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“You’ll have to do better than that if you mean to threaten me ,” Lukas growled. “Now, excuse me while I enjoy a remarkable fuck. You can leave, or you can watch. I don’t care either way.”

Lukas returned his attention to Elliette who’d gone white as a sheet. He got right up on her and pressed her back against the refrigerator, much like he had against the wall at the club, except this time she didn’t wrap her legs around him. Pity.

He kissed her hard, and her breasts swelled against his chest, her nipples hardening.

Feeling every other tiny change in her body, every uptick in the temperature of her blood, he reached between them and unbuckled his pants.

This was purely for show, of course, but Dickwad didn’t have to know that.

“For fuck’s sake!” the guy shouted, then stormed toward the door, stopping to make one last parting shot. “I want you out by the end of the week, Elliette.”

She was breathing heavily now, and Lukas ground his hips against hers. But as soon as the door swung open—then slammed shut—he broke the kiss and tore himself away. Fuck .

“What the hell was that?” she asked, gasping for air.

Lukas turned toward the wall of windows and, beyond them, the city lights against the black. He didn’t want to look at her. He didn’t want to hear her voice. It was all too much.

“Lukas?” she asked, bracing her hand against the kitchen counter as if her knees were in danger of buckling.

Lukas paced restlessly with his hands laced in his hair, unable to answer because he was listening for the ding from the elevator. As soon as he heard it—and knew for sure that Dickwad was gone—he tore out of the apartment .

He entered his own place, slammed the door closed, and let out a roar of frustration.

Lukas didn’t regret what he’d done. That asshole needed to know that he was the loser, that Elliette wasn’t crying herself to sleep at night, even if she was. But why had he taken it so far with that guy?

He doubted anyone had ever talked to Elli so roughly, even though it had all been for show. She was probably so embarrassed she’d never speak to him again, and if he was right about that, how was she going to do her job? Had he ruined that for her too?

Less than two minutes later, there was a knock. He knew who it was.

But even though he was still standing in arm’s reach of the door, he wasn’t about to answer. There was no further need for play acting—especially a scene that could only end in tragedy. For both of them.

“Lukas, I know you can hear me. Can I…?” Elliette cleared her throat. “Thank you for…saving my ego in there, even if it was a little…uh…you know…over the top. And I just wanted to say…or ask…” She let out a long shaky breath. “Come on. Are you seriously going to make me talk through a door?”

Lukas tipped his head back and closed his eyes. He’d been stupid, allowing himself to get so close, indulging the fantasies that had plagued him for a decade.

He’d have to make it so she never wanted back in again. He needed for this to be over fast. He needed to intimidate. He needed to scare her away. She had to realize they had no future because their lives were on two very different paths. And that lesson needed to be taught tonight.

He flicked off all the lights, then—choking back regret—he unlocked the door.

ELLIETTE

The deadbolt turned , but Lukas’s door didn’t open. I remained in the hall. “Lukas?”

No answer.

“Lukas, it’s me.”

Still no answer.

Turning the handle, I pushed gently against the door. It opened an inch.

“Um…can I come in?”

I felt silly asking. He’d unlocked the door. He must have been okay with this.

But a part of me didn’t trust my judgment. I’d left the clubs earlier so I could go home, decompress from Lukas’s kiss, and try to make sense of his weird comment. Years . Fucking years. Do you hear me?

But Daniel had been there. Scared the shit out of me. Ruined any chance of finding some zen.

Then Lukas charged in. Acted like…I didn’t even know what. Then took off like a shot.

Suffice it to say, I was yet to decompress, and maybe I should just tiptoe back to my apartment and take my shot at sanity tomorrow.

But nope. I opened the door enough for me to slip inside, only to find Lukas’s apartment completely dark. The drapes were closed. Not even moonlight lit a path.

Fortunately, I was familiar enough with the layout that I didn’t require a lot of light. But it still felt weird coming in without him greeting me at the door. Had he unlocked the door, then gone to bed?

Oh my god. That whole show he’d put on for Daniel…ha d it not been entirely pretend? Had he unlocked the door in order to invite me to bed?

I wiped my hand down over my mouth. Maybe I was still drunk. The idea was ludicrous.

He’d stormed out of my apartment. Besides that, after my brother’s angry interruption at the club— I didn’t even want to imagine what had passed between Lukas and Evan after my humiliating exit —Lukas wouldn’t take things any further between us.

But that didn’t stop the flutter of butterflies that whirled through my stomach.

I closed the door behind me. The air was thick and close. Everything was deathly quiet.

“Lukas,” I whispered, creeping barefoot across the cool entryway tiles. I was still in my LBD, but I’d left my shoes behind. “Where are you?”

Movement at the far side of the kitchen island caught my eye, and I startled as a pair of glowing blue eyes pierced the darkness. Lukas .

His eyes, however, were two feet lower than they should have been. A low warning growl rumbled through the room as a body took shape around those piercing eyes: the body of a berserker wolf with pointed ears and bristling fur.

I pressed my palm high against my chest in a pitifully useless defense of my throat and heart.

My vision fully adjusted to the dark. There was a soft green glow from the digital clock on the stove.

Lukas pulled his lips back, exposing a set of razor-sharp teeth, removing all doubt that the man I’d pined for all those years, the Lukas I’d known since I was fifteen, was not in charge.

I’d never seen a berserker transformed before. I had no idea Lukas would look so terrifying. How much of his human half even remained? Did any of it? Or was this my last moment on earth?

“Lukas, no. Please.” I took a step backward.

He wouldn’t hurt me, would he? He’d always protected me. When I was younger. Even moments ago with Daniel. How could he attack me now?

Adrenaline prickled over my skin. I wanted to run. But that would only make things worse. Right now, Lukas was a predator. I was prey. Predators liked to chase their prey.

Besides that, I was in his territory. Naturally, he’d feel aggressive toward an intruder. I just needed to get out of there, get the door closed between us, then sprint back to the safety of my own apartment.

Slowly, I inched backward, feeling for the door and surprised it was taking me so long to reach it. I wanted to check how much farther I had to go, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off Lukas, instinctively knowing he’d pounce the moment I turned my head.

Lukas growled, stalking toward me.

“Fuck it.” I wheeled for the door. Just my luck, I was closer than I realized, and I plowed straight into it. “Ow!”

I staggered back, my hand to my nose, and tripped over something. I went down like a tree. The back of my head cracked against the entryway tile.

“Ohhhhh,” I groaned. My vision exploded into a million stars against the dark.

Hands gripped my shoulders. “Jesus, Elli. Are you all right?”

I groaned again and rolled to my side. “I’m concussed.”

“Shit.” Lukas dragged me into his lap and pressed my temple against his bare chest, cupping the back of my head.

“And I think I broke my nose,” I said, wincing .

“Really? Hang on.”

I let out another cry—this one from surprise—as Lukas rose to his feet, lifting me off the ground while effortlessly cradling me in just one arm. His free hand put pressure on the bridge of my nose.

“Your shoulder!” I reminded him because I wasn’t exactly a featherweight. He had no business carrying me when he still wasn’t one hundred percent. And— holy shit —was he naked?

“Maybe let me worry about you, yeah?” He moved through the kitchen, carrying me toward the primary bedroom, then laid me on his cushioned cloud of a bed. He didn’t turn on the light.

“Your wolf,” I murmured, partly wondering where it went and at the same time knowing that it was right there in front of me. Right where it always was. Inside Lukas.

“Sorry,” he said. “I was trying to scare you off, not bloody your nose.”

“Is it broken?”

“I doubt it, but hold on. Stay here.”

He headed for the bathroom, and in the darkness, I could just make out the concave dips in this sides of his bare berserker ass.

My skull pounded from where I’d hit the tile, and moisture rolled over my lip. I touched my fingers to it. There was more than a little blood.

The sound of running water came from the bathroom, then Lukas reappeared in the doorway, holding a washcloth and wearing flannel pajama bottoms.

I sat up, but that only made the bleeding worse. I was a faucet. I was going to ruin my dress. Worse, I was going to get blood on his sheets.

Lukas rushed to the bed. “Here!” He held the damp cloth to my nose. “Hold it there for a few minutes. It should stop bleeding pretty quick. How’s the back of your head?”

“Pounding headache.” I took over putting pressure on my nose while my head continued to thud.

“I know the feeling.” He adjusted the pillows behind me.

“You have a headache too?” I asked stupidly.

“Not now.” He laid me back against the pillows, then clicked on the small bedside lamp. “But I get my bell rung on the rink often enough.”

“That’s not safe.”

The corners of his mouth tipped up into the barest and most fleeting of smiles.

“You did a good job,” I said, finally responding to something he’d said minutes earlier.

For obvious reasons, he didn’t follow. “What?”

“You said you were trying to scare me. You did a good job.”