Love Bites (Bitten Book 4) (3 page)

I smiled a little at her stubbornness. “Okay, why
were
you crying?”

Ricki just stared at me, her brown eyes swimming with tears again. I lowered my face and rubbed my cheek against hers. I wanted to kiss her, but held back because my first priority was to comfort her.

“Tell me what’s wrong, darlin’.”

Ricki sighed, her eyes closing. “I hate it when you call me that.”

“Why?”

“Because I like it too much.”

I couldn’t control the twitch of my mouth. “I like callin’ you darlin’.” I rubbed the nape of her neck gently. “Please tell me what’s wrong.”

Her eyelids lifted. “Were you telling me the truth about the woman you were with last week?” Her brown eyes were piercing, as though she could see straight into my soul.

“Yes, I was telling you the truth about Chloe. She and I have been friends for a long time. She’s not a member of the pack and I only see her a couple of times a year at most.”

Ricki’s eyes narrowed as she continued to study me. “Then why were you shirtless? And why was she in nothing but her underwear?”

I frowned at her. “Is that why you thought we had sex?”

“Uh, yeah. Most of the time men and women are only naked in each other’s presence when they’re screwing each other.”

I shook my head. “It’s not like that with shifters, Ricki. We’re not shy. Nudity is common and not always sexual.”

She scowled at me. “What do you mean nudity is common?”

I realized that she really didn’t know anything about shifters. “We get naked before we shift. It’s messy business and usually ruins our clothes if we’re dressed. That night, Chloe was here with members of her pack and there were issues between two of our younger members. No one could find Lach, so they tracked me down. Chloe and I ended up shifting in order to deal with the situation. She didn’t want to put her dress back on until she’d showered. Something about bloodstains being a bitch to remove from Versace.”

Ricki’s eyes widened as I continued.

“You have to understand, darlin’. I marked you. That means something to me.
You
mean something to me. I don’t want anyone but you, Ricki.” Without thinking, I slid my thumb beneath the strap of her halter dress and ran it over the fresh scar I’d left on her neck last weekend.

“What does that mean, you marked me?” she asked, her eyes wary.

Sensing we were getting into dangerous territory, I tried to choose my words carefully. “It means that your special to me.”

Smart girl, she didn’t let my carefully chosen words fool her. “Special? Like twenty other women?” she asked sarcastically.

I shook my head, tugging her closer so that her body rested against mine. “No. You’re the only one I’ve ever marked.” Unable to resist any longer, I touched my lips to hers. “The only one I ever will mark.”

For a moment I thought I succeeded in distracting her, but she asked, “What does the mark really mean?”

I knew she wouldn’t like what I had to say, but I told her the truth anyway because I hated the idea of lying. “It means that you’re my mate.”

Ricki

“W
hat?” I asked.
I was very nearly yelling and I struggled in his embrace. “What in the hell does that even mean?”

Calder’s arms tightened around me but I kept shoving at him.

“Mate? MATE?!” I asked shrilly. “As in,
wife
?”

His expression became sheepish. “I guess that’s the human equivalent, but—”

“No.” I shook my head. “No way. I’m not your mate and no way in hell are you mine.”

The concept scared the shit out of me. My father had been a handsome man, but Calder surpassed him in the looks department. In fact, compared to Calder, my dad was Quasimodo. All he would have to do was snap his fingers and women would fall all over themselves. It was a disaster in the making. Already I could see my future and it was more frightening than my past had ever been. I would not become my mother, a shell of a woman subsisting on vodka and broken dreams.

Calder’s face hardened and his eyes glittered with anger. “What am I to you then?”

“A one night stand.”

I gasped when his fingers tightened in my hair, pulling the strands. He pulled my head back, our faces so close together I could feel his breath on my lips. I ignored the heavy throb of desire that began to build between my thighs. I told him things I’d never told another man, about my fantasies and what I enjoyed. It seemed he hadn’t forgotten that I liked an edge of pain during sex.

I inhaled again and was immediately distracted by the clean scent of his skin. He smelled like soap, only earthier. Memories overwhelmed me. Though he wasn’t touching my hips, I could feel the bite of his fingertips into my flesh as he held me up against the wall and pounded into me.

I shuddered as the flash of that past moment superimposed over the present. The way he’d touched me, rough and demanding, had left behind bruises that were just beginning to fade away. I found myself studying them in the mirror every time I undressed to take a shower, alternately hating their presence, yet regretful that they were disappearing with each passing day.

“I don’t think so,” he whispered, closing the small distance between us so that his mouth brushed mine with each word he spoke. “I think that’s what you want me to be, but we both know it’s not the truth.”

“I don’t know anything about you,” I argued fiercely, “other than the fact that you’re a great lay.”

His control broke then. Growling, he slammed his mouth on mine, forcing my lips open for the assault of his tongue and teeth. I felt the vibrations of that growl in my chest. The kiss was hard and punishing, completely lacking in the tenderness he’d given me before.

The sharp edges of his teeth dug into my lip and I whimpered just before the taste of blood filled my mouth. Calder growled again, his hands moving from my head to my ass. He changed the angle of the kiss and I cried out as he put more pressure on the spot where his teeth had cut me.

Tearing his mouth from mine, he lifted his head and stared down at me, breathing heavily. With a gentle finger, he probed my lip, grimacing when I hissed. “I’m sorry,” he panted, lowering his forehead to mine. “I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. I was too busy dealing with the painful realization that I had no defenses against Calder. One kiss and I was willing to let him do whatever he wanted to me.

“I can’t do this.” My voice was so soft it was almost inaudible, but he heard it anyway. His body tensed against mine, but his hands remained gentle on my face. I blinked rapidly as panic rose in my chest. “I can’t do this.”

My vision blurred and I suddenly felt as though I was drowning.

“Ricki.” Calder’s voice was harsh and insistent, commanding my attention.

I blinked up at him and realized my breathing was shallow and fast. I was on the verge of hyperventilating.

“Take a slow, deep breath,” he stated firmly.

I forced myself to inhale, my breath catching several times. I held it for a moment, hoping it would help calm the racing of my heart, then released it in a steady stream. I repeated the process twice more before I finally had control of my body.

After I calmed, Calder tilted my chin up so that my face was lifted toward his. “Come home with me tonight, Ricki. We can talk. I’ll answer all your questions and tell you more about myself.”

I flinched. I knew without a doubt that there would be very little talking if I agreed. Though he seemed sincere, I wasn’t sure I would be able to keep my hands to myself.

“No, I can’t.”

I could hear the frustration in his voice when he asked, “Why?”

I just shook my head. How could I even begin to explain what I was feeling? My last attempt at a normal relationship had been with Craig and he had a girlfriend I knew nothing about the entire time. It hurt when I found out, but that paled in comparison to what I felt last weekend. After only one night, it seemed as though my heart had broken when I saw him with another women. If I let him in, let myself care for him, he could decimate me. I would become the ghost of my mother. I refused to live her life.

“Come with me,” he pleaded. “Please.”

The choking sensation that accompanied panic returned. “I can’t!” I rasped. My words felt as though they were being torn from my throat.

Desperate to escape before my resolve crumpled, I skirted around Calder and jerked open the door to the bathroom, literally running down the hallway. I almost knocked down Shannon as I rounded a corner.

She grabbed my arms to steady us both. “Whoa, Ricki. What’s wrong?”

“Get me out of here.”

Her eyes widened when she realized I was crying. “Okay, let me just—”

I shook my head. “No, please, please, Shannon, just take me home.”

“Okay. Okay. Just calm down.”

She held my arm as we left the house, acting as though she expected me to collapse at any moment. Considering the weakness in my thighs, it was amazing that she didn’t have to carry me to the car.

After we were settled in the vehicle and on our way back to my apartment, Shannon glanced over at me. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

Closing my eyes, I leaned my head back against the seat. “Not right now, okay? I just….can’t deal with it right now.”

I didn’t want to talk, but I couldn’t handle the vacuum of silence either. As though she sensed exactly what I needed, Shannon shut up and turned the radio to one of her favorite country stations. Grateful I didn’t have to listen to my own chaotic thoughts the entire ride home, I didn’t even complain about her horrible taste in music.

*     *     *

I barely slept
that night, tossing and turning, my mind refusing to shut down. I finally drifted off just as the sun began to rise. At ten my alarm went off, jerking me awake. I knew I had been dreaming, but the details were fuzzy and faded quickly. Feeling unsettled, I climbed out of bed.

Typically, I would go downstairs to the gym in my apartment complex, but this morning I was too drained. Instead I staggered into the kitchen and made myself a huge cup of coffee in my Keurig. After adding milk and a little sweetener, I carried the mug to my kitchen table and collapsed in a chair.

I drank my coffee in a trance until the cup was empty. As I finished off the last few sips, the caffeine finally seemed to hit my brain, clearing the fogginess from my mind. I brewed another mug and carried it into the bathroom with me to drink while I showered and dressed.

An hour later, I was dressed, made-up, and my hair was pulled back into a low ponytail. I wasn’t very hungry, but I might not get a chance to grab lunch later, so I choked down a slice of toast and a banana.

“Mrawr.”

I looked down as my little black cat, Pepper, wandered out of my bedroom. Dammit, I’d almost forgotten to feed her. Quickly, I poured some food into her dish and refilled her water bowl. She purred lightly as I ran my hand over her back as she swayed past me.

Though I left the apartment with plenty of time to spare, there was an accident on the highway and traffic was backed up for miles. By the time I parked around the corner from the store, it was ten past noon. I’d tried to call Candy twice, but gotten her voicemail both times.

The shop was empty as I walked inside, but that didn’t mean that my boss wouldn’t read me the riot act. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t been late in almost a year, all she would care about was the fact that I was ten minutes late today.

Sure enough, as soon as she heard the bell chime on the door, Candy swept out of the store room in the back. As her name suggested, she was petite and sweet looking, with long, white blonde hair and huge blue eyes. Her face was heart-shaped and perfectly made up, giving her the appearance of an expensive porcelain doll.

“Where have you been?” Her light, breathy voice was shrill and harsh.

I suppressed a sigh. Ten minutes might as well have been an hour as far as Candy was concerned. “I’m sorry I’m so late, Candy. There was a major accident on the highway and it took me a bit longer to get here than I planned.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “You could have at least called.”

I clasped my hands in front of me to stop myself from putting them on my hips. “I did call, twice. I left one message on the shop machine and another on your cell phone.”

She sniffed, her chin lifting so she was looking down her nose at me. I had to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing because it looked ridiculous. “Well, neither phone rang.”

I knew she was full of shit. Candy never answered the phone at the store. More than once during my employment, she stated that answering the phone was beneath her and the reason she had employees. She also screened the calls that came in on her cell. I was amazed how well the boutique did, considering Candy’s attitude toward doing any sort of work herself. She preferred to delegate, harangue, and criticize. I reminded myself that I needed the money. Someday, I would find another job that paid as well as this one, but someday wasn’t today. Until then, I needed to suck it up and let Candy’s bitchy attitude roll off my back.

“I’m sorry, but I did call. We can check the machine together if you like.”