Page 33 of Big Bad Wolf

She was still studying him with a look of fascination on her face. Her eyes were such a dark brown they appeared black, and they were rimmed in dark lashes that contrasted sharply with her pale skin. And those lips. Fuck him, those lips were enough to drive a man out of his mind.

“Oh-kaaay…” she said finally, drawing out the second syllable. “So, you’re a werewolf who lives in the neighborhood.” She smirked a little. “But how long have you been following me home?”

She moved closer, leaning on the arm of the sofa, her pillow carelessly tossed aside. What he wouldn’t give to drag her onto his lap and…

He ran a hand through his hair, tugging harder than necessary, trying to regain his composure. It didn’t work. Now he was thinking about Ruby’s fingers in his hair, his head between her legs. What was wrong with him? He was acting like a fucking animal. Something he’d been avoiding as of late. Last night’s antics aside.

“A week.”

A slight tremor went through Ruby’s body, but she didn’t take her eyes from his face. She shivered with fear, but her face was eager, bright. As though she liked it. As though she liked him despite what he’d done last night or years ago. He could get addicted to that look, but he knew how the story ended. He pulled back, struggling against the gravity of Ruby’s gaze.

“How did you know I was in danger? Are all werewolves psychic?”

He shook his head. “No. But with you, everything is different.”

Chapter Fourteen

“Different” was an understatement. In the past twenty-four hours, Ruby had witnessed a brawl between wolves, woken up to a naked man in her garage, discovered werewolves were real, and was having a very strong physical reaction to the one sitting in her living room.

Although, that wasn’t new. She always felt like this around Rafe. Like her skin was buzzing.

He stared at her like he was waiting for her to run, but she didn’t have time to ask more questions before her phone rang. She jumped, startled by the obnoxious music. No one called her unless it was bad news. No one called anyone unless it was bad news. Wasn’t that some kind of rule?

“Shit.” She patted the cushions next to her but had no idea where her phone had ended up last night.

Ruby stood up, frantically yanking pillows off the couch. It must have slipped between the cushions. Rafe jumped up too, sliding his hands in between the cracks in the couch. Ruby winced, just imagining the years of dust and crumbs he must be brushing up against right now. But he yanked the phone up, a triumphant smile on his face. That smile. Ugh. Damn it. She did not need to see that right now, so instead she grabbed the phone and answered it with a breathy hello.

“Ruby? This is Gert.”

“Uh, hi?” Why the hell was Gert, owner of the diner, calling her? “Your sister is here at the diner. She’s … not feeling well,” Gert went on and Ruby’s stomach dropped.

Shit, shit, shit.

“She’s with me now, so there’s no need to worry. I’m going to bring her home personally.”

“Thank you so much, Gert.”

“No need to thank me. We’ll be there in less than five.”

Ruby blew out a long slow breath and hit end. She never should have let Lena go out alone, but she was too damn distracted by…

She looked up and found Rafe staring at her. Like a predator watches its prey. He cocked his head just slightly, asking her without words what was wrong. Okay, so not like a predator, more like a guard dog. She would have smiled at her own joke if she wasn’t so keyed up about Lena.

“You have to go.” The words left her mouth before she really considered them, but she needed him out of here. It was bad enough that Gert and whoever was at the diner had witnessed Lena’s latest episode, she didn’t need Rafe seeing it too.

“Why?” His voice was rough every time he spoke, and his words were curt and brief like he wasn’t used to speaking to people. She’d had the thought before, when Rafe had come into the bar, that his life was a lonely one. Something sharp stabbed at Ruby’s heart at that thought. Sharp and sad.

She shook her head. No time to feel sorry for the wolf-man. She had Lena to worry about and that was plenty.

“My sister’s not feeling well. You need to leave.” She glanced down at his feet. Could she kick out a man with no shoes? Didn’t matter, she was going to anyway. She put her hands on his chest and pushed, jolting him out of his frozen stare.

Oh, big mistake.

He was solid and warm and real. It was as though even after this whole insane conversation she still hadn’t thought of him as a real thing until she laid her hands on him. And now that she had, she wasn’t sure she could take them off. It was like she was being electrocuted, and the only way to break the current would be for someone to come by and kick her away from him.

His muscles twitched beneath her palms like he was holding himself still but it was becoming harder and harder to do so. His breath hitched, pupils blown wide, turning his silver gaze black.

Ruby believed in a lot of things: ghosts, astrology, bad luck, the way the right shade of toenail polish could improve one’s mood. But she had never believed in having an instant physical connection to someone until right now.