“I don’t—”
“A month.”
“Excuse me?”
“Years’ worth of pent-up sexual frustration isn’t going to burn out fast. One month of you in my bed, night after night … yeah, I think that should do it.”
Devon’s stomach hardened. She felt as if he’d slapped her because … “Oh, you want to fuck me out of your system.” Hiding how much that stung, she gave him a sardonic smile. “Well, isn’t that nice. You sure know how to make a girl feel special, pooch.”
“You got a better idea, baby?”
“Yeah, go find yourself a fuck-buddy.”
He raked his teeth over her lower lip. “Is that really what you want, kitten? You want another man’s hands on you? You want another woman’s hands on me?”
Her claws almost sliced out, pricking the insides of her fingertips so hard she winced.
“Yeah, I figured you wouldn’t like it. I sure as shit don’t.” Dipping his head again, Tanner dragged his lips down her neck and over to her rapidly beating pulse. He wanted to feel it beating in his mouth, wanted to bite down on that soft flesh again. But if he did that, he’d need more. And there was no time—she had to be at work soon. So he satisfied himself with grazing his teeth over her pulse, leaving the slightest mark.
“Look, I don’t—”
He lifted his head. “I know it’s pure reflex for you to fight me on everything, but what’s the sense in fighting me on something you want as much as I do?” He slid his hand up her arm, over her shoulder, and settled it on her neck. “A month. Think about it. You can give me your answer later.”
“And if you don’t get the answer you want?”
He skimmed his thumb over her lower lip and said softly, “You know me, kitten.”
She did know him, Devon thought. Knew that he wasn’t fazed by rejection, knew he never settled for anything less than what he wanted. He wouldn’t tip his hat and walk away if she turned him down. No, he’d be relentless and single-minded in his pursuit. And she couldn’t help but feel sad that he wouldn’t be in pursuit of her, he’d be in pursuit of a brief fling.
Oh, she knew a hellhound and hellcat could have no future together, especially since male hellhounds rarely mated, but it still hurt to know he simply wanted to rid his system of her … like she was a virus or something. Yeah, there was nothing flattering about that.
*
It wasn’t until much later, when she, Raini, and Khloë were having lunch in the break room, that Devon had a chance to tell them about Tanner’s little proposal.
Khloë’s brows rose. “A hellcat spending a month in the bed of its natural enemy. What could go wrong?”
Raini picked up her soda. “I doubt his hound would harm her, Khloë. Unless it withdrew its protection from her, of course.” Her gaze slid to Devon. “Do you think your feline would fight you on hopping into his bed again?”
“It might be okay with another night,” Devon replied. “But a month? No way. Not when it’s seeking a mate. But that works for me, because I’m not exactly itching to jump into bed with a guy when his objective is to flush me out of his system.”
Sure, there was a certain logic in burning out the lust that had held them in a tight grip for far too long. But although she had nothing against a fling, the way he’d put a time-limit on it and said it wasn’t about exploring what flared between them but about ridding himself of it … that just made the whole thing seem so cold. Impersonal sex was not her thing.
“Yeah, I can’t say I’d like that either,” said Harper. “So, what are you going to do?”
“Tell him no.” Simple.
Harper blinked. “You say that like he’ll hear and heed you.”
Khloë gave a wan smile. “Hello, alpha hellhound. Betas of his kind are annoying enough—all bluster and pigheadedness and ‘I want my way in all things.’ Alphas? They’re far harder to deal with, because there’s no reasoning with them. Getting them to accept that they won’t get what they want … yeah, that’s always a rough road.”
Harper nodded. “Tanner uses whatever method it takes to get his own way—straightforward or underhanded. If it means being sweet, he’ll be sweet. If it means playing dumb, he’ll play dumb. If it means coming across as harmless, he’ll do that too. And right now, what he wants is you. I don’t envy you.”
Cursing under her breath, Devon rubbed at her temple. She’d never expected to find herself in this position. Never expected him to ever claim that his hound “tolerated” her presence.
“I say you should agree to one more night,” said Khloë. “Then you can wow him with all your skills and make it a night he’ll never forget so it’ll be impossible for him to ever get you out of his system.”
“Ruthless.” Harper chuckled. “I like it. And it’d serve him right.”
“Totally,” agreed Raini. “I’m all for that idea.”
It wasn’t such a bad one. Devon hadn’t had a chance to use any of her skills last night—it had all happened so fast. She hadn’t done anything more than hold on tight for the ride. “I’ll think about it. For now, let’s talk about something else.” She tilted her head, regarding Raini carefully. “You haven’t been yourself today. Heard anything from Maddox?”
Harper frowned. “Maddox? Why would Raini have heard from him?”
Raini winced. “Oh yeah, I kind of forgot to mention that part earlier when I told you what happened at the club.”
It was while Raini was making her little revelation to Harper that Devon’s cell phone began to chime. She knew from the ringtone that it was a video call. Seeing Spencer’s name on the screen, she headed out of the room and tapped the answer icon.
“Hey,” she said to the face staring back at her. Just like Reena and Kaye, he possessed Leticia’s almond eyes and prominent cheekbones. But Spencer also had his father’s blond hair, lean build, and strong jawline.
“I heard about what happened from Dad,” said Spencer. “I wanted to check how you were doing.”
Able to tell from the high windows behind him that he was in his office, she suspected the call would be a short one. Spencer was as much of a workaholic as his father. “I’m okay,” she replied. “Just frustrated that Asa won’t spill whatever names he might be holding back.”
Spencer nodded, jaw hardening. “Dad had a long talk to him. Asa refuses to admit there were any others in his group. Don’t worry, Dad will get him to cough up the info.”
“Jolene could make him talk.” And if that failed, Knox would certainly step in.
Spencer snorted. “No one’s going to hand Asa over to another lair. You don’t know the shit he did, Devon. Dad might have told you the bare facts, but there’s so much more. He and his group destroyed lives without even killing anyone. And they did it because they could. Dad’s never going to hand over that fucker to someone else.”
She sighed. She’d already figured as much, but it was still frustrating.
“He won’t let you down on this one, Devon. Trust him to get the answers you need.” He paused. “Reena told me that Tanner Cole considers you under his protection. That true?” He didn’t seem to believe it.