Her eyes rake my face, taking in my rough-ass features. “My heart’s beating hard, too,” she murmurs.
And that’s it. My resolve snaps like a rubber band.
I dip my head and press my lips to her lovely mouth.
Soft, sweet cherries. Too soft for a man like me. How do I deserve this angel’s lips? I think.
And then she parts them.
Holy hell.
Pillowy lips angling, welcoming me in. Holding her tight, I kiss her deeper, plunging my tongue in. I’m drowning in her sugary taste, her little tongue shivering against mine. Her mouth is inexperienced, but so eager it floors me.
Her arms loop around my neck and I feel the press of her round breasts against my ribcage. My cock is so hard it hurts, and my wolf is pushing at my skin, demanding I claim her.
If I don’t stop now, I’m gonna lose control of my animal.
I draw back. She looks a little stunned, and I get a surge of satisfaction as I pick up the honeyed scent of her arousal.
First things first, though. My priority is making sure she’s safe. After that, there’ll be all the time in the world to make her my own.
“I need to think about the situation,” I tell her, and she nods like she understands.
Reluctantly, I release her from my arms. I turn my back on her quick, before she glimpses my erection, and I stride down the length of the shop, gathering my thoughts.
I’m as sure as I can be that no one in Perdue will give up my location to Grinder.
Unless he threatens them.
Which is the kind of thing he’d do. And this is a small town. Can’t be too long before he figures out that a tattoo shop might be the kind of business I’d get into.
I’ve got a place upstairs, which is where I live most of the time. All the windows and doors are heavily reinforced. I could lock Maya in and know she’s safe there. And then I’ll deal with him. Taking him out is the best thing to do. It’ll be a while before the pack figures out what’s happened.
But what if he hasn’t come alone? There could be a whole bunch of them in Perdue already. I know my wolf is fiercer than any one of them. If it was just me, I’d kill him, then wait it out, see what else my pack was gonna do next.
But there’s no way I’m going to risk Maya’s safety like that.
I turn back to her. Her hands are braced on the back of one of the chairs and she’s watching me expectantly. Like she’s starting to trust me a little. My chest glows.
“I’m going to take you someplace safe,” I tell her.
Her pretty forehead furrows. “Where?”
“It’s kind of a hideout of mine.” It’s probably best if I tell her as little about it as possible. But I catch a glimmer of uncertainty in her eye and I remind myself: she’s human. She doesn’t have that instinctive mate awareness that shifters do. She might’ve just kissed me, but I’m still a stranger to her.
“It’s a cabin deep in the forest. No one else in the world knows about it.”
“Far from here?”
“Yup.”
She shakes her head hard, blonde hair flying. “No. I can’t go. I need to keep looking for my brother.”
“No!” I bark, way louder than I meant to.
She pales and gives a little gasp.
“Sorry, sorry.” Always too damn gruff. “Maya, you’re in a lot of danger right now. You need to understand that.”