“I get that,” he muttered. “Just don’t take too long, or it’ll get to the point where it won’t matter anymore.”
“Sounds like you have some experience with that?” she asked, as she reached for the tube of skin glue.
His jaw tightened so forcefully she heard the pop of bone. “Everyone thinks anger simmers, only growing hotter until you finally release it in some massive explosion.”
“Doesn’t it?”
“Absolutely. But if you wait too long, all that rage burns out. It’ll flame hotter and hotter, until it consumes all the fuel, and then you’re left with nothing. Fire is the ultimate sanitizer.” His voice was bleak, scoured of the passion she’d seen in him up until this conversation.
Avoiding his gaze, she applied the Dermabond to the laceration. “Who did you lose?”
Silence stretched, and for a long time, she didn’t think he’d answer. When he did, his voice was cold but even. “My mate.” He cocked his head, his assessing gaze stripping her bare again. “Are you mated?”
“Me?” She suppressed a laugh. “I’m too busy for a social life.”
“That’s what people say when they don’t
She hated that he’d seen through her. She’d always found excuses for not going out with her friends, but what it came down to was that she was defective. Who would want a shifter who couldn’t shift and who would someday go insane and die?
“And you?” She capped the glue and tossed it to the cart. “I suppose you aren’t too busy for a social life?”
“I’m not too busy. I admit I don’t want one. My work
As if on cue, music from the club kicked up a notch, vibrating the very air with a deep bass beat that tugged at Lena’s very insides. “So what do you do for fun?” she asked casually, when she suddenly felt anything but.
An extremely wicked grin exposed his fangs, and her senses flamed in response. “I have sex. Wanna have some fun?”
Man, Nate loved making Vladlena squirm. Mostly, he was being obnoxious, but he definitely wouldn’t be averse to getting her naked.
Which was weird, considering that she wasn’t his type, and he had never embraced the any-port-in-a-storm attitude Marsden had made into a lifestyle.
“You know,” Lena said in a breathless rush, “in a human establishment, I could sue you for sexual harassment.”
“Only if I was harassing you.”
“You are.”
Bullshit. The flush of her skin, the heat radiating from her, the pitch of her voice . . . it all made a liar of her. It also engaged the predator in him—it had been a long time since he’d had to give chase to make the kill.
Time to pounce.
“I can feel your desire.” He propped himself up on his elbows, forcing his body closer to hers. “You want me. Therefore, it’s not harassment. It’s bringing the natural conclusion about sooner than later.”
Her outraged gasp made him laugh. “You are so . . . so . . .”
“Sexy?”
“Arrogant.”
He’d take that. “
Huffing, she shoved the rolling supply tray away. “Don’t you have a club to manage?”
He made a noncommittal noise as he swung his legs over the side of the exam table. “Technically, I’m off work.”
“And technically, I’m not working, remember?”
He was up in a flash and had her backed against the wall before he even realized he’d moved. She looked up at him, as surprised as he was by his sudden movement, but he rolled with it, totally I-meant-to-do-that, even though he wasn’t sure if his slightly impulsive behavior was a good thing or a bad one.
“If you’re not working, you should be playing,” he murmured, moving as close as he could without touching her. He wasn’t going to give her an excuse to push him away.
“If, by play, you mean have sex—”
“I do.” Now he leaned in a little, loving the way her breath hitched as his mouth lowered so close to hers that he could feel the warm rush of air between her parted lips. “But you know what’s almost as good?”
Her heart rate leaped, the beat so loud it thrummed in his ears and made his mouth water. Her voice was barely a murmur over the sound of her pulse. “What?”
“This.” He brushed his lips over hers, slowly, tentatively, giving her the chance to stop him.
She didn’t. But fuck, she was in imminent danger of heart failure if it didn’t slow down. Her nervousness was a tang in the air, and if he had any decency in him, he’d back off. Instead, that thread of life he’d been clinging to since she walked through his office door became a rope, strengthening his resolve.
He wanted to taste her. Wanted to sink his fangs into her throat and feel her pulse tapping against his teeth as her life force flowed into him.
He’d settle for tasting her lips.
For now.
Her lips were velvety, warm, and they parted more as he swept his mouth back and forth in invitation. Her response was hesitant, but curious. From the delicate scent of her desire that rose up all around him, to the spark in her eyes and the rapid pace of her breathing, it was clear she wanted this. But her body was stiff as a steel beam, screaming with awkwardness.
Cursing himself, he whispered against her lips, “Your job isn’t at risk. It never was, and I apologize for playing with you like that. You’re hired no matter what.” Huh. Maybe he still had an ounce of decency left in him.
“Okay,” she whispered back, and those gorgeous eyes of hers locked onto his, heating him and making him feel like she was caressing him from the inside.
Groaning, he increased the pressure against her mouth. “Open for me,” he murmured, and after the briefest hesitation, her lips parted just enough to allow him to stroke the tip of his tongue over the tip of hers.
This time, her reaction was immediate, intense, and shockingly abrupt, as if a dam had burst. She grabbed his biceps hard enough to send a small shock of blissful pain through him, and her back arched, putting her hips in contact with his, and she kissed him back with a hungry growl.
All of that set him off like nothing ever had. What had been mild arousal became a high-level blast of lust that clouded his thoughts and damn near had him taking her to the floor. He wanted her softness under him, her full hips and breasts buffering the hard planes of his body as he pounded into her. Only the faint vibration in his pocket kept him from stripping her down and diving between her legs.
“Dammit,” he breathed, as he reached into his pocket for his cell phone. He was going to throw the damned thing away if it kept interrupting him.
Lena’s wide eyes were glazed and unfocused, her face flushed, and yeah, she’d been his for the taking. He snarled viciously as he stepped back from her and looked down at the text message. GLADIUS. NOW.
“What . . .” She swallowed. “What’s Gladius?”
“None of your business.” Sexual frustration and annoyance at being sloppy enough to let her see the message put an edge on his voice. He jammed the phone back in his pocket and tried to ignore the hurt in her expression, because if she was so sensitive that a few harsh words bothered her, she wasn’t going to last a week in this club.
The reality of that thought didn’t stop him from wanting to draw her into his arms and apologize, though.
And what the fuck was up with the apologies and this touchy-feely crap? All his compassion had been beaten out of him in the arena, so why the sudden desire to protect this female as if she were nothing more than a lost young cub?
