“What are you doing here?”
“Making sure everything went smoothly.” He stood up and brushed at the dirt and grass clinging to his immaculately pressed trousers.
“It went fine.”
“He got the message?” Fisher eyed her suspiciously.
Olivia knew he could smell Garrick on her. She was sure even an average human could, with the amount of pheromones she had dispensed.
“I gave it to him, but he tore it up without reading it.”
Fisher sighed wearily. Shaking out a cigarette from the pack in his hand, he put one in his mouth and lit it, blowing the smoke toward Olivia. She refused to flinch. Over the past months, she’d learned to read Fisher’s emotions. Even without extra sensitivity to smell and feelings, she would be able to read him. He was pompous, arrogant, and operated with bravado, common to most cowards. He thought he was meaner and better than everyone else. Compared to Garrick, Fisher was a sniveling little pup.
“I believe Garrick underestimates me.”
“He thinks you’re a coward and a wimp.” Olivia looked away from Fisher as she said it. She had not intended to say anything, but anger at Garrick still pumped through her body like lightning in her bloodstream. She had wanted to get back at him. Wanted to humiliate and spurn him, like he had spurned her. But starting a war? Had she really set out to do that?
Fisher tossed his smoke to the ground and put it out with the heel of his boot. “Does he now?” He stepped closer to her, his eyes narrowed to slits. “Then I suppose I will have to make Garrick eat his words.”
Fisher reached out and caressed her cheek. She let him touch her. She was not ready to abandon her place in his pack. Not quite yet.
“I was hoping you’d come to me after.”
“I’m tired, Fisher.”
He moved his hand down and touched her shoulder. She flinched when he moved his hand over her fresh wound. “I can see that.”
Olivia stared him down. He needed to know she wasn’t afraid of him. He couldn’t treat her like the other females in the pack. Like playthings and toys. She was no man’s toy.
“I’m going in to go to bed. I suggest you go home, and I’ll call you tomorrow.” She turned to go, but his hand pulled at her shoulder.
“You’re bleeding.” He tried to grab her arm.
She moved, avoiding his touch. “I’m fine. It’s just a scratch.”
“Who did this?”
“One of Garrick’s bitches.The young one.”
Fisher smiled. “Ah, yes. Vanessa. She is a wild one.”
Olivia didn’t like the way he said it, or the way his eyes lit up. Something had happened there.
“Yeah, I guess she didn’t like me showing up at Garrick’s house smelling like you.” She meant it as an insult, but by the way Fisher smiled, she didn’t think he took it that way.
He reached for her again. “We could make that smell stronger, if you like.”
She stepped back. “Not tonight, we won’t. Go home, Fisher. I said I’d call you tomorrow.”
After a prolonged silence, he finally nodded and made his way to his car parked on the street. She watched him go, making sure he did leave. She didn’t trust him one bit.
Only after he started the car and pulled away from the curb did Olivia turn and go into her house. She shut and locked the door behind her and leaned on it heavily as the night’s events seemed to crash down around her all at once. She was biting off more than she could chew.
Hanging her car keys on the peg by the door, she kicked off her shoes and padded barefoot into the kitchen. Her stomach rumbled loudly. Sex and adrenaline always left her famished. Opening the refrigerator door, she grabbed a container of day-old spaghetti. Tossing the lid into the sink, she grabbed a fork and dug in. She shoved several bites into her mouth before she took another breath.
Still carrying her bowl of food, Olivia wandered into the living room and collapsed onto her old sofa.
Leaning back against the colorful Spanish throw she’d picked up in Spain, she set her feet up on the coffee table. Taking another heaping bite of noodles, she sighed, leaned her head back, and closed her eyes.
Maybe revenge was not the best course of action. When she had been inSpain, that was all she’d thought about. Getting back at Garrick Blackthorn was her motivation for every moment, every waking breath she took. Every time she went through the agony of shifting and ended up feasting on rabbits or deer, she thought about hurting him. For the last six months of her stay in a little country villa, she had trained her mind and body for one thing -- to exact her revenge on the man who had not only changed her into a freak of nature, but also broke her heart.Shattered it, more like. There were so many pieces that she had been unable to put it back together. There were still gaping holes that she planned to fill with his pain.
But as she smelled his strong, spicy scent, which covered every part of her, she didn’t know if she could go through with it. He still had a hold on her. It may be purely sexual, but it was still something. It was something she could still feel, could taste on her tongue, overpowering the spices in the tomato sauce. It was as if his sweat and his seed had seeped into her pores and possessed her every muscle, her every vein. Olivia knew she would smell him for days. He still haunted her dreams, but now she had been careless and could feel him deep inside her.
She shifted on the sofa, and her jeans dug into her sex, reminding her of Garrick’s presence only an hour ago. She could still feel his hands digging into the flesh of her thighs as he held her open for his viewing pleasure. The throbbing of her sex reminded her of how his c*ck slid into her repeatedly, sliding in deep and snug. Her free hand moved up to her shirt, and she began to rub her breast, her nipple hardening under her touch. Even now, lust, hearty and powerful, seeped through her body. She knew if Garrick were here now, she’d screw him again, without question. The man was like a drug, and she an addict.
Setting the bowl on the sofa, Olivia jumped up and stomped toward the bathroom. She needed a shower and the three-speed showerhead massager. It might not erase the images of him in her head, or remove the feeling of his hands on her, but it would slake her desire for fifteen minutes. That would have to be enough for now, until she figured out exactly what she wanted to do about Garrick Blackthorn.
Chapter Seven
“I really wish you wouldn’t take your sexual frustration out on me.”
Garrick shook his head to clear his mind and glanced down at Tommy lying on the gym floor with blood seeping from his nose.
Tommy smiled and raised his gloved hand for Garrick to help him up. Pulling him up, Garrick slapped him on the back.
“You should duck next time.”
“I would if we were just sparring, mate, but you’re too distracted for anything that includes any sort of control.” Shaking his head, Tommy slipped off his gloves and tossed them to the floor.
Garrick nodded and followed his lead by stripping off his own gloves. Tommy was right. He couldn’t concentrate on anything lately. It had been three days since he’d seen Olivia, and he was a mess. Even his work was suffering. He’d thought a night of boxing at the gym would clear his mind, but it hadn’t done anything but fuel his anger. He was more on edge than he had been before he started. It was too bad Tommy happened to be the one at the wrong end of his covered fists.
“I’m going to shower.” Garrick wandered into the change rooms with Tommy trailing after him.
“You need to relax, mate.” Tommy stripped off his shorts and grabbed his towel. “How ’bout we go out, have a drink, and find some ladies to seduce?”
Garrick chuckled. “That’s not what I need; that’s what you want.”
“So?” Tommy laughed. “We could both use a distraction. Waiting for Fisher to strike is like walking on freakin ’ shards of glass all the time.”
Garrick looked at his friend. He was right. They had both been tense. Garrick for more than one reason, but Tommy, being his second, was on guard the most. He definitely feared that he would be the first target of Fisher’s attack. Garrick didn’t think Fisher had the balls for that. He would start with the weaker members of his pack and work up to the top.
“Okay, but one drink, Tommy, and no more.”
Tommy grinned, his dimples winking mischievously from the sides of his wide mouth. “Sure, whatever you say, boss.”
Four drinks later, Garrick watched as Tommy danced with three women on the dance floor of the club they had wandered into. When they’d come into the club, Tommy, with uncanny ability, had found the only group of sufficiently attractive and unattached women in the place. After one drink, and Tommy’s charm, the girls had moved over to their table.
Garrick had no interest in any of them. They were all pretty enough, dressedseductively, and obviously out on the prowl, but their blatant desire for him turned him off. Or it could have been that none of them were Olivia. He took another sip of his drink, trying to push that thought out of his mind with the numbing effects of alcohol.
After tossing back the rest of the scotch, he glanced around the club. For the past fifteen minutes, he’d felt someone watching him. The hairs on his arms were standing on end. Glancing quickly around again, he stopped when his eye caught his quarry.
She was standing at the bar, wearing high heels, a short skirt, and a tank top. Much like the outfit she’d had on the other night when she had offered herself to him.Malina smiled at him when he caught her eye.
Garrick looked away and back into his empty glass. It wasn’t long before she was beside him. He’d smelled her as she crossed the room. She carried a strong scent of flowers.Lilacs and something else earthy, possibly lavender. The smell was pleasant and made his nostrils twitch in response.
“Hello, again.”
He glanced up at her and smiled. “Hey.”
“I was standing at the bar for the last forty-five minutes, wondering if you were ever going to notice me.”
She cocked her hip and licked her bottom lip.
“I noticed.” He looked her up and down, taking in her full figure. She was obviously pleased he took the time to notice. She spread her legs apart in anticipation. Her feminine odor was strong.