He pressed harder, working his legs faster. The burn helped clear his mind and singed away the bitter taste of pissed-away loss he couldn’t recoup. He’d have enough to face with finding Heath … and finding the missing wolves who’d once been with Bianchi. Not all of them had come with the roll-in under Dominic, and it worried Pasquale.
“You don’t like cars.”
He slid to a stop. Giuliana was right beside him, close enough he should have known she was there. Close enough that her citrus and heated scent filled his nose. It was her, femininity hidden behind power. Her glittering gaze zeroed in on him, and she saw too much.
He rolled his shoulders. “What?”
“You don’t like cars.”
“Why do you say that?”
She narrowed her eyes before nodding her head at her front door. Her car was nowhere to be seen.
She ran with me. How did she keep up?
Confused, and more than a little intrigued, he followed her up on to her porch covered in green plants. He bit back a groan as she caressed a broad leaf on a tree.
Mine.
I know, but we can’t have her.
Says who?
Me.
Pfft. I run the show.
See when’s the next time I let you go racing after bunnies. Who’s the bitch now?
His wolf growled at him, but he ignored the beast. They’d been having this argument for months since coming to this pack, and Pasquale wasn’t in the mood to start it up again. He only focused on following Giuliana into her home.
It was warm and vibrant, all colors and soft pillows. She’s created something more of a den, with an open floor plan where he could see her entire space. Her living room flowed into her dining room and kitchen. Farther back, she had a large bedroom with a low-slung platform bed. He’d never seen a place set up quite like hers. Clothes were neatly hung on poles connected to the wall, like racks at a clothing store, and her shower was surrounded in glass. He figured the toilet had to be in a closed-off space. From anywhere in her home, she could see clear to the other side.
“Do you feel okay in here?”
Pulled from studying her home, he blinked and faced her. She stood in the center of her living room, hands up and palms out, like she was soothing him. He frowned. What the hell was she doing?
“What are you talking about?”
She stepped closer and lifted her hands higher. “Just be calm.”
Okay, maybe he needed to reevaluate how perfect she was. Giuliana was acting like a loon, advancing on him in stilted, slow movements. She kept her gaze on his, but he saw the way she slightly tilted her head, the subtle message of submission.
It … fucked up his world.
The soft slope of her neck, the gentle pulse throbbing, the way she moved. Pasquale’s wolf thrashed against his ribcage, howling his need and desire. With each step she took, her scent wrapped around him, sliding over his skin.
When she got close, she pressed her body to him, and he had to clench his fists to stop himself from bending her over the nearest surface and taking her.
“I’m going to take your hand, okay?”
She could take whatever the fuck she wanted. Her hand was so hot as she lifted their joined hands toward his face.
“Come on, big boy.”
He growled, and she growled back.
Fuck.
