Savage Betrayal: Savage, Book 2 (10 page)

The familiar twinge of sadness hit to think of how brief her time with her parents had been. Even less for Aubree. Her little sister had no memories, and just a handful of pictures to remember them by.

She finally glanced at Hilliard. “How about you?”

“A younger brother, and two older sisters.”

“Big family.”

His shoulder lifted in a slight shrug. “It sure made the fight for a morning shower fun.”

She liked this, Grace realized. The small talk. The comfort of having Hilliard hanging out with her after hours. Which was weird, because maintaining a friendship after work hours always made things a little tricky.

And dammit, after today she was starting to wonder if she wanted more than friendship. Which was really, really bad.

She finally dragged her gaze away from his charming smile that had her heart tripping all over the place. It was imperative that she get him to leave, and fast.

“Why are you here again?”

Chapter Eight

Darrius hesitated, not even sure how the hell to answer that. Maybe he didn’t have an answer.

It was a little hard to focus with Grace wearing her pajamas—pink plaid boxer shorts and a skintight tank top. She’d obviously showered. Her hair, still damp, hung in loose, dark waves down her back. And she smelled sweet. Whatever soap or lotion she wore had to have some kind of cinnamon scent to it.

Every breath he took in just upped his awareness of her—made him want to gather her into his arms and press his lips to the curve of her neck. He needed to find out if she tasted as sweet as he knew she would.

Knowing she waited for his reply, he finally settled for saying the only thing that he could think of. The only thing neutral. “I figured you might want to talk about what happened today?”

He watched the tension invade her body, the wariness flicker in her eyes.

“Which part?” She pulled away from the counter and held up her hand. “Actually, don’t answer that. You figured wrong. No, I don’t want to talk about any of it.”

She walked past him, away from the bedrooms and toward what seemed to be the living room.

His gaze unwillingly slipped to the curve of her ass, and his blood rushed south. His jaw flexed as he took in the long, pale legs that ended in bare feet. Feet that were nearly running through the plush carpet to move away from him.

“It’s late. You shouldn’t be here anyway.”

He caught up with her and grabbed her arm, swinging her around. “You think I don’t know that?”

“So why are you here?” There was desperation in her voice now, as if she dreaded the confrontation that had been building.

“I don’t know. I don’t fucking know. I just found myself driving here instead of home tonight.”

“Okay, you know what? Not an acceptable answer.”

“Maybe not. But here’s what I
can
tell you.” His fingers slid over the soft skin of her upper arm, holding her still as she tried to pull away. “There was this cute blonde at the bar tonight and we were in her car. She was all set to let me fuck her.”

Shock flared in her eyes, and then disappointment, before her gaze turned hard and cold. “What, is crude the new charming with you, Hilliard? Look, I don’t doubt you can get laid. No one is going to dispute that,” she ground out, “but I don’t need you to show up at my house to give me a blow by blow, okay?”

“I think you do need to hear this, because you’re part of the damn problem.”

She stopped trying to pull away and let out a growl of fury, going toe to toe with him now. She was several inches shorter than him, but she could intimidate the hell out of most people.

But instead of intimidating him, the anger and passion in her gaze lit a spark to the embers inside him. Made what little control he’d had when he arrived, snap.

“I am
not
part of your problem. If for some reason Little Hilliard didn’t want to get up and play, they have convenient blue pills for that. So why don’t you go bum one off your dad and hightail it back to the bar and finish where you left off with your blonde friend?”

Hilliard stared at her for a moment, letting the words sink in with disbelief. And then he laughed.

“You think I…” He shook his head and laughed harder, but it wasn’t really driven by amusement. More so frustration. “I didn’t sleep with the woman, because I couldn’t even kiss her without thinking about you.”

That shut her up. Grace sucked in a breath and she seemed at a loss for what to say.

“But I tried.” His jaw flexed. “Because wanting you is a damn inconvenience, Masterson.”

Again she didn’t say anything, but he didn’t miss the dilation of her pupils or the way her breath quickened.

He released her arm and used both hands to push back her hair over her shoulders before cupping her face. “I’m tired of running from this. So why bother trying anymore?”

Realization flickered in her eyes. “Hilliard, don’t you dare.”

Too fucking late. The wolf inside him had taken over the reins and was playing the game his way now.

He pulled her hard against him and covered her mouth with his. Expecting her knee in his crotch, he was shocked when instead her fingers curled into his shirt and she tugged him closer. She wasn’t fighting him, but matching him with everything she had.

Her mouth parted beneath his, her tongue already meeting him halfway to tangle and tease. Sweet. Dammit all to hell, but she tasted like the inside of a candy store. So amazingly good, but so bad for you.

He pushed aside the human voice inside him—the one that told him to come to his senses before this was too late—and gathered her tighter in his arms. Her soft breasts flattened against his chest and his cock pressed through his jeans to her belly.

Deepening the kiss, he commandeered her mouth. Tasting and exploring every tempting inch.

More.
He needed more.

Darrius slid his mouth from hers, giving in to the urge to explore. He traced kisses over the curve of her jawline, before moving to the tantalizing hollows her neck offered. The pulse in her neck a silent call for attention his tongue was all too eager to answer.

“Damn, you smell so good,” he muttered when lifting his lips for just a moment. “I want to taste you. Everywhere.”

Her body shuddered at his words and she let out a breathy whimper. “It’s the Cinnamon Roll body wash. My sister gave it to me for my last birthday. Oh God, my sister who is just down the hall.”

He laughed huskily and buried his lips against her neck. “It’s not the body wash that’s doing this to me. And your sister is studying in a room at the other end of the house. We’re fine.” Darrius sucked the curve of her neck and closed his eyes, intoxicated by the scent of her. The softness of her skin beneath his lips.

She melted into him again, surrendered to whatever crazed passion had them in their grip. He caught her mouth once more in another searing kiss, while easing a hand between them to tease his fingers up her toned stomach and onto the soft roundness of one breast. Her nipple poked into the curve of his palm, and he was hit by the fierce need to know what it would taste like in his mouth. To suck it until it was teased and distended and Grace was begging him for more.

“
Yes.
” She stilled and then pulled away slightly. “And either you brought your Glock home in your pocket, or…wow.”

He flicked his thumb over her nipple and was rewarded by her gasp.

“Wow, is the answer you’re looking for.” He couldn’t stop a smug smile. “Little blue pill, my ass.”

She laughed, a solid, throaty sound that was all confidence and pleasure.

“What’s wrong with us? Why am I feeling like this with you? Like I could throw you down on the floor right now and ride you until I can’t see straight?”

He groaned, his cock lurching into further hardness. “Shit, sugar, are you trying to make me lose it?”

“Mmm, I’m undecided…”

“I don’t know what’s going on with us. Hell, I’ve been trying to figure it out myself.” His lips brushed the pulse in her neck again. “However, I do have what is probably a complete asinine theory.”

She sighed, teasing her fingers up the back of his neck. “I’m torn between wanting to hear it, and wanting you to take off my shirt.”

Oh shit. Had she just given him the green light to remove her clothes?

She nibbled on his bottom lip. “But you’d better tell me your theory.”

Damn. And there came the yellow light. “I stayed with you when you were feral, and held you that one night. You were so close to dying, and I’m wondering if we somehow bonded in a way.”

She froze in his arms and lifted her head, horror flashed across her face. “Crap, you didn’t do anything to me, did you? I just… I have so few memories of that time. I mean, we’re not mated or anything?”

“No, of course not. I’ve never bitten you.” His fog of desire for her lifted a bit as the familiar sting of pain pinched his heart. The reminder that he wouldn’t be biting her, or anyone else. “I never claimed you. You probably would’ve known.”

Her cheeks reddened before she blinked and glanced away. The relief on her face was evident. “Right, of course. And I mean, why would you have? You’re right, we would’ve known. So you think there’s some kind of subconscious bond then?”

“Hell, I wish I knew. I have no idea what happened, but ever since that night… I feel responsible for you. Protective.”

She gave a broken, distressed laughed. “You sound like you’re offering to be my nanny.”

“Grace, what I want to do to you is not suitable for kids.”

A tremble ran through her and she laid her forehead against his chin. “You need to stop, because dammit, this is
so
inconvenient.”

“You think I don’t know that? Hell, Larson already warned me to stay away from you.”

“What?” Her head lifted again and she finally did step back. “Larson knows about this? How? I mean, dammit, Darrius,
I
didn’t even know about this.”

“He sensed my growing attachment to you.”

“Attachment?” Her laugh rose to a higher pitch as she began to pace the room. “That’s such a strong word, how about we
not
use it. What happened tonight was lust. And we made the mistake of acting on it. Which I’m thinking won’t be happening again.”

The fact that she’d called him by his first name didn’t slip his attention, but he didn’t call her out on it. He actually liked the intimacy of it—he’d begun calling her Grace when they weren’t at work. Masterson was too damn formal for the things he wanted to do to her.

“Maybe it is lust,” he agreed mildly and crossed the room and caught her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. “But I can’t ignore what happened between us tonight. I want you, Grace.”

For a moment it almost seemed like her eyes got misty, and then her mouth thinned and she gave a terse shake of her head.

“Well, news flash, this isn’t just about you, Hilliard. So forget tonight happened, because it was a one-time deal.”

“Why? We’re both consenting adults. Why would acting on it be a mistake?”

“One, Larson already told you to back off—”

“He’s worried that I’ll hurt you.”

That threw her for a moment, and finally she laughed. “Well, out of all my concerns, that’s not one of them.”

“Okay, then what’s the other reason you’re against us exploring this?”

“Jesus, you’re dissecting this situation like a frog in high school biology.” She cast him a look of disbelief. “We work together, becoming fuck buddies is not a good idea.”

He barked out a laugh. “You think we’d be the first coworkers in history to get it on? Come on.”

“It’s different with us. I work in a male-dominated field. You don’t understand what that’s like.”

With suddenly clarity, Darrius did understand. He understood exactly what this was about, and where she was coming from.

“I get it. Before Yorioka you were the new agent and the only girl. Did you feel like you had to prove yourself to us?”

She blanched, and judging by the wariness in her gaze, he’d nailed it.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“I can promise you the guys have never disrespected you in anyway, Grace. You’ve always been one of us—we don’t see gender.”

That last bit was a lie. The team had always been a little more protective of Grace because she was a woman. The wolf sides of the men were genetically programmed to protect the females in the pack—it was as much a part of them as breathing.

Still, he had no doubts Grace was as good of an agent—if not better—than any of the men.

“And if anything did happen between us, that’s where it would stay. Between us. I’m not the type for locker room conversations.” He brought her hand up to his lips and flipped it to kiss the inside of her wrist. “We’d be good together, you know it as much as I do.”

She closed her eyes and he felt her pulse quicken beneath his thumb.

“I understand rejection may be something of a novelty to you, but I promise the slight sting to your ego will fade.”

When she opened her eyes again, her gaze was a vacant, hard stare that indicated she’d withdrawn emotionally. And as much as he wished it might be, it wasn’t his ego that stung. It was on a much deeper level.