Catching Him (How to Catch an Alpha 1)

“That I believe.” I laugh as she comes over to give me a hug.

“Seriously, thank you for this weekend,” she whispers with her arms around me.

“Anytime.” I hug her back, and then I watch my brother take his wife’s hand and lead her out of the house with the boys running ahead of them to their SUV. I wave at them, standing on my porch as they back out of my driveway, and then sigh as Tyler places his arm around my shoulders.

“It’s going to be so quiet with them gone.”

“Yeah,” he agrees, turning me back toward the house. When we get inside, I head for the kitchen. I’m not really hungry right now, but I know I will be in a few hours. I’m searching for something to make for dinner when I feel Tyler get close to my back. “What are you doing?”

“Looking for something to make for dinner.”

“Are you hungry?” he asks, and I feel his lips touch my neck.

“Not right now.” I open the freezer and move stuff around to see what I have.

“I am hungry.” He nips my neck, and my whole body tingles.

“You are?”

“Yeah.” His nose trails up until his lips rest against the shell of my ear. “I think you should feed me.”

I don’t have a chance to ask him what he’s hungry for. He spins me around to face him; then his mouth lands on mine. He picks me up and carries me to my bedroom, where he does, in fact, have something to eat. And I have to say I probably enjoy it more than he does, but then again, when we leave my room much later, both of us are completely satisfied but absolutely starving.

An odd quacking noise pulls me from sleep, and I blink my eyes open and lift my head off Tyler’s chest as he shifts in bed, still holding me against him. “What’s that horrible noise?” I cover my ear that’s not pressed to his chest.

“My alarm clock,” he tells me as the sound is cut off. He slides his hand down my back to my bottom and squeezes one of my ass cheeks. “I gotta get up.”

“Why does your alarm sound like a dying duck?”

He laughs and kisses the top of my head. “It’s the only sound I knew would get me out of your bed.”

My body melts deeper into him, and I look at the closed window behind me and notice it’s still dark outside. It’s fall, but it’s never dark when I get up in the morning. “What time is it?” I don’t have an alarm clock. I always just use my cell phone, but it’s out of reach, so I can’t grab it to look at the screen and check the time.

“Four,” he says before I feel his lips touch the top of my head.

“You actually have to get up at four in the morning to go to work?”

“Unfortunately.” He rolls me to my back and places his face close enough to mine that I’m able to make out a few of his features in the dark. “I need to finish this job by deadline, which means I need to be at the jobsite early.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Not as sorry as I am.” The hold he still has on my bottom tightens, and I feel his erection press into my thigh. He touches his mouth to my smiling lips, then groans. “Fuck, I can’t wait until this job is done.” Me neither, I agree silently as he pulls away and gets off the bed. “Gonna shower here, then take Bruce home.”

“He’s okay. I can take him to your place later,” I tell him as I drag his pillow to my chest and wrap my arms around it.

“You sure?”

“Of course.”

“Thanks, baby.” He leans over me and kisses me again; then I watch his shadowy form head for the bathroom. He waits until he’s inside and the door is closed to turn on the light, and then I listen to my shower start. My eyes get too heavy to keep open, and I fall asleep while he showers but wake up for a couple of seconds when he kisses me once more and tells me that he’s going to leave his key for me on the counter.

I mumble, “Have a good day,” then fall back asleep before he even pulls his fist out of the bed.

I wake up at eight when my alarm goes off, feeling like I haven’t slept at all, and stumble out of bed and into the shower. By the time I’m dressed and ready for work, it’s a little after nine. I feed Mouse before I take Bruce home and feed him. When I get to work, it’s already ten and just about thirty minutes before my first client is due to arrive. Grams, who is with a client, tells me that my mom is out getting coffee but will be back soon. Knowing today will be busy, I get things ready at my station and make sure I have the supplies I need before I do a quick sweep of the floor.