Page 37

37

ZOEY

By the time Warner cuts off his bike, I’m already half naked.

Living a mile away from the nearest neighbor has its perks. It means I can open the front door, wearing nothing but a bra and panties without scandalizing the gossipmongers in this small town.

I need this. Touch. Comfort. Connection.

Maybe combatting the darkness with sex isn’t the healthiest method, but at least I’m not drinking myself into oblivion.

The front lawn is shadowed, but I can still make out Warner’s form as he dismounts. And I can see the way he stumbles to a stop when he takes me in. Next thing I know, the werewolf is running toward me, a triumphant howl ringing from him. The sound has me shivering in anticipation.

Warner tackles me in the gentlest manner. He scoops me up in his arms and uses his momentum to carry us both into the house. My arms circle his neck, and my legs wrap around his waist, clinging as I laugh at his enthusiasm.

“Nothing is better than seeing you waiting for me like this.” He rumbles the words with his face pressed into my hair and kicks the front door shut with the heel of his boot.

Disturbed from his nap, Bruce gives an exasperated huff before trotting back toward the guest bedroom he’s claimed as his own.

“Really? You like me without clothes on? I never would’ve guessed.” I can feel myself grinning as I move to meet Warner’s eye.

Only I can’t. He keeps his head turned away as he walks around the cabin with me in his arms. And for some reason, he seems bent on shutting off the lights.

“Don’t bother with those.” I didn’t wear my cutest set of underwear, only to hook up with Warner in the dark. Plus, I made sure to use ice packs on my eyes to get rid of the puffiness from my earlier sob-fest.

“I’m setting the mood,” he murmurs against my ear.

I shiver again.

Still, there’s tension underlying his words. The same bit that has all the muscles in his neck tightening. My first assumption was that it was sexual.

But now, I’m not so sure.

When the only light in the cabin is the almost-full moon peeking through a slit in the curtains, Warner finally turns his head to kiss me.

His mouth is ravenous, his tongue eager. The werewolf stands in the middle of the main room, clutching me to him, devouring my mouth as if I’m the reason he can breathe.

When we finally break apart, he gasps out one question. “Couch or bed?”

“Couch,” I declare.

For one, it’s closer. But also, it works better with my plan.

Just because my mind begs to get lost in the passion of Warner’s kiss doesn’t mean I’ll give in to the urge.

Something is wrong, and I’m going to find out what.

“I assume you want me on bottom,” he says, his tone half humorous, half pleading.

“Glad that you’re learning.” My voice is all huskiness, and Warner responds to it eagerly.

He walks around to the front of the couch, settling us on the old cushions, him lying back while I straddle his waist.

I’m tempted to lean down and kiss the hell out of him.

But I can’t.

Before he realizes my intention, I reach for the lamp on the table beside the armrest and flick on the light.

His body goes taut under me, and when I blink to adjust my eyes, I see why.

Warner’s eyebrow has a nasty gash through it, and his face is bruised. He winces and avoids my eyes, but that doesn’t stop me from wrenching up his shirt to find even more discoloration on his torso.

“Where did all of these bruises come from?” My words come out ragged with worry. He’s riddled with injuries. “Did you have an accident at work?”

“It doesn’t matter. They’ll be healed in a few hours.” Warner pries his shirt out of my hands, pulling it down to cover himself.

“It does matter. What happened? When did it happen? You weren’t messed up like this when we went out to lunch!”

“Zoey.” He groans my name, sitting up to bury his face in my neck and wrap his arms around my waist. The hold presses us tight together, which I would enjoy any other time, but now, I can’t examine his injuries.

He starts kissing my skin, causing goose bumps to prickle all over my body.

The sneaky animal is looking to distract me.

I’m not having any of it.

My fingers comb into his hair, as if I’m giving him a normal gentle caress. Then, I fist my hands, grabbing hold of the roots and directing his head back until Warner meets my eyes. He pants, lust clear in his gaze.

He likes when I take charge. When I get a little rough.

“Warner.” His name comes out of my throat in a sultry murmur, and his eyelids flicker at the sound. “What do I want?”

“You want to suck my dick?”

I almost smile at the hopeful note in his voice.

But I keep the humor off my face, instead giving his hair another tug before leaning down to bite his bottom lip. Hard.

He groans, deep in his throat, and his erection grows hard under my ass.

“What do I want?” My tone is more demanding as I repeat the question.

With his head pulled back, I can see the way he swallows. I can watch the tensing, then relaxing of his jaw. After a moment, he sighs in defeat.

“You want to know what happened to me.”

My grip relaxes, and I use the pads of my fingers to massage his scalp and place a gentle kiss to his lip to soothe where I bit him.

“You don’t have to tell me.” I watch Warner’s eyebrows rise in disbelief before I clarify. “But if you don’t, I’m going to ask you to leave.”

His embrace tightens again as wide eyes search my face.

Maybe it’s unfair that I’d be fine with a friend like Juliet keeping her secrets from me while I demand that Warner share his or get out.

But Juliet wasn’t covered in bruises.

And the rules of friends change when …

When you’re whatever Warner and I are.

“I got into a fight with another wolf,” Warner admits.

“Werewolf or wolf , wolf?”

“Werewolf.”

“Why were you two fighting?”

Warner grimaces before resting his head on my shoulder. “Because he would’ve hurt you if I hadn’t.”

Cold trails through my veins at his words, and I give an involuntary shiver.

“Could you elaborate on that?”

Warner loosens his hold, only to rub his hands up and down my back. The move is soothing, but I can’t give up all the tension thrumming through me. My eyes flit to the dark window, wondering if I’ll see the face of an animal on the other side of the glass.

“It was Ross. The asshole from my work. You insulted him, made him look stupid.”

Some of my fear gives way to anger. “Good. That was the point.”

Warner lifts his head to offer me a thin smile. His warm palms cup my cheeks, and he trails his thumb over my lips. “And I loved watching you talk circles around him.” He sighs. “But my kind doesn’t take insults lightly. And we hold grudges. When I got back, he made some more comments, and I knew things weren’t over. Not in his mind.” Warner’s hold becomes firm, as if he’s desperate to keep me in place. “I knew that if Ross ever came across you again, there was the real possibility he might hurt you.”

“So, you fought him?”

Warner nods. “Werewolves are territorial. We’ll get violent to protect what’s ours. Especially if it’s someone we care about.”

Is that what I am? His?

I don’t voice the question, not sure I want to hear the answer.

“But how does you two fighting solve anything? Did you … kill him?” I hesitate because this is another answer I’m not sure I want.

“No! No, I swear.” Warner presses a kiss to my forehead, so gentle that I have trouble imagining him getting violent with anyone. “Think of it like MMA. I just knocked him out. We weren’t even in wolf form.”

“Okay.” I’ve never been a fan of the sport, but at least I have a mental image. “Still, what’s to keep Ross from hurting me in the future?”

“It’s a dominance thing. And a warning. He knows that if he hurts you, I’ll come after him. Actually, if he comes after you, he’ll face punishment from the pack.” Warner grimaces, obviously realizing he’s not explaining the situation well.

“I think you need to tell me more about werewolves. Do you all have different rules than humans? Do I have to follow those rules when we’re together?”

Warner tilts his head as he ponders my questions. “We do. Have different rules, that is. And we monitor ourselves. The Pine Falls police force doesn’t have jurisdiction over the pack, and they know it.”

“That’s disconcerting.”

His lips pull tight before he shrugs. “In some towns, with other packs, yeah. It would be. But our pack leader is Roderick. You’ll never meet a more honorable guy. And if anything, he holds us to a higher standard than any human laws would.”

I think back on my brief interaction with the stoic werewolf. He was intimidating, but reminded me of my oldest brother Abram, one of the most honorable men I know. Maybe werewolf law isn’t the worst thing in the world.

Problem is, it’s hard to follow rules I haven’t learned.

“And do I have to meet these standards too? Since we’re hanging out.”

Now, Warner stares at me with intensity. “Hanging out?”

“No changing the subject.” Especially to a topic I’m not ready to discuss . “Am I going to get challenged to a cage fight?”

The werewolf relaxes back on the armrest, his gaze tracing over me, finally admiring my lingerie. “No. But if you piss off werewolves, I might have to fight a few more on your behalf.”

Guilt and annoyance war in me.

“So, your injuries are my fault?”

His stare, which went heavy as he looked at my body, widens and jumps to my face. “No, Zoey. This is all Ross. He needed to be put in his place. Even if you hadn’t set him down, I still would have called him out just for the way he came on to you.”

Still, this seems to come back to me. And I don’t like the circular way our conversation is going. Instead, I take advantage of Warner’s willingness to share to ask another werewolf question.

“Do you live forever?”

His smile returns. He smiles so easily, and I enjoy the warm glow of his good humor.

“No. We heal faster, so we live longer. But not by much. Maybe add ten more years to our average life expectancy.”

“Okay. And how are werewolves made?”

He smirks. “Lack of birth control.”

That surprises a laugh out of me, but I clench my teeth down to stifle any more. Warner gives me his cheekiest grin as his callous palms drag up over my exposed stomach. When he reaches the lacy cups of my bra, his thumbs tease at the material, and I feel the heat of his touch through the fabric. My nipples tighten, and he gives a satisfied hum in the back of his throat.

Then, I notice two things. The first is an obvious hardening under my butt. The second is a blackness that seeps out from his pupils, erasing the lovely brandy color of his irises.

The change is fascinating. I find myself leaning forward, cupping his cheeks to hold him in place so I can watch it happen.

“Why do your eyes do that? Turn black?”

Warner blinks. “Emotion. If a wolf is enraged. Or aroused.” He leans up to nip at my nose before dropping his head back to the armrest. “It shows our animalistic nature is coming out. It also happens right before a change.”

I jerk back. “You’re not going to change in the middle of sex, are you?”

The werewolf laughs at that, but stifles the amusement when he spots my frown.

“No. Don’t worry. For one, as long as it’s not the full moon, I have complete control over when I change. But also, when I’m in wolf form, I don’t deal with sexual urges. That’s all in my human form. All the wolf cares about is your safety.”

“Good to know.” I smirk down at him.

A sudden tug on my wrist pulls me forward until my face is flush with his. When my hair falls around us like a brown curtain, I feel safe from the world. Werewolf rules and human rules drift away. Warner gives another tug until I’m close enough for him to bury his head in the crook of my neck. I hear the deep inhale he makes, and the sound piques my curiosity.

“What’s up with you always sniffing my neck? Are you planning on chomping down? That seems like vampire territory.”

Warner chuckles and licks my quickening pulse. “It’s one of your warm spots.”

“Warm spots?”

His nose trails over the skin, teasing me until I can’t help squirming in his hold.

“Mmhmm. Your scent is stronger here. Drives me crazy.” His teeth pinch me, but so gently that all I can do is gasp.

“You said spots. Where else?” Hopefully, he’s not about to shove his face in my armpit.

Warner unhooks my bra and slides it off my arms before pressing his nose between my breasts. “Here.”

He licks my skin, and a shaking starts deep inside me.

Strong hands trail down my spine and over my thighs until his fingers press into the soft flesh at the back of my knees. “This is another.”

“You want to sniff my knees?” Despite my rising arousal, I can’t help snorting out a giggle. Against my chest, I can feel Warner smile.

But then his fingers reverse their journey until they find the center of me.

“This is probably my favorite though.” And he starts to leisurely stroke me, which means I’m back to writhing against him.

Memories of our previous encounter flash through my mind. Half of me wants to repeat the experience move for move just to ensure the same mind-shattering result. But the other half of me wants to come up with new avenues to pleasure.

Suddenly, I realize my oversight. Last time, I treated Warner like a human man. I didn’t even consider the possibilities that come along with his supernatural status.

“How strong are you?”