If he ever came near Riley again, they wouldn’t find the body.
The threat had been delivered with claws partially extended and eyes glowing amber. I hadn’t been able to help it. The wolf was too close to the surface, too enraged at this pathetic excuse for a man who thought he had any claim on an unwilling person, someone he’s hurt before.
“She belongs to me now,” I’d told him, my voice more growl than words. “Every part of her. Every breath she takes. Every smile. Every laugh. Every word that comes out of her beautiful mouth. Mine. Do you understand?”
He’d nodded frantically, tears streaming down his face. He’d pissed himself.
Good.
Since then, I’d been digging into his history. The forty percent royalty contract that was bleeding Riley dry, the manipulation, the pattern of abuse stretching back years. It was worse than I’d thought. So I’d hired human lawyers, the best ones money could buy, to start quietly building a case. To find a way to free Riley from the contract, from Damien’s grip, from all of it. They were already finding inconsistencies, possible fraud, grounds for dissolution. Within weeks, she’d be free of him. Within months, I’d have recovered every penny he’d stolen.
She didn’t know about this, but Thessa did. She thought I was getting too deep without telling Riley the truth about who I was, what I was, why I was really here.
“You’re building a life with her,” she’d said just yesterday. “And she doesn’t even know your real last name. Doesn’t know you’rea wolf and that you’ve got cameras around her building and a plan for the next hundreds of years of your lives together.”
I knew she was right, but now there was this new problem. This Sam person with his wandering eyes and his hands that kept drifting toward Riley. As if he had any right to touch her. I’d wanted to rip his arms off. Still wanted to. The only thing stopping me was the certainty that Riley wouldn’t appreciate having to clean human viscera off the wine bar floor.
And then she’d said those words, and they hurt worse than a knife to the chest. I couldn’t stop replaying them. Fuck. I should go, leave her alone, give her space, stop pushing. She’d made her feelings clear. I was nothing to her, just a friend.
“I should... I should probably go,” I said, not meeting her eyes. “I wouldn’t want to bother you. Or interrupt you if you wanted to be with that asshole.”
Bullshit. I totally would interrupt. The man would find himself very, very far away from Lysmont the moment he stepped out of this wine bar if Riley showed any interest. Possibly on another continent or in a shallow grave. But she didn’t need to know that.
Riley snorted. “When have you ever cared about...” She stopped. Her expression shifted, and I watched realization dawn across her features. “This is about what I said earlier.”
I shrugged. Noncommittal.
“You believed it?” She sounded surprised as if the idea of me taking her at her word was somehow shocking.
“You like him?” I couldn’t keep the edge out of my voice, the jealousy and hurt. “The asshole?”
She lifted an eyebrow. “What makes you think I do?”
My control snapped.
“What makes me think you like him?” I started listing, stepping closer with each point. “You let him have MY seat. You wore this fucking shirt...” I gestured at her blouse, the one that had been torturing me all goddamn night, “the same night he starts coming to book club. Coincidence? I don’t think so.”
I was getting angrier as I spoke, the hurt transforming into fury. Not at her, but at myself, for not being able to better control my feelings. I walked toward her, and she backed up, step by step, until her hips hit the edge of a table and there was nowhere left to go.
“You reassured him, very loudly, how we were nothing and how I’m just a platonic friend.” The words tasted foul in my mouth. “Made sure he knew he had a clear path. Made sure I knew my place.”
“Caelan...”
“Do you have any idea how insane this shirt has made me?” My voice dropped low, a growl rumbling underneath. “I’ve been salivating every time you leaned over. Fighting the need to cover your delicious tits up so no fucking other man can see them.”
Her breath caught. Her pupils dilated.
I planted my hands on the table on either side of her, caging her in. She was trapped between my arms, my body, my desperate need for her.
“I was very tempted to rip Sam’s eyes out like I said I would.” I leaned closer, my nose almost brushing hers. “Very, very tempted. The only reason he’s still breathing is because I didn’t want to upset you with the mess.”
Riley’s breathing had gone ragged. Her eyes were wide. But she wasn’t scared. I could smell the arousal blooming between her thighs, the way her body was responding to my dominance.
“You’re insane,” she whispered.
“I am.” I leaned even closer, until our lips were a breath apart. “But for YOU, Riley. Make no mistake. You can think whatever you want about me and us. We can be whatever the hell you want us to be. Friends. Strangers. Enemies. I don’t fucking care, not if we’re together.”
“Caelan...”
