Page 44

Nate

N o woman had ever made me feel so… alive when they were in my arms. Cameron was like a drug, and I didn’t want to stop taking it. Digging my fingers into her ass, I pulled her close, still kissing her, our heaving breaths mingling.

Cameron ground her hips into my lap as she ran her fingers through my hair. My cock was throbbing, pressing hard against my shorts. She thrust against me, rubbing her pussy against my erection.

Letting go of her ass, I slid my hands across her chest to her breasts, gently pinching her hard nipples.

Cameron moaned into my mouth, a deep, throaty sound of desire.

God, I wanted to have her. Needed to have her.

I’d never wanted anything more in my life.

I could imagine what she felt like, the warmth and softness of her pussy as I slid into her.

The wet, clenching tightness around my cock as I thrust into her, driving her to orgasm.

Finally breaking the kiss, I ran my lips down her chin to her neck, nibbling and sucking her throat, my hands massaging and kneading her breasts.

“Nate. Oh God, Nate,” she whispered as I suckled at her earlobe, her hips moving against me faster.

Every ounce of willpower I had was fleeing by the second.

Nothing mattered but her. I didn’t give a shit that we were in the middle of a public park.

I wanted to fuck her right there, beneath the trees.

Nothing was more important than that, nothing could ever satisfy me but that.

Every other dream or hope or thought I had was gone.

All I wanted was to feel her body clenching around me as she came.

Licking her collarbone, I slipped my hands under her shirt and over her flat stomach, up to the swell of her breasts. Flicking the underside of her sports bra, my fingertips probed, then invaded the fabric, peeling it back. An instant later, her breasts were in my hands, warm and soft and heavy.

“No. I can’t,” Cameron cried, and scooted off my lap.

The abrupt end to the intense moment left me dizzy and confused. I sat there, blinking as if coming out of a dream.

“Did I do something wrong?” I asked, gaping at her. “I’m sorry if I did, but?—”

“It’s Rick,” Cameron said, her face buried in her hands.

The heat that had been surging through my body vanished, my blood going cold.

Was she seriously still hung up on that rich fuck?

I wasn’t easily offended, but the thought of her wanting to be with that asshole struck me hard, denting my emotional confidence.

My wolf snarled at the mention of the other shifter’s name, and that, along with the sexual frustration, made me want to scream.

My rapidly softening cock ached with unrequited need.

“Cameron, you can’t still want to be with him, can you? You saw what he was like last night.” I laughed humorlessly. “Maybe you remember him trying to blow my fucking brains out for talking to you?”

Why did that prick get to meet her first? The only woman I’d ever felt any true connection to in my life, and she was hung up on some controlling millionaire douchebag.

“No,” she said. “I don’t want to be with him anymore.

But I can’t start something new until everything between him and me is settled.

He didn’t take the hint when I broke up with him.

I need to make sure he understands we’re through.

Fully and completely done. Until then, I don’t want to drag you into this. ”

“I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m already in this,” I said, unable to keep the bitterness from my voice.

Was she just saying that because she didn’t really want to be with me?

This never should have happened. I got too close too fast. It was a mistake.

I never let anyone get to me the way she had.

What I needed to do was sever all contact with Cameron as soon as possible.

That would be the only way to keep this from going any further.

Yet, I couldn’t quite work up the will to actually do it. I didn’t think I had the heart to.

I liked this woman who was hugging her knees and rocking back and forth.

Cameron had touched something deep inside me that no other woman could even unearth.

Something I didn’t think I had. Her wit, intelligence, how she so fiercely cared for her family—it made her seem like someone I could actually want to be with.

Plus, now that I knew how she tasted, I hated the idea of her being Rick’s mate even more than I had before.

She’d ensnared my mind somehow. Now I had to figure out how to keep going.

“Why don’t we talk about this?” I suggested.

Cameron got to her feet, dusting her leggings off and readjusting her shirt. “There’s nothing to talk about. This can’t happen again,” Cameron said, gesturing around at the woods surrounding us. “Not again. Not right now.”

She was basically rejecting me. Telling me she didn’t want me.

I didn’t know why I’d let myself think something could be different.

It never was. If my life had shown me anything, it was that I wasn’t worthy of love or affection.

Not really. Why would anyone want to hitch their wagon to some filthy, drifter lone wolf?

My inner wolf growled in my mind, and I couldn’t be sure if he was agreeing or disagreeing with me.

Standing up, I dusted myself off as well, nodding my head bitterly. “Right. I get it.”

“Nate,” she said, eyebrows furrowing, “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“It’s fine,” I said, straightening. “Let’s get you back. Come on.”

I turned and walked through the woods toward the footpath again. After a moment’s hesitation, Cameron followed, her feet hissing through the leaves. On the path, she moved up to walk beside me.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I just don’t want to jump into something like this. It’s what my mother always did, and it never worked out well for her. I want my next relationship to be more.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” I said, my voice low and monotone.

“Can you look at me, Nate?” she pleaded.

“No need,” I grunted, picking up my pace.

She grabbed my wrist and tugged me to a halt. Turning, I found Cameron staring at me with big, scared eyes.

“I wasn’t thinking clearly, Nate. I’m sorry if I… I don’t know, offended you or made you think something that wasn’t true. This has nothing to do with you or anything you did wrong. It’s me.”

Gently but firmly, I extracted my arm from her grip. “Right. The old ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ line. I get it. I’m just a filthy lone wolf. A drifter. I have nothing and no one. I could never compete against some rich asshole. Maybe the next one you find won’t be such a psycho.”

Cameron’s face fell. She even started shaking her head, but who knew what she was thinking. Maybe she was cursing herself for getting too close to a man like me.

Turning on my heel, I stalked off, taking a shortcut back to the apartment and my bike.

I’d only gone a few yards when I realized she wasn’t following.

Stopping, I sighed in frustration. Regardless of what had just happened, I couldn’t leave her unprotected.

I still had a job to do, and I’d be damned if I failed.

“Come on!” I shouted. “Can’t stay here alone.”

She trudged down the path. “Nate, I’m?—”

“I need to make a call,” I said, pulling my phone from the zippered pocket of my shorts. “It’s important.”

I dialed Ollie, then picked up my pace. I didn’t leave her behind, but I put enough space between us so she wouldn’t hear the conversation. Besides, I didn’t want to hear her apologize a hundred times.

He answered on the fourth ring.

“You know it’s Saturday, right, Nate? Not all of us work every day like some people.”

“Yeah, whatever,” I muttered. “Listen, we need to change up the police detail watching Cameron. I need you to swap out whatever guys you have for some shifters. Shifter cops if you have any.”

“I do,” Ollie said with a yawn. “Why, though? What’s changed?”

“We just need more eyes. Guys who can protect her from the feral if he shows up again. Shifters can deal with him better than humans. She knows the truth. I told her last night so she won’t freak out if one of them moves too fast or needs to shift.

I just trust them over humans to take on this feral if he appears again. ”

“Damn,” Ollie remarked. “How’d she take it?”

“Fine,” I grunted.

“I have to be honest, it’s getting tough to arrange this kind of coverage without my bosses asking questions.

These hours have to be coded somewhere. Sometimes police work comes down to bookkeeping.

I’ll get my ass handed to me if I pull guys from an assignment to watch her.

I may call JC and see if he has a few enforcers who can come down to handle it. That’ll be a long shot, though.”

“Why?” I gripped the phone harder, the plastic of the case creaking under my grip.

“You know why, Nate,” Ollie said with a sigh.

“You’re a lone wolf here on contract work.

Your words mean fuck all, and you know it.

Cameron isn’t an official member of the pack yet.

Until she’s fully shifted and swears allegiance to the alpha, she’s an outsider.

JC has no obligation to put his own men in danger for a lone wolf or a stranger.

I hate to be blunt, but those are the facts. ”

“That’s fucking bullshit,” I hissed, my anger rising to a swirling storm in my chest.

Cameron and I stepped out of the forest. With my bike in sight, I felt a little better. Knowing I could escape soon was a blessing.

“What do you want from me?” Ollie asked.

“Here’s what I want,” I snapped, unable to control myself any longer. “You’ve got until nightfall to find someone you trust to watch over Cameron because I can’t do it anymore.”

I did my best to lower my voice for the last bit, but when I looked back, she had a look of dejected horror on her face.

She knew she’d hurt me. No hiding that now.

Part of me was happy that she felt bad about how things had gone down.

The other part was more pissed at myself for losing my cool.

Usually, I could handle anything coming at me, but for some reason, it was different when Cameron was involved. And I had no clue why.

“Jesus Christ, Nate, calm down,” Ollie said. “I’ll see what I can do. Hell, if I have to, I’ll fucking do it.”

“Fine, I’ll take whatever you got. Like I said, by nightfall.”

“Damn, man. Who pissed in your Cheerios this morning?”

Ollie hung up before I could respond.

I glared at my phone. I could see images of Rick Masters in my mind.

For a few seconds, I imagined slamming my elbow into his face again and again until he was nothing but bloody pulp.

I’d almost done that the night before, but I’d held off, thinking of Cameron and what she’d say.

I wasn’t a cold-blooded killer, but I would do what I needed to when the time came.

“Nate?” Cameron said.

She looked absolutely miserable, which was exactly how I felt.

Whatever this was between us had to stop before I felt even worse.

It was time to go back to pounding the pavement in search of the feral.

Whoever Ollie got to watch her would be more than enough to keep her safe without me around, I was sure.

“Nate, can we talk about this?” she asked. “I don’t want to leave things this way.”

“I’ve got to change,” I grumbled, and headed toward my bike.

Cameron shuffled slowly back to the apartment building, shaking her head and muttering under her breath. I looked away, then got changed. I needed to forget about this. Whatever had happened in the woods didn’t matter. Somehow, I’d convince myself it was all a dream or something.

Once I was dressed, I’d be out of here. Back on the feral’s trail and away from Cameron for good. Who the hell wanted to be the loser asshole who hung around a woman who didn’t want him? Not me, that was for sure.