“What’s your name?” The question poured out of my mouth before I had a chance to filter. “Your full name.”
Wick’s vibrating stopped, his internal struggle momentarily side-lined, and his head popped up. “Brandon,” he said. “Brandon James Wickard.”
“And you go by Wick?”
He snorted. “Well I couldn’t exactly use BJ as a nickname, now could I?”
A laughed escaped my lips. “So what do you do?”
“Do you mean for work?”
“Yes, for work.”
His eyes crinkled with amusement. “Why so interested?”
“I’m not.” Leaning against the wall, I tried to look casual, but doubted I pulled it off—too tense. “Only curious.”
“I’m a building developer.” He took a couple of steps toward me. A predatory gleam in his eye marked me as prey.
“You build stuff?”
“Not with my own hands. Not anymore.”
My eyes drifted to his hands and my thoughts flew to the gutter. What else could he do with his hands? My attention snapped back to Wick’s. Busted!
As if he could read my thoughts, he smiled wide and stepped in. His gaze could melt chocolate. If he kept looking at me like that, my will-power would crumble.
“How much longer are you planning to resist this, Andy?”
Maybe he could read minds. I looked away, desperate to break his power over my body and salvage my fast beating heart. The warmth radiating off Wick pressed against me moments before the hard contours of his body. His hands smoothed the goosebumps on my arms before caressing upward to cradle my face. He tilted my head, urging me to look at him again. What I saw in his eyes melted my last remnants of resolve. My wolf howled in my head and my body shook to respond before my mind had a chance to catch up, to process. I was lost in the golden gaze of Wick and his wolf.
He paused long enough for my brain to send one message to my vocal chords. “I can’t give you my wolf,” I said and leaned in for his kiss.
Wick pulled away, abrupt and unexpected. I stumbled forward, missing the contact. My lips sucked the air like a baby without a soother. I straightened up and frowned at Wick. What the hell?
His eyes searched mine, narrowing. “Why not?”
“I can’t give you that, Wick.”
He shook his head and his fingers softened their grip on my arm. The smell of uncertainty and disbelief tainted the heady scent of his desire. “When I have you…” He tilted my face up with his finger. “And I will. I want all of you.” He walked away and left me gaping at him.
He’d have to wait a long time.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Mentally confused and sexually frustrated—an unfortunate mix that might get me dry humped by rabid dogs if I didn’t reduce my emission of pheromones—I knew beyond a doubt my day would get a lot worse before it got better. I sat in the SRD library in the downtown headquarters on an old computer, clicking through archaic records. The hope of finding a nugget of information to solve my case kept spurring me on despite the innate knowledge I wasted my dwindling time. I found nothing and my mind kept wandering to last night—to Wick.
In my heart I knew he hadn’t rejected me. He wanted me, but he also wanted something I couldn’t give. When I was in a forced union with Dylan, my feras saved me. I’d been able to keep part of my wolf from my previous alpha, despite his concerted efforts to force the mate bond. In the beginning, before I saw him for the evil man he was, he managed to get some sort of hold on me, but not enough of one. When things turned ugly, he kept trying to complete the mating process. But by then, I’d smartened up and held my wolf close. He didn’t know about the other feras. My mountain lion and falcon eventually weakened his power and I broke free. When I did bust out of the shackles, I became a monster from an adult horror flick and destroyed the entire pack. At least most of it. The other women survived. All this time, I’d feared I had consigned them to a fate worse than death, a life without their mates, but Mel not only survived, she thrived. From the sounds of things, the other women did, too. I would never have hurt them willingly. Maybe the death of a mate affected Weres differently when they were from a forced union .
Werewolves mated for life like Shifters. If my wolf mated with Wick’s, the bond might be unbreakable. Not being a ‘normal’ Shifter, I didn’t know what rules applied to my life and that freaked me out. If permanent, there’d be no running away if he turned out to be like Dylan. Or if it bound Wick for life and not me, would I resign Wick to a life of unhappiness?
The poignant smell of coyote swirled around and drew me out of my head. It’s hard to describe what coyotes smell like. Mischief. Trouble. Yet instead of disliking the smell, it brought a much needed smile to my face. A furry body brushed my leg.