Wicked Days with a Lone Wolf (11 page)

Sherri stepped to the side to avoid the sailing piece of furniture.

“Okay. Time to get you lying back down.” Aiming a glare at Ash, Sherri steered Ryan back into the bedroom.

“Holy shit,” Ryan murmured. “He’s... he’s...” Ryan flopped onto the bed and rolled with strained eyes onto his side. “What
was
that?”

Sherri rubbed her forehead and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “I’m kind of surprised you haven’t heard. If we were still with the bureau, I’d say it was need to know. Since we’re not, I’ll just say my boyfriend can beat up your boyfriend.”

Ryan gave out something that sounded like a laugh and a wince at the same time. Then his face turned serious. He seemed to glance over her shoulder to where Ash was throwing his clothes on in the other room. “So he’s one of those
things
, huh? I’ve heard stories. They had a few at Brevard, but they kept ‘em in solitary. Never saw one up close. Too violent.” His brow furrowed. “This can’t be safe. You being with him.”

She leaned down to study his face, trying to gauge whether his concern was genuine. “
This
isn’t safe. You being here. You screwed me over about as badly as a person can, and I swear to God if I find out you’re lying to me this time, you’re out of free passes.”

“I know. I owe you about a thousand apologies. I can only say I felt stuck. Boris lied. He told me he was getting out of the life, that he only needed enough money for us to get established somewhere. I believed the lie. I thought keeping him out of prison was the right thing. By the time I knew better, I’d gotten too stuck to turn around. I’ve learned my lesson. I swear.”

“I hope so.”

Ryan grabbed her arm. “I have. But Sher. You can’t tell me a guy like that is better for you than I was. How do you know he won’t fly off the handle and use those claws on you someday?”

Sherri didn’t know how to answer, so she pulled away from Ryan and backed out of the room. All she had was her trust in Ash, and frankly his display in there had shaken her up a little as well.

She distracted herself by calling Lisa. “Hey, do you have anything for me yet?”

There were some shuffling sounds, like Lisa was sorting through papers. “I’ve got the documentation you requested. I’m on my way, but in the meantime, I’ve talked with the agent in charge of the case. He’s agreed to let us get Ryan medical attention before the handoff.”

“Great. Thank you.” Sherri resisted the urge to sag against the wall. “God. Really, I don’t know what I’d do without your help.”

“You’d do it for me. Oh. Also, I got a new property manager over to look at your place. She’ll send you a bill for the repairs, and she wants to know if you’re looking to rent it out again or sell.”

Sherri turned and looked at Ash, still glaring from the far side of the living room. She’d assumed she was going to sell, but now... “Let me get back to you.”

“Sure. She gave me two contracts, I’ll bring them both. I’ll call you when my flight lands.”

“Great. Thank you again.”

“Hey,” Ryan whispered after she hung up the phone. “He hasn’t hurt you, has he?”

“No.” She strode toward him. “He can probably hear you, by the way. He’s like a bat.”

“Or perhaps like a wolf,” Ash said from the next room.

She shot a look over her shoulder. “If you’re so worried about everyone’s safety, shouldn’t you maybe do a perimeter check?”

He stared her down and then stared some more. For a while she thought maybe he wouldn’t go, that he’d be stubborn and Ash-like as usual. She needed a few minutes without feeling like everything was swirling down the drain. A small break from feeling like the guy who had been her rock this past month wanted nothing more than to hurl accusations at her.

With a grudging look, Ash slipped out the door.

She turned to Ryan. “Okay, listen—”

“Wait.” Ryan lifted a shaky hand. “Before you give me your rant, I need to say I wish I could go back. You know?” He swallowed, looking pale and earnest against the sagging, gray mattress.

“I know I don’t have a right to say that to you, but it’s how I feel. I loved you. I still love you, and I threw it away for something I thought was passion. The thing is, passion burns out and it leaves you with a tangle of confusion and... and drama, and doing shit you never imagined like stealing files from your girlfriend’s office late at night so your boyfriend’s banking scam won’t blow up in his face. If I could undo it all and have you, and the house, and the kids we planned, I would.”

Sherri’s mouth dropped open. Her heart twisted with the ache of old hurts and the fresher pain of Ryan’s betrayal. “Are you high? You scammed me and cheated on me. You don’t do that to someone you love.”

“Why do you think I searched for you first when this happened?”

“Because you knew I’d help. And I’m officially done.” Damn, the sheer magnitude of how horribly Ryan suckered her smacked her hard across the face. She put a hand to Ryan’s pale cheek. “You know, I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with you once. But there’s no going back. Not after the things you did.”

He tried to sit forward but winced and eased back. “I’ve heard what those guys can do. They’re monsters, Sher. You can’t think he won’t turn on you.” Suddenly his eyes turned clear and watery. He grasped her hand. “Believe me. I loved a monster, and he turned on me. Now look where we all are.”

Monsters.

Sherri felt the word blast a wide hole in her chest. The front door creaked open, and she met Ash’s hard stare through the bedroom entryway. “No,” she whispered. “Not Ash.”

She said it to herself as much as to Ryan.
No, you’re wrong. No, he isn’t a monster. No, he wouldn’t hurt me. You’re comparing apples and bananas. A human criminal to a werewolf who... used to be a criminal.

All of the arguments sounded so flimsy, she couldn’t say them out loud. She refused to discuss it further. Particularly not when Ash was within freakishly-sensitive earshot. “You gave up all rights to an opinion on my life,” she said to Ryan.

As much as she tried to brush off Ryan’s concerns as she turned to leave the room, they clung and wrapped around her like the air’s sticky humidity. Her heart beat slow and hard, trying to plow through the doubts swirling deep inside.

In spite of Ash’s initial insistence—that he was only grateful to have her back in one piece—he’d been pretty pissed. She’d never seen him so aggressive. And Ryan had a point: Ash was, in a sense, part animal. Part creature.

Sherri had read stories about people illegally raising wild animals. Thinking that since they’d had them from birth, they were tame, and later being attacked and even killed. The comparison didn’t seem fair. Ash did have a lot of humanity. Still, she wondered.

Then there was the “L” word.

Ryan had accused her of loving a monster. Sherri couldn’t call Ash a monster, but love? Maybe. Yes. After a little more than a month together, she’d certainly felt that deepening affection building inside of her, even if they hadn’t said the words.

Did Ash feel it in return? Now, watching him hunched over shirtless on the sofa while he checked and re-checked his weapons with a vicious look of determination on his face, it was tough to say what Ash felt at all.

***

A
sh stilled when Sherri’s hand touched his shoulder.

He didn’t need his sense of smell to glean her conflicted emotions. The warmth and confidence in her fingers clashed with the erratic rhythm of her breath and her clear hesitance to speak.

The sting of Ryan’s poisoned accusations hung between them. Ash surely hadn’t heard everything, but he’d heard enough.

Enough to be spun up. Both frozen in place and enraged enough to kill. Speechless and dying to lash the man with his tongue—or worse—at the same time.

“I feel like we should talk,” she said.

“I’m not sure what there is to say.” He didn’t turn to face her. He couldn’t. Fuck him, he didn’t want to see the look on her face. Heaven forbid, she believed the things her ex had said.

“You have nothing to say, so you won’t even look at me? We’re done talking?”

“About what?” He huffed a breath “I don’t have a magical phrase to assure you I’m not a monster.” Fury burned hotter inside him. The things Sherri must think of him ate through his insides like battery acid.

Her fingers tightened on his shoulder. “He doesn’t know what he’s saying.”

Ash stood, turning to face Sherri. “You’ve seen what I can do with my claws, Sherri. What I can turn into. You know damn well he’s right. I
am
a monster.”

“Is this about me being afraid, or you?”

That stopped him. “I’m not afraid.” More like fucking terrified.

She stepped sideways around the sofa and moved into his personal space. “Things got a little out of control the last time we made love. You’re gonna stand there and tell me it didn’t shake you up? It shook me up.”

“So you admit you were scared.”

“Like I said, it shook me up.” She came closer. “You’ve always been careful with me. I know how you feel about the way your father treated your mother. The way Jojo treated Zoe.” Her hands came to either side of his face, her warm eyes hovering in front of him. God damn, she smelled amazing. “I think you’d sooner tear yourself to shreds than hurt me that way,” she said.

“What if...”
What if my emotions could get out of control? Your ex makes me want to go out of my fucking mind with murderous rage. I swear, I’m about ten seconds away from killing someone. I can’t believe you’re still touching me.

As if he’d voiced his dread aloud, Sherri shook her head. “So let’s figure this out. We can’t let a bunch of maybes make our decisions. Come on.” Her hand went to his belt. “Come here.”

After having been unable to wrap his body around Sherri’s for too many days and hours, her hand on him made his skin come alive. “This is no time for games.”

“I’m thinking...” Her fingers dipped low, brushing his skin with maddening gentleness. “The moon is full tonight. If you were ever going to hurt me, it would be on a night like this. We might as well find out for sure. Put our fears to rest.”

Or have them confirmed. He’d always been careful, but he’d never been with a female on the night of a full moon. Never when he was so full of anger.

“I can’t.” He growled in opposition, even as he took her hand in his. He’d resisted touching her since they’d kissed back at the plane. Smelling another man on her skin had nearly ripped him apart. The scent—strong, intimate smells of a man who’d leaned on her, rubbed against her, and God knew what else—made him want to rip the man apart until he sprayed a mist of blood.

Seeing it so vividly in his mind while she stood right in front of him fucked his head sideways.

“You can. We can.” She glanced pointedly at the closed bedroom door and grinned a wicked grin. “Now, as you’re so fond of saying, get down here on this couch, or I will make you.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “I believe I’ve got you outgunned on the size and species front. How do you intend to make me?”

Without another word, Sherri’s shirt and pants landed on the floor. Her bra followed, her shoes, and then she gracefully dropped to the cushions beneath her. “Any questions?”

God, he loved this woman. He did. With a snarl, he fell on top of Sherri to claim her. “You’re awfully sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

She gazed up at him, eyes focused and steady. “I’m sure of you.”

He kicked off his pants and boots. “Your Ryan is in the next room.”

“I gave him one of my migraine pills. He’ll sleep for a while.” She kissed him in that soft, deep, thorough way only Sherri could kiss. “He’s not mine, Ash. Seeing him again stirred up a lot. Some of it was good. Most was not.”

Ash stroked the back of his hand over the pale skin of her arm. “I want to mark you,” he said.

“You mark me all the time.”

He smiled. “I mean I want to make you mine.”

“I know. Come here.”

She wrapped her legs around him, and Ash pushed inside. He groaned at the tight heat, the feel of her skin against his. The closeness. Dear Lord, he wanted this woman in his arms, surrounding him. Whispering in his ear.

He wanted to own her. Possess her. Forever. That dangerous thought made him growl louder, thrust harder. Grip tighter to her shoulders, his fingers almost bruising. He knew he should slow down, lighten his hold, but he couldn’t stop.

“You left me,” he murmured deep into her ear. With each advance and retreat of their bodies he breathed hard, like fire moved through his lungs. “And then you were with that... that stupid fucking human who tried to destroy you.”

Her hands skimmed his back, his shoulders. “No, Ash.” Her head tipped back, her swollen lips parted. “I didn’t leave you. I was coming back.”

A storm of emotion whirled inside of Ash’s chest. Fury made his heart race, as want for Sherri made him thrust deeper and faster. Confusion blurred his vision. His mind. What was this about anymore? What was right, and who should he believe?

A faint purple outline lingered on her shoulder. The remnants of a bite from the last time they’d been intimate. Hardly visible now, unless one looked closely. He needed to mark her again. And again.

Sherri gasped high and loud when he sank his teeth into her skin. Once again right where her neck and shoulder met, opposite the place he’d bitten before. He moaned when his tongue slid over her skin, and the faint copper tang of blood hit his tongue as he sucked a bruise up to the surface.

He couldn’t stop. More bites. No ripping, no tearing of skin, but he sucked welts from her shoulder down to her breasts, one of which he had in his mouth when they both came.

His head went back and his eyes squeezed shut as he pumped deep inside her, desperately denying the urge to howl. He didn’t want that Ryan asshole to come running in again, and see Sherri this way.

“Jesus.” He collapsed above her, panting. Sweat dripped from his skin onto hers.

Still buzzing with adrenaline, Ash dug his fingers into the fibers of the old sofa. He needed to assert his strength, to wring the life out of something. He couldn’t do it to Sherri, so he strangled the cushion beneath her instead.