magic against his mate. He was a wolf, a natural enemy of magic users, but despite his relationship with Harris and the witches in Redhawke, he rarely saw it in use. He wasn’t quite suspicious of it, but it made him nervous. It felt almost like cheating.
“I would never hurt her. You know that,” Harris snapped. “Look, I’m not proposing that we give it just to her. That wouldn’t be fair, would it?” Ethan laughed. “She won’t take it if she knows about it.”
“Nope. She won’t. So we all take it.”
“And not tell her about it.”
“But we’ll all take it. You have a better idea?”
Gods. He shouldn’t even consider it. This was going to come back and bite him in the ass, wasn’t it? Harris mixed liquids while Ethan thought it over. It was a bad, bad idea, and he knew it.
“We aren’t messing with her emotions,” Harris said softly. “It’s not a love potion or animosity spell. Hell, it may not even work on werewolves.” But it might be their only chance. Harris didn’t have to say the words. Ethan knew. Gabby had resisted any relationship with them outside of sex for so long they would need an edge to breach her defenses. Sharing her while she was in heat was a good start—the opportunity to show how they could be together physically—but it wouldn’t be enough to get her to open her heart. She was too stubborn. Too determined to keep them at arm’s length. Harris finished mixing nd put the vials back.
“Now what? How do you get her to drink it?”
Harris grinned. “We take her to dinner.” He poured the liquid into an empty bottle, capped it, and stuck it in his pocket.
“What’s going on?” a sleepy voice asked from the doorway.
Harris took the small bowl he’d used to the sink, turned on the water, and rinsed it out. He moved with an easy, casual grace. Not at all like a man who would have been busted if she’d come in five seconds earlier. “Nothing.”
Ethan held his breath and faced her, hoping like hell he didn’t look as guilty as he felt. She was so pretty. And so damned stubborn. She looked tousled and well fucked. She practically glowed with satisfaction. His cock took immediate notice, aching and steel hard the moment her hooded, languid eyes met his.
“We were just talking about dinner. How about the pub?” he forced out, fighting the lust screaming through his body.
They could go to the one bar and grill in town, locally called “the pub,” or drive to the next big town. Ethan would prefer to just go back to bed, but he’d have to talk her there first. She’d put her dress and stockings back on, and her shoes dangled from her hand. At the mention of food, her eyes lit up.
“We could throw something together here,” she said. Right. Because going somewhere to eat might be too much like a date. It violated her “don’t get too close” rule.
“We’d have to run to the grocery store. The pub is close,” Harris pointed out. “And the steaks are great. Might as well go there and save ourselves a sink full of dirty dishes.” She didn’t look happy about it, but finally she nodded, her reluctance easy to read.
Bending at the waist, she reached down to slip on her shoes, and her hair fell loose around her.
The memory of holding her hair, of thrusting into her mouth blazed in his mind. Dinner could wait. He took a step forward, but she was already straightening and moving into the hall, toward the front door. Harris gave him an amused, knowing grin and followed her.
Ethan heard the front door open, a murmur of voices. “Let’s go,” Harris called out, and with a growl, Ethan followed.
As soon as he stepped outside, he knew he had a bigger issue than getting back in Gabby’s pants. She and Harris stood on the sidewalk talking to a neighbor. A male, werewolf neighbor. It didn’t matter that Ethan knew the wolf was happily mated and old enough to be Gabby’s father.
The man was speaking to his mate, smiling and joking with his mate. Years of pent-up frustration and denial broke loose, and he snarled, low and vicious. Gabby took a wary step toward him, putting herself between Ethan and his quarry. That pissed him off more. What was she doing trying to protect the male?
She stopped a few inches from him and reached out to place her palm flat over his heart. It beat wildly, fast, threatening to burst from his chest, and her eyes widened, her nostrils flared to take in his scent, his emotions. “If I didn’t hurt so bad, I’d go home right now,” she said.
Her words stopped the snarl like he’d been doused in ice-cold water. He rested his hands on her shoulders and searched her face. “We hurt you?” She rolled her eyes. “Different kind of hurt.”
His confusion must have shown. She went on grudgingly. “It hurts. The heat. The need. It twists you up, and there’s only one way to relieve the pressure,” she ended on a bitter note.
He breathed her scent in deeply and knew she was telling him the truth. He lifted his hand and stroked her cheek with the knuckles. “We can go back inside,” he said softly enough the others couldn’t hear. It was a promise of the relief she sought, but she shook her head.
“I’m starving. I didn’t eat today.”
His hackles rose, threatening to let his feral protective instincts free again. She was his. He didn’t like her not taking care of herself, and if she wasn’t going to do it, he’d do it for her.
“Why?”
Over the top of her head, he saw the neighbor leave, and took her hand to tug her with him.
She shrugged but didn’t try to free herself, and he hid a grin. Progress at last.
“Too antsy, I guess. Nothing looked appealing.”
“Is that normal?” Ethan asked while Harris fell in on her other side. “She doesn’t eat when she comes to
