Dark Wolf Running (Bloodrunners) Read online

  Chapter 10

  Three days later, Elise closed down her laptop and moved it to the end of the kitchen table, where she’d been working for the evening. Wyatt was out on patrol again, which meant she had the cabin to herself. But aside from the times when he was guarding the Alley, they’d spent nearly every waking moment together. Moments that she’d enjoyed so much more than she’d ever expected. Hell, they were so good she was craving him in his absence. Not just his incredible looks or his sexy, lopsided grins. She missed everything about him. The way he made her feel. The way he made her smile in a way that she never remembered doing, even before the attack that had changed her life. The kind of smiles that bloomed from deep inside, in the place where hopes and dreams and wishes were stored. She’d thought that place had been killed in her a long time ago. But she’d been wrong. And she had Wyatt to thank for showing her that.

  Actually, she had Wyatt to thank for a lot of things—but she wanted more. Only problem was, he wasn’t giving them to her. Not since the day he’d taken her up to Shadow Peak. It was a little surprising at first, but she should have known he would be different. With any other guy, she’d have expected him to keep trying to get in her pants, whether it was what she wanted or not. But Wyatt wasn’t just any other guy. There was so much more to him than that Y chromosome, and she was falling hard because of it.

  He was, quite simply, too good to be true. Funny. Charming. Patient.

  And yeah, there were also times when he could be quiet and self-contained. But she had a feeling those moods were a learned behavior for him. A way of coping. There was pain somewhere in his past, though she was no closer to learning what had caused it. But she knew it was there. Like a shadow that always followed him, it flavored his moods, shaping his expressions and the things he said. The way he reacted to certain situations...and to people, as well. Like her. Did everyone else see it? Or did they simply buy his sometimes-stoic act and think it was just a part of who he was? Yeah, he laughed and joked around and used his sharp sense of humor like a whip, but it was so obvious to her that there was a part of him always under lockdown. That was something she didn’t have any problem understanding. Hell, she’d spent most of her life with some of her soul locked up tight inside her, where she could keep it safe.

  She’d spent the night they’d made out in his bed, but only the one. He hadn’t kissed her again, and she hadn’t asked him to. But the looks he gave her were still as heated and intense.

  Elise didn’t know why he hadn’t slept beside her, considering she’d been in his bed, but tried not to worry about it. She knew she could always ask, but that seemed kind of desperate, and she didn’t want him to think she was obsessing about him. Even though she was, which was embarrassing and probably pathetic. But, God, if a woman were going to obsess about a guy, Wyatt Pallaton was the perfect choice.

  Though she felt safe and at ease in the Alley, her nightmares were becoming more frequent, and the worst had been just that morning, at daybreak. She’d dreamed she was running through a forest, being chased by a bloodthirsty pack of wolves intent on destroying her, body and soul. She’d woken up screaming, only to find a protective-looking, bare-chested Wyatt rushing into the spare bedroom where she slept. Once he’d realized what was wrong, he’d climbed onto the bed, braced his back against the headboard, pulled her across his lap and tucked her head under his chin. Then he’d wrapped his strong arms around her trembling body, lowered his head and softly sung a Native American lullaby to her that he’d said his mother had often sung to him when he was a boy. It had been haunting and beautiful, his deep voice lulling her back to sleep within minutes. When she’d awakened later in the morning, she’d been alone, and he hadn’t mentioned what had happened when she’d briefly seen him for breakfast. Actually, she hadn’t seen him much during the daylight hours at all today, since he’d been busy with the other Runners, and she’d been wrangled into helping Jillian with painting the nursery. Then they’d shared dinner with everyone at Carla’s cabin, and Wyatt had left to go out on patrol. Again.

  As she glanced at the clock on the wall, seeing that it was fast approaching midnight, she couldn’t help but frown. She knew Wyatt wasn’t purposefully avoiding her during the days, considering how much time they’d spent together...but she was beginning to suspect that the nights were a different matter. Though the patrols were meant to be spread evenly among the Runners—with the exception of Eric, who was being given time to spend with his new wife—Wyatt had been on patrol for the past three nights.

  Or at least he’d claimed to be.

  That thought brought another frown to her lips, just as she heard him come in through the front door.

  “Where do you go every night?” she heard herself ask, the moment his tall, ripped body appeared in the archway that led from the living room into the kitchen.

  His dark eyes narrowed at her tone. “What do you mean? You know I’ve been out on patrol.”

  “But I’ve seen the schedule at Torrance and Mason’s. You’re not scheduled every night. No one is.”

  He propped his shoulder against the archway, thumbs hooked in his front pockets, blasting a dose of visceral, primal sexuality at her without even trying. No other man in the world came close to making boots, jeans and a loose flannel shirt look so impossibly sexy. “What are you getting at, El?”

  She wet her lips, forcing herself to ask the question. “Do you...do you have a woman that you go to? Is that what you’ve been doing?”

  He blinked, looking a little stunned. Then he shoved a hand back through his hair and made a low, kind of husky sound that was a little too raw to be a laugh. “You mean am I running off to screw some other woman? What? You think I’m crazy?”

  Elise frowned. “I don’t understand.”

  The look in his eyes as he stepped toward her made something in her body give an excited little flip, while her breath quickened. “El, why would I go after something I don’t even want, when what I do want is right under my own roof?”

  Confusion bled through her tone. “Then where are you going? I know you’re not spending every moment of the time you’re gone out on patrol. You have to be doing something.”

  He reached up and rubbed at the back of his neck, his gaze sliding a little to the left of her. “Sometimes I can’t... I just need to get away for a while. That’s all.”

  Her brows lifted and she slumped back in the chair, a sense of defeat settling low in her belly. “You mean you need to get away from me? Why?”

  “I don’t want to tell you,” he admitted with a low, jerky laugh, his lips curling in a lopsided smile that was almost a grimace.

  “Why not?” she asked, hating that he still wasn’t looking at her.

  He pinched the bridge of his nose, then lowered his hand and finally looked her right in the eye. “Because the last thing I want is for you to be afraid of me.” Exhaling a rough breath, he struggled to make her understand. “I tried to explain it to you before, at your house. About the way that you... The way that I... Shit. What I’m trying to say is that you make me want things in ways I’ve never wanted them before.”

  Her brows actually arched a little higher, her frustration and disappointment melting into a warm, exciting glow that she wasn’t quite sure what to do with. Not yet. “Are you talking about sex?”

  His eyes were so dark now they looked black. Black and dark and smoldering. “Yeah, I am,” he murmured, raking his hand back through his hair again. “The others...they’ve always had to work hard for control. Me, it was fun. Not always sweet...but a good time. But with you...let’s just say you’ve drawn the interest of both the man and the wolf.”

  She licked her lips. “I see.”

  He came a little closer. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t control it, El.”

  “I know. I...I trust you, Wyatt. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”

  “Good,” he said, pinning her in place with the blistering intensity of his gaze. “Because as much as I want to help pr
otect you, I want to spend more time with you, too.”

  Oh, wow. Her stomach was definitely flipping now, her pulse so frantic she was probably close to a heart attack. “Are you saying that you want to get involved with me? For us to be a couple?”

  He didn’t actually flinch at her breathless rush of words, but it was close enough. The slight stiffening of his facial muscles, the tightening of his jaw, widening of his eyes. Oh, my God! Her stomach clenched, breath sucking in on a sharp, embarrassed gasp. She was so freaking stupid! He hadn’t been talking about a relationship. He wanted to fuck her. To be the guy who thawed her out. She should have been insulted, but she was too... God, she didn’t know what she was. Mortified, yes. But more than that. She suddenly felt deflated, like a shell. The spark that had been heating her from the inside out only moments before had just dwindled like a flame doused in water. Guttered out. Gone. Now she was cold and silent and stark beneath her skin. She moved to her feet and started walking around him, heading for the hallway, needing to be by herself.

  “Elise. Damn it, don’t walk away from me. It’s not...I’m not—”

  “Just leave me alone, Pallaton. I’m tired. I’m going to bed now.”

  He grabbed her shoulder but didn’t try to spin her around. Just kept her in place, his hand warm and hard, though his touch was careful not to bruise. “The problem is me, not you.” Her head whipped to the side and he scowled when he saw the look on her face. “Shit, I know that sounds stupid, but it’s true. I’m not a—”

  “No, there is no problem,” she snapped, shrugging out of his hold as she jerked away from him. Anger was quickly taking hold of her, melting the ice, fueling her actions. “We are nothing to each other, so how could there be a problem?”

  He easily closed the distance between them with a single step, getting right in her face. “That’s bullshit and you know it. I want you. And you want me, too.”

  She curled her lip as she sneered. “Conceited much?”

  “It’s not conceit when it’s the truth. I don’t expect it, like it’s my goddam due. But I’m not a fool,” Wyatt growled, reaching up and digging his fingers into her hair, gripping the silken strands at her nape. “It’s there, and I’m glad as fuck that it is. And you’re crazy if you think I’m going to let you ignore it. You’ve ignored your life for long enough. Wake the hell up and start living again!”

  She ripped herself out of his hold, lifted her arm and slapped him, the flat of her hand striking him so hard that it jerked his face to the side. “What do you know about my life?” she choked out, her voice rising.

  Bringing his narrow gaze slowly back to hers, Wyatt started to argue, but the words wouldn’t come. Fuck, she was right. Who the hell was he to lecture her on living and throwing off the past? He wore his own like a miserable hair shirt, never letting it out of his sight, keeping it close and tight to his skin so that he’d always feel that keen, bitter edge of guilt.

  There were no words for what he wanted to say, but it didn’t matter. Words weren’t going to get them where they needed to be. He spoke better with his body anyway, and they were nowhere near done with this conversation. Digging his fingers into the rich auburn silk of her hair again, he pulled her toward him and slammed his lips down on hers, taking her outraged gasp into his mouth. She bit his lip, and he laughed, thrusting his tongue inside, nearly howling with satisfaction when she snarled and started kissing him back. It was hard and angry and rough, and he loved it, because it was Elise, she tasted incredible, and it was real. Real emotion. Real anger and lust and need. Boiling over. Burning them both. They might be left in a pile of ash when it was done, but he’d have died happy.

  And more complete than he’d ever been.

  *

  “Wyatt,” Elise groaned, trying to think as he wrapped his arms around her body, molding her to him. But it was impossible. The moment the heat of his mouth had touched hers, it shook her apart inside. Melted her down.

  Yeah, his words had broken something in her chest that felt an awful lot like her heart, but that didn’t mean she had to stop. The rules she had laid down for herself with him no longer applied now. What did it matter if she took what she wanted from him without full disclosure? If she used him for her pleasure? He was using her, too, wasn’t he?

  Kissing him back with everything that she had, Elise pushed her fingers into his thick hair and went up on her tiptoes. He gave a hard shudder against her, his arms banding around her even tighter, while a low animal sound rumbled up from his chest. She loved the sounds that he made when he was aroused. The way he growled her name into her mouth, feeding it to her. For a wolf, he could purr in the most delicious ways, that dark, luscious voice the most intoxicating thing she’d ever heard. And his tongue. God. The way he claimed the inside of her mouth was more wicked than sex.

  Breaking her mouth from his, she lowered her hands to his broad shoulders and forced a bit of space between their bodies, both of them breathing hard. “I’m not ready to try to sleep with you. I might never be ready.” Not now, when she knew the score. Knew what he was in this for. “But I want something.”

  His fingers flexed against her back. “What do you want?”

  “You. I want to touch you, Wyatt.” She lowered her gaze to the stunning bulge at the front of his jeans, then slowly lifted it back to his face. Licking her lower lip, she said, “I want to do things to you. Things I’ve been thinking about doing for what feels like forever.”

  A notch formed between his dark brows, and his breathing got a little rougher. “Are you talking about my dick, El? Is this some kind of game? Are you messing with me?”

  She shook her head, and said, “No. I just want to make you feel good.”

  “Why?” That single word was low and clipped.

  Squeezing his shoulders, she admitted, “Because it will make me feel good, too.”

  His eyes narrowed to the point that his thick lashes were tangled together at the edges, but she could still see the blast of need she had a feeling he was trying hard to hide. She could even feel the rise in his temperature and knew if she had her heightened senses she would be able to detect the hot, primal scent of his hunger. She didn’t know which way he was going to go—yes or no?—until he crushed her against his chest and lifted her off her feet. With his face close to hers, their smoldering gazes locked hard and tight, he carried her through his cabin and back to the guest room. Then he set her down on her bare feet in the middle of the room, walked away and sat down on the side of the bed. After taking off his boots and socks, he swung his legs up, then scooted back until he was propped up against the pillows. His biceps bulged as he lifted his long arms, locking his hands behind his dark head, his expression that of a man who wasn’t sure the next few minutes were going to go the way he wanted them to or not.

  Oh, wow, she thought, unable to keep the smile off her face as she realized what he was doing. Surrendering himself to her. Giving her what she’d asked him for. Freely, even though he wasn’t sure she wasn’t going to screw him over in the process.

  Caught between exhilarating extremes of excitement and lingering hurt, Elise climbed onto the bed, threw a leg over his hips and straddled him, almost losing her breath at the feel of his erection pressed against her core. Against that tender part of her body where she was warm and wet, aching for relief. But this moment wasn’t about her—it was about Wyatt. About what she needed from him. About indulging her senses and getting as much of him as she could while she still had the chance.

  Gathering herself, she reached down with trembling fingers and unbuttoned his shirt, her breath quickening as she caught sight of his bronzed, muscular chest. She leaned forward, pressing a kiss between his small brown nipples, and could have sworn she could feel the pounding of his heart against her lips. If her Lycan senses had been at full strength, she was sure she’d have been able to hear that heavy, sexy beat resonating through her head. It sucked that she couldn’t, but she shoved the depressing thought from her mind, more than
ready to lose herself in the beautiful male bounty that was stretched out beneath her.

  And, God, was he beautiful.

  Scooting back, she licked the tight skin just above his waistband, loving the low groan that vibrated in his throat. Moving lower, she ran her teeth down the hard, thick ridge straining against his jeans, and that low groan became a primal, visceral growl. The aggressive animal sound should have scared the hell out of her, after what she’d been through, but it didn’t. Not from Wyatt. It made her hot, the tender folds between her legs swelling, heating. And she was getting wetter. God, she was melting into hot liquid, slippery with craving, too far gone now to let her pesky emotions hold her back. If she couldn’t have his heart, she at least needed this. As much of this—of him—as she could get.

  Desperate to get on with it, she slipped the button free at the top of his fly, then carefully lowered the zipper over his straining erection. He lifted up for her as she tugged his jeans and tight black boxers over his hips, nearly dying when he sprang up in all his hard, mouthwatering, masculine glory.

  Okay. Um, wow. Total...freaking...wow!

  He was beautiful and also incredibly well hung. Even more so than she’d imagined, and she’d been imagining a hell of a lot.

  A quick glance up at his face showed him with his head raised, lips parted, dark eyes kind of dazed and heavy as he watched her. She could tell by that intense, wild look on his face that he liked the way she’d been looking at him...studying his cock. The bead of moisture gathering on the broad, slick, bruise-colored head told her that he liked it a lot.

  Her heart started to beat a little harder.

  “Fuck,” he growled, his hips bucking when she suddenly gripped the long, vein-ridged shaft in her hand. He was so thick she could barely fit her fingers around him.

  “Honestly, Wyatt. Huge much?” she teased with a crooked, playful smirk. “I mean, talk about excessive.”

  “Oh, shit,” he wheezed, digging the heels of his hands into his eyes. “Don’t. Don’t make me laugh.”