Page 15

Sure, it’s been torture hearing Raf tell me about her life — including every guy she ever dated — but I’m good at pretending not to care.

Growing up, I’d pretended I didn’t care about going to school in dirty clothes that were a size too small.

I’d pretended I didn’t care that my own shitty parents were too fucked up to go to work or make sure there was food in the house.

I’d pretended I didn’t care that I had to swipe my friends’ uneaten scraps from the cafeteria just so I’d have something to eat between lunch and the free breakfast theyoffered at school. And if it was a weekend, I’d hang out at Raf’s as much as I could just so I didn’t go hungry.

So, yeah . . . I could pretend that I didn’t care about the beautiful girl who was old enough and practically within reach. I could do it because I had to.

Suddenly, my skin feels much too tight. My whole body tingles with the urge to shift, and I need to work off some of this energy before shutting myself in a hotel room with temptation.

“I’m going for a run,” I tell Maddox, getting to my feet and clapping him on the shoulder.

Maddox fixes me with that same odd look, but he doesn’t say a word as I stalk out of the gated pool area and head for my Jeep.

CHAPTER SIX

JAKE

When I finally get back tothe hotel room, I hear the shower running. My muscles are quivering, and my skin still tingles from the change. I drove out to the nearest wildlife refuge and let my wolf run as far as I could, but it did little to take the edge off.

The scent of Elena’s coconut shampoo wafts from the bathroom, and my cock twitches in my shorts. I squeeze my eyes shut and try to think about anything other than Lena naked in the shower.

But then the water shuts off, and she steps out of the bathroom. She’s wearing one of those tiny hotel towels, the edge tucked in between her breasts. Her golden skin is still damp from the shower, and her dark hair is drying in soft curls that stick to her neck.

Her eyes widen when she sees me, and a delicate flush paints her cheeks. She wasn’t expecting me to be here.

“Sorry, I’ll just —” I gesture at the empty bathroom behind her. “Give you some privacy.”

“Okay,” she chokes, ducking back in to grab her toiletry bag and skirting around me.

That warm coconut-and-vanilla scent intensifies, seeping into my pores, and my cock swells at the knowledge that her pussy is bare beneath that towel.

Not helpful, I tell myself as I retreat into the bathroom and slam the door behind me.

I turn the water on as cold as it will go and strip out of my shorts. My dick is standing at attention, stiff as a board, and all I did was see her in a towel.

This weekend isnotgoing well.

My teeth chatter as I step under the icy spray, but Elena’s delicious scent lingers. I spy the offending shampoo resting on the shelf in the shower beside a bright-pink razor.

I wonder if she shaves her pussy.

The thought pops into my head completely unprovoked, and I realize what a huge mistake I’ve made.

I should never have agreed to come here — much less offer to share a room with her. I thought I was strong, but my addiction is stronger, and this weekend is a test I do not need.

Bracing my hands against the wall of the shower, I will my erection to go away. No way am I jacking off with Elena on the other side of the wall.

I emerge with a towel wrapped around my waist to find Elena getting ready. Mercifully, she’s wearing clothes as she straightens her now-dry hair.

But fuck, thatdress. It’s a shimmery little gold number that barely covers her ass. Her long toned legs taunt me as she fixes her hair, and she’s wearing a pair of matching gold heals that bring her head almost to my nose.

I don’t miss the way her eyes catch on my chest when she sees me in the mirror. But then she tears her gaze away and clears her throat loudly. “What are you doing tonight?”

Peeling off that poor excuse for a dress and licking you all over.

Seeing if youdoshave that sweet little pussy.