The Circle Ch. 02

"Sure," I nodded, surprised but agreeing. "You need to come to the house tomorrow to do paperwork anyways, one of us can take you to go look at it." His head cocked at the word "us." "My inner Circle will be at the Equinox meeting, along with their mates and partners - those that have them, anyways."

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather I come when things are less busy?" he asked sincerely. "I don't mind waiting-

"No," I interrupted. "Let's get you situated tomorrow, it'll be good. Carter and my Sigma, Beth, are already itching to plan the spring pledge party, this will just give them one more reason to go off the deep end." I rolled my eyes, trying to seem casual. For such a big guy, Gavin looked nervous, but nodded anyways. Quickly, he gestured for my phone.

"Let me give you my number so you can tell me where to go in the morning," he explained, and apprehensively, I took my phone off the mount and unlocked it, opening the text app and handing it to him. He typed briefly, I heard his own phone buzz in his pocket before he handed it back to me. "Tell me where you want me, and I'm there," he said with a smirk, seeming to have gained a little of his personality back after the parking lot. I rolled my eyes, watching him lean over to unlatch the door, pushing it open. He jumped out, and turned to me with a suggestive nod and eyebrow raise. "See you tomorrow." And with that, he turned, walking towards the front of the hotel and waving at a man outside smoking, who seemed to grunt and nod back at him.

The balls. The balls it takes to give sass like that to your Alpha could only come from being raised in an Alpha family.

With a groan, I let my head fall against my steering wheel, closing my eyes.

Just when things were going my way. Just when I was getting stable with work, the Circle, hell, even Charlie and I had a good thing going. Why in the name of Artemis did the universe have to just come in and ruffle all the fur they could reach.

Wait. Charlie? Charlie had nothing to do with this. Gavin had nothing to do with Charlie. He certainly didn't have anything to do with my sex life. And yet, that's where my brain went.

Suddenly, I heard my phone buzz from the mount, and lifted my head to look up at the screen.

Sexiest Man Alive

See you tomorrow.

He didn't. But he did. With a frustrated sound, I fell back on the steering wheel, and without looking, pulled my phone off the mount, used voice control to call Beth, and held the phone up to my ear. When she answered, sounding like she was multitasking, as per the usual, I growled into the phone.

"I need a drink. Pronto."

"Where are we going?" Charlie asked as I grabbed his hand, pulling him off the couch in front of the big TV in Beth's living room, where he sat, watching a college sports game with Jeremy, Beth's husband. Jeremy hadn't even noticed me pull Charlie to his feet, take the beer out of his hand, lead him to the hall and into the oversized guest bathroom, and close the door, locking it behind me. "Hey, I was watching-

I turned, facing him, and before he could ask what I was doing again, I pulled his face down to mine, crashing his lips against my own. He didn't argue, as I knew he wouldn't. He deepened the kiss, lacing his hands under my thighs and pulling me up onto the bathroom counter, all the while, his lips never leaving mine.

"Didn't get enough this morning?" he said breathily, finally stepping back, long enough to reach under my dress, hike it up around my hips, and yank the lacy underwear I'd slid on in front of him down to the floor.

"No," I said, trailing kisses down the side of his jaw, making my way to his collarbone, which, after this many hookups, I knew was his weak spot. I hit it, and he whimpered against me, his hands grasping at my shoulders. I fumbled with his waistband. My hands were shaking slightly. After the interaction I'd had in the car before getting to Beth's, I needed a distraction. The two vodka shots I'd taken once in the door hadn't quite kicked in yet. "It was just a really shitty day." He looked down at me, a mild hurt in his eye, and I laughed, reaching up and tapping him on the nose. "Nothing to do with the start of the day, and everything to do with the end."

"Well then," he muttered, his voice quieting with footsteps shuffling around in the kitchen, which were now audible. In a swift movement, he'd pulled his shorts and boxers down, his cock springing forward as if in greeting. "One happy ending, coming up." I laughed, but it turned into a gasp, which I stifled, biting into the front of his shoulder as he found my entrance, already wet, and slammed into it.

He pulled back, slamming in again, and I wrapped my legs around his waist, letting him balance me on the edge of the counter so we could meet each other's thrusts. I ran my hands under his shirt, feeling his slick, clean-shaven chest and stomach clench every time he pounded into me, his breath quickening. He reached down between us, finding my clit and assaulting it with his fingers.

We tried to be as quiet as we could - the twin were asleep down the hall, and Poppy and Beth were milling around the kitchen, but every once in a while, he would hit a particularly good spot, and I'd jolt, crying out.

"Shhhh," he soothed, and crushed his lips back to mine to shut me up. I'm a loud bitch. I'm willing to admit it.

After a moment, he moved his head to nestle in the crook of my neck. "I'm close," he murmured against my shoulder, kissing it as we moved together. I felt myself tightening, but I wasn't there yet.

"Don't you fucking dare," I hissed, and he chucked darkly, before kissing me again, entangling my tongue with his, moving faster against my clit with his fingers. "Fuck." I sucked in a breath.

"You gonna come for me, Alpha Parker?" It was all I could do to keep from laughing, nodding my head and biting my lip to keep myself from whimpering loudly as I teetered on the edge of climax.

"I'm right there," I cried, as quietly as possible. He hit both my g-spot and my clit over and over again, having found our rhythm long ago, and I closed my eyes, letting my head fall back as waves crashed over me. I shook against him as I felt him twitch inside me, still thrusting, but I could tell he was riding it out with me. His lips pressed into a thin line and his hands - now claws - dug into my hips.

"Fuck," he sputtered, finally coming down, learning forward to kiss me violently. I laughed silently, my chest shaking. He pulled out, and leaned over to hand me my panties before cleaning himself up, washing his hands, and turning to give me a smile. It wasn't his usual cocky smile, though. "Everything ok? You seem...off."

Well, shit. If he could tell, that meant everyone else could too. And that didn't bode well for me as we looked forward to the meeting the next day.

Before I could answer, there was a light knock on the door.

"If you two are done boinking each other," Beth called out quietly in a sing-song voice, "dinner will be ready in ten. Better wash your hands, or I'll beat you both." Charlie and I looked at each other, and without missing a beat, burst out laughing. Not quiet laughing. Pain in the side, open-jawed, tears in the eyes laughing that left me smiling as I pulled my underwear on. I needed it after the long day.

"I guess we weren't as quiet as we thought." Charlie gave me a look that very clearly said "there is no we in this." But quickly, the look changed back into the concerned smile from before. "I'm okay, Char. Just a lot going on at work, on top of the new coworker, and-

I could tell he was about to interrupt me, realizing that he'd forgotten to ask about the new coworker, and I held a finger up. He closed his open mouth. I turned, watching him in the mirror as I washed my hands after our escapades. After a moment, I spoke.

"I'll fill you all in at the meeting tomorrow, everyone should be there. Right now, I just want to sit on that couch, eat Beth's lasagna, and not think about anything for just a few hours." He narrowed his eyes at me, but then the playful glint fell back into them as he gave me a salute in the mirror.

"Yes, Alpha Parker." I rolled my eyes, slapping him in the chest with a wet hand, before we headed out to the rest of our friends.

Tonight, I would eat lasagna and take a breather. Tomorrow morning, I would face what these changes meant.