The Fire Inside (4 page)

“Is someone giving you trouble, Tyra?”

Her gaze went to Mark. “No. I’m fine. Just ready for the
night to be over.”

He pulled the white towel from his shoulder and wiped his
meaty hands on it before slinging it back into place. “If you’re sure? I don’t
mind lining someone out for you.”

She forced a smile. Sure, the stocky man could deliver a
pounding to most humans. “I’m sure.” She turned and headed back into the crowd,
coaxing the stragglers to finish their last drinks and hit the road. She could
feel Konrad’s gaze on her the whole time. She spared a look in his direction
and noticed the earlier mirth that had marked his facial features had been
replaced by a look of concern.

“All right, everyone! Closing time! You don’t have to go
home, but ya can’t stay here,” Mark bellowed from behind the bar.

She watched as Konrad and Luken rose to their feet and made
their way toward the door, walking on steady feet, unlike the rest of the
people that were hobbling their way toward the exit. She could only hope that
they would be gone by the time she finished her side work.

With a sigh, she began loading the dirty mugs into the
dishwashing racks behind the bar, thinking maybe she should drag her feet and
draw out the process. But it was Mark’s night to lock up and she would be
holding him up as well. A very feminine squeal had her turning her head.

“Thank you, thank you, and thank you. I can’t thank you
enough,” Julie went on exuberantly.

“What did I do?” Tyra asked.

Julie batted her playfully on the arm. “Mr. Yummy of course.
He asked me for my number.”

Tyra hadn’t mentioned anything to the wolf about Julie.
She’d forgotten to with everything else going on. Just another piece of proof
that Konrad and thinking straight weren’t meshing. Luken must’ve taken it upon
himself to track Julie down. Although, she didn’t know if it was wise for a
very normal human like Julie to be getting involved with a werewolf, but then
again she couldn’t really say something about it either.

“Go on, take off. I owe you, so I’ll do your side work
tonight.” Julie smiled, showing off white teeth.

So much for dragging her feet. “If you’re sure?”

“Go. I think his hot friend is waiting on you outside.”
Julie giggled as she trotted off carrying the rack of dirty glasses to the
back.

Tyra grabbed her purse from the cabinet below the bar and
made her way out the back door. As she rounded the corner, she spotted Konrad
leaning against her car, the yellow security lights bathing him in a soft glow.
The man truly had sexy down to a science. A breeze glided by, wrapping his
scent around her. He was seriously wearing down her resistance.

He spoke as she stopped in front of him. “Something upset
you.”

Yeah, him and the complications he presented. But she wasn’t
about to go into that with him. “It’s been a long night. I’m just ready to go
home.” She pulled her keys from her pocket and he stepped to the side. Without
looking at him, she shoved the key into the lock and twisted before retracting
it. He made no move to stop her as she got into the car. As she started the
engine, she could no longer resist the urge to look at him. The same lines of
concern she’d seen earlier lined his face.

She put the car in reverse, knowing he would follow. She
wasn’t an idiot. He hadn’t hindered her progress, because he didn’t plan on
leaving her alone. Sure enough, as she backed out of her parking spot, she saw
him headed toward a lifted black truck. She hadn’t made it very far down the
road when she noticed the truck’s headlights in her rearview mirror.

Getting rid of this wolf wouldn’t be easy. She couldn’t stop
him from sleeping at her door. Maybe one of the neighbors would eventually
freak and call animal services on him. She laughed at the thought. Did she even
want to get rid of him?

She growled in frustration. The appearance of Konrad in her
life had complicated the hell out of things. She never knew her attraction to
another wolf would be so hard to resist—had always thought that her
determination to not have close ties to anyone would be enough. Hell, she
wanted to push him away as much as she wanted to pull him close. She drove into
the parking space she’d vacated earlier in the evening and made her way toward
her apartment at a fast clip. She didn’t want to talk to him right now. As she
climbed the steps, she heard him silence the engine of his truck. A few seconds
later she heard the metallic slam of the door closing.

With nimble fingers, she unlocked her apartment door and
quickly entered, closing it and securing the locks behind her. She knew the
move made her look like a coward, but she couldn’t help it. She had to get
control of herself before she could face him again—had to rebuild her walls of
defense.

It wasn’t very long before she heard the now familiar sound
of Konrad’s wolf form settling against her door. He hadn’t even tried to knock.
And even worse, she didn’t know if that made her angry or happy. She stomped
off toward her bedroom to grab her pajamas and a pair of panties before turning
to march her way to the bathroom. She always showered when she came home,
because she couldn’t stand the stagnant smell of spilled beer and other alcohol
on her body.

She let the warm water run over her, hoping it would take
the edge off her emotions. Being in heat sucked, she decided. Her emotions were
all over the place. Never had she wanted to hit a man and screw his brains out
at the same time. When the water turned cold, she stepped out and snatched the
pink towel from the rack, using it to dry her body. With a quick tug she pulled
the large nightshirt over her head and then stabbed her legs into the panties,
pulling them up with a huff of frustration.

As she strode back down the short hallway to her room, she
kept her gaze averted from the front door, grinding her teeth at the thought of
the new routine. She sat on the edge of her full-size bed and picked up the
ponytail holder she’d left on the nightstand. Her fingers stroked through her
wet hair, gathering the loose strands before binding them in a messy bun on top
of her head.

Task complete, she pulled back the covers and climbed
inside, the sheets cool against her flushed skin. But sleep wasn’t coming in
the near future. She stared up at the textured ceiling, counting the brown
spots where previous water damage had been made from leaks in the apartment
above her.

Regardless how hard she tried to think of anything else, her
thoughts kept going back to Konrad. She couldn’t believe he was stubborn enough
to sleep outside her door. She knew it wasn’t very comfortable. Lying out there
sweating, fur getting matted, bugs irritating you and mosquitoes trying to
drain you of blood.

No, she wouldn’t feel sorry for him. He could choose to
leave. He didn’t have to stay. Did she want him to leave? Hell, he’d already
spent one night out there. He knew what he was getting into. So why should she
feel sorry for him? Teeth clenched, she threw the covers back and swung her
legs over the side of the bed. She paused, fighting the urge to go let him
inside. But she lost the battle.

She came to her feet and made her way quickly toward the
door, turning the locks and then the knob. As the door swung open, he stood,
casting her a questioning look. She sighed, stepping back out of his way.
“Hurry up before I have an attack of better judgment.”

He walked in and she closed the door, flipping the locks
back into place before marching past him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw
the shimmer of light that signaled his shift. She couldn’t look at that hard,
sexy body. Not tonight when her lust was raw and laced with a barely controlled
anger. She kept her pace, heading for her room. As she crossed the threshold,
she called out, “You can sleep on the sofa,” and then she slammed her door
behind her. She growled as she heard his soft laughter coming from the living
room.

A scream ripped through Tyra’s lips as she bolted across the
bed and into the corner. She sat, knees drawn up, squeezing her eyes shut as
she rocked back and forth. Someone called her name. Warm hands caressed her
upper arms.

“Tyra, I’m here. It’s okay.”

That familiar deep voice rolled over her. Her eyelids
snapped open and she looked up at Konrad’s face. Without thought, she threw
herself at him, wrapping her arms tight around his torso as her body trembled.
He caught her weight and held her snuggly against him as he rubbed one powerful
hand up and down her back. Her heart ached as she tried to push the horrid
memories of her past away. So alone…so cold. Never again. She never ever wanted
to feel loss and fear like that again.

Her panting breaths stirred the fine hairs on Konrad’s broad
chest. She had to pull away. It wasn’t right to use him like this. She would
pull away…soon…just another minute. It would be so easy to stay in the warmth
and security of his embrace. But that wasn’t an option. She hadn’t gotten this
far by being weak. Her breaths became steady and she pulled back to look at
him.

His hand came up to brush stray hairs off her face. “Do you
want to talk about it?”

No
. She couldn’t talk about it. With effort, she
swallowed past the lump of fear in her throat. She needed to clear her mind of
the nightmare and be strong. She pushed away from him and came to her feet.
“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You didn’t. I was already awake. I have to leave soon, I
have—”

“Don’t let me keep you.” She spun away from him and made for
the doorway. Her hands trembled and she fisted them at her sides. She needed to
put some distance between them. The nightmare had left her emotions raw and the
security he offered in his embrace was too great of a temptation right now. She
knew she was being short with him, knew it was rude, but she had to pull
herself together right now, before she fell into a puddle of anguish at his
feet.

“Tyra, wait.”

“No, really, it’s fine. Just go.” She’d nearly made it to the
bathroom when he grabbed her arm. She turned to look at him.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She watched as the
muscle in his jaw began to tick.

He released her arm. “You know what? Fine. You don’t want to
tell me what’s bothering you. I get it. What I don’t get is why you keep lying
to yourself.”

She moved to the side as he reached past her to grab the
towel she’d used last night. With a quick motion, he wrapped it around his
hips. She turned and walked into the bathroom. “Lock the door behind you.”

She closed the door and heard his low growl from the other
side, and then his retreating footsteps. It was another full minute before she
heard him turn the locks on the door and close it behind him. Had he been
hoping she would stop him? She knew she played with fire when it came to
Konrad, but she just didn’t know what in the hell to do.

When she knew for sure he’d left, she came out of the
bathroom and curled up on the sofa. His scent hung in the air and on the
fabric. Her hand moved of its own accord, rubbing against the cushion beside
her.

She lost track of time as she sat there, debating what she
should do. Konrad was right. In a way she was lying to herself. She wanted to
be with him, but fear kept her from taking a step in that direction. Hell, she
didn’t even know how to act around a pack anymore. And the fact she’d seriously
contemplated even trying had her squeezing the battered cushion of the couch
’til she heard the fabric splitting under the pressure. The knock on her door
made her jump up, startled, releasing her hold on the abused fabric. She
glanced up at the dollar store clock on the wall and noticed it was six.
Crap,
it’s Friday
.

She made her way toward the door, knowing she would find
Steve Hanson on the other side. With quick movements, she disengaged the locks
on the door and tried to suppress the groan that begged to be released. She had
totally forgotten about their date tonight.

Mortified, she pulled open the door and stood behind it,
poking her head around to look at him. He stood with one hand braced against
the door frame, smiling at her, the wind tousling the dirty-blond locks of his
hair. He wore a light-yellow polo shirt and a pair of designer jeans. She felt
like a heel standing there with bed head and still dressed in her PJs. “Hi
Steve, I’m sorry, but I forgot about our date tonight.”

His light-brown brows rose. “Oh. I left you message a few
days ago. I guess I should’ve figured you were busy when you didn’t call back.”

“I got your message. Things have just been really crazy.”
That was the understatement of the year.

“Well, if you still want to grab something to eat, I don’t
mind waiting for you to get ready.”

“I don’t know. It’s complicated.” She felt like crap having
to put him off, not to mention the whole situation ticked her off. She’d really
been looking forward to this date. Now she couldn’t help but feel waves of
nausea just thinking about going with him.

“Complicated.” Steve pursed his lips. “Translation, you’re
seeing someone else.”

“No…well, not exactly.” Hopefully he didn’t expect her to
explain that answer. Hell, she didn’t even know how to explain it. She sure as
hell couldn’t say
“Not unless you count the stubborn sexy wolf that slept on
my sofa last night.”
The same one who had held her with such strength and
tenderness when she awoke from her night terror. Frustration rose within her.

“I tell you what. You still need to eat, so how about we
just take the label of
date
off it, and you do me the favor of not
making me eat alone.”

She did feel bad that he drove all the way over here. And
she was hungry after not eating all day. As long as he understood that it
wasn’t a date, then it wouldn’t hurt to share a meal with him. “Just dinner as
friends?”

“Sure.”

Oh what the hell. “All right. Give me a few minutes to get
dressed.”

* * * * *

Konrad tried to focus on the paperwork in front of him, but
his mind kept drifting back to Tyra. Luken had shown up to watch over her a
little before noon. He’d hated leaving her this morning, and had even been
tempted to cancel the meeting with the contractors. But she’d clearly needed
some space to deal with whatever demons haunted her. Just thinking about the
scream she’d let loose and the way her body had trembled made him grind his
teeth with frustration. But he knew he couldn’t rush her. When she was ready,
she’d talk.

His leaving this morning had been for the best though,
because it would have taken weeks to reschedule the meeting with the
contractors, and as soon as Thanasis signed over the property he wanted to be
prepared to break ground. Right now he had over twenty families living in
camping trailers in an RV park. Those families needed and deserved homes and he
didn’t feel right about putting off the appointment—which would take weeks to
reschedule—for his love life.

Being an alpha meant having to make self-sacrifices. And up
until now he hadn’t had a problem doing that. He’d heard the mate bond was a
powerful thing, but he never expected to feel as if he was missing a limb when
Tyra wasn’t near. Not so much painful as when the limb was ripped from your
body, but more like the period of time during the first part of recovery. You
knew it was missing and you couldn’t seem to function as well without it.

With a sigh, Konrad’s gaze moved back to the top of the
paper in front of him to start re-reading it. A knock sounded at the door and
he called out, “Come in,” without looking up.

“Konrad, a man from the bank is here.”

Konrad raised his head to look at his secretary, Stacey. She
was of slight build and short stature, but no one in his pack let that fool
them for one minute. This little blonde could give even the toughest wolf a run
for his money. “Go ahead and give him the papers I signed earlier.”

He set the papers down on his desk as she turned and headed
out of the office. Thanasis had asked an exuberant price for the land, even
more than Konrad had expected. But truthfully it would still be worth it in the
long run. At first he’d thought about arguing with Thanasis on the price, but
figured if he tried, Thanasis would be the type of wolf to raise the price.
Besides, Konrad had the money so there wasn’t any point in arguing it. He just
had to shift some of his investments around to free up the extra cash.

He might even look at building his mate a new house once the
deal went through. His three-bedroom house was nice, but Tyra might enjoy being
able to have input on the floor plan. A smile came to his lips as he sank back
in his leather chair. The contractors were set to start on the duplexes first,
so it would be possible for her to even pick the spot on which she wanted the
house built.

The smile faded from his lips. Now, the only thing he had to
do was convince her to stop fighting him. Maybe a gift would help her
disposition. A few of the men in his pack tended to buy their mates presents
when they had displeased them. And if that didn’t work…well, he would just hope
that it did.

Konrad glanced over at the large bronze clock hanging on the
tan wall. It was nearly eight. He looked back down at the contract on his desk.
It could wait ’til the morning. He had some serious wooing to do.

Stacey darted through the office doorway as he stood up.
“Konrad, Luken just called and said he has been trying to reach you.”

“Shit.” Konrad dug his cell out of the pocket of his black
slacks. He’d turned it off during the meeting and forgot to turn it back on.

“He said to call him and that it was urgent.”

Konrad's heart increased in tempo. Surely something hadn’t
happened to Tyra. “Thanks, Stacey. Will you lock up?”

“Sure.”

He walked past her and out the door as he dialed Luken’s
cell.