Dark Wolf Running (Bloodrunners) (24 page)

“You okay over there?” he asked, sliding a concerned look over her flushed face as they headed out of the parking lot. “Want the AC on?”

Elise shook her head. “No, I’m fine,” she murmured, wondering if maybe there were a way out of this. A way that she could actually have what she wanted, without it all falling apart. Maybe even...

Oh, hell. Who was she trying to fool? She knew damn well how dangerous
maybes
could be. When was she going to learn? There was no magical
maybe
for her in this scenario. Wyatt Pallaton was never going to give her his heart, which meant he would never be able to accept her the way she was now. Yeah, it sucked. But it was a dose of reality she needed to grow up and swallow.

Why? Why tell him anything? Why not just enjoy him? Even if it’s only for one night?

God, she would have loved to. But she couldn’t. Maybe it was pride. Maybe she just couldn’t stomach having to pretend in the midst of their passion, since there was always the chance he would notice that her senses weren’t quite...
right.
Whatever the reason, she couldn’t go through with it without telling him the truth. But if she told him the truth, he wouldn’t want her anymore, and she’d be right back where she started. Alone. Starved for him.

Christ, catch-22’s were such a freaking bitch!

Elise stayed silent until they reached the highway, then finally forced herself to just get on with it and say what needed to be said. “I’m not like I used to be,” she started to explain in a low but surprisingly steady voice. “I’ve suppressed certain parts of myself for so long, I don’t connect with the wolf part of my nature anymore. It’s like it’s not even there.”

His expression became closed in a way that made her wonder what he was hiding. “Then you don’t even know if you feel it,” he rumbled, taking one of his hands from the wheel to rub at the hard, shadowed edge of his jaw. “I’d wondered.”

A tremor of awareness shivered up her spine. “Feel what?”

“Nothing,” he muttered under his breath. Lifting the hand on his jaw, he pushed his long fingers back through the thick, dark strands of his hair, his gaze a little unfocused, as if he were lost somewhere in his thoughts.

“Wyatt, what are you talking about?”

He ran his tongue over the edge of his teeth, and it was so damn sexy she nearly gasped, only just stifling the sound. Then he flicked her a shuttered, burning look, before turning that molten gaze back on the road, taking a deep breath and saying, “I... You know I grew up mostly with my mother’s family. I think more like a human than most of the Runners, but that doesn’t mean I’m not a wolf at heart. I might not put it out there as much as the others, but the instincts are there, and they’re strong.”

Her heart was beating so hard that it hurt. “What are you saying?”

She watched his strong, corded throat work as he swallowed. Then he answered her question. “I’m saying that I recognized your scent the night of Max’s
Novitiate’s
ceremony.”

Elise blinked, unable to believe what he’d just said. “Oh, my God, Wyatt.”

The corner of his mouth twitched, and he shook his head. “Yeah, that was kind of how I felt about it, too. Damn near knocked me on my ass.”

She had to reach out and steady herself with a hand on the dash, her head spinning. “You never said anything!”

He grunted as he rolled his shoulder. “What was I gonna say? You made it clear on the times I tried to talk to you that you wanted nothing to do with me.” He slid her another shuttered, blazing look from the corner of his eye. “When I asked you to dance at the wedding, that was the first time you’d ever looked at me and seemed to really even
see
me.”

“So then that’s why you’ve been—”

“No!” The word seemed to punch from his chest with more force than he’d intended, making her flinch. He gave a harsh sigh and in a calmer tone said, “I wanted you the second I set eyes on you, El, before I’d gotten a single whiff of your scent. And even after I had, I didn’t go slathering after you like a dog with a bone. Yeah, it affects me on a primitive level, but you affect me on
all
levels. That’s just one of them.”

“So even knowing my scent calls to you, you still don’t want a permanent relationship with me?”

He worked his jaw, then muttered, “I told you that’s about me. Not you.”

She gave a short, bitter laugh, thinking that was about to change.

“Damn it, Elise.” Wyatt shot her a sharp glare before returning his attention back to the road. “Whatever you have to say, it isn’t going to make any difference to me. I’m still going to want you.”

“I’m losing my Lycan senses!” she blurted.

“What?”

Swiping angrily at her tears, she said, “My senses. They’re...gone.”

“Jesus, El. Why?”

Her voice was low and strained, stripped down to raw, seething emotion. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s the trauma. Or maybe the fact that I no longer shift. I swear I don’t know, Wyatt. All I know is that my senses are now little better than a human’s. My sense of smell. My eyesight. My hearing.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, reaching over and grabbing her hand, needing to hold it in his own. “Maybe you’re just ill or something, sweetheart.”

He didn’t have to look at her to know that she was rolling those beautiful eyes at him, but he did. “Yes, I’m sure. It’s been happening for a long time, getting steadily worse.”

Christ, this explained so much, and he was pissed at himself for not seeing it. For not figuring it out on his own. He was also probably only seconds away from driving them into a bloody tree, considering he couldn’t take his damn eyes off her. She looked so broken, so shattered, that it made his fucking chest ache. Needing to give her his full attention, he steered the Land Rover into a lay-by on the side of the highway, put it in Park and turned in his seat to face her, his left arm draped over the steering wheel, his right hand holding on to hers again.

“That’s why you couldn’t even sense those bastards in your house that night, isn’t it?” he asked.

She bit her lip and nodded. “Yes.”

“Why in God’s name didn’t you tell me? Have you told anyone?”

She shook her head, sending all that gorgeous hair tumbling over her shoulders. “I can’t.”

“Why the hell not?” he demanded.

The look she gave him was full of confusion. “Because I’m embarrassed, Wyatt. I’m a Dark Wolf. I’m meant to be powerful, not pathetic.”

He could feel that muscle starting to pulse in his jaw again. “That is such a load of crap!”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” she shouted back at him, jerking her hand from his grip.

“Your friends. Your brothers. Losing your senses won’t mean shit to them, Elise. You’re just stuck in a bad loop, baby, letting your father’s bullshit poison your thoughts. No one who cares about you is going to look at you any differently. And the only people who matter are the ones who care.”

She covered her eyes with the heels of her hands. “Just stop, Wyatt.”

“Hell, no, I’m not going to stop,” he growled.
I’m only just getting started.

Lowering her hands, she looked him right in the eye. “You don’t have to pretend, okay? I know this means something.”

He made a hard, thick sound in his throat and stared right back at her, unrelenting. “It doesn’t mean shit to me, Elise.”

“Of course it does!” she argued, slapping her hands against her thighs. “It must! You might have spent more time with humans than the rest of the Runners, but you’re still an alpha wolf, Wyatt!”

“I don’t care!”

She looked incredulous. “How could you not care?”

Reaching out, he caught her chin in his fingers and leaned forward, getting right in her face. “See, here’s the thing. Your power isn’t what makes you special to me, El. I couldn’t care less if you ever change again or how fucking strong your senses are or they aren’t. I’m drawn to you because of
you.
The woman. Not the wolf.”

Elise blinked, unable to believe what she was hearing. “How can you say that?” she whispered, fresh tears spilling over her cheeks.

He shook his head, giving her a beautiful, exasperated grin. “Christ, El. How can I not say it?”

Making it sound like a sin, she said, “But I’m...I’m weak.”

His grin slipped, his expression hardening into a fresh look of anger. “The fuck you are,” he growled. “You’re the only one who thinks you need to change. I want
you,
Elise. Not some version that doesn’t exist. And I sure as hell don’t want to change you into something you’re not. I just want you however the hell I can get you.”

Before she could throw another argument back in his face, he curled his hand around the back of her neck, dragging her forward, and his mouth came down over hers, hungry and rough, just the way she liked it. Or at least the way she liked to be kissed by Wyatt. She didn’t know what ghosts in his past haunted him, but it didn’t change how she felt about him. All she knew was that she needed him. Needed this man more than she needed water and air and sunlight. She needed him over her, covering her, holding her down. Needed the strength of his powerful arms and the heavy press of his incredible, muscular body. She needed
him,
and she was taking him.
Now.

Breaking her mouth from his, she moaned his name.

“Yeah?” he whispered, burying his face in her hair and pressing a soft, provocative kiss against the sensitive spot beneath her ear.

“Take me home. To your cabin.”

He pulled his head back, locking that smoldering gaze with hers. “Then what?” he rasped, the delicious huskiness of his voice making her shiver.

Elise smiled through her tears. “Then it’s time you finally took me to your bed...and kept me there.”

Chapter 14

W
yatt’s hands were shaking so badly he could barely get his damn key in the lock, and Elise couldn’t help but grin. Muttering a guttural string of curses under his breath, he had to try several times before he managed to unlock his front door, and then they were finally inside. He slammed the door behind them, quickly setting the lock, then grabbed her, jerking her against his body so hard and fast that she gasped. She reached for the hem of his T-shirt, ripping it over his head, needing the touch of his sleek bronzed skin against her palms, loving that she’d made him sweat. His chest was fever-hot, chasing away her chills, while excitement continued to feed them. She was caught in a never-ending loop of sensation, coming undone but intoxicated by every moment of it.

And she was free to enjoy herself, without any guilty secrets weighing her down.

In an amazing turn of events, she’d told Wyatt the truth, and he hadn’t turned away from her. And even better, he’d received a call from Jeremy just before they reached the Alley telling him that Eddie had been found alive! It turned out that his parents had been mistaken about him being in her house while it burned down, because Mason and Brody had stumbled across his unconscious body as they’d been searching the woods behind her house. He’d taken a serious hit on the head and was still feeling groggy, so the details of what had happened to him were unclear, but the Runners believed he’d tried to go after whoever had set fire to her home. She could only be thankful that whoever was responsible had knocked him out instead of killing him. According to Jeremy, Jillian was working with Eddie and would have his recent injury healed in no time, leaving him in the care of his parents.

All of which meant that she was free to lose herself in this moment...and the man who had finally managed to drag her out of the darkness of her past and back into the light. She wanted so badly to enjoy this time with him. To lose herself to the feel of his body. But even more than that, she wanted Wyatt to enjoy
her.

“I can’t wait,” she groaned, burying her face against his mouthwatering chest. She drew in a deep breath, loving the scent of his skin. She didn’t need her heightened Lycan senses to know that he smelled delicious. Hot and male and a little salty. Before the night was over, she wanted to run her mouth over every incredible inch of him. But there was something else she needed even more, and as he shoved his hands into her hair and tilted her head back, lowering his face over hers, she said, “I want you inside me, Wyatt. Now!”

“Not yet,” he growled against her mouth, breathing hard. “I need to cool the fuck down first.”

Before she could argue, he started herding her toward his bedroom as he stripped them both down, ripping her clothes from her body. Literally. It was the sexiest, most erotic thing Elise had ever experienced, and the way he looked at her, as if he wanted to eat her alive, made it possible for her to simply enjoy herself, without worrying about her scars. If they didn’t bother Wyatt, then she sure as hell wasn’t going to let them bother her.

Everything had happened so fast tonight, and she didn’t have a clue where their relationship was headed, beyond sex. Had no idea how it was going to play out in the end or if they even had something that could be called a “relationship.” But she wasn’t going to let that stop her. She’d finally accepted that she’d fallen in love with the sexy, complicated Runner. Had completely and utterly given him her heart, with no hope of ever getting it back, and so she was going to be greedy and take as much of him as she could. Be thankful for each and every moment they had, for as long as they had them.

And she was going to start tonight. God only knew Wyatt made it easy for her to enjoy herself. Just the feel of his deliciously hard, breathtaking body pressed against hers was enough to make her light-headed with pleasure. And the feel of his hot, wet mouth covering her breast as he took them both down to his bed nearly made her scream. He sucked hard on one nipple and then the other, his tongue deliberate and intent, as if he were feeding on her reactions. As if he were addicted to the taste and heat of her skin. She writhed, running her hands over the bunched muscles in his broad shoulders as sharp cries crawled up the back of her throat. Cries that were lusty and hoarse, telling him exactly how much she craved what he was doing to her.