“We’ll get them, Nova. We’ll show them the Syndicate isn’t to be fucked with. We’ll make them pay for ever thinking they could slip this past us. I’d say it's about time we had a good hunt.”
A wolfish smile curled along his lips, warm and sharp all at once, and my lips betrayed me by mirroring it. “I know, Zeth. Even if we have to call in the cavalry, we’ll get these bastards. We’ll make them pay in blood.”
Moments like this were intoxicating. The steadiness in him, the fire. They were a lifeline I’d leaned on more than I’d cared to admit, but lifelines could strangle, too.
Taking a deep breath, I locked my resolve into place. I was Nova goddamn Rossey. I could do this. I could let him go.
“After all this business is done…” I made my smile wide, almost congratulatory, despite everything inside me screaming not to say it. “It’s about time you got a promotion, don’t you think?”
His head jerked back like I’d struck him. “P-promotion?” His mouth shaped the word as if it didn't make sense.
I pushed forward, pretending not to hear his heart skipping a beat. “I want to honor your dedication and good work. You’ve done a hell of a job helping me build this into the fighters’ mecca I dreamed of, and I’m so close to solidifying that.”
Leaning forward, I punched his arm lightly, playing at camaraderie, even though my words tasted like acid. “Now, it's time for your dreams. I’d love for you to be somewhere strategic, like the South, to cover the East Coast, but it’s your gift and your choice. Whatever works best for you.”
He sat frozen, eyes wide, shoulders stiff enough to crack. The silence stretched, and my stomach clenched. I rushed to fill the space with more words. “If you need to talk this over with… someone, that’s fine. We have time until all this mess is sorted. I just wanted you to start thinking about it. Make plans.”
“Someone?” The bite in that word cut straight through my act. I tilted my head, unsure what he wanted from me.
Why was he looking at me likeI’dguttedhim? Did he want me to bless him and Lucy? To hand him off to her with a neat little bow?I’m trying, aren’t I?
I grabbed my drink and downed it in one shot, trying to drown the hurt raking up my throat. I was opening my mouth to tell him I hoped he’d be happy, with Lucy or whoever, when he dropped to his knees in front of me, catching my hands in his.
“Why are you doing this?” The deep, pain-filled desperation in his voice caught me off guard. “Why are you pushing me away? What did I do? I can fix it. Whatever it is, whatever you want. Just… please don’t leave me behind.”
Those last words struck like stones thrown into water, their ripples smashing through my composure. I shot up so fast my chair toppled, yanking my hands free. “Leave you behind?! Is that what you think I’m doing?” My voice shook with each word, fury and pain grinding against one another.
“I’mnot leaving anyone.” My body vibrated, a taut wire ready to snap. “You’rethe one leavingme. You’re going to find your mate, start a family, and be so fucking happy. And I—” my voice broke into a growl—“I’m going to stay here, rejected, focusing on my business and my family.”
I glared at his beautiful, panicked face. “I’m going to let you go. I’m going to release you from this toxic mess that’s been eating us alive. We’re going to move the fuck?—”
I didn’t get to finish. He surged up, hands framing my face, before his lips crashed onto mine, swallowing the rest of my words like they were never meant to exist.
?*The rich taste of cherry-laced tobacco slid across my tongue as his mouth claimed mine, taking, testing, tasting, coaxing me torespond in kind. The flavor was hypnotic, the smoke laced with a tart sweetness, and, before I could think better of it, I threw my arms around his neck, pulling him down to me as I surrendered to the craving I’d been starved of for years.
Gods, it felt good.Toogood.
We took a few stumbled steps together until my back hit the kitchen counter with a dull thud, the impact sending a tremor up my spine. His tall, muscular frame caged me in, heat radiating off his body as his hands came up to cradle my face with a gentleness that made my throat tighten. My eyes burned, unbidden tears threatening to spill.
“Don’t let me go,” he pleaded against my lips. “Keep your claws in me.” His mouth claimed mine again, and I just couldn’t stop him.
Why is he doing this to me now? Why tear me open just when I’d built walls thick enough to survive him?
The questions clawed at the back of my mind, but I held them back. Terrified that if I spoke them aloud, if I demanded the answers, he’d stop, and the desperate, selfish part of me couldn’t bear for him to do so. Not yet.
I knew this was dangerous, that this could end in a mess for us both, but the cold, rational voice inside me had been outshouted. If this was all we’d ever get, then I would take it, takehim, for one night. The least he could do was let me have this before I let him go.
My body moved on instinct. My legs wrapped tight around his waist, my hips tilting to rub shamelessly against the hard, thick length between his legs. His low moan vibrated into mymouth, breaking apart the fragile control I had left, and my legs squeezed him tighter into me.
“Fuck, Nova,” he groaned against my lips, his breath hot, voice raspy like it’d been years since its use. “You taste so good.”
His hands slid under my jacket, dragging my shirt up as his palms cupped my breasts. The flick of his finger across my nipple sent a violent shudder through me, and my wolf howled her answer.Mate. Mate. Fuck mate.The word pounded in my skull like a spell, and, for once, I didn’t silence her. I did what she wanted, what webothwanted.
A burn sparked at my wrist, but not hot enough to truly register through the fog of liquor and years of repressed hunger. I was done holding back. I wanted to feel. Ineededto feel. At least once.
I tore off my jacket, top, and bra, scattering fabric around the floor like a flag of surrender. His tongue dragged a molten path down my chest until his mouth closed around my nipple, sucking, circling, teasing, while his other hand toyed with its twin. My head dropped back against the cabinet as he trailed kisses down further, an involuntary purr slipping out of me at the sensation.
“I love that sound,” Zeth murmured against my belly, his fingers playing at the waistband of my pants. I hissed at his touch, biting my lip to keep from begging.
