“I heard you’re looking for a mate.”
Garrick nodded. Desire quickly surged through his body.Malina was beautiful, sexy, and willing, and she was a bitch. If he wanted, she could take whatever he gave her without complaint. A human female might not be able to handle his urges. He was in no mood to hold back his lust.
“Are you holding auditions?” she asked, and the tip of her tongue peeked out from between her full crimson lips. He wondered if other parts of her were just as plump and pink.
He smiled. She was exactly what he was looking for.Someone attainable and uncomplicated, looking for sex.
Tommy sauntered back to the table, his trio of lady friends in tow. He raised his brow atMalina . “Hello, sugar. What are you doing here?”
“Looking for some fun.”
“Well, you definitely came to the right place.” He put his arms around the three giggling girls. “These lovely ladies have a hotel room right down the street.”
By the time they opened the door to the hotel room, Tommy already had his shirt off. He stumbled through the door laughing and dragged one of the girls with him toward one of the king-sized beds. They tumbled onto it in a tangle of arms and legs.
Garrick was a little more subdued as they entered the room.Malina followed him, playing the demure bitch. He didn’t mind. It was a game. One he had played before. Most of the pack females thought they needed to be submissive to be good partners. When, in fact, Garrick liked it when a woman took control. He liked aggressive women. Women who reveled in their own sexuality and took what they wanted. Women like Olivia.
The moment she came into his mind, he tried to push her out. She had no business being in his thoughts all the time. He needed to exorcise the woman, and the best way he could think of was to quickly get into another one.
As soon as he neared the bed, Garrick turned and grabbedMalina . He pulled her to him and crushed his mouth to hers. Her lips parted on a moan as she buried her hands in his hair. He plundered her mouth with his tongue and reached down to grab her ass, lifting her up against him. He glanced behind her and noticed the small but sturdy kitchenette table. Stumbling forward, he set her down on the fake wood surface and moved his mouth down to nibble on her chin and neck.
She moaned as she traded nibble for nibble on his ear and neck. Shivers of desire sped down his spine, and his c*ck hardened instantly under the tight denim of his jeans. He shifted his stance to alleviate some of the strain.Malina moved her hands over his back and down to his ass. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she pulled him forward, nestling his swollen groin into hers.
He could feel the heat of her sex through the fabric of his jeans, and her scent rose pleasantly to his nose.
The fog of lust soon clouded his mind, and he was powerless to control his hunger. Moving his hands over her form, Garrick pulled her tank top up, exposing full, na**d br**sts. Her ni**les were pebbled and hard, reaching out for him to touch and taste. Bending down, he took one into his mouth and sucked hard on it, rolling it around in his mouth.
Malinagasped and pulled at his shirt. The buttons popped open easily, and her hands covered his chest with urgent, eager strokes. She trailed her long, pointed nails over his skin and down over his navel, hovering deliciously close to the waistband of his pants.
Gasping in a ragged breath as she flicked open the button on his fly, Garrick moved his mouth over to her other breast and sucked on it.Malina slowly pulled the zipper down on his jeans, and flashes of Olivia invaded his mind.
Olivia flushed and sweaty, lying beneath him, her green eyes flashing like emeralds.
He shook his head to dislodge the mental picture and pushedMalina down onto the table, laying her flat on her back. He leaned over her and lapped at her br**sts and nibbled on her hardened peaks. With each bite of his teeth, she gasped and dug her nails into his flesh. As pain, immense and sharp, sang up his body, the thoughts of Olivia immediately vanished.
Garrick bit down harder onMalina’s nipple and pulled up. She cried out and raked her fingers over his shoulders. The smell of blood, metallic and sharp, floated to his nostrils. The skin on his shoulders felt hot and achy. He knew she had drawn blood. He didn’t need to look; he could feel the slow trickle down his arm. Soon, small droplets spotted her belly.
He glanced down at the crimson dots as they spread across her flesh. Violent shivers erupted over his body, and sweat popped out on his skin. He closed his eyes and shook his head again. He wasn’t thinking clearly. Everything was hazy and muddled. Even the giggles and the moans from behind him on the bed sounded muffled and disordered.
He opened his eyes and stared down atMalina . She grinned up at him as she ran her hands through his hair. Between the full crimson of her lips, he could see her elongated canines. He stared into her eyes and saw that her irises were changing color. She was beginning to shift.
Garrick pushed up from her and stepped back.
Malinareached for him, laughing. “What’s the matter, lover? Don’t you like what you see?”
“You were shifting.”
“Don’t be silly. Of course I wasn’t.”
“You were,Malina .”
She pushed up to her elbows and tilted her head coyly. “Well, if I was, it was because you got me so hot I didn’t know what I was doing.” She bent her leg up and rubbed a hand over her crotch.
Garrick shook his head andrebuttoned his jeans. “Bullshit. You’ve been a shifter long enough to be able to control your beast.”
She sat all the way up and reached for his arm. “I’m sorry. I thought you liked it.”
He paused from doing up the buttons still remaining on his shirt. “Why would you think that?”
“That bitch Olivia shifts all the time with Fisher. I thought you were into that. You were f**king her, weren’t you?”
A sly smile formed on her lips, and anger, strong and vibrant, shuddered through his body. He was being played. Fisher had sent in his bitch to play him, and it had almost worked.
Garrick grabbedMalina by the wrist and pulled her off the table. She tried to struggle from his hold, but she didn’t have anger fueling her.
“Let me go!”
“I suggest you start running. If I catch you in my territory after sunrise, I’ll do more than hurt your arm.”
As he dragged her across the room, Tommy peeked out from between a pair of shapely legs. “What’s going on?”
“Malinawas just leaving.”
Garrick opened the door and pushed her out. She turned around and glared at him, eyes flashing amber.
“You’re making a huge mistake.”
“The biggest mistake I made tonight was letting you near me. You were a mangy mutt when you were made, and no amount of social climbing will change that.”
He slammed the door shut in her face before she could say anything else. He leaned against the door as violent quivers shook his hands and legs. He had been damn close to losing his control. Fisher was playing an underhanded game if he was sending his bitches to do his work. Garrick had no qualms about tearing her apart if she posed a threat to him or anyone in his pack. But to have her deliberately taunthim during the throes of passion was immoral. If she had shifted under him while they had been f**king, he would have had to act on the threat. He was tired of the bloodshed, and had thought it was over after taking the pack from that sadistic warmongerCorin . But it was obvious Fisher was no different.
He took in two deep, cleansing breaths before he turned back around.
Tommy still watched him from the bed, covered from head to toe by his three playmates.“Problems?”
“Nothing to worry about.”
“Want to join us?”
Garrick shook his head. “I’m going home. You have fun.”
“I always do, mate.” He grinned.
“Be careful when you leave.”
Tommy’s grin faded a little. “No worries here. I’m always on my guard.”
Garrick nodded, knowing that Tommy had lightning-fast reflexes and a strong nose. He could handle himself, but Garrick still couldn’t shake the uneasiness that had crept over him.
“Maybe you should just stay here tonight, and I’ll pick you up in the morning.”
Tommy grinned and wrapped his arm around one of the three women. “Sure. I think I can keep myself occupied until then.”
Garrick shook his head and turned to leave as Tommy dove back into the pile of limbs writhing around on the bed.
He stepped out onto the street from the hotel lobby and glanced around the deserted road. He’d do a quick scan of the area before he went home. Fisher was starting to move his troops, and obviously psychological warfare was his first ploy. Garrick sucked in a breath of clear night air and just hoped that Fisher didn’t use the most lethal weapon at his disposal. Physical fights and mind games he couldhandle, even excel at. It was the thought of Olivia trapped in the middle of the war that nearly tore him apart.
Chapter Eight
The sound of the hard-packed dirt pounded beneath her feet as she jogged brought a smile to Olivia’s face. She loved the early morning hours when no one else was out on the paths winding through the park.
She could be alone with her thoughts without the constant bombardment of other people’s smells and feelings. Sometimes she found it difficult to tune others out.
She liked her heightened senses, increased strength and endurance, but it came with a price. Not only did she suffer agonizingly when shifting during the full moon phases, but also suffered with the constant reminder that she was not human any longer. Nothing could be normal in her life again. The dream of finding love and raising a family was gone. That luxury that others had was no longer a viable option for her.
Garrick had taken care of that.
Anger, fresh and strong, flared in her body, and right on its heelsarose feelings of desire and heat. Even after a week, his smell still lingered persistently on her skin. She’d showered twice a day, scrubbing herself raw. It had done nothing but make her flesh red and sore. His scent still stubbornly remained.
She smirked. That was so like Garrick.Stubborn like a blood stain on a white carpet.