She tried to murder him with the power of her glare, and failed.
“You know what I meant.”
“Not really. Why would I want less woman, when I could have more?”
That temporarily threw her for a loop. Why, indeed? She actually liked that answer. No, she loved it. She couldn’t find a single thing wrong with it.
But she would not give in just because he was suddenly being charming and funny. And also he was a vicious murdering criminal. A hot, sexy, but vicious, but charismatic…wait, where was she going with this? “We don’t even know each other!”
“My wolf selected you. He has impeccable taste.” His eyes glowed briefly as he mentioned his wolf. That eye glow thing happened a lot with shifters, whenever they got excited. Never failed to freak her the hell out.
“That doesn’t make sense. You have arranged matings, I know that. I catered a wedding for one. Their mating had been arranged since birth, in fact.”
“True,” he acknowledged. “Arturo has been searching for an appropriate mate for me for some time now. Giuliana was a possibility, but then the Bianchi pack approached us about arranging a mating with Fabiana. The dark-haired woman at the party last night.”
For some reason, that statement made her feel prickly all over, as if she’d rolled in a nettle bush.
Dominic shrugged. “My wolf never really took to either one of them, but for the good of the pack I would have paired with whoever Arturo decreed.” He grinned fiercely at her. “But then you came along. And my wolf had other ideas. How lucky for me.”
“No wonder Giuliana doesn’t like me.”
“Oh, she’s not jealous. She didn’t want the mating. She would have obeyed her uncle because nobody says no to Arturo, but when Arturo revealed he was considering Fabiana, she said, and I quote, ‘Thank fuck’.” He smirked, seeming amused.
She frowned. “But…what if you went through the arranged mating, and then you met me on a full moon?”
“You want to know how things work with shifters?” he snorted. “We don’t reveal all of our secrets to outsiders. Come home with me, and I’ll be happy to enlighten you.”
“Home, with you?” She couldn’t believe that he was even bothering to ask, rather than just kidnapping her. “I’d rather French-kiss a bridge troll that hadn’t gargled in a month.”
“Since they gargle with human blood, that’s probably wise.”
He took another step towards her and she tried to jump back, but he lunged forward and grabbed her by the arm. The touch of his hand sent a shock through her body.
“Here’s what’s going to happen. I am going to court you. You are going to give me a really hard time, which is just going to make the chase that much more fun. And then you’re going to give in and we’ll have amazingly hot sex. On the next full moon, you’ll be mine. And some day you’ll be asking yourself why you ever thought it would be a good idea to try to run from a Blood Oath wolf.”
Her heart hammered in her chest, and she swallowed hard. He smelled of musk and some kind of delicious spicy cologne, and his nearness was scrambling her senses.
She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, I don’t speak lunatic, so I zoned out for a few seconds there. Are we quite done? I’ve got things to do. Wolves to hide from.”
He smiled at her kindly, as if talking to someone who was very simple. “Here’s a question for you. Why are you fighting this? You’re very attracted to me. I can scent it on you.”
“Eww! Stop saying you can smell things on me!” She protested, jerking at her arm. He tightened his fingers until she stopped resisting. She kicked him in the shin, which made him laugh. Damned mafia cave-wolf ass-face.
“I’m a wolf, sweetheart, get used to it. It’s not as if it’s unpleasant. Do you hear me complaining? It’s delightful, actually. And it’s getting stronger. You like to wrestle, don’t you?” His grin was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen. It wrapped around her and melted her defenses, stroking secret parts of her deep inside. Why did evil have to be so attractive? “We like that too. Our men are pretty rough with our women – but in a good way. I promise you, you won’t hear any complaints.”
Her cheeks flamed hot with embarrassment and she wished the cracks in the sidewalk would open up to swallow her.
“I’m not your sweetheart.”
He maneuvered her towards the alley wall. She stumbled as he backed her up, and he held her up easily.
“Darling, then? Babe?” His smirk stretched wider.
“You want to know why I’m resisting? Because you’re a member of the Blood Oath pack, and…” His eyes darkened from the color of a summer sky to the color of a stormy sea.
“Watch yourself,” he growled, and she felt an icy shiver of fear. His loyalty to his pack and his boss would be absolute.
“Your lifestyle is not one that I chose,” she said carefully.Because you’re a corrupt thieving murdering blackmailing bunch of assholes.“I’m a goody two shoes. I’m the law and order type. I return my library books on time and I wait for the light to change before I cross.”
