Page 44 of A Clash of Moonlight

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Jared forced himself to park his car a mile away from Nora’s home. He sprinted the distance. Reached her front door.

It was locked. He broke it down.

“Nora!”

The entire house smelled of wolf.

Of course it did. The estate was Lehr’s previous residence. It was well positioned to provide for wolves when they shifted back to their human forms. He knew this. It had never bothered him before.

“Nora!”

He strode toward the stairs. She was probably sleeping. Was she sleeping alone?

He paused on the first step. That was not why he was there. He had no claim on Nora, and wolves were notoriously sexual. She had sought him out tonight, and he had not been available. It would make sense for her to seek pleasure elsewhere.

“What do you want?” Nora demanded.

He spun as she stepped out from her office.

He did not want her to seek pleasure elsewhere. She was beauty incarnate. Her hair flowed over her shoulders with a light wave, almost hiding the thin straps of her silk nightgown. The material’s silver shimmer accentuated the amber in her eyes and did little to hide her full breasts and chill-pebbled nipples. Her long legs would feel as smooth and soft as the gown. He wanted his mouth on them, his tongue licking higher, toward the scent and the taste of her.

He wanted her.

Her gaze dropped to his hands, hands that had killed her kind, and her eyes turned golden.

“You are okay?” he asked.

“You killed them.” Her words came out as a harsh condemnation.

“They killed a vampire. They stalked Kennedy Rain. And they did not belong to Lehr.” He waited for her to deny the last part. She would have felt their existences wink out if they were pack mates. Her wolf would have demanded retribution.

“You discipline your vampires,” she said. “We discipline wolves.”

“No other wolves were around to stop them. They might have killed the girl.”

“Then they kill her!”

Nora’s anger was sudden and out of place. Out of proportion. The werewolves protected the Rains the same as vampires did. She did not mean those words. Something else had caused that outburst.

“Another wolf was here,” he said.

“Yes.” Another shard of ice launched his direction.

That was it. That was why her anger was not straightforward.

She is fine. You should leave. He might have been able to listen to his subconscious if an edge of fear did not still cling to him. He did not know what to do with that feeling. He had not been touched by it in such a long time. It combined with the need for her body and blood…

He could not let her see any emotion in his eyes, so he turned away from her and walked to the kitchen.

She stalked after him.

He turned on the sink, pumped soap into his palm, and proceeded to wash the remnants of the wolf blood from his hands. His hands which were shaking.

“Why are you here?” she demanded.

He scrubbed at his nails. Concentrated solely on them.