Wanted: Undead or Alive

“Are they red now?”

“No, but they will be.” She nipped at his ear.

“Wait!” He pushed her back again. “Look, I sorta figured we’d take this slowly. You know, kiss a few times, and then make out before we . . . and I sure the hell thought I would be the one initiating it all.”

“Fine!” She glared at him. “Then go ahead. Initiate.”

“Are you ordering me to initiate?”

“I want sex, Phineas! Is that a crime? I want you, and my inner wolf wants you—”

“Your what?”

“My inner wolf.”

“Damn. Is that why you’re so aggressive?”

She huffed. “I can’t believe this. Are you going to analyze this to death? Let’s just have sex and get it over with!”

His eyes narrowed. “Get it over with?”

“Yes! That’s why we’re bickering all the time. ’Cause we’re hot for each other. So let’s get it out of our system—”

“So we can go back to our normal lives?”

“Why not?” She jabbed a finger at his chest. “Are you man enough to handle it?”

He grabbed her hand. “Stop and think about this. If your father finds out about us, he’ll disown you forever —”

“I don’t give a damn what my father thinks. He’s always treated me like shit!”

Phineas flinched. “That’s what’s going on, isn’t it? This is your way to get back at him. Screw the man he would most hate for you to screw.”

“Don’t make it so complicated! It’s simply lust.”

His jaw clenched. “Lust?”

“Don’t say it like it’s a dirty word. If you weren’t lusting for me, your eyes wouldn’t have turned red. I’m just saying there’s nothing wrong with having a little bit of fun. No one would ever know—”

“You would keep our relationship secret?”

“I would keep it private.” She planted her hands on her hips. “You said yourself there’s no future for us. So screw the future. Let’s just do what we want.”

“Have a secret affair.”

“Yes.” She brushed her hair over her shoulder. “I guess you don’t understand. Werewolves are by nature lusty creatures. We never deny ourselves the pleasure whenever—”

“I’ll deny it.”

She blinked. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. You’re not gettin’ any.”

Her mouth fell open. He was rejecting her? “Are you crazy? What man turns down sex?”

He moved her off his legs and onto the sleeping bag, then stood. “I’ll see you tomorrow night, Brynley. Get some sleep.”

“What?” She scrambled to her feet. “You can’t just leave.”

“Watch me.” He vanished.

Chapter Twelve

“Dammit! Dammit to hell!” Phineas strode across the grounds at Romatech where he’d materialized just seconds earlier. He was not in the mood to see anyone, so instead of going inside, he’d headed for the nearby woods.

“Shit!” He punched a tree trunk. The rough bark ripped at his knuckles, but he punched again. And again. “Let’s get it over with? Let’s keep it secret? It’s simply lust?” With one last bellow of outrage, he slammed his fist into the tree.

Damn, that hurt. He clenched his bloodied hands, relieved to have the pain torment him. Anything to keep him from feeling desire. Anything to keep him from teleporting back to Brynley. God, he was crazy. Brynley wanted him, and he’d refused her? You fool! Go back and make love to her.

“No!” It wasn’t love for her. It was lust. And a desperate, pathetic way to get back at her father. She’d admitted in a fit of anger that he’d treated her like shit. She thought dear old dad had used her like a pawn? She was doing the same damned thing to him.

“Shit!” He paced toward the basketball court. His hands throbbed so much he no longer felt the pain in his legs.

Dammit. Had he made a terrible mistake? What if rejecting her destroyed what little affection she had for him? What if he’d lost her for good?

“Phineas!” Freemont ran toward him. “What’s going on, bro?”

“Nothing.” He kept walking.

“Bullshit. I saw you on a monitor, beating the crap out of a tree.” Freemont caught up with him. “What happened?”

“Nothing. Go back to work.”

“What have you got against the tree? Did it look at you funny?”

Phineas ground his teeth. His brother’s attempt to cheer him up wasn’t working. “Go back inside.”

“You were here less than an hour ago,” Freemont continued. “Everything was cool. And now it’s not? Did you take the food to the wolfie-girl?”

“Yes.”

“I thought you were worried about her camping alone. You were going to hang out with her to protect her.”

“She’ll be fine,” Phineas gritted out. She had a shotgun and an inner wolf that was scary as hell.

“Oooh.” Freemont halted. “I sense some lady trouble.”

“You’re a real sensitive guy, aren’t you?”

“Don’t snarl at me. Is that what happened? The wolfie-girl snarled at you?”

“I’m not talking about it.”

“Your shirt’s open. Did you make a pass at her?”

Phineas snorted. He pressed a few snaps together to close his shirt and left the plaid material stained with blood.

“Your hands are bleeding, bro,” Freemont said quietly. “You should come inside and get cleaned up.”

“They’ll heal during my death-sleep.” But his heart might never be the same. Phineas retrieved a basketball from the large Rubbermaid bin, then dashed onto the court and levitated to do a slam dunk.

“Cool!” Freemont retrieved the ball and started some fancy dribbling around his legs.

Phineas grabbed for the ball, but his brother neatly passed it between his legs and out of his reach.

“Give me the ball,” Phineas growled.

Freemont dribbled down the court, heading for the other basket.

“Give me the damned ball!” Phineas zoomed past him at vampire speed and blocked him.

Freemont screeched to a halt. “Hey! No fair pulling your vampire tricks when I don’t have any.” He twisted when Phineas made a grab for the ball. “Is that what happened? You tried some vampire tricks on her, and she rejected you?”

“She didn’t reject me!” He lurched for the ball, but Freemont surprised him, throwing it at him hard.

It hit him in the stomach, knocking him back a few steps. “What the hell was that for?”

“You tell me!” Freemont scowled at him. “Why are you so pissed? Why are you attacking trees?”

“Because she wanted sex!” Phineas threw the ball all the way down court and it plopped neatly through the hoop.

Freemont’s mouth fell open. “Wow, you scored.”

“No, I didn’t. I turned her down.”