The Werewolf Tycoon's Secret Baby (The Woolven Secret Book 2) (6 page)

“What about bad wolves?”

“I won’t say there aren’t any. There are. There are wolves who lie, cheat, steal, kill for pleasure… but they’re not… they’re abominations. They’re poisoned.”

“I want you, Drew. When I saw you, my body remembered Santorini before the rest of me. I haven’t been touched in so long. It’s like my skin craves it. But I’m not ready for anything else.” She took a deep breath. “If you still want me, I’d like to invite you inside.”

E
mmie couldn’t believe
she’d just invited Drew in for sex. It probably wasn’t the best choice, but it had been so long since she’d been touched and he felt so good.

She took his hand and led him inside.

She was suddenly self-conscious about everything. About the toys on the floor, her shabby furniture, her shabby
self
. Her nails weren’t painted, her hair a mess, she hadn’t shaved her legs since… well, she wouldn’t even think about when.

Let alone grooming the lady garden.

It was probably dusty.

What had she been thinking?

Hot days and even hotter nights, sand and sea, and that guy who’d blown her mind and her clit in Santorini. That’s what she’d been thinking.

Emmie didn’t know what to do now. She’d gotten him inside. She kind of wanted him to grab her, kiss her hard and bend her over the couch.
Easy-peasy
. Only, that wasn’t what she wanted in the long run. She wanted autonomy, choice, and freedom. So, she had to stand up and ask for what she wanted.

He seemed to know. Drew pushed his hand through her hair, his fingers playing with the strands. “I’m nervous, too.”

“You don’t seem like it.” She almost said he wasn’t, almost denied what he said, but he was right. That was dismissive no matter who did the denying.

“I haven’t been with anyone since Santorini.”

That shouldn’t have thrilled her, but it did. “Me either.”

He dipped his head slowly and brushed his lips against hers. Suddenly, it didn’t matter. None of it mattered. Not the toys on the floor, her furniture, or even her lady garden grooming. It was all secondary—a tiny whisper of something she felt like she was supposed to remember, but it was background noise when compared to the heat that flared between them.

Her senses were filled with Drew. The way he smelled—like expensive cologne and the bite of winter. The way his presence filled the space, the way his muscles rippled under her fingers, and the flood of memories of not only Santorini and their naked bodies straining in concert toward culmination, but how he made her feel about herself.

That she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

That
she
mattered.

As amazing as the chemistry was between them, that feeling of being a person who mattered was better.

Guilt flared. She should be at Aphelion, with her son. Not here, trying to get a quick lay because she was lonely.

The thought was cold and harsh in her head.

Drew seemed to know exactly what she was thinking, like always. “Hey, if you don’t want this, we can stop. But it’s okay if you
do
want it. It’s okay to be a person as well as a mother.”

“How do you always know what I’m thinking?”

“Mate privilege.” He dragged his cheek along hers, almost as if he marked her with his scent. Like a wolf.

“I can’t be your mate. I’m human.” She didn’t know if what she was feeling was excitement or fear, or maybe a bit of both.

“I’m the wolf here, sweetheart. I know my own mate.” He smiled down at her.

“Then why didn’t you know in Santorini?” This was just too convenient. She showed up with his son and suddenly he knew she’s his mate?
Whatever
. Except the thought caused a cold spill of guilt to shiver down her back. Andrew might have lied about his name but, in his position, she would have, too. He’d never been anything but kind, gentle, almost like a dream.

There it was. The root of all her doubt. Andrew Woolven was too good to be true.

“Because we weren’t ready yet. I was still very much a young wolf learning my duties as Beta to my brother, to my pack. I wouldn’t have been a good mate to you then.”

“What makes you think you’re different now?”

“Are you the same person you were five years ago?”

She blushed. No, she was a million miles away from who she was five years ago and still a million miles from where she wanted to be. “Probably not.”

“Are you going to hold me to a higher standard than where you hold yourself?”

She flexed her fingers against his shoulders, enjoying the feel of him, not wanting to let go. “Maybe.”

A grin curved his mouth. “Okay, then. I can take it. What about you?”

Desire curled low in her belly. “Can I what?” She lifted her chin. “Can I
take
it
?” Lord, but it sounded filthy when she said it that way. By the look in his eyes, that was exactly what he meant.

She decided then and there that this was going to happen. “Yeah. I can.”

His nostrils flared as if he could scent her thoughts—or maybe it was her desire? The way his gaze intensified, it was like she was prey, but she couldn’t imagine anything better. She swallowed hard, suddenly fighting the urge to run, but not because she was afraid.

Because she wanted him to chase her, to take her down and—Jesus. These thoughts, they were so strange and foreign. Not at all like her own.

She backed away from him, and he cocked his head to the side, as if sensing her intent.

“Oh really?” His grin widened, showing all of his pretty, perfect white teeth.

She bit her lip. “Really.”

Emmie darted toward the bedroom, and he was right behind her, pouncing on her and pressing her down into the unmade bed. She laughed.

“Oh, that was just a tease.”

“I like teasing you.”

“Do you?” His eyes had changed to amber and that brought it all home again. Reminded her what he was—how easily he could hurt her.

She didn’t think he’d hurt her, but she couldn’t help shying away.

He closed his eyes and rolled off of her. “I can’t help what I am, Emmie.”

“I know.” She took a deep breath. “But I like who I think you are, so what you are has to be part of that, right?” Emmie wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince him or herself.

“Who you think I am?”

“Hey, just like I have to give you a break, you have to give me one. I didn’t even know your real name until today.”

“I guess that’s fair.”

“But I want this,” she said quietly. “I want to touch you, and I want to feel like I did in Santorini.”

“Who knows if anything could ever be like Santorini? It was a fairytale. Some kind of magic.”

“The way you touched me, it was like I was the most beautiful thing you’d ever seen,” she confessed.

“You are.”

She snorted. “I doubt that.”

“Will you let me show you?” he asked, as if somehow the answer could or would ever be no.

Emmie couldn’t imagine a woman who was still breathing who would say no to an afternoon with Drew Woolven. Golden eyes or not. They were rather beautiful, too. She fancied, probably erroneously, that the predator in him thought she was lovely as well.

A beast was a beast, wasn’t it?

Except Drew had never been anything but the perfect gentleman—and her son was no beast.

It wasn’t Drew she was afraid of meeting in a dark alley, it was her own ex-husband. She wasn’t going to pass this up because he was something she didn’t really understand.

Emmie could take this chance and try to trust him. Just a little.

“Show me.”

He had her naked so fast, she didn’t even realize what he’d done. All of her doubts and insecurities came rushing back to cloud her brain, to take her out of the moment.

But looking up at him, seeing the way he looked at her—it had to be a lie. Didn’t it?

It wasn’t like the way he’d looked at her in Santorini at all. In Santorini, he’d looked at her like she was some piece of art. The way he looked at her now? It was as if she were the only woman in the universe. She felt as if all of his attention was on her, that he belonged to her body and soul.

Emmie had trouble wrapping her head around such a thing.

“How can you look at me like that?”

“Like you’re my mate? Like you’re the only woman I ever want to look at again? Like you’re the only creature I want to fill my senses? Because you are.”

Thinking about it logically, she didn’t believe him, but looking into his eyes while he spoke, it was impossible
not
to believe him. When their eyes locked, it was impossible to escape him, and she didn’t want to. Emmie wanted to let him pull her down, and she’d fall like raindrops back into the endless ocean of him.

She wanted to stay in this moment. She wanted to feel like this forever:

Beautiful.

Wanted.

Safe.

Only, as soon as she allowed herself the moment, it was broken. Something stirred in the back of her mind—the rattling of a decaying lock with no key. The unfathomable monster behind that lock and chains suddenly awake, hungry. Black tentacles reaching out to her consciousness…

Emmie blinked as shadows curled around her.

For a moment, in Drew’s place stood a slavering beast. Not the beast he’d shown her when he was protecting their son—something different. Darker. Twisted. Then it was gone.

It was only Drew.

The man with the monster under his skin.

“What’s wrong, Emmie?” He cupped her cheek.

His hand was warm and real, solid and human. There was only gentleness in his touch, only concern in his voice. The magnetic pull between them had been dissolved somehow, and all she could think about was running.

But she knew better than to run. If she ran, he’d chase her.
They liked to chase…
A memory that was just beyond on her reach drifted close to her consciousness and then skittered away.

“Nothing.” She swallowed hard. She knew that Drew wasn’t a monster. He wasn’t evil. He’d never hurt her. Would he?

“Your fear reeks.” He dropped his hand and closed his eyes. “Tell me how to stop it.”

“I don’t know.” All of Emmie’s desire had vanished. In its place was only the monster. Logically, she knew that Drew wouldn’t hurt her. But there was some primal instinct inside of her that crowded out all logic.

His eyes changed again when they opened, a soft glowing ember. Beautiful and awful at the same time.

She cast her eyes down at the floor, unable to look at him. Terror knifing through her.

“He rises to protect you. I wish I could make you understand that.” His voice was low, gravelly, tinged by the animal inside of him.

“I do,” she mumbled.

“I’ll go.”

Emmie couldn’t stand that, either. She didn’t want him to leave. She was so at odds with herself. One part of her demanded his nearness, wanting him to touch her in all the ways he had on Santorini. Wanting to lay her burdens all on his shoulders, especially since he’d asked for them. He’d offered her protection. Safety. Forever. Only that other part of her knew fear. Knew terror. “Don’t go. Not like this.”

“I don’t know what you want from me, Emmie. My nearness frightens you, but you don’t want me to leave. If I keep scenting your fear, my beast will erupt to protect you. That will only drive us farther apart.”

He wrapped a blanket around her nakedness and, even though he raised her fear, she was comforted by him as well. She didn’t understand any of this. Maybe she needed therapy more than she’d previously thought.

“Yet, with your fingers on me, I still want you. I don’t understand my own reactions to you.”

“I can still scent that, too. And I want to touch you, but I won’t. It makes me sick that you’re afraid of me.”

“It’s not you.” She leaned into him.

“It’s the werewolf. I get that, but that’s me too.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” Regret stained the moment.

“It’s not your fault, Emmie.” He put his chin on the top of her head. “It’s that bastard Breslin. Maybe you were right about coming to Aphelion. If you’re this afraid, your fear will have everyone constantly on high alert, ready to Change at any moment to eliminate the threat to you.”

“Everyone?”

“I told you that as the mother of the Woolven heir, you’ll be accorded a place of honor and respect. There is no one at Aphelion that wouldn’t die for you and our son.”

She tightened her arms around him and breathed deeply. “There is comfort in that. If the thing that’s under the bed terrifies me, perhaps it will terrify my enemies, too.”

“It will destroy your enemies. I swear it.”

She pressed her lips together. “I’m sorry.” The words weren’t enough to express everything she was feeling. She was sorry for being afraid. She was sorry for inviting him in and then telling him no. She was sorry that they couldn’t go back to that simpler time in Santorini.

“You don’t have to be sorry. Just promise me that even if you decline my protection for yourself, you’ll let me protect our son.”

Emmie was afraid of what that meant, but she couldn’t say no. Peter terrified her more than Drew ever could. Even if they were all monsters, Noah was Drew’s son. Drew would keep him safe in ways Emmie never could.

“I promise.”

“If you don’t want to visit Aphelion, I understand. I’ve never seen anyone as afraid as you are. It kills me to see you that way. So maybe you’re right. I’ll bring Noah home later, if that’s what you want.”

She pulled away and forced herself to look up at his all too human eyes. The pain there. The worry. And even the fear… it all picked with a sharp little blade at the scars she didn’t know she carried. The longing for a home and family for Noah. For a father. Strong roots. The security she knew she couldn’t offer him alone. Not like being among his own kind.

“I’ll come. Because you were right, too. Noah needs to be among his own kind, and I’d never cage him. I’d never break his spirit that way. Lenore told me that it wasn’t fair of me to deny him birthright, and she’s right.”

“Lenore is usually right. My son is lucky to have her as an aunt.”

“I never thought I’d hear a werewolf say that about Lenore.” She wrapped the blanket around herself more tightly.

“She’s a necessary part of our world. There are more bad hunters than good these days, I’m afraid. The old code doesn’t matter much to this new breed. But Lenore? She’s honorable. And I’ll admit it takes much more strength to honor the old ways than it does to be what her mother and brother are. Her scars are deep and I can see they still bleed. But she doesn’t let that stop her. She has much to teach Noah.”

“When they were playing earlier, it had occurred to me that it was kind of magic that he could play with her without restraint. That he could be all of himself with her and neither of them would get hurt.”