The question was so blunt that all Brielle could do was stare at him with her mouth open.
Caleb held up his hands apologetically. “I didn’t mean that the way it came out. I just meant that you’re a beautiful woman. I find it hard to believe there haven’t been men interested in spending time with you.”
Brielle felt a burst of warmth and happiness swirling up inside her chest at his words, and suddenly, she wasn’t upset by his choice of words anymore. The fact that she was reacting so strongly to him calling her beautiful struck her as both silly and juvenile. What was she, a sixteen-year-old going gaga over the latest boy band singer?
“I tried a few times,” she said, brushing her hair back when the breeze coming in from the water tossed it playfully around her face and forcing herself to answer his question instead of thinking about the way his casual compliment made her feel. “I dated a few guys, but it never went anywhere. Having a brother around who was constantly getting into trouble certainly didn’t help. What about you? Do you have anyone waiting for you back home when you return from saving the world?”
He let out a snort of amusement that quickly turned into a laugh. “I’m an omega. By definition, I’m a loner. Like you, I’ve dated, but it never seemed to work out. I’ve never had a connection with anyone.”
Brielle gazed up at him. Why did it bother her so much that this amazing man hadn’t found someone to share his life with? For some reason, it seemed like such a waste.
“Maybe you simply haven’t found the right woman yet,” she murmured, fighting the urge to reach up and caress his chiseled jaw. She wanted to do it so badly, she could almost feel his scruff under her fingers.
“Or maybe I have,” Caleb said, bending his head to touch his lips to hers.
He kissed her slowly, tentatively, like he wanted to give her a chance to pull away if she wanted to. She didn’t pull away—or want to. Instead, she reached up and buried her fingers in his shaggy hair, pulling him down and opening her mouth to invite him in, desperate to let him know how much she wanted this.
Her tongue tangled with his, and she moaned at how good he tasted. One of his strong arms wrapped around her, tugging her against him, lifting her up on her toes a little until her breasts were pressing firmly against his powerful chest as he slipped his free hand into her hair.
It felt amazing.
Heat poured through her, and she came damn close to wrapping her legs around him and climbing him like a tree. The need to be even closer to him was overwhelming.
They quickly went from kissing to making out with an intensity that kind of scared her. She’d never come close to getting swept away by a man’s kiss before. She’d never even considered letting it happen. But with Caleb, it was almost too easy to lose herself in the moment. To let the fire fill her up inside and make her burst into flames right there in the middle of Odessa.
As Caleb’s big hand tightened in her hair, tugging at the strands in the most delicious way she’d ever experienced, Brielle couldn’t help but wonder what it was about him that made her respond this way. Then she felt his rumbling growls welling up through his chest, the vibrations slipping inside her to do crazy things to her soul, and she stopped caring about why or how. She simply enjoyed the sensation of being in his arms.
When something grazed her tongue, sharp enough to draw blood, it wasn’t that hard to figure out it was his fangs. Why they had extended in the middle of them kissing was a mystery, but she decided she didn’t mind them at all. In fact, the sensation of those fangs scraping across the surface of her sensitive tongue was kind of interesting.
Before Brielle had a chance to experiment a little with that, Caleb abruptly broke the kiss and pulled away. The move was so jarring she almost fell over.
Opening her eyes, she saw that Caleb looked dazed, his eyes glowing vivid blue as he gazed down at her. The tips of his fangs were peeking out over his lower lip, and he was growling softly with nearly every breath. She knew all of that put together meant that he was on the verge of losing control of himself and going omega, as he liked to call it. She’d be lying if she said it didn’t worry her a little, but she refused to believe he would ever hurt her, no matter how much control he lost.
Unfortunately, from the expression slowly crossing his face, Brielle wasn’t too sure if Caleb believed that as much as she did. She could tell he was fighting hard to regain his control, his eyes darting left and right like he was wondering if running away might be the best option. If it weren’t for several other tourists walking along the pier, he might have done it.
“Caleb,” she said softly, reaching out to place her hand on the sleeve of his leather jacket and wondering what she’d done to make his inner werewolf come out. “Just breathe and tell me what’s wrong.”
Caleb didn’t say anything, but as she stood there watching, his breathing slowed, the blue glow fading from his eyes and his fangs retracting. But even then, Brielle noticed he still didn’t move to close the distance between them. It was ridiculously stupid, but the separation hurt all the same. And for the life of her, she couldn’t understand why.
“Caleb, are you okay?” she asked. “Why did you push me away? Did I do something wrong?”
“I’m fine. You didn’t do anything wrong,” he said, but the flat expression on his face made her doubt the sincerity of his words. “We should get back to the safe house. We don’t know when we’re leaving Odessa, and we should get some sleep while we can.”
Brielle wasn’t sure what hurt worse: the fact that he was lying to her or that he hated kissing her so much that he’d rather go back to the safe house and the company of his teammates than stay out here with her.
Chapter 10
Russia
“I would normally trust Misty when it comes to stuff like this,” Caleb said, looking through the window at the crowded Moscow street below and the collection of office buildings across the street. “But for some reason, I have a hard time believing a construction firm was responsible for setting off a nuclear warhead beneath that village in Siberia.”
Caleb felt more than saw the movement beside him. Turning slightly, he saw Brielle move over to look out the window with him. He held his breath, wondering if she was actually going to say something. It had been over twenty-fours since that uncomfortable moment in Odessa when he’d pulled away from her. In all that time, she’d barely said two words to him. Hell, she’d barely allowed herself to be in the same room with him for more than ten seconds at a time. She probably wouldn’t be here now if Jake hadn’t put them on the same team, maintaining external surveillance of this side of their target.
Brielle didn’t say anything. Instead, she gazed down at the crowd of people in their heavy winter coats leaving the well-appointed office spaces of Barclay Plaza, home to several of Russia’s most well-known companies, including the multinational building and design firm known as Aldaran Construction.