, then, of course, he said technically he was the boss of me, since he is, you know, my boss. And he’s Ivan’s pack Alpha. But then Ivan growled at him, and Jeremy backed down because he knows he fucked up.” She smiled at Genna. “It gets easier,” she softly said.

“I know.” She studied her hands some more. “I just wish he’d wanted me for me in the first place and not because he wanted to get back at Lester.”

Lindsey sighed. “Not the most romantic of beginnings, I know.” Her voice turned serious. “But when one of their kind mates, it’s for life. Period. And he had to feel it in his soul for it to even happen, even if he thought it was revenge or whatever at first.” She squeezed Genna’s hand. “When he says he loves you, he means it. And that’s not me letting him off the hook, either. That’s me having a little insight into these dumbasses’ minds from the inside.”

Genna nodded. “I know. I know he loves me. I just need some time to process all this.”

“Agreed.” Lindsey leaned in close and dropped her voice. “Ivan saved me when we first met. Literally. He saved my life from three guys who were going to rape me. And since then, he’s kept me safer than I ever thought I could feel. Let me tell you what, I went through quite a few years of not feeling safe. I’m sure Jeremy feels like shit, but I’d be willing to bet he doesn’t disappoint you again.”

They returned home several hours later, tired, laughing, and with a trunkful of purchases. Jeremy met them at the front door, anxiety on his face. Genna thought he looked sweet until she remembered how upset at him she still was.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Calm down,” Lindsey said. “We’re fine.” She handed the credit card back to Ivan but spoke her next words to Jeremy. “Although you might not be when you get the bill next month.”

Jeremy shook his head. “I don’t care as long as she’s happy.”

Genna couldn’t help but smile. “You’re like a lovesick puppy.”

Lindsey laughed. “She’s catching on. That’s a good one.” She held up her hand. “Fist bump!” They did, and Jeremy helped Ivan unload the trunk, taking the bags into the bedroom and dumping them on the bed.

“Okay, you two,” Lindsey said, pushing the men out of the bedroom. “Out. Scoot.”

When they emerged an hour later, Genna was dressed in one of her new purchases, a pretty, flowing black dress that came down to her knees, new high heels, and a new purse. Lindsey had put on her brand new green dress. “Okay,” Lindsey said. “You two are taking us out someplace nice. And expensive.”

They all piled into Lindsey’s car, the men in the front seat. Lindsey patted Genna on the hand and sent her a conspiratorial smile.

Genna appreciated Lindsey running interference. While Genna hadn’t said so in so many words, she still felt a little nervous when alone with Jeremy. Not because she was afraid of him, but because she didn’t honestly know what to say to him other than asking him to fuck her brains out.

And she wasn’t quite sure how to reconcile that desire yet.

The men took them to a high-end steakhouse in downtown Tampa. By the time dinner ended, Genna felt more at ease around Jeremy and even let him hold her hand as they strolled out to the car. He opened her door for her and helped her in before climbing into the passenger seat.

Next to her, Lindsey flashed her a smile that Genna returned. Dinner had helped. She did feel better.

At home, Ivan and Lindsey gathered her purchases and bid them good night. Once alone, Genna returned to the bedroom and changed into a T-shirt of Jeremy’s and climbed into bed. He hesitated until she patted the bed next to her.

With a thankful smile, he climbed in and slid under the sheet. She curled up next to him, her head resting in the crook of his shoulder. “Thank you for taking us out. And for the shopping trip.”

He hugged her. “Anything you want. I mean it.”

She looked up at him, and his butterscotch eyes melted her. “I do want you. I fell in love with you when I thought you were nothing but a dream.” She studied his expression for a minute. She felt his regret at what he’d put her through radiating from him. Lindsey had told her she would start feeling his emotions, that it was part of the shifter-mate stuff.

If anyone else had told her this story, she’d have wanted to run far and fast from them, especially if they said they forgave the jerk.

But she did forgive the big jerk.

Tipping her head back, she kissed him. He hesitantly returned it. She sensed him wanting more, wanting to make love to her, but holding himself back.

Another reason to love him.

Everyone made mistakes, and he was willing to atone for his.

And she was very. Fucking. Horny.

Reaching up, she wove her fingers into his hair and crushed his lips with hers, plunging her tongue into his mouth.

Moaning as his cock immediately stiffened in his briefs, he kissed her back eagerly. A flood of moisture pooled between her legs. She did want him. His body did things to her no man ever had. No reason she couldn’t get some satisfaction from him while they were working through their issues, right?

Genna hooked a leg around his and ground herself against him. Breaking their kiss, she whispered, “Please make love to me.”

He rolled her onto her back. Slowly, gently, he lifted her T-shirt and kissed her belly, his lips feathering across her flesh and stirring deep, dark desires inside her. She remembered how it felt to be totally possessed by his cock, the hot and passionate sex they’d had when she thought he was just a dream.

She wanted to feel that again.

When he reached her breasts, he took his time, cupping them in his hands and rubbing his thumbs over her nipples. Each stroke sent another jolt of need straight to her clit. He took his time, refusing to be rushed, licking and sucking first one, then the other. Back and forth, the hot, sucking pull of his mouth driving her closer to the brink. At this point, she thought he could simply blow on her pussy and make her come.

She raised her arms over her head when he finally lifted the T-shirt off her, leaving her wearing nothing but her now-sodden panties. Bending down, he grabbed the waistband in his teeth and softly growled as he worked them down her legs.

Genna laughed. He glanced up at her. The corners of his eyes had crinkled in amusement. He’d done that on purpose to make her laugh.

Releasing her panties, he kissed her left thigh, then the right one. He admitted what she already knew. “I love hearing you laugh. It’s the best sound in the world.”

“Even better than me screaming your name as I come?”

He rested his cheek against her thigh and laid the palm of his hand flat on her belly. “Making you laugh like that means you’re happy,” he said. “A vibrator can make you come. It can’t make you laugh.”

“Depends on how funny looking it is.”

With a mind of their own, her hands stroked his hair. He was willing to lie there with her, not moving even though she wanted him to. Seeing him like this, the tender side of the man who’d literally ripped Lester’s throat out with his teeth, melted her heart.

“I love you,” she whispered.

He smiled and kissed her thigh as he sat up. “I love you, too. I’ll spend the rest of our lives proving to you how much I love you.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss on the top of her mound, on the pubic bone. “How very, very much.” He worked lower, to just above her clit.

Her hand clutched his hair more tightly.

“I love you more than my own life,” he whispered. His breath blew across her clit as he spoke, making her whimper.

When his tongue caressed her swollen nub, she exploded, crying out, her back arching.

Then he went after her with no mercy, using his lips and tongue to work at her clit, gently pinning her hands to her sides on the bed when she tried to push him away. He fucked her with his talented tongue, sliding it deep inside her flooded pussy, plunging in and out before exploring every fold of her labia, circling her clit to suck on her and make her come again and again.

She lost count.

After what felt like forever, she finally begged him to stop, to give her a moment to rest. He crawled up the bed to hold her in his arms. She kissed him and tasted her juices on his lips.

“I could go to sleep right now, I think,” she softly said.

“Oh, you don’t think I’m done with you yet, do you?” he teased.

She felt the wet spot on the front of his briefs where his rigid cock leaked pre-cum and strained to be freed. He had to be nearly crazy with desire if he was able to turn her into a puddle of goo and still hold himself back.

“I want you,” she whimpered. Suddenly, it was all she wanted, to feel his cock inside her, stretching her, fucking her, owning her.

“You’ll have me.” He nipped her bottom lip, making her whimper again. “But not until I’m satisfied that I’ve taken good care of you.”

All thoughts of sleep rapidly fled her body. She eagerly nodded. “You have! You did! Please?” She squirmed against him, humping his thigh, her oversensitive clit rasping against the fine hair on his leg. She reached for the waistband of his briefs and tried to shove them down his hips, but he intercepted her hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed it.

“We have the rest of our lives,” he said. “This is your time.”

“Then give me your cock, goddamn it!” she groused.

He laughed. “But I want to lick your pussy some more. I love making you come.”

She pushed him down onto the bed and straddled him. “I’m fucking you, and that’s that!” She yanked on his briefs, pulling them down so his rigid cock sprang free. Immediately, she bent down and sucked him into her mouth, silencing his protests as he groaned with pleasure. He tasted great, salty and sweet, his engorged head smooth under her tongue as she traced the ridges and veins.

His hips thrust up, meeting each pull of her mouth.

Then she sat up again. “That’s better.” She rose and impaled herself on him, both of them moaning as he bottomed out inside her, filling her with his hot, rigid shaft.

“That’s much better,” she whispered.

His hands grasped her hips as she rode him. She braced herself on his chest, taking her time, enjoying the way his cock rubbed against her G-spot.

Then he cheated. He reached between them and started rubbing her clit with his thumb, making her explode around him.

“That’s it, baby,” he encouraged. “Ride me. Use me.”

She did, slamming her body down onto his cock as a wave of orgasms rippled through her like waves on the shore. Only he had ever been able to make her come like this. No man had ever made her feel this good.

Exhausted and spent, she collapsed onto him as he held her. She was well aware of his hard cock still twitching inside her, wanting release.

After she caught her breath, she hooked a leg around him and urged him to roll over on top of her. As she kissed him, she thrust up against him, encouraging him to start moving.

He did, slowly at first, his lips and tongue gently exploring and tasting and teasing her mouth as he kept her own fires simmering with his languid strokes. Unbelievably, she realized she was growing close to another climax as his cock stroked her clit with every stroke.

“Do it,” she whispered.

He picked up the speed, harder, faster, deeper, until his cock slammed into her, driving her up the bed under him. And still he held back.

It wasn’t until her pussy contracted with her release, and she cried out, that he finally let go. His cock hardened, swelled, and exploded, pumping his seed deep into her as his entire body stiffened and he let out a deep, growly moan.

Lying there together, spent, arms and legs tangled, softly kissing each other, she knew she could one day trust him. Not just because of the stellar sex, either. Because she felt every cell in his body screaming out his love, his regret, his desire to take what he’d done back, the pain he’d put her through.

She held him tight, his face nestled in the crook of her neck. She stroked his hair. “We’re going to be okay,” she whispered.

He let out a long, relieved sigh. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I still want us to talk to someone, before I totally let you out of the doghouse.”

He kissed her neck. “Whatever it takes,” he swore. “For the rest of my life.”

“I know.” She closed her eyes and smiled as she snuggled him more tightly against her. “I can feel it.”

The next morning, she awoke to find him propped up on one elbow and staring down at her with a loving smile on his face. “What?” she sleepily asked.

He shook his head. “Nothing. Just watching you sleep.” He leaned in and kissed her. “I hated leaving you every night—”

She reached up and pressed a finger to his lips, silencing him. “I don’t want to talk about that anymore,” she said. “Only with a counselor.” She noticed his quizzical look. “Well, you know what I mean. The general circumstances. If I want to talk about it otherwise, I’ll bring it up. Deal?”

He nodded then sucked her finger into his mouth. He laved his tongue up and down her digit, sending a pulse of need to her clit. He arched one handsome eyebrow in a silent question.

“Okay, fine,” she said with a laugh. “Get busy.”

In a flash, he changed position, with her legs slung over his shoulders and his tongue tonsils-deep inside her pussy.

Her next laugh cut off with a moan as he quickly brought her to a throbbing climax. As she lay there shuddering, recovering, he looked up at her with a playful smile.

“I am a very oral dog,” he teased.

She laughed, loud and long. “I’m getting that.”

“You don’t mind, do you?”

She shook her head, reaching down to play with his disheveled hair. “Not in the least.

They finally made it out of bed and into the shower. Lindsey called and asked Genna if she wanted company today, but she declined her offer. She looked at Jeremy, who was scrambling them some eggs. “I think we might actually make it into the office today,” she said.

He smiled.

Ivan the dog greeted them at the lobby, tail wagging and tongue hanging out as he circled Lindsey, walked over to Genna, and rubbed his head on her legs. Genna laughed and stooped down to pet him. “Hi, Ivan.”

Lindsey smiled from her seat at the reception desk. “Good to see you’re past your fear.”

“Well, of him, at least.” Ivan rested his head on her shoulder then looked at Jeremy, lifted his lips in a snarl, and growled.

“Oh, stop it, boys,” Genna said playfully, scratching Ivan’s head. “You can quit being pissed at him. We’re working it out. It’s okay.”

Ivan didn’t seem convinced, but he snorted at Jeremy before getting one final butt scratch from Genna and returning to Lindsey’s desk.

“I know I deserve it,” Jeremy told Ivan, “but my patience only goes so far.”

Ivan stuck his head out from behind the desk, looked to see if anyone else was coming, and shifted back into a man, hidden from the waist down by the desk.

He jabbed a finger at Jeremy. “Screw up and I find out about it, and you’ll deal with me.”

Genna laughed, which apparently defused Jeremy’s ire. “Don’t worry.” He pulled Genna to him and kissed her. “Lindsey, call off your dog.”

Ivan started to protest, but Lindsey laughed and put a staying hand on his shoulder. “Easy, mister.” She pointed at the front doors. “Besides, we’ve got civvies coming.” Three people were walking toward the lobby.

“Shit.” He ducked down behind the desk again. Seconds later, Ivan the dog stuck his head out around the corner. He let out one final bark as Genna and Jeremy headed for the elevator.

Jeremy turned and flipped him a bird with a playful smile before stepping into the car. “Back atcha, buddy,” he said.

When the doors slid shut behind them, Genna asked, “What’d he say?”

“It doesn’t matter. It wasn’t polite.”

She laughed again.

He smiled. “But if it makes you laugh when he does it, I’ll put up with it.”

They had their first counselor appointment three days later, after work. She had to admit she felt uncomfortable talking about what happened, but she gave Jeremy credit, he didn’t shy away from the difficult discussion.

Especially when the counselor chimed in with his opinion. “It seems, Genna, you’ve already forgiven him. I’m a little confused why you’re here, what your goals are.”

When he’d directed a quizzical glance at Jeremy, he shrugged. “I was an asshole. And I’ll do whatever it takes.”

The counselor laughed. “I wish all of my clients had breakthroughs that quickly. It’d make my job a lot easier.”

By the time their hour-long appointment ended and they were back in the car, she felt a lot better.

“Why didn’t you make another appointment?” Jeremy asked her.

She shrugged, taking his hand in hers and lacing her fingers through his. “Because I don’t know if I need another appointment.” And she really didn’t. She knew her feelings for him had changed dramatically in just a few days, deepened more than she ever thought possible. Every fiber of her being told her in no uncertain terms that his remorse was genuine.

She didn’t want to spend her life dragging him through the muck out of retribution. “Let’s see how I feel over the next few weeks and go from there.”

He nodded. “Okay.”

The next few weeks bled into the next few months. As she became involved in not just the personal and business ends of Jeremy’s life, but in the shifter-politics part of it as well, the more convinced Genna became that forgiveness was the right decision.

She also came to realize she could trust him.

Especially when she learned more about Jeremy’s cousin, who Lester murdered in cold blood.

In fact, Genna found it difficult to understand how Jeremy could forgive her for being associated with the man who had taken the life of such a beloved member of the shifter community. Forgive Jeremy for some revenge?

Piece of cake.

On the night marking their fourth month together, in bed Genna straddled Jeremy and put her hands on his chest. “I think it’s time to let you out of the doghouse.”

He smiled. “Yeah?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

He reached over to the bedside table and pulled out a small, velvet ring box. He opened it, presenting her with a gorgeous emerald and diamond ring. “Then will you do me the honor of marrying this recent doghouse parolee?”

She laughed. “Yes, absolutely.” She smiled as he put the ring on her finger. “But why did you wait this long?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t want to rush you. I didn’t want you to think I was trying to push or bribe you into making up your mind.”

“Thank you.” She stared at the ring. “I’m guessing you won’t give Lindsey and me a hassle about us planning the wedding?”

He laughed. “Nope. I learned my lesson. I plan on staying out of the doghouse for the rest of our lives together.”

She grinned. “And who says you can’t teach an old dog a new trick?”