“She told you all that? The history, the future of this world, just so you would understand your purpose?”
“Yes.”
“Then ask her about mine. They have to be connected, right? Because we are.”
She turned her head away from me and nibbled at her bottom lip.
“I don’t need to ask her. I already know,” she said softly. “Will you trust me a little longer? Just long enough to put a shirt on and eat a meal and maybe talk about something that doesn’t involve Blake or the Others or my sisters?”
When she turned her head to look at me, I couldn’t say no.
“All right. Do you need help with your shirt?”
“No. Thank you. There’s no pain now.” She turned her back to me and walked to the bathroom.
She’d destroyed and recreated my world with my first glimpse of her. In less than a heartbeat, everything, yet nothing, had changed. The pack still needed to come first, and everything I wished for as I stared at the pale, soft line of her back came second.
The door closed quietly, and I rubbed a hand over my face. The fact she didn’t want to talk about her big secret, yet, worried me.
If this Lady knew everything, she knew my tie to the pack. No other reason made sense when I asked myself, “Why me?” But, how was my tie to the pack important? As my first glimpse of Olivia had proven, I couldn’t make a choice that I felt wasn’t in the best interest of the pack. If the Lady thought otherwise, she would be in for a surprise; and I would probably end up dead because a deep, cynical part of me believed that the Lady wanted Olivia to ask me to do something that would put Olivia first.
The shower turned on. I sat on the bed with a sigh and reached out to Winifred. I hoped that relating the story would distract me from thoughts of Olivia completely bare on the other side of the insubstantial wood panel. However, the conversation didn’t last nearly long enough.
Alone, with nothing to do, I waited and listened.
Olivia swore softly, and I quickly moved to the door.
“Is everything all right?” I asked, hand already gripping the knob.
“No. I need your help.”
The panic and urgency in her voice had me thrusting the door open. A single step took me to the shower where I yanked the curtain aside. I’d expected blood, open wounds, Olivia with soap in her eyes…anything but the trembling, sexy, wet, woman staring at me.
I tried to focus on her unusually pale face or the way she shivered in the steamy shower or the scent of her fear. I really tried. My damn eyes wouldn’t cooperate as I took a sweeping glance at the length of her, searching for the source of the problem. All I saw was curve after delicious curve.
Need pooled in my gut. With my gaze fixed on the trail of water cascading from her belly button, I tried to speak.
“What’s wrong?” The words came out a raw rasp.
“I’m sorry,” she said, a moment before she lifted her arms and wrapped them around my neck.
In the next second, she touched her lips to mine. The contact seared me. I could barely breathe, let alone think. The taste of her, sweetness like I’d never before experienced, had blood rushing to every cell in my body. I wanted. I needed. Her taste. Her touch. Her teeth sinking into my skin.
I shuddered. Driven by that primal need, my hands rose to grip her arms and pull her flush to my chest. The feel of her breasts crushed against me almost made my knees buckle. I growled, needing more. So much more.
Without breaking our contact, I stooped and gently lifted her out of the warm spray. Her wet, slick skin filled my palms. My heart pounded in my chest. She slowly brushed her lips against mine, letting me memorize the feel of them as I turned and walked us back into the bedroom. I didn’t try to lay her on the bed. Instead, I sat on the edge of it and kept her in my arms.
She ran her hands from the back of my head to my shoulders while her mouth teased and tested mine. Another shudder ran through me when she kissed my bottom lip. I desperately wanted her to open for me, but didn’t try to rush her exploration.
Her lips abruptly left mine.
“Take your shirt off, Jim.” I didn’t need to be told twice. Some of the seams ripped in my hurry to remove it. Before it fell to the floor, she set her hands on my shoulders and nudged me back.
Blood pounded in my ears. We were in a hotel, alone. No one to stop what might happen. Honestly, I didn’t care if making love to Olivia would kill me. It would be the best half a second of my life.
“Jim, you’re shaking,” Olivia said softly.
“I know. I’ll be all right.” But, I wouldn’t. The sight of her naked and straddling my jean clad hips was seconds from destroying me.
