Alphas on the Prowl (17 page)

Dial back
. She struggled to regain control and push her sensory overload down to acceptable levels. If she didn’t, she’d be overwhelmed and sucked into a shift. Disastrous in the middle of a restaurant.

“I do.” Ryan leaned over the table to take both her hands. “I was an idiot to ever let you go five years ago. I knew it almost immediately. I never counted on you leaving college. Leaving the state. God, I was a dick. Please forgive me, Hay. Let’s start over.”

She concentrated on his words to keep herself centered. His hands burned into hers, the contact grounding her so thoughts of shifting receded. She breathed again, and the restaurant sounds swirled together into a low background hum she could handle.

“This is part where I’m supposed to smile condescendingly at you and walk away, hopefully devastating you the same way you did me five years ago,” she whispered.

“So why aren’t you doing it?” His eyes turned silvery blue as he stared at her. The world narrowed to his face and the clutch of his hands. Neither one of them breathed.

“I don’t know,” she confided. “I should do it. I really should.”

“I would deserve it,” he agreed, but instead of letting go of her hands, he squeezed tighter.

“Okay,” she said licking her lips. “This is me. Leaving.” She didn’t move.

“This is me. Hoping. Hoping like hell you’ll stay,” he said.

They stared at each other. God, his eyes were blue. She’d missed him so much. As if for five years she’d been less than whole, and now she wasn’t missing anything anymore. How could that be? He was just a man. A man who’d broken her heart and lit the pieces on fire.

She remembered the first time she’d seen him on campus. He’d been rushing across the quad, his dark hair flopping across his forehead. Girls clutching backpacks had turned to stare, some lustfully, some wistfully, and he hadn’t seen any of them, so intent he’d been on getting wherever he’d been going.

Hailey’s heart had done a strange somersault against her ribcage, and her wolf had stirred within her. That man she didn’t even know? He was hers to protect.

Sure enough, he’d tripped over a loose brick and sprawled to the ground. Hailey had leaped to his side, gathering up the books and wallet that had spilled from his unzipped backpack.

He’d rolled into a sitting position, favoring his right knee. She’d smelled the blood and saw the rip in his jeans.

“Am I going to die?” he’d looked at her, a small smile quirking his lips, even as he blushed through his humiliation.

“Not on my watch, mister,” she’d said, and they’d grinned at each other, recognizing they were kindred spirits.

Now in this moment five years later, Hailey smiled at him again, and he smiled back. Tears clogged the back of her throat.

“You are beautiful,” he whispered. “Hailey. So beautiful.”

“You’re not so bad yourself.” She tried hard not to blink, horrified she would burst into tears at the table. “Now, how about some crème brulee?” she said, and he laughed in soft delight. “I hear it’s wonderful here. People rave.”

***

Ryan stole looks at Hailey sitting in the passenger seat beside him. The streetlights washed over her face and illuminated her into unearthly beauty. He never wanted this night to end.

About to ask her whether she preferred a dance club or a more intimate bar, he saw her stifle a yawn behind her hand. She gave him a sheepish look.

“Sorry. I guess I didn’t get much sleep today.” She tried to catch another yawn behind her hand but failed.

He squelched his disappointment and said, “Why don’t we call it a night. You okay to drive? I can drop you home and bring you your car tomorrow if you’d like.”

“I’m fine to drive,” she said. She reached out to touch his hand on the wheel. “Thanks for understanding.”

“You worked all night last night, didn’t you?”

She nodded. “Went home around five. Tossed and turned until around eight, and then I couldn’t stand it anymore and brought your bag over. I tried to nap this afternoon, but I got maybe two hours in.” She gestured at her wavy hair. “This look takes hours to do right. Hope you were impressed.”

He was. And touched she would go to the effort for him, but then he remembered she’d planned to dump him and wondered if she’d dressed up just to reel him in. He decided it didn’t matter. She was gorgeous, and she was still sitting beside him.

He sensed her struggling, as if bursting to say something. He waited, letting her work it out.

“I’ve got an idea,” she said in a tortured rush. He stopped for a light and gave her his full attention. She took a nervous breath as if she thought he might shoot her down. Far from it. If she suggested he take a walk across Golden Gate Bridge in his damn underwear, he would agree to it. God, why did she look so afraid of being let down?
Take a chance, sweetheart
, he thought.

She let out her breath in a whoosh and said, “How about a picnic tomorrow at Golden Gate Park? I make a killer tuna salad, and my deviled eggs rock too. I baked two loaves of bread yesterday, and I’m pretty sure I have the makings for a chocolate cake. What do you think? You game?”

“So game I wish it was tomorrow already,” he said, and she blushed as the light turned green. She touched her hair self-consciously, and he wanted to hold her hand but thought she might bolt out of the car if he tried. He knew she’d risked herself by offering to make him a picnic lunch, and he understood he had to tread carefully or he’d scare her off.

“What can I bring?” he asked.

“The wine?” she suggested. “I’m sure you’ve got a fancy wine rack in that house of yours. Maybe even a wine cellar.”

“For God’s sake.” He snorted. “I do not have a wine cellar. I do have a nice merlot, though. Or pinot grigio, if you prefer white.”

She stared at him. “Kinda far removed from the cheap beer we drank in college, huh?”

“I think we’ve both come a long way from college days,” he said. He turned down his street and restrained himself from stomping on the brakes to delay their arrival. Anything to keep her with him even one minute longer.

However, when they were parked in his drive, she unlatched her seatbelt, but made no move to open her door. Ryan’s heart sped up. He turned to her and found her gazing at him with such a strange, wistful expression he didn’t know what to say. Instead, he leaned across the bucket seat to brush a kiss across her soft lips.

She gasped, her mouth opening so he could taste her breath. He was lost. He deepened the kiss, pressing his lips against hers until he felt the pressure of her teeth. She wound her arms around his neck and their tongues twined together.

Something deep inside woke from a long slumber. How he’d missed this woman. Every day at first, but even as the years passed, he’d still longed for her. He remembered back in his college days, biding his time before he could ask her out, confident he would marry her someday.

He’d let her go because she could shift into a wolf. Could he have been that terrified of something different than he was?

He cupped her face between his palms and kissed her until they were both panting for breath.

“You’d better go,” he told her, trailing his lips along the curve of her jaw before capturing her mouth again. “I don’t want our first time together to be in the front seat of my car.”

“Where, then?” she asked, nibbling on his lower lip, driving him crazy. His cock strained against the confines of his pants.

He took a fistful of her hair and gently tugged. “In my bed. On top so I can watch your face while you ride me.”

She drew in a deep breath, then chuckled. “Sounds like I’m doing all the work.”

“No way.” He moved his mouth to her throat and sucked until she squirmed against him. Mmm, she tasted good. “Before we get to that part, there’s the part where I kiss every inch of your body, starting with your mouth, ending at your toes, but with most of the time spent between your legs. You’ll come, oh, maybe three times before I ever let you get on top.”

He hissed when she put her hand in his lap and rubbed, the friction of her palm against the fabric of his pants and his cock nearly blasting him over the edge.

“Sound pretty sure of yourself, Ryan.”

“I am.” Two could play that game. He moved his hand to her thigh and glided it beneath the hem of her little black dress, exulting when he cupped her pussy and discovered damp panties.

She moaned in the back of her throat when he slid two fingers beneath the elastic leg band and stroked her wet clit. God, she was hot. He wanted to go down on her so fucking bad.

“Ryan!” She pressed herself against his fingers, thrusting her hips forward and back, her breath stuttering. He loved her this way with all her barriers down. He hated those barriers. Maybe if he prolonged the moment, she’d never raise them back up again.

He kissed her as he fondled her mound, finding her nub with one finger and rubbing it until she cried out.

His cock strained against his pants, and he shut his eyes, concentrating on her pleasure.
Hailey
, he vowed to himself.
I’m never letting you go again.

He brought to her climax, and her entire body shuddered with the force of her release.

“Damn.” She groaned, collapsing against her seat, breathing hard.

He leaned back against the headrest, heart pounding. He couldn’t help grinning. What the hell had just happened? Whatever magic it was, he wanted more.

“Good night, Ryan,” Hailey whispered. The car door opened, admitting a summer breeze that fanned his hot face.

“Night, Hay, see you tomorrow,” he said. She climbed out of the car on obviously shaky legs.

“I’ll pick you up around noon.” She leaned down to tell him. Her face was flushed, and her eyes gleamed. He’d kissed all her lipstick off, and her hair formed a tousled halo around her face. So gorgeous. He’d never seen anything half so beautiful as Hailey Green in the moonlight.

CHAPTER FIVE

Hailey groaned and buried her head beneath her pillow. No! How could it be raining today, of all days? Not simply raining either, but a full-out torrential downpour that even if it stopped right now would leave the grass at Golden Gate Park soaked for hours. The picnic plans flamed up and died.

Her cell phone buzzed from the nightstand. Stifling a curse, she grabbed it and peered at the screen. Local number, but not one she recognized.

“Hello?” She hoped she didn’t sound like she’d just woken. Peering at the clock she saw it was after eleven. Jesus! Good thing it was raining because if hadn’t been, she wouldn’t been late to her own damn picnic.

“So much for Golden Gate Park, huh?” Ryan’s voice burned sexily into her ear. She melted but yanked herself up short.

“How’d you get my number?”

“Pulled some strings with the guys in security at Emerson.” He sounded proud of himself.

“That information is confidential. I could get them in trouble,” she said. Beat of silence.

“Don’t get them in trouble. I wanted to hear your voice and didn’t wanted to wait until noon. Especially when I saw it raining like hell. I wanted to call to offer you an alternative to the park.”

“You think you’re going to wheedle your way out of a serious security breach like this?” Hailey asked. Another long pause.

“Yes?” He sounded like he muffled laughter, and Hailey threw back her head and giggled.

“Okay, fine. I’ll let it go this once, but, honestly, Ryan, you broke your own company data information privacy policy.”

“I didn’t,” he pointed out. “The security guards did. I asked a question.”

Hailey snorted and leaned back into the headboard. The rain outside pounded against the roof, making her room cozy. So did the sound of Ryan’s voice. Cozy and lecherous. If she had him sitting next to her on this bed, she’d do all sorts of wicked things to him with her tongue and mouth. She bit her lip.

“What’s your alternative idea?” Her panties chafed and she entertained the exciting fantasy of touching herself while talking to him. No. He’d figure out what she was doing when her voice turned husky. All that heavy breathing would give her away, and he’d be insufferably proud of himself. More than he was after wangling her phone number.

“I have a covered balcony. Screened in too. We can even see the ocean if we try hard enough. How about an indoor/outdoor picnic here?” Ryan spoke in a cheerful rush, and Hailey wondered if he thought she’d turn him down. Adorable.

“Hmm.” She twirled a strand of her hair around one finger. “I did stay up late last night to make the deviled eggs, and it won’t take me long to whip up the tuna salad. Dessert will take longer, though, if you want chocolate cake.”

“I can run to the bakery down the street and get us a cake,” he said, and she could barely believe herself. Flirting with him was the first step to trusting him again. Last night she’d come home in a daze, most of her convictions about Ryan shattered into tiny pieces. She wanted to trust him, but he’d hurt her so badly before. Better to not think about it too hard. Maybe she ought to simply let things unfold without picking them all apart.

“Give me an hour,” she said, then looked in the mirror across from the bed. Her hair tangled around her face wildly. Damn hot rollers. “An hour and a half,” she amended.