“Kill?”
“The first day I was here, I mentioned my parents were murdered several years ago in a theater.”
“I remember.”
“My parents received an invitation to a production of Shakespeare’sMacbethfrom a local animal rights charity. All proceeds were promised to advance the organization’s goals. My mother loved animals almost as much as I do, but I couldn’t go. I was finishing veterinary school, and my brothers were busy with their own lives at the time. None of us could attend with our parents.”
She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and tangled her fingers on the windowsill. “When they arrived, other families were there too, families from my…culture, along with others they’d never met before. During the final act, a masked gunman shot and killed everyone in the first four rows, including my parents and my best friend’s parents.”
Kyle winced.
“The police assumed it was an act of terrorism. They never caught the gunman. Over a year later, there was another murder, two more elders from my society found dead. This time, they did catch the perpetrator, the son of one of our leaders. He confessed to killing my parents. That’s when we learned the tragedy wasn’t a random shooting. My parents were murdered by a man named Alex Ravien Bloodright. He wanted to rule my society. The man killed his own parents out of a bottomless thirst for power. Thankfully, the authorities captured him, and he was imprisoned.”
“But…”
“Recently, he escaped. My brother Silas is a detective. He hunted Alex down, and there was a confrontation. Alex was killed. But his supporters have vowed revenge and threatened me directly. Specifically, we think Alex’s right-hand man, Jonah, is targeting my family. I’m in hiding because what you saw in Four Paws the night we were supposed to have our date was Jonah targeting me. He’s trying to kill me. And if I didn’t come here and change my identity, I’d probably be dead.” Her voice petered out at the end as though she’d run out of air, and she rested her forehead against the window. She’d told him too much, too close to the truth without revealing the furry details.
Strong hands gripped her upper arms, and Kyle’s face reflected in the window over her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Laina,” he said genuinely. “You’re safe here. Hunt Club has the finest security in the world. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She turned within his arms to face him. “I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted me to leave.”
“Why would I want you to leave?”
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll bring a killer into your life? Why would you want this…drama?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
She shook her head weakly.
“From the moment I saw you in Four Paws, I’ve been enamored. You’re enchanting. You had me when I saw you care for Milo like he was your own. I fell deeper when I saw how, instead of collapsing as most people would, you cared for your assistant when your clinic was in ruins. Then you stood up to me after the incident at the club. Fuck, you’re made of steel. You’re fearless. You own me, Laina. It’s like this magnetic connection, a pull at the center of me that leads only to you. I couldn’t stand to see you working at Monty’s. I had to know you. Ihadto make you mine.”
Laina’s nostrils flared on an inhale, the warm, heady scent of Kyle flooding her senses; the sharp tang of hunger; grit and sweat; the cotton of his shirt; a hint of Milo; finished wood; and under it all, the faint whiff of his arousal. The urge to bury her face in his chest was almost overwhelming. What Kyle had said to her was romantic, but the pull he described could be nothing like the deep, gnawing desire that ached in her core. He was her wolf’s vice. If she’d had any doubts before, that was over now.
He moved closer, a simple shift of his body, and she lost all control. Rising onto her toes, she slammed her mouth into his, fisting his shirt. Kyle grabbed her ponytail, wrapping it around his hand until it tugged her head back. He trailed tiny, nipping teeth down her neck.
“Bite harder,” she said. He obliged. She moaned appreciatively.
“Last night, you said you like it rough,” he whispered.
“Yes,” she rasped. “I won’t break.”
He bent her backward over his arm and trailed his teeth and lips along her collarbone. Releasing her hair, he pulled aside her T-shirt, tugging her breasts from her bra. He took her nipple into his mouth, nibbling softly on the tip. The sucking grew more intense until her nipple stood at attention; he switched to the other, his thumb thrumming her rosy flesh.
“I like them like this,” he said in a husky voice. “I bet this makes you wet. Let’s see if I’m right.” He skimmed his hand down her torso and plunged it under her waistband.
Laina inhaled sharply as he brushed his fingers over her sex, his middle finger massaging her opening. “Mmm.”
“You’re wet and ready. Fuck, I love that.” She squirmed on her feet and was forced to steady herself on his shoulders. With one hand bracing her back, he flicked his tongue across her nipple while he massaged inside her in long, languid strokes. Abruptly, he pulled his fingers out and plunged them into his mouth. “Oh, Laina, you taste good.”
She trembled as he dropped to his knees, hitched his fingers in the waistband of her sweats and tugged them south. He buried his nose in her mound, and his tongue continued the work of his fingers, eliciting a moan that filled the tree house. With a slight bend of her knees, she spread her legs as far as she could with the sweats around her ankles. His tongue darted inside, then flicked and sucked her clit.
Laina didn’t stand a chance. The wolf inside was hypersensitive to his every touch. The orgasm plowed into her, her nerve endings lighting up like a thousand blinking fireflies. Her knees gave out, and he popped off the floor to catch her in his arms, his eyes hooded, his breathing heavy.
“I love to feel you come,” he whispered in her ear.
She collected herself, kneading his sides with her fingers. Once she regained control of her limbs, she smiled slowly. “My turn.” She shoved her hand into his pants, threading her fingers into the soft curls below his belly button. When she wrapped her hand around him, he inhaled sharply through his teeth.
A shrill ring sent Milo into a fit of barking. Kyle grabbed her wrist and cursed, pulling his phone from his back pocket. “If I don’t answer this, he’ll just call back,” he mumbled. “Not a good time!” he shouted into the phone.
