“Excuse me?”
“Was it deliberate? Did he scent-mark you too?”
“How dare you!” Scent-marking was extremely personal. Only close family members did it. Or lovers. “What are you implying?”
He pressed his nose to her wrist, and the touch sent a thrill up her arm. “Perhaps he wasn’t bold enough to take what he wanted.”
Anger boiled inside her. “What do you care? You don’t even want me!” She cried in surprise when the words came out of her mouth. “No, I … didn’t mean—”
She was so focused on the loud thud of her back hitting the wall that she didn’t realize right away that Darius’s mouth was on hers. Hard.
Oh.
Oh.
His lips were rough and urgent, slanting over hers in a daring manner that made her knees wobble like jelly. He pushed her up against the wall harder, nudging her knee open so he could press his hips to hers.
Madre de dio.
His cock was already hard and the ridge pressed up against her, making her whimper in need and her core clench. A hand dug into her hair, yanking gently at the roots to tilt her head up so he could deepen the kiss. She couldn’t stop him as his tongue slid into her mouth, tasting her and doing delicious things that lit up all the pleasure synapses in her brain like fireworks. She wound her arms around his neck, pressing her body up against him.
His warm palm slid up under her shirt, caressing her skin, moving to the front to cup her breast. When his thumb brushed over the thin lace of her bra, her nipple tightened. She froze.
“Wait!” She pushed against him. Oh, God, even though he was standing right in front of her, her brain was still having a hard time processing that they had kissed. “Why did you do that?”
“Why?” His voice was as tight as a coiled spring. “Because I couldn’t stand his scent all over you.” He reached forward and rubbed his wrists against her neck, marking her with his delicious vanilla scent. She gasped at the boldness of his gesture. “And because I couldn’t keep letting you think I didn’t want you. Not anymore.”
“Y-y-you want me?”
“Did I not make myself clear?” He leaned forward, trapping her against the wall by placing his palms on either side of her. “Should I keep showing you how I—”
“Stop!” She pushed his face to the side and then ducked under his arms. “I’m just … this is going too fast. Darius, I …” Her body was on fire, but also, she couldn’t believe what he just said. “I just met you and you’ve been acting like you don’t even see me sometimes.”
“I see you, Adrianna. Do not doubt that.”
God, his words made her ache, and something deep inside her told her this wasn’t just going to be about sex, at least not for her.
“Adrianna? Are you home?”
Julianna! “Y-yes!”
Julianna trotted down the stairs, stopping halfway down. “Who are you talking to?”
“Huh?” Glancing around, she realized she was alone. Darius had somehow disappeared back to his room. Good. “Um, I was on the phone.”
“With Lucas?”
“Lucas?”
Julianna’s brows knitted together. “I told him to call you if he’s having trouble.”
“Hold on.” She held a hand up. “What do you mean having trouble? What happened? Is he okay?” The alarm bells in her head went into overdrive and her instincts were telling her that something was terribly wrong with Lucas. “Julianna?”
Her sister’s brows furrowed together. “I saw him today. He’s acting strange.”
“What? And you didn’t ask him what was wrong?”
“He wouldn’t tell me. But when I asked if he would talk to you, he seemed open about it. I thought maybe with your guys’ twin thing, you could pry it out of him.”
“He hasn’t called me at all.” Worry gripped her. She and Lucas talked about almost everything. Come to think of it, it had been a while since he even texted or called. “I’ll call him.”
“Just make sure he’s okay, all right? Use that twin juju you have and just … make him normal again.” The anxiety in Julianna’s voice was real.
“I will.”
“Good. Where were you anyway?” Julianna took one step down.
Oh, no. If Julianna got any closer to her, she would surely smell Darius’s scent on her. Arrogant prick. He accused her of letting a stranger scent-mark her and then goes ahead and does it himself. “Stop! I mean—I need to, uh, I left something in the kitchen. I’ll be right up and I’ll tell you how Mama roped me into a blind date.”
“Blind date?”
“Go. Let me grab my things, and I’ll give you all the details.”
“Fine.” She wagged a finger at her. “But I want details. I’ll be in my room.”
As soon as Julianna disappeared upstairs, Adrianna dashed to the guest bathroom. She grabbed some towels, ran them under some hot water and rubbed the wet cloth on her wrists, neck, under her arms and then her face. Hopefully, this would remove Darius’s scent from her body. Her wolf whined in protest, but she ignored it.
God, this was a mess. Darius. And now Lucas. When they had been kidnapped, Lucas had suddenly shifted for the first time. He was only ten years old, which was unheard of as most shifters changed when they turned thirteen or fourteen. Worse than that, he had shifted in bloodlust, a state where a Lycan couldn’t control his or her animal and they went straight for the kill.
He had only done this two—no, three—times in his life, and during all those instances, Adrianna was the only one who could calm him down. Even in adulthood, she and Lucas had always lived close to one another, and though it remained unspoken between them, it was probably because only she could bring him back from the darkness.
As she climbed the stairs, she took her phone out of her pocket. No messages from Lucas. No missed calls. When she dialed his number, her call went straight to voicemail. Her brother never did that, not to her at least.
Her grip
