at least he could do something about one of his problems. To hell with waiting until his little houseguest was asleep. With the wind blowing as hard as it was, there was no way she'd hear whatever he got up to in the privacy of his room with her little beta ears.
There was only so long his body could bear the unrelenting stimulation of Josie's ripe scent, and if he didn't get some relief soon, Knox figured he'd have an aneurism or something. Yes, he was taking a risk. Yes, there were warning bells going off somewhere in his head—but at this point, he was past giving a shit.
No sense going about it halfway, either. Abandoning any pretense of stealth, Knox threw off the covers, pulled down his shorts, and grabbed his throbbing shaft. The image of Josie's face leapt instantly into his mind, her rosy pink lips parting to encircle the head of his cock.
He clenched the sheets with his free hand, pulling them free of the mattress while he went at it with the other hand. Shit, it was worse than he thought—only a couple of strokes in, and he was tearing the bed apart.
What would it be like if he ever got his hands on Josie?
His blood surged at the thought, engorging his cock painfully as it pulsed against his fingers. Biting back a growl, Knox sped up, imaging how warm and wet her tongue would feel. Her dripping pussy—so hot, so fucking slick. Her ass, so fucking tight he'd—
Crash.
Knox shot out of his bed as he heard the unmistakable sound of shattering glass raining down on the floor of the other room. Josie screamed, and fury instantly obliterated everything else Knox was feeling. He rushed toward the closed door, pulling up his shorts as he went.
Had the betas decided to invade his land like as they had Gray's? The military, the Feds—possibly rogue smugglers?
Knox threw open the door, ready to rain hellfire on anyone who dared break into his home and frighten his woman. But before he'd stepped foot into the hallway, a deafening alarm sounded in his head. He was stopped mid-stride by the awareness that something was very wrong. Looking down, he saw the answer cowering against the wall only inches away.
It was Josie, wide-eyed and frozen with fear. Knox slammed his palm against the door frame to stop his momentum and prevent himself from running smack into her, and the wood splintered. For a moment, Knox didn't move either, didn't even breathe. It was all he could do to stand in the dizzying heat of her presence and stop himself from taking her in his arms.
Especially given the hot-blooded images that had been floating through his head only moments ago, images that inconveniently came rushing back now that the threat was over. Dear God, all he would have to do was move his hand three inches, and those fantasies could become a reality with a single touch.
The growl he'd suppressing rumbled forth, breaking the trance that had Josie in its grip. She stumbled back, putting some blessed distance between them. Even then, Knox didn't trust himself to move.
"What's going on?"
His words came out louder than he intended, and Josie trembled when she replied. "I don't know. I heard the crash, and I ran."
She'd run, all right…straight to his door. Josie had instinctively come to him for safety. Knox understood, but he didn't like it one bit. Or maybe he liked it too much, since the thought of her needing his protection brought his cock back to life with a vengeance.
"Move back," he growled, and his balls tightened when she ducked her chin and obeyed. Which was really fucking inconvenient. How did it help anyone for Knox to be so aroused by her single act of submission when he hadn't even established that the house was secure?
Taking one step into the main room told Knox everything he needed to know, however. No beta soldiers crouched in waiting. No beta drones had come crashing through the window. There was no invasion, and there was no one to fight.
There was only a spill of broken glass on the floor, the end of a huge broken tree limb jutting through the broken pane. The wind whipped through the jagged hole, swirling snow and tossing the curtains.
"It's all right," Knox told Josie. "Looks like the storm took down a tree, that's all."
"Oh," Josie said in a small voice. A moment later, she added, "I guess it's going to