“But you shot him. I mean, he should still be healing.”
“He should,” I agree, finally facing the beauty. “But my brother isn’t one to follow the rules, little one.”
“Then he takes after you,” she throws back with a small smile, shocking the shit out of me. I didn’t expect her to say that, or even acknowledge it. But that has my chest tightening when I think about giving her back to him.
“He does.”
“Do you miss him? Do you miss having a family?” she asks then, stepping up beside me. Her wide eyes locking on the side of my face and it feels as if I’m being scorched. “Not the biker family you clearly have,” she adds in a whisper.
I stare out of the window, watching the clouds move across the sky. The memory of having a brother feels foreign to me. It’s been so long. My heart thuds against my ribs, reminding me once again that emotion is weakness.
“No.” I turn suddenly, causing Scarlett to step back, almost tumbling to the floor, but my arm shoots out, wrapping around her slender waist as I pull her toward me. Her mouth is inches from mine. It would be so easy to steal a kiss. To taste her lips and tangle my tongue with hers. My jeans tighten at the crotch when she gasps as I straighten, bringing her along with me.
Scarlett’s hands land on my chest, her fingers burning me right through my t-shirt, as well as the leather cut I’m wearing. “I don’t believe you.”
“Do you like to taunt the predator, little one?” I question, keeping my face near hers, the hot breath that fans from her lips causing my hunger to rumble through me like an awakening volcano.
“I-I didn’t mean… I just want to learn about you,” she whispers, and her voice has a direct link to the desire coiling my gut. I want her. The hunger I have that’s swirling through me is dangerous, and the longer I spend around her, the more I feel like letting go and stealing a taste.
It wouldn’t take long to claim her.
I could do it right now.
“Nobody wants to know about me, sweetheart,” I tell her honestly. With a twinge of regret, I release her. “It’s better that you go back to your wolf and leave the hunter to fend for himself.”
Suddenly, she reaches out a hand and cups my cheek. The softness of her touch has my body warming with need. “Why do you push people away?” Her whispered words fall over me and, like a wave crashing on the shore, it attacks me violently. I feel as if I’m being dragged down into the depths of the sea, where I’ve buried my feelings, where I’ve hidden the need and desire I long since wanted to feel.
“Because those who have come close enough have always been hurt. And I’d rather walk away than have anyone else in my life get hurt,” I confess with a lump forming in my throat and the words as they escape feel like sandpaper scraping the truth from me.
Scarlett shakes her head. “That’s no way to live,” she whispers softly. The gentleness of the moment is broken when Howler shoves open the door. His eyes widen when he takes us in. He’s never seen me act affectionately to anyone, not even the club whores who want my dick.
“They’re close,” he says, before tipping his head toward Scarlett and leaving us to finish whatever the fuck this is. I don’t even know.
“I have to go.” I turn, immediately feeling cold after putting distance between Scarlett and me, but it’s for the best. We can’t do this. I can’t fucking do this because she’s going to leave here with Lycan, and I’ll be on my own once more.
She catches my arm before I walk out of the room, and the plea is shining in her pretty eyes. “Please don’t hurt him.” Her words are filled with worry, anxiety clear in her expression. A pretty girl in love with a beast.
“I promise you I won’t. But I can’t vow that he won’t try to hurt me.” It’s the truth. My brother is coming here to get his girl, and what he does to get her may not be something she’ll agree with.
“Let me go with you?” she asks, a question I consider for a moment. “I won’t run, let me talk to him, show him I’m fine.” She gestures to her clothes, her body, no marks or scars. She’s dressed in a pair of my sweats with a heavy black tee that makes her look like she’s drowning in material and I can’t help but grin.
“Like that?”
She glances at her appearance, then nods. “I don’t have any other clothes since my wedding dress was ripped to shreds,” she informs me, a bite in her clipped tone which has the corners of my mouth quirking at the fire that just never ceases within her.
“He’s going to expect you to be hurt, to be crying and begging him to save you from the big bad hunter,” I tell her with a grin of satisfaction curling my lips. This time, I turn to face her once more, my hands landing on her hips as I tug her closer. “What are you going to tell him, little one? Are you going to admit how much your body responds to my touch? Or are you going to tell him your lips ache to be claimed by mine?”
The air is heavy with promise, with threat, and the slight tremble from Scarlett’s slight frame doesn’t go unnoticed. I see her. I see everything she does, and this time, I’m not going to stop. Cupping her face in my hand, I hold her steady. My mouth finds hers in a slow, gentle kiss. Her breaths come out short, soft gasps of surprise when my tongue darts out and traces her full bottom lip.
“Is that what you’re doing to tell him?” I whisper before
