Page 4 of Forsaken Desire (Ruthless Wolves #1)

“I’ll help,” I offered, keeping pace with her.

She abruptly stopped. I could tell she was deliberating briefly.

Finally making up her mind, she waved me after her.

“All you need to do is deliver some fresh towels. Set them on the bed and leave—” She lifted her beeping phone.

“I’m out of time. I’m going to have to call Ms. Zhao.

Elevators are in the lobby. Room 201.” She pressed a key card into my palm.

“Wilbert will have them in a sealed pouch on the edge of the counter.” I followed her motioning hand toward the package on the ledge.

“You’re seriously saving my ass.” She took off at a sprint in the opposite direction we’d been heading with the phone in hand, disappearing around the corner.

There must be an employee exit that way.

My first duty in my new job, and I didn’t want to fuck it up.

I exhaled and rolled my shoulders. Grab the package, take it to room 201, set the package on the bed, leave.

It should be an easy task. It didn’t take me long to reach the package sitting on the counter.

The clear bag was compressed to make the towels thin.

When I breathed in, a potent vanilla scent came from them. To the point that it stung my nose.

Okay, then.

I hoisted the bundle in my arms, one that weighed more than it looked, and retraced my steps back toward the lobby. Even though I made sure to do daily push-ups, I wasn’t used to all the speed walking I’d been doing. Combined with the new-ness of the situation, my heart rate was through the roof.

The double doors leading to the back swung shut, and I entered the lobby.

Tucked to the side and directly across the employee area were the elevators.

Once I reached them, I jammed the button, taking the brief moment to catch my breath.

The one on the left opened, and I hurried in and pressed the second-floor button.

A quick in and out, and then I would be in time to attend orientation. The ding was accompanied by the elevator doors swinging open. I shuffled onto the carpeted floor.

With the package in my arms, I made it to room 201 and fished out the key card. I pressed it against the black rectangle above the door handle. The three little lights turned green. Upon opening the door, a wave of intense vanilla slapped me across the face. I sniffed, aching to rub my nose.

A low drone of classical music hummed from a speaker.

I entered, and the heavy door thudded shut, enclosing me in the dark room.

A beam of light came from past the edge of the small hall.

The bed was within distance. I hurried over and couldn’t help but eye the other items on the bed.

Lotion and perfume in a vanilla scent. A diffuser ran on the nightstand. Whoever was in here loved the smell.

The classical music swelled and then came to a stop, allowing me to hear the spray of the shower.

Fuck. The patron was already here.

I dropped the package on the bed, but severely underestimated the weight. It hit the bottle of lotion and sent it skidding to the side, while the clear bag hosting the towels slipped to the edge of the bed. No!

I lunged for it, managing to capture it by the edge of the plastic. The mattress dug into my belly, and I exhaled with relief. Day one, task one, and I was messing up, but there was still a chance to save myself?—

A growl froze me in place. I squeezed my eyes shut. How would I explain and get myself out of this without losing my job?

“You’re early.” The deep, spine-tingling voice sliced through the silence, and a palm pressed on my shoulder, forcing my boobs flat to the bed. “I paid for you to wear a fucking dress.”

I sucked in a breath as something hard dug into my ass.

“W—”

“Silence,” he bit.

My words cut off as two large hands engulfed my sides, still over my clothing, as they dragged down the sides of my breasts.

The plastic slipped out of my grip and thumped on the floor.

The hardness pushed into my ass more insistently.

Vanilla crept into my nose, but it was deeper, less artificial .

. . it was coming from him. Butterflies started in my stomach.

“At least you’re wearing the scent I requested,” he growled in my ear.

Lust blazed downward, and my sex pulsed just from his words. Fuck. Fuck. He felt so good. He smelled so good.

But who was ‘ he’ ?!

“Wait,” I croaked, and he stilled over me.

I used the moment of distraction to dig my fingers into the bedsheets.

I yanked myself up a few inches, loosening his weight pinning me.

His hands spread on the bedsheets to prop himself up.

I rolled over onto my back with little wiggles, his body rubbing against mine. I was so turned on it actually hurt.

I met his hazel eyes. My breath stilled in my throat.

Warmth flared in my sternum, and I gasped, staring at the brief flash of a pale, brilliant string stretching from my chest to his before it became muted. The comforting heat hadn’t disappeared.

This was that fated mate bond Tate had told me about. My heart throbbed and tears sprang to my eyes. I’d found my fated.

It felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. The swell of sudden, piercing emotion took me by surprise. I hiccupped on a breath.

I wanted to shift and rub all over my mate. To curl up in his arms. I blinked the sheen of tears away, and his face came into focus. The dark slashes of his eyebrows rested high on his forehead, and lines bracketed his mouth.

“Mate?” he uttered gruffly—reverently. “How?”

Glassy eyes stared at me from dark lashes. His expression crumpled, the furrow between his eyebrows deepening, and his weight fell on me, arms curling under my back to press me tight to him.

The bed creaked.

“Oomph,” I grunted from how hard he squeezed.

His body shuddered, trembling so hard that he caused my body to shake.

A thick knot formed in my throat. He engulfed me in his arms to the point that I almost disappeared.

He was huge and smelled so, so good. His touch calmed the turmoil in my heart.

Tears returned to my eyes. I sniffled and lifted my hands to his sides.

His skin was smooth, hard, and slightly damp.

The tips of my fingers grazed against the top of the towel wrapped around his waist.

I nuzzled into the crook of his throat. He shuddered again.

“Mate,” he rumbled.

The title from his mouth sent shivers through every part of my body.

I wanted to look at him. To memorize every inch of his face.

I wiggled back, removing my nose from his delicious-smelling neck.

The intensity hadn’t left his face. His eyes seemed to devour my face.

He propped himself up. My hands slipped off his sides and settled on his hard chest. So muscled . . .

Get back on track, Joey .

He cupped my head, lifting me easily. My bun was no more as he forced his fingers through the strands. His eyes searched mine as if seeking answers.

“Who are you . . .?” he croaked in a harsh tone and cut himself off.

“Josephine—Joey,” I said. He breathed harshly, each puff of his breath fanning his delicious scent across my face. A droplet of water fell off his hair and plopped onto my cheek. He cupped my jaw and swiped his thumb across it.

“Josephine,” he repeated, rolling my name in his deep voice. I shivered. If my mate could say my name forever, I would be happy. “I’ve searched for you.”

The ballooning happiness expanding in my gut was overshadowed by my reality. He hadn’t been able to find me because I’d been in prison. My lungs stopped working. Would he be disgusted by what I’d caused? By where I’d been the last four years?

If he forced me to leave, I’d be in agony. Nausea swirled in my stomach, unpleasant and dizzying.

I couldn’t tell him yet. My pounding heart settled, and I hooked my arms around his neck and pulled, but instead of bringing him down, I ended up hoisting myself up to press my nose into his neck again.

I rubbed my fingertips into the back of his hair. He groaned with a shudder. With one hand on the mattress, he put the other on my ass and flipped me to settle on his lap. I landed on him with my legs straddling his waist.

“Let me look at my mate,” he said, gripping my chin and tipping it up. “How old are you, Princess?” I was no princess, but my throat clogged up, not letting me tell him my truth.

“Twenty-two,” I mumbled through my puckered lips. Worry creased his expression. “Too young for you?” I quirked an eyebrow.

His expression rippled and turned stiff.

“No,” he rasped, his hazel gaze filling with pain. He cupped my jaw, angling my face higher. It was clear he was older, but I didn’t care about that. I cared that he was mine.

I chuckled and balled my hand against his chest.

“Ah, so you like them young?” I teased. He didn’t respond, his gaze turning glazed, like he was deep in the clutches of his mind. “Mate?”

He jolted like he’d been electrocuted.

“No, I want you.” The comment seemed to come out of nowhere, but it oddly reassured me. I sat back to study the man.

The softness in his eyes made my stomach somersault. The finely chiseled edges of his face were broad and arresting. They would claim the attention of any who walked by. His lips were expressive and incredibly seductive.

I lifted my pointer finger and rubbed it against his freshly shaven cheek.

His thighs flexed, and I dropped my eyes to the towel covering him.

His cock tented it. My breath left my lungs, and my mouth watered.

Unequivocal lust rolled through my gut. With his hands on my hips, he pulled me flush against him, inching me higher until I was settled on the bulge.

“Tell me about you,” I asked, shy and awkward. This was a vulnerable side of me that never came out. I didn’t even know it existed.

He blinked and slowly said, “I . . .”

“Do you belong to Wilder Pack?” I cocked my head.

His lips stiffened.

“Yes,” he finally said. My shoulders immediately relaxed. If he belonged to the pack I was trying to be a part of, it meant not having to up and move to follow him elsewhere. After the years I’d had, I needed this win. I needed him.

Could he put me in contact with Cierra? Or the Alpha? It felt shameless to ask.

I wrung my hands in my lap.

“What—” Asking him for a favor didn’t sit well. Besides, Karol mentioned she would get me connected; I didn’t need to bother him about it. I also didn’t want him to think I was incapable.

“Say it.” The order was harsh and abrupt, at odds with his softer tone from before.

I tensed, immediately on edge. His exhale brushed against my cheek.

“Sorry,” he murmured and cleared his throat, and his palm smoothed down my back. He seemed genuinely shocked with his tone.

I nodded, pressing my lips together. He leaned down, and his lips caressed the shell of my ear. Immediately, I went limp as electricity spiraled to my clit. I couldn’t contain my gasp.

I really liked that.

“What were you going to say?” He continued rubbing my lower spine.

“I’m just glad I’m no longer alone.”

The corners of his eyes pinched, and suddenly he pulled me flush against his chest. All his thick, hard muscles smashing against my face. But he smelled so good. I hummed, my body melting into his.

“You will never be alone again.” His words were gruff, and they caused a throb in my heart. I’d never been so happy. I never thought I’d receive a mate. Honestly, I’d never given it a second thought after Tate briefly mentioned fateds.

At some point, the classical music tapered away until we sat in each other’s arms, just holding one another. He clasped me so tightly, it was hard to breathe, but I couldn’t peel myself away. He felt too good.

My legs remained straddling his waist, the hard bulge against the seam of my slacks.

The sound of the door clicked, and my mate stiffened. I pushed up to look over my shoulder.

“Lucian W?—”

My mate snarled so violently, it made me jump. The door slammed behind the woman frozen at the threshold. The silk robe hung off her bare, tan shoulders, giving a hint at the pushed-up breasts. I frowned. Why was she coming in uninvited . . .?

“Out,” he bit, hands tensing on my body to the point of pain.