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Either way, I was ready.

I stood tall as his eyes scanned the empty room before landing on me. Lanson looked at me with an expression I had never seen before, one of hatred and pride and cruelness. He was a stranger staring at me now from the other side of the study.

I fucking hated him. I hated him for tricking me into thinking he was good and kind. I hated myself even more for falling for it. I wasn’t this person. Lord trained me to be better than that, to be smarter than that.

I was so distracted by Lanson’s death glare that I didn’t feel the body coming up behind me.

“Do you want to really piss him off?” Wolf’s voice whispered so quietly in my ear, I almost didn’t hear him.

And he was close, so close that if I turned to look at him, his lips would have brushed against me.

“What?” I whispered back.

Wolf’s hands slid softly onto my hips from behind. He pulled me back an inch until I pressed against his chest. I almost pushed away, but the grip on my body held me still.

“Go with it,” he said. “Weak, cowardly males like Lanson all want the same thing.”

Wolf dipped his head from behind and skimmed the sensitive skin of my neck and shoulder with his mouth.

Hells.

“And what’s that?” I asked. I fought to keep my voice steady with the sudden wave of heat pooling in my lower stomach.

One glance at Lanson told me he was watching every second.

“They want to feel like they’re the only one who can give you what you want.” His lustful voice vibrated against my neck as I tilted my head, giving him whathewanted.

His hands tightened against my hips, fingertips pressing into me with a possessive need before he slid a hand up my torso, pinning me to him from behind.

I exhaled and closed my eyes, buying into this show.

Wolf was right. Lanson had believed I hated Wolf, had believed I wanted nothing to do with him. That cowardly bastard might have hated me, but he hated Wolf even more.

I leaned against him completely as his hovering lips turned to fervent kisses against my exposed skin. It was nothing like the way Lanson touched me.

It wasn’t hesitant or questioning or gentle. Wolf held me with a dominating need, one that weakened my knees and made me forget everything I was supposed to despise about him.

He kissed my neck and grazed my skin with his teeth, sending chills down my arms. He sucked the skin lightly in between kisses, and I rolled my head back against his chest. His mouth, so hot that I was sure my skin was burning, slid from my neck to my ear, where his breath sent chills down my spine.

“At least pretend to like the way I touch you,” he whispered.

Yeah.

I was screwed.

I didn’t even look to see if Lanson was still watching us before I spun in Wolf’s arms, draping my hands over his shoulders and pressing my chest to his. His arms fell naturally across my back, holding me against him just as strongly as he had before.

Certain. Secure.

“What now?” I asked, my lips not even an inch from his.

Shadows swarmed his eyes. His chest rose and fell heavily against mine, the only sign that he was affected by our passionate touch.

“That depends,” Wolf whispered back, eyes moving from mine down to my lips. “How mad at him are you?”

It was a deep question, one that went beyond the simple words that had left Wolf’s mouth.

How mad was I?