I cleared my throat, wishing I could clear my head. “Any idea where this guy is?”
Sasha shrugged. “Probably Massachusetts. He found out my sister lives there.”
“When he comes up empty back east, he’ll come back out here looking for you. You’re his only lead, right? And when he does, we need to flush him out into the open.” I sat down at the desk and grabbed the hotel notepad and a pen. I glanced back over my shoulder. “I’m better if I have a list. What do you know about him so far?”
She walked over and stood behind me, intoxicating me with her scent. I fought the urge to swivel the chair around and pull her into my lap.
“His scent is definitely werewolf. He’s got my cell phone number and used it to send me a creepy text.” She hesitated for a second. “Last night he also took my underwear out of my backpack while I shifted. There’s a good chance he’s got other plans aside from anything Nero is paying for.”
Rage shot through me before I could rein it in, and the pen busted in my hand. Usually I was a master at controlling my emotions, but the thought of some other wolf lusting after Sasha kicked my territorial animal instincts up a few notches.
My voice was low, guttural. “He did what?”
Sasha walked toward the window. “My underwear was missing from my bag. He either wanted to scare me, or he gets off on imagining what he’ll do when he catches me. Either way, he’s not all business.”
Oh, I wanted to give him some business he’d never forget.
I got up, managing to control myself just enough to keep from shoving the chair across the room. “That last informant I took out in Vegas—”
“The one who stabbed you?”
“Yeah. He told Nero you didn’t die in Tahoe that night. I think he got your Vegas location to them before I…”
I didn’t finish. She already knew what I’d done.
“This new guy could be a bounty hunter they hired to bring me back.” She hesitated for a second and added, “Or an assassin.”
I moved closer to her, but I didn’t make any move to touch her. “Why wouldn’t they send one of their own? If they were going to kill you, they have the best assassins money can buy. Why hire a werewolf?”
“I thought the same thing at first. But maybe Nero figured I would recognize their people?”
“Maybe.” But I wasn’t convinced. “Any other ideas?”
Her eyes met mine. “Sebastian’s been helping me from the inside. Mr. Severino heads up Nero for a reason. He’s a paranoid control-freak. If he even suspected I was getting help from someone within the organization, he wouldn’t hesitate to bring in a werewolf. That way even his own people wouldn’t know what he had planned.”
“Or Sebastian set you up.” Just saying his name put a bad taste in my mouth. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but his top priority is himself. Maybe Nero made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.”
“If that were true the werewolf would know exactly where I’m staying. He’d have already made the grab.”
“You’re telling me that asshole knows you’re here?” I clenched my jaw, biting back a few other choice names for the jaguar.
Her eyes narrowed. “He made my reservation. And before you get all high and mighty you should keep in mind that I’ve done just fine up until this point without your help. I’m not a damsel in distress, so you can come down off Neanderthal mountain there.”
I raised my eyebrows at her verbal slam. “Neanderthal mountain?”
Her lips started to curl at the corners into a sexy smile that left me temporarily defenseless. I could only hope she never discovered the power she wielded. Damn, I was in trouble.
“Yes. Neanderthal mountain. Where all the men go to slap their fists against their chests and fight each other for their women.”
I chuckled. I couldn’t help it. “All right, you win. I’m off the mountain.” I caught her staring at me, but she quickly turned away. “Maybe we can lure him out, let him think he found us, but we’ll be ready for him.” I glanced over at her bag. “We can find a mall or something, go out in the open and let him see us. I’m going to need some extra clothes if we’re staying here for a few more days anyway.”
“We should get you a room, too.”
“I think we should stick together until we catch this guy.”
Sasha shook her head. “Having you here would just be a distraction.”
I clenched my jaw. How much longer could we ignore the huge elephant standing in the center of the room?
“Is this about the kiss?”
“No.” She shifted her weight to one foot, pushing her hip out slightly. “But I don’t think we should do that again.”
I raised a brow. “No?”
“We’ve got to get this guy, wolf.”
Apparently she still wasn’t going to call me by my name. But she wasn’t shooting me with a Taser either.
Baby steps.
“We have to stay focused.” Her gaze met mine. “It was one thing when he was just after me, but he knows about my sister now. I need to end this before she gets hurt.”
“
She didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t deny it. “If we’re going to get you a room and some clothes, we’d better get going. Maybe we’ll get lucky and pick up his trail.”
She grabbed her room key and phone, every movement fluid and noiseless. Her soft cashmere sweater hugged her curves as she pulled her trench coat on. Even with the coat and her slacks, I caught the outline of her guns when she moved. She was sexy and deadly all wrapped up in one curvy combination.
In a strange way, I felt a burst of pride that she was my mate. I ground my teeth together in silent censure. When did I turn into such a naive idiot? Sasha was many things, but “mine” wasn’t one of them.
Now that I’d tasted her lips, I was most definitely hers. Whether she wanted me or not.
Chapter Ten
We stepped out of the hotel room, and the wolf took my hand. My fingers started lacing with his before I realized it and pulled my hand away.
“Why are you holding my hand?”
He gave his broad shoulders a little shrug. “We’ll look less conspicuous if people think we’re a couple out for the night. If he’s watching, he might think we let our guard down and make his move.”
I pressed my lips together as I gave a single nod of my head. I had no clue why his answer disappointed me, but it did. Maybe the kiss in my room was all an act too. A trick to lure me into trusting him.
It would be much easier to stop obsessing over it if he hadn’t been so damned good. My lips still tingled. All this unwanted attraction wasn’t getting me any closer to finding the bastard following me.
He took my hand again and pressed the elevator button with his other hand. The doors finally opened, and the moment they closed again I yanked my fingers free.
He frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“No sense pretending when no one else is around.”
I took some satisfaction in seeing the crease in his brow, but as soon as we hit the lobby and the doors slid open, he grabbed my hand again. I rolled my eyes but played along. For now.
As we walked toward the hotel doors, I tugged him to the front desk. I smiled at the flustered desk clerk. “Excuse me, we just got married, and we love anime.” I glanced up at the wolf, relishing the shock on his face. Two could play this game, and I’d worked undercover enough that I was pretty sure I was better at pretending than he would ever be. “Is there any way we could get a room for a few days?”
