Something About Harry(51)

Ah. She was worried the other werewolves would hear them. “You’re making this harder than it has to be.” Literally, he thought, drawing his napkin over his lap. “Weren’t you the one who said most times werewolves block out the sounds around them in order to focus on conversations they’re having, and to keep from literally going insane with so much stimuli? I’ve been practicing it all day. Though I have to admit, I was a little uncomfortable with Esterhazy’s story about his hemorrhoids and subsequent visit to what he called a butt doctor. Some things should remain private.”

Not even a giggle. In fact, she didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to. She was throwing off an uncomfortable vibe he could virtually catch in his mouth as if it came in the shape of popcorn.

He tried another tact. He was damned interested in how she’d whipped up a baby-making serum. She was smarter than he’d ever guessed, and it only made him think about her naked that much more—which was an unsettling segue from her big brain.

She could talk with him about the things that interested him, too—theories and equations and The Walking Dead. If he were checking off characteristics on his dream list, she was almost perfect.

“So tell me about the, you know, serum. How the hell did you make something so brilliant? It’s damn well genius, Mara. Tell me in geek-speak, if you have to, but I gotta know.”

Mara scooted her chair closer to his, reaching for the lunch Carl had packed them. She pulled out a sandwich bag with a crushed slice of bread in it to peek inside and find it slathered with mustard and some jaggedly cut carrots on it. “I think we need to order lunch. Carl’s intentions, while sweeter than sweet, are geared more toward what he likes for lunch, I think. Besides, hasn’t the hunger hit you yet?”

Christ. He could have all but dived on top of the leftover cake Trisha from legal had brought down to their break room, and fighting the temptation to keep his hands off Liam’s lunch in the fridge, a thick roast beef and cheddar sub with horseradish dressing, had sent him to the bathroom to splash his face with cold water.

“The hunger’s hit, for sure. I usually avoid red meat but maybe once a month. Now I can’t stop thinking about a porterhouse—rare. Or maybe just a whole cow.” Among other things.

Her shoulders relaxed as she became the Mara he was more familiar with, full of informative tips and directives. She was in her safe zone if she was instructing him on the way of the were. “In the beginning, you need to eat, and eat often. So make sure you come down on breaks and grab—”

He cut off her werewolf tutorial by pulling her to him with merely a foot braced against the leg of the cafeteria chair, and planted a kiss on her pretty peachy lips, so full and glossy he wanted to suck on them, drive his tongue between them as he peeled her clothes from her body.

He couldn’t help it. Having her this close to him, smelling her unique scent, feeling all the things he was feeling became magnified, making his nerves raw with need.

If he didn’t kiss her, he’d haul her over his shoulder and drag her off to some janitor’s closet and have his way with her. This was the next best thing to being labeled a Neanderthal.

Mara’s surprise was evident at first, until she appeared to forget they were in the middle of Pack’s cafeteria when she nuzzled her jaw into the palm of his hand, skimming her tongue over his lower lip.

While his head exploded, the lunchroom fell silent. So silent he heard heartbeats and blood pulsing through veins.

Until Mara’s trio of friends showed up, and the one named Astrid dropped her lunch tray on the table with such force it hurt Harry’s ears, leaving a humming vibration in its wake.

He sensed discontent—and something else he couldn’t quite pinpoint. It was out of place in the realm of new scents he’d discovered, but it was there.

And it was unhappy.


* * *


“SO, this is news,” Astrid drawled, pulling out a chair and dropping into it, clearly displeased she hadn’t been privy to Mara’s fantasy crush turning into a reality.

Mara struggled to come back down from the cloud she was on after experiencing her first kiss ever from her pretend boyfriend.

It was everything she’d hoped and more when having her pretend affair with him. Soft, hot, sweet, and sinful in one soul-jarring kiss. Harry’s lips didn’t just press against hers, they consumed hers, devoured them. She’d kissed aplenty in her time, but never quite like that. The heat between her thighs pounded in time with her heart, still crashing against her ribs. He’d proven the age-old adage—geeks ruled.

Leah and Jiaying, always supportive of her fictional life with Harry, gave her a grin and a thumbs-up from behind him, giggling softly before taking their places on the other side of the table next to Astrid, expressing their open curiosity.