In front of his club, he leaned down and captured my lips in a hard, unyielding kiss. Before I knew what he had planned, he lifted me. My legs wrapped around his hips as he carried me across the room and toward the back hall. The catcalls and whistles from the room barely registered.
“Fuck,” he said, pulling away from the kiss. He rested his head against mine and groaned. He’d been heading toward one room, but at the last minute, he turned us going further down the hall.
“What’s wrong?” I gasped as I tightened my hold on him.
“My cat wants you in his den. He’s never done that before.”
I closed my eyes, another shred of proof that what was about to happen was a mistake. Mates being separated wasn’t easy. After Dad died, Mom was a shell of the person she used to be, and that wasn’t just because of Malcolm and the situation she was forced into. The mate bond is powerful, even between a shifter and human.
“Maybe we shouldn’t do this,” I whispered, leaning my head back against the wall he had me sandwiched against.
“Probably not, Twistie.” He let out a sigh and leaned his head against my shoulder. I shivered, as he placed a soft kiss on my collarbone. “Stay with me tonight. We don’t have to have sex, but I want to know you.”
My chest squeezed tightly. Getting to know me was dangerous. It felt more intimate than having sex because if Six got to know me, he’d see more than I was comfortable with.
“I think that scares me more than sex.”
“Which means that’s what we need to do.” He smiled and winked at me. “Come on.” He gripped the underside of my ass and lifted me higher and tighter against him. His jean-clad cock rubbed against the apex of my thighs. Even through our clothes, the contact set off a small explosion.
Six didn’t drop me. Instead, he strode farther down the hall carrying me as if I weighed nothing. Our eyes locked, our bodies rubbing together with each step, teasing us both.
By the time we got to his room, I was breathless with need. No sex, I told myself. If we spent the night together, going back to my skulk wasn’t going to happen. I was already getting addicted to his smell—his touch—the sound of his voice.
When he opened the door and walked me into his room, I breathed deeply. His scent surrounded me, making my head spin. Six loosened his grip on me, and I slid down his body. His bulge dug into my stomach, and I sucked in a much-needed breath of air.
“It’s going to be a long fucking night,” Six muttered, stepping away and allowing me room to breathe.
There wasn’t much in his room, nothing personal other than a single picture of him with a man and woman who were obviously his parents. His arms were wrapped around their shoulders, his mom and dad smiling proudly. They looked happy.
“That was when I just got out of boot camp before I was deployed the first time.”
“I didn’t know you were in the military.” He looked hot as fuck on a bike and in leather, but in his uniform… Damn.
“Darlin’, there’s a lot you don’t know about me. That’s why we’re here.”
“True.” I shrugged. “Your parents still around?”
“Yeah. They live outside of Fredericksburg. They like the country to let their animals out to run.”
“You’re lucky,” I said, wishing like hell my dad was alive, and my mom was happy and free.
“I am,” he agreed, “what about your parents?”
“My dad’s dead. Mom’s a human and remarried.” I didn’t tell him that Dad was murdered and Mom’s married to his killer. That was for another time.
“I’m sorry.”
I shrugged it off like it didn’t bother me. “It was a long time ago.”
“Doesn’t mean it still doesn’t hurt.”
“What’s your name, Six?” I asked, trying to change the subject from the heaviness that had settled in the room.
“Rhys, but everyone, including my parents, calls me Six.”
I moved to the bed and removed my shoes before sitting cross-legged in the middle of the queen-size mattress. I noticed the sheets were tucked with military precision. Old habits die hard.
“Why, Six?”
“Uh-uh, my turn. What’s your real name?”
“Camilla. People call me Cami.”
“I’m gonna stick with Twistie.”
He leaned back against the dresser and crossed his arms across his chest. I scraped my eyes down his fit, muscular body, taking in everything from his scruffy beard to his still hard shaft behind the fly of his jeans. Rhys was sexy as sin.
“Keep lookin’ at me like that, Darlin’, and this conversation is over.”
“Why, Six?”
“I get visions. I have no control over what I see or when I see it. It’s my sixth sense.”
“Did you see me coming?” I asked, wondering if he saw something about our future.
“No. I didn’t see you. For some reason, you must be a blind spot in my ability. Anytime something is going to happen that affects me directly, I see it. I didn’t see you.”
“Interesting,” I said, considering the information he just told me. His ability doesn’t work on me, and mine doesn’t work on him either. “You’re a blind spot for me, too.”
“What exactly does your ability do, Twistie?”
I shook my head. There was no way I was going to tell him what I could do. Malcolm found out, and he’s been exploiting me ever since.
“I don’t talk about it.” Not a total lie. I don’t talk about it to anyone.
He looked at me, hearing the half-truth in my words, but he didn’t say anything; instead he nodded his acknowledgment that he knew I was keeping things from him. “Are you in trouble, Twistie?”
I did the only thing I could do. I lied.
88
Six
“Son of a bitch!” I
