I took the long way to Parker’s house, looped the block twice before cutting the engine. The street slept hard, no porch lights, not even a possum made rounds in the ditch. I left the bike hidden behind a utility shed and went the last stretch on foot. The night felt colder here—maybe because I wasn’t on pack land. I was a ghost with bad intentions. Or good, depended on your perspective.
I checked the feed from her security cams on my phone. House was dead quiet, all sensors on, every window blacked out. She’d been home for hours, judging from the wine bottle on the counter and the empty sandwich plate she’d left in the sink. I’d watched her earlier, hunched over her laptop in her office nook, eyes burning holes in the code. She’d tried to firewall me out, but every time she closed a door, I just walked through a new one. The effort made her drink faster, and it made me want her more.
Now after midnight, she’d abandoned the war and retreated to her room. I could see the heat signature of her body curled in a tight comma on the bed. Even asleep, she was bracing forimpact. That little ball of fur was curled up in his bed. I brought him another bone. Luckily, he liked me. Didn’t make a peep the first night I’d entered the house. Maybe it was my wolf he liked.
I let myself in through the back door. No gloves, no mask, just a black T-shirt and old jeans, boots off before I crossed the threshold. I moved slow, careful of the floorboards, feeling for the spots she’d missed dusting. She was pretty meticulous, but she’d been preoccupied with staying alive. The house was pretty, but nothing ornate. There was nothing frilly or overly decorative except for her coffee mugs. They were floral with nice decorative handles. It was like that was the one area she allowed herself to be expressly feminine. Even though everything about her screamed female.
I left the lights off. The dark was comforting. I could see just fine. Wolf thing. I heard the patter of little dog nails where the rugs ended. “Hey little guy,” I whispered. “Looking for a treat?” He danced around his tongue hanging out. I had to stop myself from laughing. I picked him up and carried him to the guest room with a meaty bone, perfectly content.
In the hallway, I paused. Her breathing was audible, slow and deep. The wolf in me wanted to charge in and take what it was owed, but the man in me wanted to savor the approach. I let the man win, for once.
The bedroom door was ajar. Her silhouette was visible against the faint rectangle of streetlight leaking through a slit in the curtains. She slept on her side, one hand under her face, the other curled against her chest. Her hair was a wild halo on the pillow, streaked with pink and sticking up in places she’d been sweating. I stood there for a minute and just watched.
I went to the foot of the bed and peeled the blanket back. Her bare legs tucked up, knees to stomach, the rest of her clothed in one of those too-large band T-shirts she wore to remind herself she used to have fun. There was a bruise on her shin, yellow-greenand healing. I reached out and pressed the edge of it, just to see if she’d wake.
She didn’t, but she made a noise—a little half-sigh that vibrated all the way up my spine. I moved to the side of the bed and ran my hand up her calf, over the knee, up her thigh to the curve of her ass. The skin was soft, too soft for someone who acted so hard. I squeezed until I felt her shift, and then did it again, harder.
She woke slowly. First, the twitch of her foot, then the subtle tensing of her shoulders. She didn’t roll over. She just made a sound, something between a question and a moan.
I put my other hand on the small of her back and held her there. She shuddered, then tried to kick her foot free. I let her, but only because it was cute.
She froze.
I crouched a little. Her eyes were open now, wild and almost electric blue, staring at me like she’d known I’d show up eventually, but still didn’t believe it. I put my finger to my lips. She nodded, barely, and I felt the tension wind even tighter in her body.
I kept my voice low. “Don’t scream,” I said.
I reached up and took her by the hair, pulling her head off the pillow. She didn’t fight it. In fact, she seemed almost grateful for the violence of it. I leaned in close enough that her breath bounced off my face.
“You know who I am?” I whispered.
She nodded again.
“Say it.”
She licked her lips. “Wrecker.”
I smiled. “Good girl.”
She bit her bottom lip hard and let out a shaky exhale. “Are you here to kill me?”
I shook my head. “Not today, little bird.”
I leaned over, put my hands on either side of her face, and kissed her. She didn’t resist. She opened her mouth and let me in, tongue meeting mine, the kiss hot and desperate.
“So perfect. I’m going to need you to do everything that I say. Do you understand?”
She just looked at me.
“Do you understand?”
I could see she was struggling with this, which amazed me when she let me take what I wanted when I was masked. That was it. She wanted me to be completely in control.
“Nevermind, Wren. You’ll do as I say, or you’ll be punished.”
Chapter 8
Parker
