Blood Lust (31 page)

She slipped a finger into the pocket of her jeans, felt the handle of the silver knife and relaxed a bit. If she had to, she’d use it. How hard could it be after staking a vampire?

Several minutes later Rhonda spoke, popping the bubble of girlie grunge rock music that had been pounding out of the speakers. “Okay, you can take off the blindfold.”

Jane folded it and put it in the glove box, before turning and offering a weak smile to the woman. It was hard to believe she was a werewolf. Somehow, just looking at Cole, she could see it. But Rhonda looked like a slutty cheerleader.

“So where do you want to shop? Cole didn’t give us a limit.” She giggled.

“I don’t care. Just nowhere vampire groupies would shop. And I need hair dye.”

“More pink?”

Jane gave Rhonda a look like she was on acid. More pink, was she serious? “If I never see pink hair again, it’ll be too soon.”

Two and a half hours later, Jane had several bags of clothes and a smaller bag containing hair dye. The label on the box read “Chestnut” and looked close to her natural color, as far as she could remember her natural color. She’d gotten special instructions from the woman who owned the little boutique on how to best cover the pink without unexpected results.

She and Rhonda found an outdoor cafe for lunch. The wolf ordered steak, rare. No surprise. Jane ordered blackened chicken over a bed of romaine lettuce with ranch dressing.

“On a diet?” Rhonda said sympathetically. She patted her sleek stomach. “I’m glad I don’t have to worry about that. We have very fast metabolisms.”

Or maybe cattily.

Jane smiled around a mouthful of food, chewed, then swallowed and reached for the water on her table. “I’m not on a diet. This just looked good.”

Rhonda didn’t seem to be buying it.

During their shopping excursion she’d poked around to subtly find out the nature of Jane and Cole’s relationship. Then when she was sure they weren’t sleeping together, she’d started playing the Cole and I will be mated soon card, saying things like, “Everyone in the pack knows it’s just a matter of time for us.”

While Jane had been in the dressing room at the third store, Rhonda had gone into graphic detail about her and Cole’s sexual interlude. Jane was glad the wolf didn’t have X-ray vision or she would have seen the gagging faces being made behind the door.

Now at lunch, Rhonda had resumed her territory pissing project. “Once Cole and I are mated and he’s more comfortable with you around the rest of the pack, you can stay in my little den. It’s very cozy. You’ll like it.”

“I’m sure it’s great,” Jane said, forcing a smile and pushing back another impending eye roll. She didn’t know why her skin felt prickly and uncomfortable about the idea. If Cole and Rhonda really were an item, more power to them. She definitely wasn’t looking for a sexual relationship right now.

Her mind drifted to Cole in a towel fresh out of the shower and then his warm body pressed against hers that morning. Then her memory flashed to his tongue running over the back of her hand the night before, far more erotic than it should have been.

Jane stopped herself in time before she reached full-on arousal. If Rhonda smelled her attraction to the alpha, she might have to use the silver knife in her pocket. And how would she explain that to Cole?

She sighed and took another bite of chicken. Maybe Cole had sent her with Rhonda, hoping this conversation would happen so he wouldn’t have to tell her himself. Maybe that was why he’d blatantly ignored her reaction to him the previous night. She’d thought he was being a gentleman and trying not to make her feel unsafe.

She was mortified now for ever thinking he’d want some kind of sexual payment. If he and Rhonda were together that was unlikely to be the case, and it only made her feel dirty. Rhonda went up to the front to pay the bill as Jane dug through all her bags, collecting the receipts.

She folded them neatly and put them in the pocket of her jeans. She would find a way eventually to pay Cole back. She wasn’t a charity case.

On the ride back Rhonda said, “I always knew Cole and I would be together.” They were back to that again? You’ve made your point, really. Cole is off-limits. Gotcha. Jane was glad for the first time the blindfold was over her eyes.

Rhonda continued with the Cole talk. “When he was nine and I was six, he said he was going to marry me. Of course, that was before he knew about mating.”

“That’s very nice,” Jane said, trying to sound sincere. But then a smile broke out on her face.

When Cole was nine and Rhonda was six? If Cole was really so in love with her all that time, he would have mated with her by now. Jane had thought they’d just gotten together. Maybe things weren’t what they appeared. He’d given her a silver knife. He wouldn’t give some human woman he’d just met the means to end his future mate. Duh, Jane.

She tried to ignore the fact that she seemed to give a damn about Cole Riley’s love life all of a sudden. Hadn’t she learned by now that men were evil?

After pack business was squared away, Cole retreated to his study to catch up on emails and get an update from Mick on the Dayne situation.

He wondered if he should tell Jane how worried Charlee had been. He stared at the phone on the desk. Maybe he should give her a phone call at least. Didn’t most prisoners in this country get one phone call? Then again, she’d already used up that privilege the previous night.

He was disturbed by how strongly he felt the need to care for the woman. No one in his pack had inspired such strong protective feelings in him before. If she were a wolf he’d suspect she was his mate. Werewolves didn’t mate with humans . . . did they? Moments like this it was lonely being the leader. Who did Cole go to for guidance and direction? Who kept his secrets? Who listened to his fears?

That was the alpha female’s job. He had no alpha female, though Rhonda had been trying her damnedest to get the position. His excuse had always been that she was like a sister. And while that was true, she was also the pack omega.

She wasn’t strong enough to command respect as his mate. He really couldn’t think of looking at Jane in that way.

His human guest had been quiet since she’d gotten back from her shopping excursion, and he couldn’t get a read on her emotional state. All he knew was she’d come back with plenty of bags, which very much pleased him. That was another thing that should have him worried. Cole had always been an excellent money manager, and in less than forty-eight hours he’d lost ten grand and dropped however much Rhonda and Jane had managed to spend on clothes.

He looked up to see her standing in the doorway, and a low growl rumbled from his chest. A long lavender dress flowed off her frame. The garment had thin straps that could be ripped apart with barely any effort. Her hair was a warm honey brown now, which made her blue eyes glitter in contrast. Jane most definitely was not a vampire groupie.

He cleared his throat, searching for the ability to speak. “I . . . is this what you would wear if you’d never met me or a vampire?”

Her face flamed red. “You don’t like it?”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“Yes. This is what I would wear.”

“It’s very nice. Would you like to go out to dinner?”

“The sun is down. Vampires,” she mumbled.

“We’ll be leaving the city.”

She bit her lip, hovering in a moment of indecision, then nodded and put the rest of her things away. When she returned, he created a portal in his private den and placed the amulet around his neck.

“Shall we?”

She walked through the shimmery film with her arm in his. Cole watched her reaction as they passed through the portal together. The film felt like walking through a spider’s web until it dissipated into nothing.

Thirty minutes later they were in an Italian restaurant in Georgia. Jane’s expression was guarded as she took in her surroundings, trying to get her bearings. No doubt she’d been shocked going through Cain’s domain. And it hadn’t helped that the demon had a woman hanging off him at the time, giggling and unaware she was about to become a footnote in history.

“It’s safe here,” Cole said as she continued her surveillance of the room. “There are no vampires living in Golatha Falls.”

“How do you know?”

“I come here a lot. It’s a good area for hunting, and it’s an easy entry point to get to from Cain’s neighborhood.”

She shivered at the mention of Cain’s name and looked down at her plate. Cole smelled the fear wafting off her and could see how frustrating it must be for vampires not to be able to get into her head. It was frustrating for him, and he couldn’t get inside anyone’s head. Unsure if it was the right move, he reached across the table and took her hand in his.

“Cain and I have an alliance. It doesn’t mean I approve of his behavior. But we need the portal to protect the pack.”

She nodded.

He made his own visual appraisal of the room. Although there were no vampires in Golatha Falls, it didn’t mean there was no danger. He let out a sigh as he noted only one person he recognized.

Quinton Worthington, CEO of Worthington Paper Products, was low on the danger meter. The man sat in a corner booth eating a plate of spaghetti way larger than he should and packing in the bread. Cole had heard the man had a weak heart. He’s not doing it any good being here.

Worthington had purchased a pint of therian blood from Cole’s company and found a sorcerer to work some magic over his business. Which was why his stocks had gone through the roof the past quarter. The man glanced absently in Cole’s direction then went back to his dinner.

Not for the first time, Cole was glad he’d kept his identity in his company dealings a secret. The last thing he wanted was to be recognized and have to talk business while having dinner with Jane.

He’d been unable to take his hand from hers since he’d moved to reassure her. Now his thumb was running slowly over the back of her hand.

Her arousal perfumed the air, smelling better than anything else the restaurant had to offer. If she kept smelling that way, he was going to take her right here in the middle of Mama Bella’s. Something Jane probably wouldn’t be in favor of. Nor would it do anything to build trust between them after he’d said he didn’t expect anything from her.

***

Jane’s breath hitched in her throat, and her stomach tightened as Cole's thumb caressed her hand. God, what was it with her and having her hands touched all of a sudden? Couldn’t she pick a normal erogenous zone? Maybe the vampires had sullied all the good ones for her. She blushed and finally jerked her hand from his.

The waitress interrupted with bread and salads.

“I’m sorry,” he said when the girl had moved on to another table.

“It’s okay.” Jane stared at the pile of lettuce, avoiding his eyes as she ate.

“Can I ask you something?”

“All right.” She was still looking at her plate, trying to eat as slowly as possible so she wouldn’t have to look into his eyes.

“I don’t know how to say this.”

“Just say it.”

This was going to be the part where he said she was a perfectly lovely girl, but his heart belonged to another. She could handle it. She barely knew him. So he was hot and didn’t look like a demon. So he was warm. If she could stop mingling with the undead for five minutes, she’d find most men fit that description. She sat in her seat, her back perfectly straight as she waited for the rejection.

He sighed, a deep, put-upon sound. “I’m really trying here, Jane. I just don’t understand.”

“Don’t understand what?” She found herself looking up at him despite her resolve not to.

He lowered his voice and leaned in closer. “I can smell your reaction to me, and I realize we’ve just met . . . I don’t normally react to people this way, but is there a chance at some point for something between us?”

Jane blinked. “Huh? I thought you were with Rhonda.” While she’d convinced herself maybe Rhonda had overplayed the whole soul-mates-since-childhood thing, it didn’t mean there wasn’t something between them now, a concept she’d tortured herself with earlier in the evening while she’d waited to rinse out the hair dye.

“What gave you that idea?”

“Rhonda.”

Cole’s nostrils flared. “Rhonda and I aren’t together, and we aren’t going to be together. And you and I shouldn’t be together. It’s just hard not to touch you. I know with the things you’ve been through, I shouldn’t think in that direction.”

Jane nodded. No, he really shouldn’t. She should have space, time to be free. But how free was she locked away in his den? Was he ever going to let her go? She shouldn’t be attracted to him or want something with him, but every time he touched her, she felt normal again.

She chanced a look into his eyes. “Just give me some time, okay?”

The conversation turned with some difficulty to the normal boring date chit chat of books and movies. He told her about his love of painting and said he’d show her his work sometime if she was interested.

By the end of the night, the pretense of two normal people out on a date fell away as they found themselves alone in the den. Jane’s eyes shifted between the bedroom door and the couch, wondering what the sleeping arrangements were going to be.