Wild Nights with a Lone Wolf (12 page)

A
sh’s arm burned. He gritted his teeth at the prodding of Zoe’s tweezers. “Jesus, woman. Are you trying to take the thing out or shove it up in there so I can save it for later?”

Tiny, uncomfortable tears colored by overdone makeup ran down Zoe’s cheeks. “Sorry. It’s in the fleshy part though, this should be easy.”

“Easy my ass.” He put his head back and followed the sound of Sherri’s pacing. “Hey. You all right? I landed on you pretty hard.”

She came over and sat by the head of the bed. Her now-familiar scent coiled inside Ash’s nostrils and eased over his nerves and muscles. “I’m not the one who got shot,” she said.

He took her hand in his good one, letting his eyes caress her creamy skin. “This wasn’t the vacation you had planned. I can’t apologize enough.”

Zoe’s quiet sniffle prompted them both to look up.

“Zoe, I know it’s an emotional time for everyone, but I need your head in the game,” Ash murmured.

“I know. I’ve got it. One sec...”

Ash held back a roar. Sherri’s hand was already in his, so he went ahead and squeezed. “Fuck.”

“There.” Zoe dropped something on a towel. “Let me clean it and put on a bandage.”

Ash let his head fall against the warmth of Sherri’s leg. Allowing her to cradle his head, the comfort made him sigh.

“Zoe.” Sherri put her hand over Jojo’s mate’s while she cleaned up her supplies. “You fell on purpose, right? You were trying to help—”

“Don’t—” Zoe snapped and pulled her hand away. Tears and God knew what else darkened her shirtsleeve. “I had on new shoes. You know how stilettos can be.”

Shit, had she bumped Jojo on purpose? Ash hadn’t considered the thought. He figured she was in here patching him up because his father had insisted. Going against her mate like that—especially against one crazier than a lobotomized squirrel—fuck. “Zoe...”

Zoe tucked her hair behind her ears and rushed to pack her things in an old makeup case she’d apparently cleaned out for medical supplies. She slid a foil packed over to Ash. “Put some of this on it to speed the healing.” She glanced up with a tired smile. “You always did bounce back fast. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

Sherri ducked and scooted forward, approaching Zoe like one would a frightened child. “Zoe, remember when I said I’m supposed to start a new job soon? If anything happens to me tonight, people will worry. I’d be so grateful if I could make a phone call to let them know I’m safe.”

Zoe’s face flashed a million different emotions. “You’re not safe.”

“I know.” She took each of Zoe’s hands in each of hers. “I still have to try.”

Ash could hear every thump of his heart echo in-between his ears while he lay there with his head raised. The two women held hands and stared each other down, neither sure if it was safe to trust. Ash wasn’t sure himself. He’d grown up never trusting a soul except Jett.

In such a short time, he thought he might be getting there with Sherri. Was that a good thing? He hoped so.

Sherri’s hand squeezed Zoe’s. “What if your own daughter was taken?”

Ash closed his eyes. He’d never had kids. Never considered having any. Still, the question brought about a vivid mental picture even he couldn’t argue.

The door clicked. When Ash looked up, Sherri held a cell phone in her fist. He couldn’t believe she’d pulled it off.

“Is anybody at the door?”

Ash made his way over, moving slowly through the throbbing in his arm. “You’re good to go. Stand on the far wall to be safe. I hope you can trust this new supervisor of yours.”

“He’s based out of Phoenix. I’m sure he’s dealt with your kind, Ash.”

“Okay. Make it fast.”

Sherri nodded and dialed. “Agent Fowler. This is Agent Walker, from the DC office. I have some important information for you...”

“S
o where did your kind come from? Some of the information they provided in training sounded more like speculation than fact.” The lack of food and sleep had worn Sherri down too much to stand, but neither of them could sleep. The door guards returned, giving the impression “go time” would be soon. Tension buzzed in the air.

She lay next to Ash on the bed, curled sideways so he had room to be comfortable with his injured arm. They murmured softly like two kids at a slumber party, like lovers sharing fantasies, both knowing in the back of their minds that there might be no tomorrow.

Ash “hmm-ed.” “It’s one of the great mysteries. Bedtime stories I heard as a pup have us coming from the powerful mating of a wolf and a Chupacabra under the light of a full moon.” He chuckled. “Chupacabra is a monster made up to scare children.” He moved to get comfortable, offering a grin. “Others believe we simply evolved from ancient dire wolves, or from the same wolves every dog from a Great Dane to a tiny Chihuahua did.”

Sherri traced a finger over the furrow in his brow and the dent over his proud nose. His full lips had lost some of their color, probably from the pain, and pulled thinner than when he’d kissed her like the world might end. “That doesn’t make sense. You seem so human,” she murmured.

“That’s not always a compliment to some of us.” He smiled when he answered, so she wasn’t sure if she’d insulted him or not.

“I’m... sorry?”

“I’m not. I told you my mother was human. I can still shift. My father’s blood is strong. Still, I think there’s a reason I couldn’t tolerate the baser aspects of pack mentality.”

Sherri touched her forehead to his. “You’re a good guy.”

“Not that good.”

She chuckled. “So where do you think you came from? You sure don’t seem like those cursed monsters I’ve seen in horror movies.”

“I think something weird happened in evolution. Somehow wolves and humans crossed, though I hate to think how. Maybe there was some strange magic involved. We have oral history and other evidence of our kind going back centuries, but our numbers are few so it’s gotta be some sort of fluke.”

She laughed again. “So that’s your theory? That you’re a fluke?”

“That’s right.” He gave a sleepy smile. “I’m a fluke of nature.”

“It’s biological, though? You can’t turn people into wolves like in the movies?”

“Legend says some humans can be turned at the right time by a strong enough
were
, but I’ve never seen it happen. More bedtime stories. Or more flukes.”

Sherri shook her head. Pushing up on her elbows, she faced him with dead seriousness. “You’re not a fluke.”

“No?”

She nuzzled her nose against his. “You know, for two years I dated a man who, as far as I could tell had led a charmed life. Middle class parents, braces, top of his class in college. Came through the academy with honors, had a good job with the bureau. Then he threw it all away because a hot piece of ass with a sexy Russian accent offered him a lot of money and a chalet in Switzerland.”

Ash made a disgusted noise in his throat. “Fucker.”

“Be that as it may...” Her hand helped to prop her chin on his chest. “I’ve known you for so much less time, and yet I’ve seen how you grew up. I’ve seen how honorable you are in spite of that history. You could have easily written me off as not your circus, not your monkeys, but you came here and got shot trying to get me out of here.”

Ash held up a finger. “Let’s remember that getting shot wasn’t part of the plan.”

“Why do you insist on downplaying your chivalry?”

“Nobody has accused me of chivalry before. It’s uncomfortable.”

She snorted a soft laugh. “It’s not a misdemeanor. It’s a nice thing.”

“Again. Around here, it wouldn’t be considered so.”

“Hey.” She went to slap him. Not hard, not a real slap. One of those
oh, give me a break
kinds of slaps, but he caught her arm.

“Hey yourself.” He lifted an eyebrow. “You know, in pack culture, there are severe repercussions for physically harming your bond mate.”

She mimicked his expression. Maybe, possibly, in a little bit of a teasing way. She put her lips to his ear to whisper, “You got shot before they finished the ceremony. I can do anything I want.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Ash conceded, but held firm to her wrist.

Strange that she should be the littlest bit disappointed by the fact. The ceremony wouldn’t have meant a thing, even if they had finished, and why would she care either way? Two years with Ryan, and it had been sort of an inevitable assumption that some day they would marry. It had been for everyone except Ryan, at least.

Certainly she wouldn’t, shouldn’t be ready to go down that road again soon. But standing in front of that pack with Ash had been like preparing to rappel off a cliff. Scary, but steal-your-breath-excited-scary. She shook away from her forbidden fantasy and sat herself up. “Yes. I’m definitely right. You see?”

“Hmm. Yes.” His hand slipped to her waist... her ass. He gripped hard, squeezing until it almost but didn’t quite hurt. “We
had
already said the part about obeying.”

Why on earth did that make her pulse speed up? “Had we? I have to tell you, I was a little stressed. I hardly heard a thing that was said.”

His fingers slipped under the edge of her blouse. “You’re in law enforcement, Sherri. You know as well as I do that failure to pay attention to the rules does not give you leave to break them.”

“Oh.” She coughed a laugh. “You’re really going there?”

“Really.” The wolf grin made its return. “Jett spouted that one at me when he wrote me up for doing seventy in a forty.”

“Nice.”

“Yeah. Real nice.” He pulled on the back of her neck and she let him. His kiss tasted hungrier, hotter than before.

It had to be adrenaline. Nerves. They were in danger. Ash had been shot. God knew what would happen next. Was she making up for lost time? Was she one of those followers, like the drooling, human “pack groupies” Ash had mentioned?

Sherri pushed away all the questions and kissed Ash like they might never kiss again. Soon they’d be surrounded by guys with guns and God knew what else. Tomorrow was a black hole. Right now was Ash’s skin against hers, his heart hammering like he shared her urgency. At that moment, she’d take whatever he had to give.

She let him drag her into his lap. His open palm came down on her ass. The sensation was only a mild sting, but the dull crack lit up every muscle fiber. Every nerve tingled. Her clit throbbed. “I can’t believe you did that.”
I can’t believe I want you to do it again.

His tongue slipped out to wet his lower lip. “I think that as my mate you must obey me or the punishment will be swift.” The deep, gravelly tone to his words stroked over her skin like rough fingers.

He’d taken down the top part of his coveralls to let his wound breathe, leaving an open expanse of caramel skin. She ran her hands over the hard ridges, the hills of his pecs. “It’s not punishment if I like it.”

Holy crap, the noise he made. Something so unfamiliar, and yet the sound displayed a clear tone of gratification. “Sherri, you have no idea how much I like the idea of turning your ass pink with my hand before I sink deep inside you.” He lifted his chin. “Or better, maybe while I’m inside you.”

Holy crude, filthy, sexy tongue, Batman. “That sounds... tricky.”

Ash caught her lip between his teeth. “You doubt my ability to rise to the challenge?”

“I—”

The surprise of the door slamming open knocked Sherri off her perch. Not for the first time, habit had her reaching for a gun that wasn’t there.

Once again, Jojo stood in the doorway with a weapon. “Sorry to interrupt the lovebirds, but it’s time to hit the road.”

Dammit, if Ash wanted to kill this guy, he was going to have to get in line.

***

J
ojo had tied Ash and Sherri so they couldn’t touch. If that stupid fucker thought something as basic as a few pieces of rope would hold Ash down this close to the full moon, the runt was crazier than Ash thought.

He used every ounce of his self-control to keep still and silent, only because losing his shit now would be bad for everyone. For Sherri, who despite whatever training she had, might not hold up in the middle of a wolf frenzy, and for Jett, who would want to close his murder investigation.

So Ash slid his boot over to tap against Sherri’s foot—maybe to reassure her, maybe to reassure himself. It was something. He tried to determine where they were headed by their speed and whatnot, but doing so proved difficult. He’d gone a while without sleep. In the dark of the van, he got distracted by the bright, glowing moon shining in through the windows.

Sherri pushed back against Ash’s foot with confidence, but he could smell her fear. She hid it well, under a steel spine and carefully controlled bravado, but his nose didn’t lie.

I should never have gone up to her room that night.

It was hard. Hard to be sorry when he’d loved every minute of talking to her, touching her. “You know,” he whispered, “The night we met, I ran out so quick because I’d never wanted to spend the night tangled up with a woman so much. Even on my ride home, I was thinking maybe you wouldn’t mind me stopping back by some other night.”

“Hey, shut the fuck up back there.” Jojo banged on the dashboard.

Ash could just make out Sherri’s smile in the dark. Completely worth pissing off Jojo. Well, almost. The other girl, the redhead, whimpered in her corner at Jojo’s commotion. Poor thing. She’d been acting like a frightened bunny since getting hauled into the cargo area.

Ash listened to the rumble of engines outside. He counted six more guys at least, which he suspected meant Jojo anticipated trouble. Then again, getting inside Jojo’s head had no clear path. Ash ran through the list of potential hangers-on, wondering if any might be on his side, but he had to assume they were on their own.

Even Kyle, the human who’d earlier brought food and a message from Jett, now wisely sat silently in the front seat. The young human might sympathize, but he’d pledged his loyalty to the pack. No way would he bite the hand feeding ‘im, especially not when it had sharper claws.

“Tell you what, man. That took a lot of balls coming up in there and issuing me a challenge.” Jojo was either talking to Ash or talking just to hear himself beat his chest. Wasn’t entirely clear. “I think your old man’s expecting you to work out some magical deal with our buyer tonight, and then you’re gonna have no choice but to come back home and work for the pack again in order to save your woman, huh?”