Page 161

“What are you doing in here, angel? Didn’t you ever learn not to play with other people’s things?”

The wall sconces gave the atrium a moody light, and the shadows lengthened as I stalked toward her. My veins blistered with trapped heat, and this little omega was in the path of a firestorm. Tully slid off the bench.

“Am I not allowed to be here?” Tully didn’t have dimples, but there was the shadow of one in her smile.

Her smile.

I’d do anything to keep it. Her cheeks flushed under my intense gaze. I couldn’t look away if I tried. This heavenly thing between us throbbed with heat, and I brushed its length to glean what was under her skin. What brought her to me when she was so used to running?

“Do you remember the first time you found me here? What I said to you?” I tugged her back onto the seat, leaning in to fill my lungs with her scent.

Gods, give me oblivion. Anything except the rage that clutched my insides with teeth.

“I remember,” my sweet girl replied, and it made my teeth ache. “I couldn’t stay away.”

Thank fuck she didn’t. This pack needed her.

I ran my thumb across her lower lip, and she drew it into her mouth and grazed it with her nimble teeth. A groan jolted out of me, and we both froze. My breathing was shallow as I tried to find the words to make her stay.

“Do you want to play?”

Her brief nod sent a surge of energy through my body, and I pulled her between my legs. Tully let out a soft puff of surprise.

“Put your hands on mine,” I hissed through my teeth as she obeyed.

We shivered together. Mine barely restrained terror, hers… nerves? Excitement. I nudged my nose along her neck and tasted the lush longing in her scent. What changed to bring her into my arms tonight?

“I want to talk to you about your hands.”

I didn’t reply, letting my fingers dance over the keys instead. A haunting, vicious song. With no harmony, no beauty. Tully hovered her fingers above mine as I poured my discontent onto the piano. My right hand curled, and the keys smashed wrong. I showed her what I had become. This was what was inside me. Amess of rage and disgust. Tar coated my insides until they were sticky, dark, and rotten.

“I couldn’t get enough of music, I breathed it. My parents had to drag me away from practice, and I sometimes fell asleep on the bench. Everything was right when I played. My parents paid for tutors. But I had a natural talent my teachers had never seen before. It felt like a superpower. Have you ever felt like that before, Tully?”

“No.” Her whisper brushed against my ear.

“Suddenly, everyone was looking at me, waiting and watching for me to become a superstar. But I didn’t. My fingers slipped on the keys, from anxiety, from strain. That’s what I thought.” I held up my curled hand. “You see this? Outside of piano, it’s fine. There is nothing physically wrong with my hand. It’s up here where the problem is. Neurological.” I tapped my head.

Tully didn’t say anything, and I was grateful for that. If she’d prodded or pressed, I would close up tight and lash out. Inevertalked about playing the piano, and the reason I’d stopped. How to explain the pressure, the weight of a thousand people’s opinions. Worst of all, the two people who were supposed to love me no matter what. It became the greatest source of my panic and stress. It built and built and built. Until I folded under the weight. It was easy to blame my hands, but the real problem went much deeper.

“When my mentor offered me drugs I could finally play without feeling like I was drowning. I didn’t realize it came at a cost, and the debt is still there. It’s like a hungry mouth, never satisfied with what I give it. I can’t play the piano properly anymore. Not the way other people want to hear it, with beauty and skill.” My shoulders sagged.

“I can’t imagine…” Tully’s whisper trailed off.

“Are you sad for me? Poor little Pan, perhaps?”

Tully shook her head, and I turned her jaw. My fingers bit into her smooth jawline.

“No? You don’t feel any pity for me?”

Her chin lifted, and my stomach clenched with excitement. “You don’t want it.”

“What do I want, little omega?” My insides boiled.

“Not words.” She slipped her small hand up my neck and collared my throat. My gulp worked past her unrelenting grip. Her gaze narrowed as she disassembled me. “You want games, right? But you like to lose.”

Fuck. How did she know me so well?

“Oh, my angel. Are you going to play with me?” My body trembled.