SEDUCTIVE SUPERNATURALS: 12 Tales of Shapeshifters, Vampires & Sexy Spirits (263 page)

He smiled and touched a finger to her lower lip. “I left the pack for a reason. I agree with you about revenge. Mostly.” He shrugged. “However, I think we all have these primal urges inside us. Sometimes, I suspect all our centuries of evolution could give a good fuck in the face of our base needs. You’ve been threatened. I offered to kill for you. It made you feel better. Protected.”

She shook her head. “I guess it did.” She stopped. “That Jojo guy threatened me though. Not that I’m saying you should kill him, but what’s going to happen with him?”

Ash smiled against Sherri’s ear. “Oh, he’s dead. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

Wild Nights with a Lone Wolf: Chapter Nine

Zoe Hughes gripped Jojo’s back and tried not to cry while he moved inside her, so pleased with his own performance he hadn’t noticed her utter lack of participation.

Once, he’d been a decent lover. Once, he’d been a decent mate. She couldn’t really tell if she wasn’t attracted to him anymore, or if the wildness in his eyes and the steel in his voice kept her from being able to give her body. Perhaps the difference in species created a problem. Truly, it was all she could do not to push him away.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this with her bond mate.

That streak in him, that fuck-it-all attitude, had attracted her at one time. It seemed so cool when she was young to be a part of a pack when her own mother had thrown her aside and left her to die. He had influence and power behind him, but he didn’t give a shit what anybody thought. She’d been dirt poor, and he’d given her things. Treated her nice.

Now, all that mattered was the next score.

Jojo let out a howl, pounding his fists on the bed. “Yeah! Baby, you feel so good. Drive me fucking crazy.”

She tried to smile as he rolled away and reached for his clothes. Inside, she was emptier than before. “You say such sweet things.”
You’re already crazy enough. Maybe you shouldn’t fuck me anymore.

What a betrayal for her to think such thoughts. That didn’t make it any less true.

He laughed like an old man who’d had too much whiskey and gathered his phone and guns from the dresser. “Hey,
mami
. You know I’d be nothing without you.”

What was he planning? What did it say about her that she was relieved to see he was “only” taking his revolvers? Hey, fewer bullets was a blessing she’d accept, however small. She’d stopped asking long ago where he went and what he did. Who he killed or who he fucked, and she couldn’t claim so much ignorance as to think he didn’t do those things.

With Ash back home though, and this girl they’d asked Zoe to look after, she had to know. Whatever Jojo had brewing looked ugly.

“So what are you doing now?” She pulled on her clothes and tried to edge up next to him casually with one hand on his shoulder, so the question would seem like no big deal. The fingers of her other hand stayed clasped in a tight ball, trying to hide the trembling.

Jojo laughed that ridiculous laugh of his. “Didn’t you hear? My big brother is having him a mating ceremony. Gonna stand by in case there’s any trouble.” He clicked one barrel and then the other, sliding the guns into a holster that went under his arms.

Zoe bit her lip. “What kind of trouble would there be at a mating ceremony?”

Jojo winked and threw one arm around her shoulder. “Oh, baby. There’s gonna be trouble.”

“Jojo.” She looked into his eyes. Those dark eyes she’d once thought held so much excitement and mystery. “What are you talking about?”

She had a feeling. They’d been together since she’d turned sixteen. She might no longer trust him, but she
knew
him. The uncomfortable sensation right in the center of her chest told her what he wasn’t saying aloud.

“Heeeey.” He patted her cheek. “Don’t you worry, baby. I’ve got it all under control. I need these girls to trade for the coke, and if Ash comes along, he’s going to fuck up everything. He’s gonna fuck up my trade, and he’s gonna fuck up my standing in the pack. Pop ain’t gonna be around much longer, and as long as Ash stays gone, that means a bigger cut of pack profits for all of us.”

He grabbed a handful of her hair and mashed his mouth against hers. The kiss left her cold and a little queasy. “I’m gonna make us rich, baby,” he whispered.

Zoe nodded. “I know. I trust you.”

It was the only correct answer.

“Good girl. Now do me a favor and go check again on that little redheaded, would you? I need to make sure she’s good and cleaned up for when I make the trade tonight.”

Zoe nodded again, this time with as much enthusiasm as she could work up. “Of course. Wouldn’t want anything to go wrong.”

Someone pounded on the door. “Hey, Jojo. I got those crates you asked me to bring. Where you want ‘em?” One of Jojo’s extended cousins. Miguel, maybe. Zoe didn’t bother to pay attention.

“In the van. Hang on.” Jojo kissed her again, and she tried not to flinch. It was getting hard to hide. “Gotta go.”

Dammit. She’d pledged her loyalty. Only, he wasn’t the same man she’d pledged her loyalty to.

“Hey, Jojo?”

He turned back. “Baby?”

“You never touch these girls yourself, right?” What he did do was enough. He’d told her he was starting an escort service. Easy money. Next thing she knew he was bringing girls to the property for temporary holding and asking Zoe to patch up wounds. Not something she’d signed on for when she agreed to be his mate, and anyway her limited first-aid training went only so far. One of many problems.

“Why would I do something like that when I got you?” With a side-to-side glance, he grinned wide and walked out the door.

Zoe knew a lie from her mate when she saw one. That desperate glance, the way his nose twitched just so. Why would he touch those girls when he had her? Because he could. Because
weres,
at their base nature, were horny dogs, and every day Jojo acted more psychotic from drugs and power. Or plain old evil.

Many of Jojo’s kind had difficulty staying monogamous, even when bonded. Jojo’s mother clearly lived with it, happy enough with her status as an alpha’s mate to let it slide. Zoe thought she’d be able to do the same, but the rest of Jojo’s issues made happy impossible.

Now, this thing with drugging girls and renting them to rich men over the border? She’d been a poor, young orphan once. Someone could have done such a thing to her, and she’d have had no defense.

It wasn’t right. Neither was betraying one’s mate. Ignoring one made her lack conscience, but doing the other could bring real trouble. Of the landing-in-a-grave-next-to-Ash’s variety. Ash, who had always been kind to her.

The weight of her dilemma pressed heavily on her shoulder as she put her phone in her pocket and retrieved a spare gun from her sock drawer. Just in case.

* * *

Exhausted but jittery, Sherri could no longer sit still.

“You gotta stop scraping your feet across the floor. They’re going to hear you.” Ash appeared behind her. The way he pinned her arms to her sides, and his harsh whisper through her hair, had passed the point of sounding sexy and headed straight into irritating territory. Being held in this place, the heat and the stress had burned her patience down to nothing.

Sherri huffed a breath and flashed back to their first time together, when he’d told her to get on the bed or he’d put her there. She refused to believe that in the midst of a major crisis, she’d just clenched and gotten wet over that memory, so she pushed it and him away, whirling to face him head on. “They can’t honestly hear me pacing all the way outside the door.”

He tapped his ear. “It depends on how closely they’re listening. You’ve got those heels on your shoes and they switched guards about half an hour ago. The other guy was busy screwing with a game on his phone the whole time. This one, I think he’s been leaning against the door.”

She gave him what she hoped was a convincing stink-eye. “Are you for real?”

“Pinball or something. I could hear the pinging noises.” Ash mimicked the motions of playing a game with his thumbs.

“Look.” She threw up her hands. “I don’t know how we’re going to manage this. I can’t see relaxing enough to get my groove on in here when we know your father or some other elder is sniffing at the door for proof that we’re in love. We have to come up with some
other plan.”

Dammit, keeping her voice at a whisper was hard when what she really wanted was to shout her frustrations to the rooftops. Honestly, at first it had been good to see him, and now she wished he hadn’t come. Without the confusion of her emotions and her attraction to him thrown into the mix, she might have kept a more level head.

She liked Ash, she did. But all this— this pressure. It was twisting her brain. She’d been trained for high-stress situations, but only in the theoretical. Not to mention that masquerading as a werewolf’s fake fiancée had never come up as a training scenario, for the love of sin.

“Okay.” Ash grabbed onto her hands. “Let’s chill for a minute.” He took a deep breath. “You said you wanted to make it to the exchange without rocking the boat any. That’s the goal I was aiming for.”

She nearly swallowed all the air in the room. It
had
been her idea. “I know. You said that plan wouldn’t fly though, if they didn’t smell love hormones or whatever. I am fond of you. I’ll even go out on a limb and say I feel things around you I’ve never felt with any man. Even so, hot sex and a few hours trapped in a room don’t add up to love, werewolf style.”

Ash blinked. “That’s… Wow. That’s actually really cool. I make you feel different?”

Sherri pressed her forehead against his. “You’re avoiding the real point. If this blows up in our faces, we won’t even live long enough to get to the little things like birthdays or favorite foods. Forget about long-term commitment.”

She could admit that the closer they got to afternoon, the more anxious she felt. Sleep deprivation and caffeine withdrawal weren’t helping matters.

“December twenty-eighth. Fried plantains. With cinnamon.”

“Ash.”

He squeezed her hand. “Birthday and favorite food. I’m waiting.”

She sighed, but answered anyway. “November third, and I like cannoli. The real kind, not the dried out flavorless crap that comes from the grocery store.”

His gleaming canines made another appearance. “Ah, see? Our birthdays are somewhat close together, and we both like dessert. We could have a joint party.”

She rolled her eyes, pretending to look around. “Something tells me cannoli is tough to find in this part of the country.”

Ash’s cheek pressed to hers. Stubble caressed her jaw, sending shivers over her shoulder and down her back. His plump bottom lip caressed the lobe of her ear, and God in heaven help her, but she was sure she heard something like purring. Hadn’t she decided she was mad at him?

“If you were mine, Sherri, I would look everywhere on earth to find the very best for you.”

Holy… Every hair on Sherri’s head tried to stand at attention.

She took one breath, and then another, before putting her hands on his shoulders and stepping back. “We need to…”
Focus. Focus!
“Why do you keep saying things like that?”

“Today you told me about a man who did you great harm and hurt your heart. You said your parents locked you away. I want you to know how you really ought to be treated. Like a princess. A queen. Don’t settle. Someday, you’ll find the one who can give you everything you deserve.”

Someday. Not that she needed any confirmation that this thing between them had a worse shelf-life than last week’s picnic leftovers, but the reminder certainly helped give her a stiff smack across the cheek.

Even so, the sentiment touched her deeply.

Sherri’s eyes burned. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”

He half-smiled in response. “Anytime. Now. The question is can we get out of here before they come to get us for the mating ceremony without having to kill anyone? Cuz I can tell you for sure, once that happens, there’s a good chance the whole place is gonna light up like Christmas.”

This was so, so weird. There they stood, him with his cheek against hers and his hand in her hair. They whispered the way lovers might whisper about sexy things they wanted to do to each other or where they wanted to spend time later. Except instead they were talking about whether or not they had to fight their way out of captivity.

“What about allies? That guy who came in and mentioned your brother? Could he let us use a phone or something? I have contacts—”

“Not sure outsiders are a good idea. My brother’s a former pack member. He knows how to handle this. Getting others involved is risky.”

Ugh. “Is this that old school not trusting outsiders thing? Because I was given training on—”

“Hang on.” He gripped his forehead with his fingers. “Let me think.” This time
he
started pacing. “Listen, do you mind if I get more comfortable?”

She held up her hands as he took a step back, unzipping the coveralls. Was he seriously getting naked right now? “Is taking off your clothes really going to help you problem-solve?”

“Sometimes I think better in my fur.”

“In your…” Really? She’d seen pictures in training. They’d talked around and around about what he was. However, in front of her eyes, he still looked like a man. Her mind had nothing to merge with the theoretical.

Now though, right in front of her, he’d shed his single layer of clothing and crouched to the floor, doubled over like he might be in agony. His hair changed first, turning from wavy black to white and gray, and then his face, his nose growing long and his teeth sharpening. His legs, his strong muscular back, all morphed right before her, in a display so shocking she found it as hard to watch as she found it hard to look away.

There was a popping sound when one of his legs changed, and she did squeeze her eyes shut for a moment. Whatever it was, he was probably used to it, but she sure as hell wasn’t. She didn’t realize she’d kept them shut for so long until a rough paw scraped over her hand.

“O-kay.” Absurdly, Sherri reached out to scratch behind his ears because that was what she always did with dogs, before she realized it probably wasn’t appropriate to treat her lover like he’d successfully brought the Frisbee back. Still, he seemed to enjoy the attention. “So, this is weird. Uh, if I talk can you still understand me?”