Huge mistake.
Eucalyptus, lavender, and orchid.
She smells like sex and an early morning in springtime.
This is going to be impossible. Talking to her after she obviously bonded with Niko and Rune,right aftershe was bitten, it’s driving my instincts into a territory I’m not familiar with.
I want to bite her.
I want to bury myself knot deep in her pussy and bite the fuck out of her in the same spot Niko did. Not to cover it up, not to replace it, but to join it, to joinus.
Fuck, I want that right fucking now and?—
“If you tell me what happened between you and Niko, I’ll tell you my real name.”
I blink several times, trying in vain to erase the naked, sweaty, writhing images from my mind. “What?”
She nods. “Explain what happened almost two years ago, and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know about me.”
“Bullshit.”
“Cross my heart.” Row makes anXover her chest.
I look at her skeptically, trying to find any tell that she’s lying, but she’s not. Surprisingly, she means that, and as much as I don’t want to talk about this, especially without Niko present, I need to get this out there. As it stands, Sparrow and Rune are the only two who know any details about that day, but it won’t stay that way. Leon is already asking questions, and eventually he and Styx are going to find out, purely because we are a pack. If everyone bonds, exchanges bites and all that shit, they’ll know what I did, and it’s probably best if I start practicing that conversation now with the one mate who might listen.
She seems to want to, anyway.
“I went first last time,” I say as I spread my thighs and lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees. I light another cigarette and give her what I hope is only a slightly cocky, mostly charming smile. “Show me yours and I’ll show you mine.”
With a huff and a grin, she nods and says, “Liv. My name is Olive but Rune is the only one who calls me that. Niko calls me Liv.” She looks at me curiously. “What does…kotenokmean?”
“Well,Liv, it’s Russian for kitten. Why?”
“I should have known.” She laughs a little as she pushes her hair behind her ears. “Niko calls me that, too.”
“Kitten?”
Liv nods.
“Russian or English?”
“Both.”
I scrub a hand over my face as I chuckle. “Fucking figures, doesn’t it?”
“I like it.” Liv gives me a fucking beautiful smile, one I can’t help but return. “You’re not so bad, Volkov.” She tilts her head and looks me up and down, her smile turning almost devious. “Then again, you haven’t tried to shoot me yet.”
As if her words manifested a bullet into existence, one grazes my shoulder at that exact moment, ripping through the leather of my jacket as it flies past me and lands in the metal wheel well directly next to Liv.
The tire pops and hisses as I lunge toward her, several more bullets pelting the side of my truck, following our movements as I tuck her into my body and roll us toward the cab.
“What did you do?” Liv hisses as I flatten myself on top of her and pop open my toolbox.
“What did I do?” I hiss back, digging for my berettas as the gunfire briefly stops. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Bullshit,” she whispers as she wiggles around, arching her back a little before producing her glock. “Things were quiet until I started talking to you. This has to be your fault.”
While this place is a hotbed of criminal organizations and illegal activity, I don’t think she’s wrong.
