“How do you?—”
“I know everything.”I reached into my jacket and withdrew a business card.Black cardstock, silver lettering.Just my name and a phone number.Nothing else.“The difference between me and everyone else you’ve approached is that I’m willing to make a deal.Call me when you’re ready to discuss terms.”
She stared at the card like it might bite her.“I won’t call you.”
“You will.”
“I won’t.”Her voice rose, sharp with desperation.“I’d rather lose everything than owe you anything.”
“Would you?”I tilted my head, studying her.“Would you really let Marjorie lose her job?She’s been with your family for thirty years.Has a grandson with medical bills.Where will she go when the hotel closes?”
The color drained from her face.
“And Michael.Your assistant manager.The one who looks at you like you hung the moon.He’s got student loans, hasn’t he?Parents who depend on him.What happens to him when you choose pride over practicality?”
“Stop.”
“Sophie at the spa.Stephanie the florist.The housekeeping staff.The kitchen crew.A hundred people whose livelihoods depend on the choices you make in the next few weeks.”I held the card out to her.“Take it.”
Her hand trembled as she reached for it.Her fingers brushed mine as she did, and the contact sent heat up my arm, straight to my cock.
Touch her,the wolf demanded.More.Now.Pin her against that hedge and show her who she belongs to.
“I hate you.”Her voice was barely a whisper.
“You don’t know me well enough to hate me yet.”I stepped closer.Too close.Close enough to see the flutter of her pulse, the slight part of her lips.Close enough to smell the arousal she was trying so hard to hide beneath the fear.“But you will.I’m not a good man, Lena.I’ve done things that would make you sick.I’ll do worse before I’m done.”
Her breath caught.She should have run.Any sane woman would have run.
She held her ground.
“Then why would I ever call you?”
“Because you don’t have a choice.”I let my voice drop, let it curl around her like smoke.“The math doesn’t work.You know it.I know it.You can fight for another month, another two, and in the end you’ll lose everything anyway.Or you can come to me now, while you still have something to bargain with.”
“Bargain with.”Her eyes flashed.“And what exactly do you think I have to bargain with?”
I let my gaze travel down her body.Slow and lingering.Let her see exactly what I was thinking.
“I’m sure we can figure something out.”
Her cheeks flushed.Anger or embarrassment or arousal.Maybe all three.The scent of her shifted, grew headier, and I knew she was wet for me even as she hated herself for it.
Ours,the wolf purred.She wants us.She’s aching for us.
I reached up.My fingers hovered an inch from her cheek.I could feel the heat of her skin, could imagine how soft it would be under my touch.How easy it would be to slide my hand into her hair, tilt her head back, take her mouth.
She didn’t pull away.Her lips parted.Her eyes went half-lidded.
She was waiting for me to touch her.
Claim her,the wolf howled.Mark her.She’s OURS.
I dropped my hand.
Watched confusion and something like disappointment flicker across her face before she could hide it.
“I’ll be waiting, Ms.Hughes.”I stepped back, putting distance between us before I did something I couldn’t take back.“Don’t wait too long.My patience has limits.”
