Page 47 of His White Moonlight (Dominant CEO Shifter Romance #1)

Bennett turned toward the door, and I met Lindi’s gaze. Anyone who didn’t know her would see concern. I saw her silent panic. Could Bennett smell it?

“If you want, I can take him there,” she said.

“It’ll be easier to bring him with us, but thank you for the offer,” Bennett said, walking toward her. She had no choice but to step aside.

“Please call me when you get there so I know Wrenly’s all right.”

I laughed against Bennett’s chest as he walked away. His hold on me tightened, and my humor vanished. The throbbing in my ass, chin, and various other points was echoing between my legs.

A small sound escaped me.

“I know it hurts,” Bennett said. “Hold on, baby. It’ll be better soon.”

He weaved through the people still lingering in the welcome area and called out to the valet as soon as we were outside.

The cool air made my skin prickle, and I pressed closer to Bennett. The throbbing increased.

“Bennett.” My hand hooked around the back of his neck, pulling him close.

He groaned as I tipped my head back, offering my lips.

“I’ll drive you,” Konni said a second before Bennett’s mouth settled on mine.

His tongue stroked over my mouth briefly, and he pulled back enough to set his forehead against mine.

“Wrenly, baby, I can’t keep kissing you. When the drug wears off, you’re going to blame me.”

“No, I know who to blame.”

“You say that now, but?—”

This time, I started the kiss. His growl sent a shiver through me, and the throbbing between my legs started to match the rhythm of my heartbeat.

“Please, Bennett,” I said against his lips as I pressed myself closer to his chest.

“Car’s here,” Konni said.

Bennett swore under his breath and lifted his head to look at Konni. He was stuffing the unconscious man into the front passenger seat. When he finished, he opened the door for Bennett, who tried to deposit me into my seat, but I wasn’t having any of that.

My skin hurt whenever Bennett tried to let go of me. So I held on as best I could, clinging to him. He said things that didn’t fully register as he tried to untangle himself. Promises. But I knew better than to trust his words. I needed actions. I needed his hands on me, on my skin.

Letting go of him, I reached behind me to pull the zipper of my dress down as he withdrew and closed my door. The other door opened, and Bennett slid in next to me. His fingers caught mine, stopping me. He pulled me to his side, pinning my arms so I couldn’t move.

It didn’t bother me. His neck was right there.

“Go, Konni.”

My lips skimmed the skin right above his starched collar.

“Speed,” he added as I kissed him.

“Bennett. I need you.”

“I need you too, baby, but not like this. I don’t want you to hate me any more than you already do.”

“Shh,” I said, trying to stretch to reach his jaw. “I don’t hate you. I just want to taste you again.”

He made a pained sound.

“Konni.”

“I’m doing what I can, Bennett. Hang in there. Don’t wolf out, or you’ll hurt her.”

“You can hurt me a little,” I said. “It feels good.”

He swore, grabbed my chin, and kissed me hard. The fire under my skin grew. I freed an arm and ran my hand over his hard chest.

“Wrenly, what’s your phone number?”

Konni repeated the question several times before it pierced the fog clouding my mind. Bennett wasn’t kissing me anymore. He was holding me and shaking hard. I liked the shaking. It felt so good.

“Wrenly, what’s your phone number?”

I frowned, trying to remember all of it as I said the first three numbers.

“What’s Grandma’s phone number?” he asked when I finished.

That came more easily.

“Say it again,” he said as a phone started to ring, distracting me.

“Bennett?” a man asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be wining and dining your mate at the charity banquet?” a man said.

I turned my head to look at Bennett and the phone he was holding.

“She’s been drugged with shifter-grade pheromones. Who’s at the hospital?”

“I just started my shift. How far away are you?”

“Two minutes,” Konni said from the front.

“I’ll meet you by the door. Hang in there.”

Bennett’s gaze locked with mine, and I tipped my head back to offer him my mouth as he ended the call.

“Wrenly, remember you started this,” he said.

A second later, he had me pinned under him. His hand gripped my hip as his mouth devoured mine. It felt like heaven.

I couldn’t move my hands to touch him as his hand stroked the skin of my exposed thigh. I whimpered my need into his mouth.

“Here!” Konni said.

The car jolted underneath me. I heard the door open but didn’t stop kissing Bennett and arching my body into his.

A sharp pain stung my arm. Ripping my mouth from Bennett’s, I cried out as the pain started to spread. He snarled above me.

“Pull him out,” I heard someone say a second before his weight disappeared.

I heard snarls and thuds as someone grabbed my inflamed arm and pulled me from the car and into a strong set of arms. Bricks and lights swam in my vision as he turned and started to run.

“Hang in there,” a man said.

I was getting tired of that phrase. Hadn’t I hung “in there” for twelve years?

“Bennett…”

A hand covered my mouth.

“Now’s not the best time to call him back. Give him a few minutes to work off the steam.”

The brightness of the light increased along with the pain slowly crawling through my body.

“Is the room ready?” I heard the man ask.

A minute later, he set me on a bed, and it ignited a full-body burn that had me arching off the mattress.

I screamed.

Hard.

Loud.

And I didn’t stop until I lost my voice.

People were yelling. I didn’t know what.

Something else pierced my skin, and darkness swallowed me whole.

* * *

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

I struggled to open my eyes and look for the source of the sound. The monitor next to my bed showed my pulse. Confused, I looked around the room.

Mom sat next to my bed, sleeping in her chair.

“Mom?” The sound was barely a rasp, but she woke with a jolt.

“Wrenly. Sweetie. Thank the moon. Here.” She grabbed a white cup with a straw and handed it to me. “Sip it slowly.”

The ice water felt amazing on my throat.

Slowly, pieces of what happened slipped into place. The drugged champagne. Thinking that Bennett had entered the bathroom. Getting tossed over some guy’s shoulder and almost raped. Bennett’s arrival. Lindi’s shitty attempt to deflect. Making out with Bennett in the back of his car.

I cringed and glanced down at my hospital clothes, then around the room. When I looked at Mom, she handed me my phone.

“Try not to talk. You strained your vocal cords.”

Setting my water aside, I sent her a text.

Me: How long was I out?

“Almost twelve hours.”

Me: Where’s Bennett?

“With Konni. They questioned the guy who drugged you, but he’s not talking. Yet.”

Me: He didn’t drug me. He just got paid to make me look bad.

“Do you know who drugged you?” Mom asked, leaning toward me.

Me: Yeah, I have a good idea. No proof though.

“Will you tell us who it was?”

I thought about it. What benefit would there be?

Lindi’s family wasn’t as powerful as the Wulf’s or Steele’s, but they still had sway in the city.

Was I worried about what they would pull?

Not really. I was more concerned about whether or not Bennett would let me go once he knew how many people I’d pissed off who would like to see me disappear for good.

“Wrenly, is there a reason you don’t want to tell us?”

Me: Yes. It will create an endless cycle of concern and confinement. I don’t want to be caged anymore because the people who love me are worried.

I watched her read the message. When she looked up at me, I saw her compassion and sorrow.

“We broke your trust in us with the decisions we made. We understand that. What if we decide together how to handle who drugged you and every decision that follows?”

Me: You might be willing, but will Bennett? I kissed him last night.

Her smile was sad and slightly pained. “I know, Sweetie. That’s why he’s not here. He thinks you’ll hate him more now. Do you?”

Again, I thought it over for a minute before shaking my head.

Me: I don’t hate him for giving me what I wanted at the time, but I’ll hate him if he reads into it or thinks it gives him power over me.

Mom smiled and got up to hug me. “You are so beautiful inside and out, Wrenly. Even after everything you’ve suffered, you’ve held onto that piece of yourself.

I don’t know how, but you have. And I’m so grateful for your strength that allowed it.

But I don’t want you to have to be that strong all the time.

I want you to be able to lean on someone.

To trust someone to support you unconditionally.

Okay? I’m not saying it has to be Bennett.

I hope it will be, but it doesn’t have to be.

Just don’t close yourself off. Don’t lose that piece of yourself. ”

I hugged her back and whispered, “I love you, Mom.”

She sniffled, pulled back, and quickly wiped at her eyes as she turned away.

“I’m going to tell the doctor you’re awake.”

As soon as she left, I got out of bed. My joints hurt with each hobbling step toward the bathroom. But by the time I finished using the toilet and brushing my teeth, things hurt less. Except my chin—I’d hit that floor hard—and I had some faint bruising on my ass.

I hope Bennett broke his nose.

When I left the bathroom, I saw a man in a white doctor's coat standing next to my hospital bed.

“You’re moving better than most do after the shot I gave you last night.”

“Yeah, I’m not thanking you for that,” I rasped. “That shit hurt.”

“Sorry about that. It would have hurt more to leave the drug in your system.”

I gave him a questioning look.

“The drug only had fifteen minutes to take hold. The heat you felt after the shot I gave you was the sped-up version of what you would have felt after an hour. Each hour after that, the pain intensifies until you’re successfully impregnated.”

I paused my trip to the bed, turned, and grabbed his hands.