“Thanks for your concern, chére, but I assure you that your Alpha can take care of himself.”
“But you can’t seriously be thinking of letting her stay here,” she interjected, raising her voice.
“Already done. She’s staying with me, in my home and will not stay with anyone else,” he remarked, looking at Logan, remembering the incident earlier in the day.
“But…”
He interrupted her before she could get another word in. She was overstepping her boundaries. Pinning her with his eyes, he forced her to drop her gaze in submission. “Drop it, Mira. Seriously, not another word. She’s in my care. She’s mine.”
He understood the implications of claiming her, the instant the word ‘mine’ left his lips. Looking at Logan and Mira’s faces he knew they interpreted it as much more than the context in which it was meant. As Alpha, all wolves were his. They were all his responsibility. Just because she was human, well, it shouldn’t make a difference. She needed his protection, and he needed her, for information only, of course. Sure, she was incredibly alluring and gave him an aching erection just about every time he talked to her, but it was just attraction, pure and simple. He’d have to be dead not to want to have sex with her.
As Mira and Logan gave each other quizzical looks, he narrowed his eyes on them. “What?”
“Nothing,” they both said at the same time.
Finishing up the description of the second wolf, Kalli waited for the artist to work his magic. She sat patiently, anticipating that he’d ask for her to confirm the sketch. The tall blonde had been shooting daggers at her ever since she’d returned from her room. Kalli stole glances over at Tristan and Logan working on the other side of the room and noticed the woman never left Tristan’s side.
Her business attire and laptop suggested she worked for Tristan in a formal capacity, but her intimate gestures toward both men indicated more than a professional relationship. Friends? No, her occasional touch to Tristan’s face implied more. Lovers? For some reason the thought of him having other lovers gave her a slight twinge in her stomach. She silently admonished herself for the feeling. She’d only known him for a day. So what if she was lusting after him like a bitch in heat? He wasn’t hers.
The phenomenon of physical attraction was undeniably compelling given the right chemistry between the right people. It could hardly be controlled. And then there was the very hard to ignore fact that Tristan was an Alpha who appeared to have made an art form of seduction, with the ability to turn on and off his intoxicating charm with the blink of an eye. Any woman who even looked his way would be hopelessly lost. She didn’t stand a chance.
She damn well knew that he probably had a stable of women, supernatural and human, ready and willing to warm his bed. What kind of idiot would get involved with an Alpha when she, herself, was pretending to be human and was on the run from her own pack? A fool.
But she could not deny that she wanted him sexually, and not in a nice hand-holding, missionary position kind of way. Visions of her gripping the headboard while he slammed into her hard, fisting her long hair in his hands was more in order. And she, screaming as the pleasure bordering on pain sent her plummeting into orgasm…oh yes, that was how she wanted him. Fast and hard. Biting and scratching. Animalistic.
Regardless, she couldn’t let these temporary lust-driven feelings cloud her judgment. She didn’t do jealousy. Perhaps what did bother her, though, was that this woman who didn’t even know her did not like her. Kalli didn’t understand why but then again, it didn’t really matter. And if she was reading things correctly, there was the possibility she’d also have to spend time with her over the next few days.
Not that she wasn’t used to dealing with cantankerous and even cruel pet owners from time to time; she’d become an expert at pulling down her professional aura, speaking to them in a dominant but calm voice. Articulately eviscerating pet owners who were abusive was an unfortunate reality of life in the city. She wasn’t the type to take shit from anyone when it came to protecting her animals. She reasoned that she could take care of the uptight blonde; it might not be pretty, but she wasn’t here to do pretty. She needed to stay alive and help Tristan find the wolves who’d killed that man in Louisiana and set his club ablaze.
Once this ordeal was over, she planned to go back to her life’s mission of healing animals and teaching others how to help them. She’d return to hiding as a wolf in human clothing. Maybe finally date a human who didn’t mind a brainiac who worked long hours and was covered in pet hair when she got home. A hot kiss, one that brought her to her knees, with a spectacularly gorgeous Alpha wasn’t going to change that very real outcome. She glanced over at him again, hoping he wouldn’t see her looking yet again. God, he is delicious. I could lick him up….
“How does this look?” the artist asked, jarring her from her carnal thoughts.
“Um, yeah, that uh, that looks good,” she stammered. “We done?”
“Yeah, just saving them and then I’ll email them over to Tristan, Logan and Tony,” he murmured, continuing to work.
“Okay, thanks.” Tired from working, Kalli stood, unconsciously stretching her arms over her head like a cat who’d just awoken from a long nap.
Tristan stopped talking, noticing she was finished. His dick snapped to attention as she began stretching in front of everyone, her hard nipples pressing through her t-shirt. Was she aroused? Cold? He needed her close, thanking the Goddess that the artist wasn’t watching her. He’d have a heart attack at the delectable sight.
A low growl emanated from him as he strode across the room and wrapped his hands around her waist. He didn’t want anyone else seeing the lovely sight he’d just witnessed. Oh, he wanted to see her nipples hard, all right, but he didn’t need other males seeing them, especially in his own home. Before he knew it, he hugged her, running his hands down her back where they rested right above her rear. Taking in a long draw of her scent, he moaned, and then released her, realizing they had an audience. He caught a glimpse of Logan’s wide grin. Mira’s mouth was drawn in a tight disapproving line.
“All done?” he asked Kalli and looked down to the artist who was putting away his tablet.
“Yeah,” she said, surprised he’d just hugged her out of the blue. She wasn’t sure what to make of it, but it felt so good to be in his arms.
“Mr. Livingston, I’ve sent the files to your email address. Tony should have them by now. Pleasure working for you.”
“Thanks, I appreciate your work. And remember, you are to keep this in confidence. That means you are to tell no one, got it? Not even your mama,” he ordered.
Apprehensively, the artist shook Tristan’s hand. “Yes sir.”
“Logan, please see Mr. Mathers out, would ya?”
The artist hurried over to the elevator, looking like he couldn’t wait to leave. Sympathetic, Kalli understood what it was like to be intimidated by supernaturals. Even if the poor man didn’t spend a lot of time with them, he’d be aware of the danger. They exuded a natural intimidating aura, and most humans had the good sense to be wary. An elk didn’t need to know to be afraid of a pack of wolves skulking toward him. He instinctively knew to run.
“Come on over here. I want you to meet someone before we leave for the hospital,” Tristan insisted, dragging her by the hand over to meet ice woman.
“Mira, I’d like you to meet…”
“Dr. Kalli Williams,” Kalli interrupted, donning her professional mannerism. She extended her hand to her as she would a patient, looking her directly in the eyes. “Since you are friends with Tristan, please call me Kalli.”