Wild Nights with a Lone Wolf (9 page)

“Ash.” Sherri put one hand over his. With the other, she reached out toward the young man. “I’m Sherri. Thank you very much for bringing us food. We’re grateful.”

Sherri would do whatever she could to keep someone who seemed sympathetic on their side. Lord knew they might need the help.

The younger guy pointed at Ash. “He doesn’t like me. It’s fine. Here’s your food.” He squatted down, putting himself lower than Ash where he sat on the bed. “Thought you’d want to know, I talked to Jett,” he whispered. “I think he’s gonna be at the handoff. I’d be ready.”

“How’d you talk to Jett?”

“Tracked him down. Let him know you ran into trouble.” He gave Ash a glare. “You’re welcome.”

Ash glanced at Sherri. “Jett’s an investigator with Nogales PD.”

Sherri squeezed Ash’s hand. “That’s great. That’s exactly what we need.” They could take down whoever was behind this and possibly intercept the drugs as well.

Ash seemed underwhelmed. His only response was a quiet. “Thanks, Kyle.”

“Yeah. No sweat.” The young man stood and left, a chill following him out of the room.

Ash lay back on the bed, thoughtful for a few minutes before he finally spoke. “Well shit, I think that kid did us a huge favor.”

Sherri agreed. She didn’t know how or why the young man had gotten word to Ash’s brother, but doing so must have been risky. Surely that meant a few of the pack members might be on Ash’s side. That sounded promising.

“I still don’t like the little weasel,” Ash said. “But he’s earned some points.”

She frowned. “He seems nice enough. He helped us.”

Ash’s expression was bland. “Eh. He’s a pack-groupie. A human hanger-on. My father shelters him in exchange for loyalty and service. Loyalty should be earned. Being wanted for what you are rather than who you are is something I cannot stand.”

Unease pinged in Sherri’s chest. “That’s not what you think I am, is it?” She thought of her fascination the night she met Ash, and the shameless way she came back for more.

Ash rose up, brushing the sweaty hair from her face. “I approached you, remember?”

“That’s true.” She smiled slightly.

His finger kept going. Down her neck, and then on slowly, deliberately to trace her collarbone. “The night we met, I was...
aching
... to get you naked. You looked like a good girl who was dying for a reason to be bad. I wanted to be your reason.”

Her face heated. “I was certainly in a mood when we met.”

“Hell yeah, you were. One look and I was desperate to get my hands on you. Would it be all right if I put my hands on you now, Sherri?”

The heat stifled and her blood rushed so loudly she could hardly think. Her eyes met his, and she found herself nodding her head as she put her hands to his shoulders. If she needed something to grab hold of while they waited in this terrible limbo, she couldn’t think of a better place than him.

***

A
sh had watched Sherri walk away the previous night, so buzzed with pleasure he’d wanted nothing more than to run outside, howl at the moon, and go back in to do it all again. Commitments at Howlers and a fierce hold on his lone wolf status had let her leave when he’d wanted her to stay, unsure if he’d really seek her out again once she disappeared.

Now, they’d landed back together, thanks to this shit storm. Even though the circumstances sucked jaguar balls, he wasn’t sure he minded. It gave him an excuse to touch Sherri again. So he did.

“May I?” Ash denied his baser instinct, his desire to rip Sherri’s barely hanging-on shirt from its confines and expose the warm, smooth skin he knew hid beneath. His fingers hovered a breath above her cheek. At her nod of agreement they touched down, and he released a rumble of satisfaction at the now familiar sensation.

“I’m sorry about this,” he murmured. “I know I keep saying so, but I really didn’t intend to bring you into this kind of trouble.”

“I attended a tutorial on the potential... criminal element associated with your kind. I knew the night we met that going to bed with you was a risk. It was mine to take. I still appreciate your remorse.” Sherri’s head lolled to the side. Her eyes lost focus, like she’d gone somewhere else in her mind. “The last guy I was with used me to funnel information for his boyfriend’s money laundering scams. He sure as hell didn’t apologize.”

Ash paused. Carefully, he pressed on Sherri’s cheek so that she had to make eye contact with him again. “So little of that makes sense. Please explain.”

She put a hand over her eyes. “It’s horrible and embarrassing. I was a shiny, new agent, working white collar crimes out of DC. I fucked up.”

He slapped a hand over her mouth. Lips brushing her ear, he whispered, “Whisper, remember? I suspected you might be law enforcement when you went for a gun in the bar. It won’t go over well here if they find out.”

She nodded. “Ryan and I had dated for two years and moved in together before I found out he was actually the lover of a dangerous but charismatic criminal named Boris Gusin. Boris was using Ryan to steal case information from me to evade capture.”

Ash found it difficult to close his mouth. “Jesus. There’s so much betrayal among my kind, but you must trust your mate. Once formed, that bond can only be broken by death.”

Her smile looked sad. “It’s different with humans.”

“So I’ve seen. That’s one reason why humans and
weres
don’t bond well. My father loved a human. It didn’t work.”

She gestured between them. “So do you think this will work? Will we be able to fool them I mean? The literal ‘til death do we part’ requirement sounds like a major monkey wrench.”

He smiled. “That bond is pack law. I belong to no pack. And you didn’t seem to like my ‘kill everybody to escape’ plan, so yes. I do hope we can fake our way through a mating ceremony.” In truth, he found himself wishing for things with Sherri that went beyond a fake ceremony. Wishing they could be something more, in spite of their differences.

The realization made it hard to breathe.

Sherri smiled sadly. “We’re outnumbered. The other plan was too risky. If it came to it, would you honestly be able to kill your own father?”

His fingers tangled in her hair. “To save you? Us? Yes. My father has killed plenty. So has Jojo. It was his bullshit posturing that brought you here. They know the risks, and I meant what I said when I left.”

“What did you say?”

“That if they fucked with me again, I’d bite back, and it wouldn’t be pretty.” He growled low in his throat, anger rising.

Sherri frowned. “That’s crazy.”

“It is.” Ash touched her skin, feeling the heat that rose from her body. A sudden flood of musk and pheromones swirled in his nostrils, making him throb. “And yet you’re aroused.” He skimmed a palm over her inner thigh and up to the waist of her pants. Dammit, he was anxious to take them off and prove his point.

Sherri squirmed beneath him, pushing their bodies together. “I don’t even know why. The situation is so far beyond wrong, I can barely spell the word.”

“I know why.” He claimed her mouth and tongue, kissing her as roughly as he dared. Their bodies ground together, their skin sweaty from the lack of ventilation in the room. When he pulled away two buttons had popped on her shirt and one on her pants.

“You, uh, wanna clue me in?”

“I’ll clue you in if you let me take off your pants.”

She rolled her eyes, but allowed him to ease down her zipper anyway.

He’d hardly thrown off the coveralls when he was on her again, taking care with the delicate buttons on the blouse and her lacy under things, only because she didn’t have spare clothes. He groaned when he pushed inside her, thrusting faster, impossibly harder, than he had the night before. When her legs folded around his waist and her heels dug into his back, he thought he might be in heaven.

“God, Sherri. I’ve never met such a passionate human.”

“Tell me,” she said.

“Unbelievably passionate,” he growled.

“Explain, I mean.”

He chuckled and slid his hand under her head. “One track mind, hmm?”

“You said... you’d explain.”

“Okay...” He pulled her hips forward and slowed their pace, angling her head to the side so he could whisper into her ear. “I know... we just met. I know... you’re a strong woman. But...” Ash’s free hand slid over her belly, her breasts, up over her shoulder. It held her firm as he thrust steady and hard. “But still, if I tell you I’ll kill anyone who lays a fucking finger on you, how does that make you feel?”

Sherri gasped. Her eyes widened and her legs tightened their squeeze around his body. “That’s... oh.”

He thrust harder. “And if I tell you I’d have that asshole boyfriend who betrayed you taken care of in a heartbeat?”

A soft gasp. The blush on her cheeks darkened. “He’s in prison.”

“You think I couldn’t get to him there?”

“Don’t...”

“Don’t worry.” Ash sat up and gathered her into his lap, wrapping her around him again. He pulled her hair to the side, whispering to her still as she rode his cock. “I won’t. I wouldn’t. But if you asked me to, I could and I would.” He grunted and snarled, nipping possessively at her shoulder. “Do you like knowing that? If you asked, I would go that far.”

“Yes. Oh my God, I do. I shouldn’t... but I do.” She stifled a cry, and her slick walls clamped down around him. Nails raked across his back. Her breath came harsh and ragged into his sensitive ear. Suddenly, Sherri stilled. She arched her back with a trembling gasp, and then sagged against him.

Ash snarled and thrust hard as he rode out his orgasm. “A man goes to the ends of the earth to protect his mate,” he murmured. “Even when you can take care of yourself, it’s good to know someone is willing.”

“I... God...”

“All those proper words of yours, and I’ve rendered you speechless?” He couldn’t help but chuckle, licking the salt and sweat on her shoulder. “Mmm. I enjoy tasting you.”

“I... Thank you.” She pushed her hair back from her face. “Oh my God. I’ve never... That was amazing.”

He laid her back on the bed. “You liked those things I said to you.” It wasn’t a question.

She stared off into space at first. “I did. I can’t believe that I did. I’m not one of those women who needs to be taken care of. I sure as hell don’t condone revenge or violence. It’s stupid because it never stops. That’s so
nuts.
”

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.”

Z
oe 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.”