Chapter 1

Columbus Ohio, Present Day

The elevator pinged and the light for the third floor flashed a harsh white light. I sighed. Only one more floor. Christ on crutches! The air in the elevator was thick with testosterone and not all of it was Dean’s.

Everett stood next to me like he was the last thing standing in the way before my complete obliteration. His navy eyes darted from me to Dean and back again. The glasses he’d worn as part of his cover in Las Vegas were gone. It had taken some convincing but I’d managed to get Ev to chuck them in the trash. He’d been attached to them, reminding him of him dead girlfriend. He’d put on several pounds since Vegas, even in the few days of eating well in the company of real werewolves. His protectiveness was sweet but his useless grandstanding was pissing Dean off and making the air hard to breathe with the heat vibrating off of them both.

Ev had been standing between me and the world since we’d rolled back into town a few days ago. A small part of me was thankful. If I was paying attention to Ev and worrying about him, I couldn’t focus on the strain between me and the men I loved. I should’ve stopped Ev, but what good did that do me?

Yeah, I was a shit. I couldn’t help but smile as Dean went into Alpha male mode, brooding and grumbling under his breath as Ev forced distance between Dean and me. Dean’s broad shoulders tensed as he suffered through Ev’s demonstration and the harsh yellow light from the elevator gleamed off Dean’s clean-shaven head. He wasn’t losing his hair, he just didn’t care what he looked like or want to deal with a trifling little thing like hair. I’d forgotten how deeply tanned his olive skin could get and the shimmering brown flesh made my stomach flutter. Strong. Secure enough in his own power to not thrash Ev about as the kid tried to make his presence known in a very tiny elevator.

Ev couldn’t out bully Dean, but he could physically stand between us. I let Dean stew. Leaning against the back of the elevator with my shoulders pressed against the mirrored wall, I crossed my arms underneath my breasts and waited for the slow rise of the car and the inevitable ping of salvation.

I caught Dean’s Caribbean blue wolf eyes over Everett’s head and shrugged, giving him my most apologetic grin. That was all he was getting out of me. It wasn’t my fault the kid worried. He seemed like the worrying type. It was my fault that I didn’t stop him but that was neither here nor there.

Dean grimaced at my expression and huffed through his nose.

PING!

Thank you.

Dean stepped out first and held the elevator door as Ev followed. Grabbing Ev by the scruff of his shirt, Dean yanked him back into the elevator. He glared at the kid like a wayward child being reprimanded.

“Ladies and Alphas first,” Dean growled.

Exiting the elevator, I made the turn to the familiar glass doors of the Trevelyan Dean Construction offices, ignoring the two men behind me. They’d figure it out, or they wouldn’t.

“I won’t hurt her,” Dean snarled down at the much smaller werewolf through gritted teeth before allowing the kid to leave the elevator. “Cool it,” he muttered.

Stopping in front of the glass doors, I searched inside. Tamika, the temp assistant I’d hired before I left and had stayed on through my absence, wasn’t at the desk. Without the bombardment of questions and concern I was sure I would get from her, I had a moment to think, to breathe, and remember who I was supposed to be. Not the Blushing Death, that’s for sure. I was Dahlia Sabin, officer manager extraordinaire. Sometimes, that was a harder transition to make than it should have been.

“No one’s expecting anything of you,” Dean whispered against my ear as the keys jingled in his hand. His breath was warm, caressing my skin in a soft, hot line of desire. Being this close to him and not being able to touch him was almost tortuous. His heat caressed my skin, familiar and hot.

Dean brushed his hard body against mine as he opened the doors and my skin pimpled with gooseflesh at the thought of him surrounding me in that heat. I wanted him to close that distance and wrap his large, muscular arms around me. I wanted him to tell me everything was going to be okay.

Brushing his hand across my neck, he flipped my hair over my left shoulder. His breath grazed my neck behind my ear as his fingers trailed over my skin, sending heat to pool low in my middle. His nose trailed a soft line against my flesh and up behind my ear, barely skimming the surface. Warm lips stoked my desire into a steaming hot need, forcing all thought from my mind.

“That’s not true,” he murmured into my hair. “I expect to pick up where we left off.” A low hungry growl reverberated through his chest, making my knees weak and my heart race. I reached out to steady myself, placing a flat palm against the clean, clear glass. When my body swayed, I reached out with my other hand to the stainless steel handles of the glass door and let the cold metal cool some of his heat.

Dean did things to me with his voice that he shouldn’t be able to do. I should have been scared of how Dean affected me and there was a time when I would have run for the hills rather than face what was between us. Not now. Not ever again.

“We’re in public,” I chastised.

“Don’t care,” he answered with a deep, hungry growl.

Arousal tingled along my skin, making me almost hum with need. Dean breathed in my scent, groaning as desire filled his nose from my heated skin and wet panties.

“Yep, right where we left off,” he teased, striding by me and into the office.

“You’re such a shit,” I spat as I followed him through the double doors.

finally got my second round edits to editor! YAY! Now on to the next project. #summerofsuzanne

I’ve been up since 3:45 am. That’s right A.M.

My flight to Tampa left at 6 in the ever loving morning and that may be the last time I do that. The first leg of the flight was fine accept for the altercation I got in with the flight attendant. I don’t understand why you can’t use your laptop during take off if you can use other electrical devices…especially when the website says you can. When I happened to bring this up to the flight attendant she didn’t seem very happy with me. Whatever! I stowed my stupid laptop and made Ross entertain me for half an hour.

The second leg of the flight was on a new airbus and they had all these pictures of how the seats had more room and were laptop friendly. WRONG! I couldn’t even open my laptop. The seats are tilted so far back that I couldn’t open it and read it. Sooooo, not lap top friendly.

Now, I’m sitting at the Marriott while Ross is at the aquarium in Tampa because…technically…this is a work day for me and we can’t check in until after 4pm. I’m stupid and feel guilty for not – I don’t know – working. I tried to go outside and work but I’m freakin’ pale and the sun here is BRIGHT! It’s only 70 outside and it’s already HOT! This doesn’t bode well for the next few days. I’m going to be tweeting all weekend with fun pictures from my vacation days.  Look for Disney pics @suzannemsabol. Today, however, is going to be a sad work day which will last long into the evening since the event I’m here to host doesn’t even start until 9pm and goes through midnight. You math is correct, I’ll be awake and “functioning” from 3:45am through after midnight. Maybe I can stay up for 24 hours straight. That should be fun. Riiiiiiight.

Pray for me. Hell, pray for Ross. He’s the one who’s going to need it.

BUZZFEED! ARGH! What have you done to me? Everyday, there is a new quiz to take provided by buzzfeed and I can’t help myself! This morning it was “Which Jane Austen Hero is your Soul Mate?” I got the following answer:

You got: Mr. Edmund Bertram

BBC

Your soulmate is also your best friend. Edmund will always listen to you and be a shoulder to cry on – and he’ll know just how to cheer you up, too. Sure, he can be a bit serious, but he has strong values, which you can’t help but admire. We’ll just ignore the whole cousins thing, shall we?

The worst part is their right! and they’re right every time. I can’t help myself. It’s like a sickness. Yesterday it was “Which Real Housewife are you?” I got:

You got: NeNe Leakes

Bravo / Via fightingforthetsarnaevbrothers.tumblr.com

You are the real deal. You are not here for bullshit, you are not here for haters, and you most definitely do not have time for clownery. So while people are running their mouths, you are running to the bank, depositing a TRUMP CHECK, hunny. Girl, bye.

And that’s just this week! There are some that I take and don’t post, mostly due to shame but everytime I see a buzzfeed quiz…I have to take it.

HELP!

I finally have a new scene for you! Try to contain your excitement, i know it will be difficult.

This scene takes place in Midnight Ash, during Dahlia and Dean’s trip to Pittsburgh. This is told from Dean’s point of view and has not been professionally edited. It has been edited by Ross so that should count for something. Maybe next week, I’ll share his comments. Those are funny too. This scene contains violence and graphic sexual language…big surprise. Read at your own risk.

Trapped

When I’d agreed that Dahlia Sabin should go with me to Pittsburgh, I hadn’t thought it through. I hadn’t thought about hours upon hours in a cramped car with her scent constantly in my nose or the raging hard on I’d have the entire way.  At some point, we’d both reached for the radio and my brain almost short circuited when my fingers brushed against her cool skin.  It took everything I had to not pull over and take her like the beast I was.

This was a mistake. 

When I’d said, If it’s information you want?  Kurt and I can go to Pittsburgh; I’d fully intended to go with Kurt. But that saucy little minx in the seat next to me had chimed in and then snapped at Danny.

I didn’t ask your permission, she’d said with a force in her voice that had made my whole body react and my wolf stand up and take notice.

She would be safer out of town, I’d offered like an idiot before I could understand the ramifications of that statement.  I don’t even know why I’d said it.

Pat had walked up to her, touched her in a way that made my hand ball into a fist and my jaw tightened in aggression.

I know you don’t need me to save you.  That’s very refreshing and one of the things about you that appeals to me most; the slick Ass had praised her.  I’d watched her melt into Pat like a love sick school girl.  It tore at my insides and I hadn’t been able to keep the harshness from my voice when I spoke.

We leave in an hour, I’d grumbled.  There hadn’t been a rush but I’d wanted to get the hell out of Pat’s office.  My beast wanted her away from Pat and away from Danny.  The wolf had wanted her all to himself.  If I was honest with myself, I’d admit to wanting her to myself too.

Now, I was stuck in this damned car and my entire body was rigid with want.  I’d never wanted anyone like I wanted her, not even Janey.  I should feel bad about that but all I could feel was the throb of my dick against my thigh. I needed some space; to run, to breathe. Hell, to remember I wasn’t this beast pacing inside of me.  I was moments away from parking the car and bolting to put some distance between us.  The fresh air would clear my nose and allow me to think again.  At least I could think about something other than the long line of her thigh in those tight jeans, the jasmine scent of her skin from the soap she’d used, and the long line of her neck as she turned away from me to watch the river pass under us.

“Never been to Pittsburgh before, huh?” I asked, glancing over at the soft glow of orange light glimmering off her blonde hair.  I forced the growl of please back and my question sounded harsh as it rumbled through the silence.

“We used to come here all the time when I was little. My parents live about 45 minutes away on the Ohio side,” she almost whispered, not turning her head away from the window.

I gripped the steering wheel and gritted back the urge to pry. Why did her voice sound so lost when she spoke of her parents? Why did I care that wherever her mind had wandered had stiffened her shoulders into a rigid line?

I parked the car far enough from the club that we wouldn’t be conspicuous and we both got out.  I popped the trunk for her and she loaded up, slipping two extra magazines for her gun into her jacket pocket. She moved her gun to the cross draw holster at the small of her back, raising her jacket and sweater just enough that I could see the curve of her waist and hips as she exposed her flesh to me.  Without a second glance my way, she strode down the sidewalk, swinging her hips with a confidence that made his mouth water.  She was so damned sexy and she didn’t even know it.

I strode by her to the bouncer at the front of the line and handed him two fifties.  I wanted in that door.  The sooner I got this accomplished, the sooner I could get her home and get back to my life.

We walked into the club, side by side.  As we stepped inside, she winched beside me and stumbled.  I reached out and caught her in my arms.  She molded to my body, pressing her warm flesh against me. Her hair tickled my nose and like a leaf in the breeze, caressed my face as I clutched her to me.  She had a soft floral sent that clicked something in my brain and sent my heart into overdrive. I involuntarily clutched her too me. Gazing down at her, I tried to focus on her and the pain that had turned her body into a solid rock of tension. Her stormy gray eyes stared up at me and I felt every beat of my heart thumped in my hard cock at the rightness of her in my arms.  Images of her gray eyes flashing with need as she rode me hard, those breasts bouncing up and down as she slid up and down my shaft blared across my brain as her fingers dug into my shirt.. In the back of my mind, I knew those images would never come to be and each breathe I drew in with her scent, each touch of her cool skin, and each moment she was in my arms was a reminder of what I would never have. I tried to touch her only where necessary to cleanse myself of her.  Even grasping her elbow had me panting like a pup chasing a bitch in heat. She scrunched her eyes up at me like someone had punched her in the gut.

“This place is crawling with vamps,” she said against my ear. The warmth of her breath sent spirals of sensation through me until I thought I’d howl with the sheer pleasure of it.

Pull it together.

“You okay?” I asked, managing to sound like her nearness didn’t matter.  She nodded and I couldn’t help but smile, expecting no less from her.  I imagined that if she was bleeding on the ground with a leg broken and her guts falling out, she’d try to get up and prove that she was okay.  My gaze drifted down to her pursed lips. What would she taste like?  Would she push me away if I held her to me and took her like I wanted?  I turned from her, moving into the crowd on my left to put some distance between us.  But no matter how far away I moved, I kept her in sight. Watching her out of the corner of my eye, she moved through the crowd like a predator chasing her prey.  She had a target already in mind and only because I knew her could I see it in her movements.  So sure, focused, and deadly.  She was a hunter. . .like me.

Hands reached out from the crowd, wrapping around her biceps.  Filthy hands groped at her and I fought not to barrel across the dance floor and tear them to shreds.  The bastard slammed her against the wall but her expression remained blank.  Her chest heaved and I knew that the dead man had forced the air from her lungs and she fought for breath. Dahlia struggled against his vice like hold and I could swear that I saw her lip curl up in a snarl.  My heart thundered in my chest and the wolf inside me charged to the surface wanting to protect her and kill him.  My skin itched as I fought the fur from exploding to the surface. If I turned, the entire city would know we were here and the peace Pat and I were attempting to keep would be gone.  I knew my eyes had shifted to blue and the claws of my beast tingled in my fingers, begging to come out but I fought the urge to kill. Shoving through the crowd, I hurtled people out of my way to get to her. Enough was enough.

She smiled. Above the odors of sex, sweat, blood, and booze, I could pick out the scent of jasmine mixed with the sting of an emotion I couldn’t quite identify. She held no fear, the sweet smell of panic was nowhere to be found on her. This was a more heady, sharp scent that was almost static with. . .anger. I slowed, shifting my gaze to her face instead of the leach’s hands on her body.  Her eyes were wide but not in fear, the innocent play of invitation sparkled in her gaze. She’d set a trap for more dangerous prey and I’d almost fell for it.

That stopped me in my tracks, let me think as the haze of jealousy cleared.  I took a few quick, deep breaths and regained control of my primal instincts, ignoring the recurring thought to bash the asshole’s head in.  She slid her arm around his waist, taking control of the situation as she walked with him through the crowd.  She was rigid in his arms and my beast quieted inside, knowing that Dahlia didn’t enjoy it, knowing that she didn’t want that dead prick touching her.  I followed, letting her lead the vampire away. I knew that I would lead wherever she followed.

The vampire led Dahlia through a door at the far end of the club and I joined a crowd headed in the same direction.  I lost her for a moment as the door opened and closed behind them and my heart thundered in my ears, drowning out the bass vibrating the club walls.  Following the crowd through the door, I stepped into an all-white hallway from ceiling to floor.  It had an antiseptic feel that made the beast bristle underneath my skin to get out and a growl rumble from the back of my throat.  Every instinct in me screamed to run as the feeling of being trapped settled over me.  As the crowd around him grouped off in threes and fours, disappearing into rooms along the long corridor, I was left alone watching Dahlia at the end of the hall with the dead man. She entered a room with the vampire at the end of the hall and as her form disappeared from view, I sprinted to catch her. Seconds ticked by as I ran, tightening my stomach with dread with each one. My feet felt heavy, sounding as if a herd of elephants was running down the hall instead of me. Just as the door was closing behind her, I caught it in my grasp and slid inside behind her.

Dahlia struggled. With her arms under the vampire’s arms and his body dragging between her legs, she drug the vampire’s dead weight across the room.  A dart stuck out of the vampire’s neck as she struggled to get him to the couch. She turned but wasn’t surprised to see me. Her storm gray eyes flashed with anger and she furrowed her pretty little brow at me.  Dropping the vampire to the floor in a heap of dead, she glared at me with her hand cocked on her hip.

“What’d you do?” I asked, fighting not to laugh. I didn’t usually laugh and I didn’t think she wouldn’t appreciate that.  I strode by her and picked up the vampire, tossing him on the couch like he weighed nothing.  I glanced around the room to get my bearings. It wasn’t just a room, it was a torture chamber.  I could still smell the blood soaked into the walls from the last visitor.

“I tranq’ed him.  Now, get him sitting up with his hands on his chest.  I’ve got a bigger fish on the line,” she ordered.

I didn’t hesitate and in the back of my head I knew I shouldn’t let her order me around. I was Alpha, not some little lap dog for her to manipulate as she wanted. But my chest tightened at the harsh sound of the demand in her voice and I realized that I liked her ordering me around.  Neither I, nor my beast, bristled one bit at her commands and it was almost as if someone had reached in and squeezed my heart with a giant fist.  Unable hide the small smile tugging at my mouth at her domineering tone, I turned kept my head down so she wouldn’t see the heat of arousal turning my eyes blue.

She hurried by me, filling my nose with her floral scent.  Pressing her ear against the door, I watched as she listened for her prey and then did as she ordered.  “He’s coming,” she whispered in a deep, soft tone that bordered on sultry.  The woman turned on her heels and glared at me, evaluating and not liking what she saw. I balled my hands into fists at the ire that played across her face, turning her full kissable lips into a thin line of annoyance. The grimace scrunching up her lovely face irked me more than I wanted to admit. “He’s probably going to smell you first so try to look, I don’t know  . . . non-threatening,” she said, exasperated.

Non-threatening?  My job was to be threatening and I couldn’t keep the scowl off my face. She gave me a petulant but expectant look as if she expected her orders to be carried out. She was like a general in a war and as that fist tightened around my heart again, I knew I would follow her lead into the very fires of hell if she asked. This was how she commanded such devotion from my people, from Pat’s people. Instead of appearing…non-threatening, I moved out of the way and out of sight, behind the door.  Maybe the vampire would be preoccupied enough with Dahlia that it wouldn’t notice me.  I just prayed I would be able to get to her in time before the vampire had a chance to rip her delicate, slender throat out.

Once I was in place, I took one last look at her, drinking in the curve of her hip and the tight line in her shoulders as she shoved them back. She stood tall and tossed her hair over her shoulder with a slight twitch to her lips.  With a sparkle in her grey eyes that drove my blood to boil and my cock to tighten in my jeans, she was having fun.  Her adrenaline pumped through her system, making her scent richer like walking in a greenhouse at the height of bloom.

“You sure?” I asked, uncomfortable in the position of Beta and not knowing the plan she had twirling around her pretty little head. My wolf wanted to pounce on her, and clutch her to us but I had to let this play out. She had to trust me, somehow, that was important to me. As she jutted her chin up and caught my gaze, I realized I was having fun too.  It had been a long time since I’d done anything but settle squabbles and dish out discipline to the Pack. I liked being active again, liked the adrenaline running through my system. I felt as if we were on a hunt and I liked the idea of being near her.  I was fucked.

“Yep,” she said without a question in her voice.  Her confidence seemed unshakable and I caught the gasp of delight that lodged in my throat as she hopped on the couch, straddling the unconscious vampire.  The image of her straddling me as I slid into her body made my breath heavy in my chest and I almost groaned with the need to feel her beneath me. Before I could make a sound, the door creaked open and I forgot about the idea of her wet heat as the scent of death hit my nostrils. Dahlia threw her head back, moaning in a torrid groan that distracted me, had me panting to hear more, to hear that sound come from her as I suckled her breast and sunk my fingers into her wet sex.  She was a good little actress.  The sound of her submission triggered a switch deep in my brain, making my chest tighten and my blood race through my veins.  I wanted that sound to come from her because I touched her.  The beast roared, wanting her, wanting to tear that damned vampire to pieces out of jealousy and need.

“Why would you waste your time with such an unworthy specimen,” the vampire in the doorway asked.  His deep voice was accented, eastern European and he smelled old.  As the scent of stale blood and death hit my nostrils and mixed with the antiseptic odor from the hallway, my stomach churned. Maybe the cleansers from the hallway had deadened the vampire’s sense because he strode into the room with a confident gate without even a glance in my direction. His easy saunter toward Dahlia forced a rumbled growl to hitch in my throat as I shoved it back down. Dahlia had a plan and I had to trust her to see it to the end. Damn it, it was hard.

“I was waiting for you,” Dahlia said with an inviting smile over her shoulder at the vampire. Her eyes never betrayed my position and my heart slowed as the hunter in me took over.

I moved quick before the vampire had a chance to get his bearings or even reach for her.  Grasping him, I clutched him in a tight bear hug, squeezing him more than was necessary to get my point across. Dahlia stepped off the unconscious vampire and strolled over to the wall of torture objects on easy, light feet as if she was walking across her kitchen. She plucked a length of rope from the wall, evaluating it with a quirk of mischievousness turning the corner of her mouth up.  I could smell the silver content in the rope and cringed. The vampire struggled in my hold but I had him secured against my much broader chest. I wouldn’t let her see me flinch just because of a little silver threads in some rope.

Dahlia drew her gun and aimed it straight between the vampire’s eyes.  The vampire was smarter than I gave him credit for. He stopped struggling.

Dahlia’s storm gray eyes became unreadable, empty of emotion and even humanity. This was the killer everyone feared and now I understood.  Her expression was ambivalent and her body calmed, relaxed.  She was just as much a predator with a beast inside her as I was. My wolf lived on instinct and fury. Hers on control.

“You won’t shoot me,” the vampire said with smug satisfaction dripping from his voice. With the emptiness in Dahlia’s eyes, I wasn’t so sure.

She proved me right, turning and plugging two bullets into the sleeping vampire’s chest on the couch.  She turned and aimed the gun at the middle of the vampire’s forehead, pressing the hot barrel of the gun to his skin. His dead flesh burned from the heat of the barrel and I crinkled my nose at the stench.

Handing the rope to me, I couldn’t help but stare at her in wide eyed fascination. She was magnificent. Lethal. Commanding.  I took the rope from her without question or second thought and my skin burned as it came in contact with the silver threads but I didn’t care.  I’d been burned worse. The rope was a minor irritation which I could live with, was willing to live with to do her biding. I tied the vampire up snuggly, making sure the ropes burned into his skin and shoved him down on the couch beside his decomposing friend.

Silent and patient, I waited as she interrogated him and lost myself in the tone of her voice; the deep resonance of authority that made my bones hum in recognition. My body and beast responded, turning the room into a sweltering sauna as my power flared and beads of sweat trickled down my back. She glanced over at me with a question in her eyes that I couldn’t answer, as if she could feel my power heat the room.  Magic and power swirled like a fog that I couldn’t clear. I wasn’t even entirely sure it was all mine. Nevertheless, I had to get my head in the game and her eyes off of me before she noticed the tent in my jeans.

“Answer,” I ordered with a hard crack on the back of the vampire’s head.  She, thankfully, turned her attention back to the vampire.

Thank you for small favors.

Dahlia continued to interrogate him while I watched her take charge. She was cruel when she had to be and kind when it suited her purpose. What was she really like underneath the swagger and the bravado? Would she be soft and pliant as I cupped her breast or would she shoot me where I stood? I ached to know.

As the bulk in the room, I threatened and growled when necessary but allowed her take the lead. When the vampire, Eyad, had nothing left to give, she drew a silver knife from her boot and grabbed his long dark hair with her left hand. No one ever talked about mercy when they spoke of the Blushing Death but here she was, giving him a quick death instead of letting him face his Liege for torture.

I couldn’t let her be the only one to kill this night.  My honor wouldn’t allow it. My wolf wouldn’t allow it. He wanted his share of blood to feel as if he’d protected her. I rested my hand over hers to stop her before she could make the lethal strike. Her pulse quickened under my touch, beating against my fingers in a quick frantic rhythm.  She reacted to me as I reacted to her and my stomach fluttered in both panic and delight. She wasn’t mine. Would never be mine.

I plucked the knife delicately from her hand, trying not to touch her any more than I had to. We were already in a bad situation and continued contact wouldn’t do me any good.

“You shouldn’t be the only one with blood on your hands,” I urged, almost pleading with her. I had no doubt that she could do it without a word of complaint but I didn’t want her taking all the responsibility on her shoulders. I’d seen how Pat used her, she already took too much on herself. I wouldn’t do the same.

“You don’t have to do this,” she snapped.  “He’s not my first.  He won’t be my last.” Still defiant, she met my gaze, unafraid and unrelenting.  Somewhere underneath all her posturing, I saw the force of will behind those deadly gray eyes. She would do it, even if she didn’t want to, no matter what it cost her later.

“I won’t let you do all the dirty work for me. I’ll have my part in it,” I said, trying to appeal to her logic and not her pride. She gruffed at me but backed away just the same. My heart swelled as she relinquished her control to me, trusting me with her weapon. Whether she realized it or not, she trusted me and that was a start.

***

We checked into a room at the Renaissance and since it was the middle of the night, there was only one room left. Damned football game and hockey game filling up every room in the city. We didn’t talk as we took the elevator up to the tenth floor. The silence was thick and filled with tension that felt almost solid.

We were both dirty, tired and I couldn’t vouch for her, but I was starving. As we entered the room, Dahlia took her bag into the bathroom and shut the door. I ordered room service, a couple of $15 burgers and some fries. The sound of water echoed from the bathroom as she turned on the shower and I attempted to drown out the sound with the television. I imagined beads of water sluicing her naked flesh, soap bubbles forming on her full breasts and the glimmer of her wet skin in the soft hotel lighting. My cock throbbed as all the blood in my body rushed to my groin. I wouldn’t make it through this night sane.

I shouldn’t be here.  I thought. Then another thought made my fingers itch. Do I have time?  I can’t chance that she’ll discover me with my cock in my hands. No!  I’m screwed. Insanity here I come.

After a few painful minutes more, she came out of the bathroom, sexy as hell, in a loose t-shirt, a pair of skimpy boxer shorts, big fluffy socks, and her wet hair framing her face.  Flipping through the channels, I clutched the remote so tight in my hands that the plastic cracked under my grip.  Every crisp movement of the sheets she made as she settled beneath them made me grip the remote just a little harder. I was staring at the television but not particularly seeing anything. I watched her from the corner of my eye, keeping my breathing even but shallow as her long pale legs climbed up onto the bed. The entire world seemed to slow down to the thumping of my heart and the throb of it in my dick.

Damn it! 

Shaking my head, I forced a deep breath through my nose and thought of anything and everything except sinking deep into the warmth of her body.  Anything but what she would taste like between her thighs. She rolled over, facing me. Her face was calm and smooth but her eyes churned with unease like a storm on a dark sea.  I wondered if she knew how expressive her eyes were and if she knew how much I wished I could just fall into them and disappear.

I had to think of something else or I’d make an ass of myself. But I wanted to talk to her, to hear her voice and to know what she was thinking. For the first time in my life, the silence got to me.

“We killed two of his,” I managed to get out.

“Yeah,” she breathed in a husky tone that made my claws curl beneath my skin.

“If he finds out, there’ll be war,” I said, leveling my voice out, hoping she didn’t hear the roughness of my tone as I tried to get myself under control.

“Yeah,” she breathed again. I finally managed to pull myself together and glanced over at her, meeting her worried gaze. She was snuggled under the blanket with an evaluating glare. Her heart was steady and she smelled clean, fresh, but there was still a hint of the jasmine I was beginning to believe was just part of her.  “So, you’re keeping your appointment tomorrow?” she asked, jolting me from my thoughts.  She seemed more at ease. The more she talked, the more relaxed we both became. I could do this, have a conversation with her. I could ignore how much I wanted her and how good she smelled and just. . .talk to her.

“I need to know where the Pack loyalties are. Patrick would wanna know.” I wondered if she noticed how easily I seemed to talk to her. It was so hard for me with everyone else to not be coarse and short but with her, I couldn’t seem to shut my mouth.

“He would,” she said and then rolled over, turning her back to me.  After a while, her breathing deepened and a soft feminine snore echoed through the room.  The comforter fell away as she moved and the curve of her hip, the dip of her waist, and the long line of her legs were visible. My mouth watered and I closed my eyes, tilting my head back against the headboard. I reached down, sliding my hand beneath the waist of my jeans and took myself in hand. If this was the only way to ebb this need for her, I’d have to live with it. I didn’t have another choice. All I could imagine as I stroked myself off were Dahlia’s tumultuous grey eyes and those pouty lips wrapped around my cock as she sucked me dry.