“Oh!” Her eyes sparkle. “Is that why you all have wolf tattoos?”
I rock back on my heels. “You noticed that?”
“My friend did. I only noticed yours.”
My dick stirs against my zipper. My wolf likes that she picked me out of the pack. “We all got them before we left the army.” I push up my sleeve and show her my biceps. “We were Special Ops.”
She traces the moon with light fingertips. Electricity shoots through me, and I lean closer to catch the vanilla scent in her hair. She’s pale skinned and luminous in the moonlight, her silky hair wafting around her face. Normally, I hate being touched, but my wolf would happily stretch out for a belly rub.
“It’s nice.” She fingers my tattoo. Is her voice deeper, husky? Is it the night air?
She pulls her hand away, and I have to swallow several times. My cock is a hard bar, pressing against the front of my jeans. “What about you?” I ask, my own voice deeper than normal to my ears. “What do you do?”
“I teach kindergarten. Which reminds me, I should get home. It’s a school night.”
“Did you leave your car in the plaza? Or do you want me to take you home?”
She nibbles her lip. I think the stop made her nervous. Which is good. She shouldn’t just hop on the back of a random guy’s motorcycle and ride around town with him. Still, I hate the thought of her being afraid of me.
“Home, please.”
“Sure. Give me the address.” The least I can do is see her safely home.
I savor each second of the ride to her condo north of Taos. She squeezes me closer every time I lean into a turn. I take the final miles slower, easing into each turn, enjoying the night-painted landscape instead of speeding by. The shadows and midnight blue.
I pull up to her door and plant my feet to steady my bike but stay facing forward, shoulders rigid. This wasn’t a date—it was a rescue op. My job was to get the package to her place. Not to walk her to the door. Definitely not to lean down to savor that delicious scent before she goes inside.
For a moment, Sadie doesn’t move. She’s still holding me as if reluctant to disentangle herself. I grit my teeth and try not to think how easily she could slide her hand down my stomach, into my jeans. My cock jerks at the thought.
Finally, she slips off the bike. I lose the battle with myself and turn my head slightly to fill my senses with her vanilla scent.
“Thanks for the ride,” she says. “And, um, everything.” She removes my helmet and hands it to me. I swap her purse for it. She slings her bag over her shoulder but still makes no move to go.
“Are you going to be in town tomorrow for Plaza Live?” she asks after a moment of fidgeting. “The Flying Oysters are playing at six. They mostly do covers, but they’re pretty good.”
“Sure,” I say, even though I had no intention of attending any Plaza Live ever. But it seems I’m incapable of denying Sadie anything she asks of me. My pack will laugh their heads off if they find out. But there’s no way I’m missing a chance to see Sadie again. Not because I”m going to try anything with her. Just to make sure she’s safe from Bonehead. “I’ll be there.”
“Okay. Night, Deke.” She’s gazing at me, her face upturned.
Don’t touch her. Don’t touch her. Definitely don’t kiss her.
I can’t stop myself from reaching out, catching the back of her neck and drawing her close. Her vanilla scent washes over me, and I breathe it in like I just got out of prison, and this is my first breath of fresh air in a decade.
I muster some control and only press my lips to her forehead, where her hair’s mussed and a bit damp from the helmet. I don’t let myself taste her lips. And I don't get off the bike. If I dismount, there’s no turning back.
After a moment, I let her go.
She backs up uncertainly, her pretty lips parted.
“Night, Sadie.”
I don’t ride off immediately. I wait until she’s inside. She disappears, and the door lock clicks—my supernatural hearing won’t let me miss a sound. What I don’t hear is her moving away from the door, getting on with her night. The filmy white curtain in the window trembles a little, like she just twitched it aside. She’s watching me.
I turn my bike back on and roll away. I still feel her silky skin under my lips. My wolf doesn’t like me riding away. The instinct to turn the bike around and drive back nearly chokes me.
My wolf wants Sadie. He wants me to get her under me, tonight. He wants me to mark her as my own. Keep her.
But that’s not possible. Because he’s not fucking safe. Marking a human is dangerous under the best of conditions, and my wolf? He doesn’t know restraint.
So I’ll be staying the fuck away from Sadie Diaz. Because there’s never been a human I needed to protect more.
Sadie
Despite the drinks and the night air, I’m not sleepy at all after Deke drops me off. I put the jackalope doll by the front door and flitter about my one-bedroom apartment organizing myself for the morning.
I’m all fluttery and excited. Also freaking out.
I’ve never done anything so reckless in my life. I am the type who is too trusting of strangers—I’ve been told that by my dad and my friends at least fifty-seven times. But I don’t usually go around actively soliciting strange men. Or engaging in questionable activities like getting on the back of a motorcycle with one.
But my instincts told me he could be trusted.
And they were right! I was perfectly safe the whole time. I wore a helmet. He took me straight home when I asked him to, and he didn’t even try anything with me—a fact I find myself slightly disappointed over. He wasn’t the man-whore Charlie warned me of. He only kissed my forehead! Maybe he’s not interested, and that’s fine. I still loved every second of it.
Maybe I’m the adrenaline junkie because I’m all amped up now at my wild behavior. I have to say, it felt great to pretend I might date a guy like Deke. A big, bad, motorcycle-military guy. I let my wild out a little bit tonight. It felt rebellious and fun. I felt in charge of my own destiny for the first time in… I don’t know how long.
Maybe since my mom left.
I flop back on my bed, and a puff of laughter comes from my lips.
When my phone buzzes with a text, I snatch it up. The twisted sick anticipation of finding another text from Scott is gone, replaced by anger.
This guy needs to leave me alone.
Sure enough, it’s from Scott. Sadie, I’m really worried about you. That guy you were with tonight is trouble.
Instead of ignoring the text like I usually do, this time I answer. Stop texting me. I don’t ever want to hear from you again. It’s over.
There. I feel like I said that before, but I was being Sweet Sadie then. Now, I don’t think I could be more clear.
Turns out standing up for myself feels good.
I roll onto my side, my thoughts slipping back to Deke. Of course, I wouldn’t really date a guy like him. He wouldn’t be interested in someone like me, for one thing.
And I doubt we have anything at all in common.
Still, the memory of his huge hand cupping my nape or the way he caged me in against the building in the alleyway—not like he was trapping me. More like he was shielding me—flit through my mind producing those butterflies in my belly.