“That’s right, yes.” Nick straightened and stepped back. Not once did he flick a glance to Archer, who was practically growling, but Isla had no doubt he knew exactly where the other man was and the instant he so much as tensed a muscle. “Her name is Cyan. She’s my older sister.”
The wolves around them were silent, but Isla felt their interest at this snippet of information. As a pack alpha, albeit from a different city, Nick’s status was already high. That he was also related to his city’s ruling masters bumped his standing even more. Isla steeled herself for an evening of inane small talk as the movers and shakers in the room tried to impress him.
“That’s wonderful. I’m so pleased for you,” Reena replied. “A marriage is always a happy occasion.”
“Indeed.” Nick smiled, but then his expression turned serious. “Although I do not come with just glad tidings, but also a warning. We have had…an incident with a former alpha in our city.”
“Oh?” Reena was all attention, as was Isla.
Former alpha
were words not normally spoken together. A former alpha was usually dead, or so infirm that death was preferable. Werewolves with that kind of power did not give it up lightly.
“Jacob McCauley, formerly alpha of the McCauley pack. Guilty of treason and defeated in challenge. Unfortunately, he subsequently escaped our custody and is on the run. We believe he might try to gain a foothold in a different city under an assumed name.”
Nick gestured to one of the men with him, who stepped forward with a file in hand, which Nick then passed to Reena. “All the information we have on him, including several recent photos. Just in case he should start causing trouble for you.”
Reena looked up, surprise in her eyes. Cities, even those with alliances, did not usually share information so freely. A rogue wolf causing dissent in a rival city could only soften it for a takeover. Something rivals usually wanted to foster, not prevent.
“Thank you,” Reena’s voice rang with the respect that coursed through Isla as well. Clicking her fingers, she summoned one of her guards to take the file from Reena. They would study it in depth later. If there was a risk to her mistress, then Isla wanted to be all over it like a bad rash. For tonight though, the ball was invite only and they had Nick here. Presumably, he would recognize this McCauley on sight.
At that moment the music started and Reena reached for Archer’s arm for him to lead her onto the dance floor. Much like a wedding, the Mistress of the City and her partner were always the first to dance.
“See how she knows where he is all the time?” Nick murmured by Isla’s ear, his body heat against her back betraying how close he stood. “I’ll wager we won’t be the only city celebrating a wedding.”
As her gaze followed the couple, she had to admit he was right. Archer was always close to Reena, there as soon as she put her hand out. A sigh escaped before she could stop it. To have that kind of connection, soul deep, with a man…it was the stuff of the romances she loved to read. In the privacy of her own room of course. Out of it, she had to be the Captain of the Guard. Cast iron bitch with a rank.
It would never do for people to discover her longing for romance. She could just imagine what Liam would make of that. Actually, probably nothing. Such a nuance, one not related to getting his dick inside her, would no doubt go over his head. At light speed.
The dance drew to a close and as the last strains of music from the band faded, Nick held out his hand. “May I have this dance, my lady?”
Heat hit her cheeks again. Shit. Anyone would think she’d never spoken to a man before, but to hear him call her “my lady” in that deep, sexy drawl of his did it for her. Heat pooled low in her belly, and the clench of her pussy joined with her wolf in reminding her, as Liam’s words had earlier, it’d been a couple of years since she had sex.
Sex. Fuck. Just thinking the word around Nick Trevais was a bad idea. Instantly her over active imagination presented her with all sorts of X-rated situations. A porn movie behind her eyes, with her and Nick in the starring roles.
“Told you,” her voice was rough, brusque, as she tried to cover her reaction and slid her hand into his, “I’m not a lady.”
He pulled her onto the floor and into his arms. She’d danced before, often, so she was used to a man taking her into a ballroom hold, but with Nick, it felt closer. More intimate. Almost indecent. His thighs brushed against hers as the music started and she realized, with delight, he was an excellent dancer.
“Not a lady, huh?” He smiled down at her, a wicked glint in his eyes. “I thought we’d been through this already.”
Reaching the corner of the room, he turned her with a twirl and dip that took her by surprise. She gasped, off balance, and gripped his shoulder but his strong arm at her back supported her with ease. Lifting her to her feet, he turned her into the next steps of the dance without a blink.
“We did?” She couldn’t think, the presence of his lean, hard body almost pressed against hers stealing her ability to frame a coherent thought.
“We did.” The amused quirk of his lips told her that he knew exactly what effect he had on her. “I told you, I know when I’m in the presence of a lady. You know what else I know?”
“No…” She was going to regret asking, she just knew she was. But the words escaped her lips anyway. “What else do you know?”
He shortened his stride and their bodies collided, breast to thigh. Taking advantage, he tightened his grip and the look in his dark eyes took her breath away.
“I know when a woman longs for a man’s touch...” His voice dropped, that sexy drawl like a caress along her skin. “I know when she doesn’t need him, but wants him anyway…”
Her lips parted but she managed to bite back the moan. How the hell…was it written on her freaking forehead or something?
Isla Myers hasn’t had sex in nearly two years. Desperate for a man
. But that wasn’t entirely true.
Sure, she hadn’t had a sniff of action in years, but it wasn’t for lack of offers. Liam wasn’t the first wolf she let down diplomatically, then there were the ones she had to be undiplomatic with. For some reason, even though she was the Captain of the Guard, a few wolves seemed unable to tally that with her gender and thought she was a pushover. They quickly found out otherwise.
She wasn’t desperate for a man. Until Nick Trevais walked in, she hadn’t been that interested in getting between the sheets with anyone. Now it was all she could think about. Feeling that lean, hard strength against her naked body, her skin against his. His body over hers as he parted her thighs…
Heat hit her cheeks again, and to her embarrassment, the musk of her arousal filtered through her perfume. Being a wolf sucked at times, especially when trying to conceal interest in a guy…in a room full of wolves, all with an excellent sense of smell.
“You see…telling a woman she’s beautiful is one thing,” he carried on, his hand sliding down her back until his fingers flirted with the upper curve of her ass. It was an almost, not quite, a grope. Subtle, but powerful. “But making her feel it, now there’s the trick.”
Trick? It was a fucking miracle, but he managed it. From the tomboy image she’d always seen herself as, he made her feel feminine, and with his tall, lean frame…tiny, which was something she wasn’t used to at all.
He had distracted her so thoroughly, she missed where the last turn was taking them. The music and crush of the dancefloor fell behind as he waltzed her from the room into an empty side corridor. It was a slick move, one so calculated she could have been forgiven for thinking he’d been born and bred in this court. The staircase at the end of this hall led to the north wing and the staff quarters. Her quarters.
“Now,” he breathed, backing her toward the wall behind the door. After years of training, she could have broken his hold and shut him down in a multitude of different ways, leaving him cradling his balls in his own private world of pain. She didn’t. Instead, she let him herd her where he wanted. “How about we get to know each other a little better, my lady?”
Chapter Three
She was all sleek muscle and curves wrapped in one delicious bundle. Nick fought the male animal within before he gently took her into his arms. Her aura and the authority that clung to her told him she was a powerful she-wolf, but one with a delightful dichotomy between the strength she projected and the sensual woman he sensed beneath the mask.
Harsh treatment would just piss her off and make her clam up. He didn’t want that. No, indeed. He needed to ease beneath her defenses and get her to open for him.
Her eyes, a beautiful grey-blue, twinkled with amusement as she looked up at him. “Better? After that dance? I think I know everything about you, including your inside leg measurement. Which by the way, is rather impressive.”
“Haven’t you heard?” He slipped his hand around her waist, pulling her hips from the wall and flush against him. “It’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you do with it.”
Bending his head, he gave into the urge he had since he’d seen her putting that young wolf in his place earlier and claimed her mouth. His lips massaged hers, a test and exploration in one. She sighed, her slender fingers mangling the lapels of his jacket, holding him in place one moment then pulling him closer the next. He hid his smile with a gentle sweep of his tongue against her full lower lip and held his breath. Would she relax and let him in, or would they play the game a little more?
She murmured in the back of her throat, the sound closer to a purr than a growl. Almost a feline sound, but he didn’t care, it was sexy. Anticipation and lust rolled through him, fighting for dominance.
Then it happened. She relaxed, her lips parting in invitation and he surged forward, unable to hold back a growl of pleasure. He slipped past her lips to stroke his tongue along hers. Heat blasted him at the first taste of her soft mouth, like strawberries and cream, with a kick from the champagne she drank earlier. The familiar tastes turned to something heady and erotic.
Crowding closer, he pressed her back against the wall, caging her body with his. Hands either side of her tiny waist, over the black dress that hugged her curves like a second skin, he lifted her slightly. Just enough to bring her to her toes and off balance so he could kiss her senseless. He wasn’t heavily muscled like the brute of a wolf guarding Reena, nor did he resort to aggression when he could talk his way through a situation, but with her, the primal side of his nature came to the fore. The need to claim and possess uppermost in his mind.
She gave as good as she got, sliding her tongue along his then drawing back to tease him. Evading him, she tempted him with quick strokes of her tongue until he growled. Driving a hand into her hair, he scattered the pins there to free long blond waves. A grunt of satisfaction escaped him as he ran his fingers through the silken strands. So soft. A sudden image of what it would feel like sliding over his naked body, around his cock, assaulted him and a bolt of lust lanced him.
His dick throbbed in his pants, impossibly hard. Sliding his tongue into her mouth again, he allowed imagination to take over. Instantly they were stripped of clothes, her delicate, lithe body beneath his as he drove within her. He broke the kiss to curse as the fantasy alone almost unmanned him.
She moaned in protest, following his lips with hers, then kissed along his jawline when he tipped his head back and fought for control. He couldn’t keep on kissing her. Not without shoving that dress higher, ripping her panties off and burying himself balls deep in her heat.
But her soft lips were too much temptation and he bent his head again, quickly recapturing her mouth to taste her. She whimpered and plastered herself against him, seemingly not bothered that anyone could walk out of the crowded ballroom mere feet away and find them.
Yes
, his wolf rumbled in agreement. Let them find her wrapped in his arms, his scent all over her skin and know she was his. Especially that little prick from earlier. Breaking the kiss once more, he rested his forehead against hers, his breathing ragged.
Her breathing was as compromised as his, and he couldn’t tear his gaze from her cleavage. The slim fitted sheath wasn’t revealing; women in the ballroom wore far less fabric on their bodies, but the modesty was far more erotic than acres of flesh on display. He wanted to tear the damn thing from her.
“Should we return to the ball?” he suggested, ignoring the snarl of rage from his wolf. He didn’t intend to, but he had to offer her the illusion of choice. It was only gentlemanly, after all. Even if the last thing he felt like was gentle. “Or is there somewhere more private we can take this little party to?”
Soft banners of color decorated her cheeks as she looked back at the door he’d swept her through and he froze. She wouldn’t return to the ball. He knew a woman who was into him and this one was. A fact borne when she slid a little sideways glance at him under her lashes and smiled. Just the hint of a smile, little more than a curve of her lips, but it held endless possibilities.
“Well, as it happens…” She walked her fingers up his chest over his shirt. He cursed the damn thing again. The need to feel her fingers on his skin clawed at him. Ate away at his control. He held his breath when she trailed off.
“My room is in this wing.”
Yes! Triumph surged through him, followed by a wave of heat so complete, he was surprised his skin didn’t spontaneously combust and burn his clothing away like some kind of lycan fireball superhero.
Her gaze flicked to his and he was caught, snared in the web cast by her beautiful eyes. Amber leeched into the blue, from the inner ring outward, but then in turn eaten up by the darkness of desire. Stark and simple. It took his breath away.
He reached for her hand again, lifting it to his lips. “Then lead the way, my lady.”
*
Oh, he was good. Very,
very
good.
Anticipation and need surged through Isla’s veins as she led Nick through the corridors. The guard at the bottom of the stairs merely glanced at their linked hands but didn’t say anything. Wise move. After Liam earlier, she wasn’t interested in any other wolf getting up in her business.