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To her relief, he gave her a quick once over and whatever aggression he saw there, he must have realized he needed to reconcile, because he smiled that damn grin again whilst he made a show of clicking on his gun’s safety and holstering it. When he was finished, he quirked a brow as if to say,See, friends now?
She growled again. Friends her ass.
His smile faded before he cleared his throat. “Fair enough, down to business then. So here’s what’s going to happen, sweetheart. You’re going to march that sweet little ass to my car, and we’re going to take a ride to division headquarters,” his voice dropped low as he drew closer, “and then you’re going to explain to me what the fuck you’ve been doing sniffing around my crime scenes. Understood?”
“Crime scene,” she corrected. “Singular.”
He gave a derisive huff. “You’ll learn fast I’m not one for games.” The cold, knowing look in his eye froze her in place.
A chill shivered down her spine. Shehadbeen sniffing out all the crime scenes for the past several weeks. But how could he possibly know that she’d been—?
In an instant, that threatening look was gone, cutting her thoughts short. Instead, a look of pure business took its place. “Now beat feet.” He nodded toward the mouth of the alley.
Her jaw clenched, and she lifted her chin. “And if I don’t?”
He chuckled like he half-hoped she would. “Why don’t you try and find out?”
They stood like this for a long beat, at a standoff once again, both too stubborn to move, before she finally let out a long huff.
Fine. For the sake of her pack, she’d cooperate. She could already tell there would be no negotiating with this prick. She stepped forward, opening her mouth to come back with a snarky retort, but before she could get a word out, within seconds her back was pressed against the brick wall once again; his body pushed against hers as his giant hand clapped over her mouth. She screamed, but the sound muffled against his hand.
“Listen,” he hissed. His hot breath fanned over her ear.
She stilled, not at his words, but because she heard the only thing that could possibly have united her in a common goal with this massive intrusion of a man—footsteps. Likely human, a beat cop by her guess, considering how loudly the idiot’s boots were clomping. But it was still too quiet for human ears.
Her gaze locked with his, and he lowered his hand. “How did you—?”
He hushed her again, his expression dead serious. A hunter would never allow a shifter like her to expose what she truly was to a human. Ever. And his gaze said as much.
It was an offense punishable by death.
This close to her, his raw gaze penetrated her, the calm fury in his green eyes causing her to still. Eyes that vibrant didn’t belong on a human. They were fit for something more. More daring. More lethal. Just more…
“I don’t want to hurt you.” His voice was gruff, strained. Not gentle.
But for some reason, she believed him.
He quickly wrapped the flaps of his coat around her, and pulled her flush against him by the small curve of her waist to shield her nudity from view. His hands were purposeful, not exploratory. All business. The last thing either of them needed was a charge from the human police for her indecent exposure.
As he worked to position her against him, strands of his auburn hair fell into his face, accenting his sharp features. A strong jaw, a regal blade of a nose that looked like it’d been broken one too many times and a sharp, harsh line of a mouth stood out on a gruff, handsome face. Everything about this man screamed danger, from the brutal scars on his hands to his massive steel-toed boots and that dark fury in his eyes, but somehow, she felt...safe here, pinned beneath him, like he was truthful and not only would he not hurt her, he’d protect her.
For now.
Safe in a killer’s arms? She quirked a brow.
Clearly, her instincts were failing her.
He towered over her, well over six feet, and his physique matched his height in enormity. She could feel that much from where he pinned her, dwarfing her in both height and width. Muscles strained against the sleeves of his trench coat, and considering how he’d bested her with such ease, she had no doubt he had the strength to hurt her.
But he wouldn’t. At least not this time. She saw it in his eyes.
She’d figured out his endgame here, pretending they were lovers, ducked into an alley for some kind of romantic tryst. To a human, what else would explain her nakedness? Humans were so weirdly uncomfortable with nude bodies. She’d never understand it.
“So I’m just supposed to pretend and go along this?” Her whisper was sharp, angry.
There was that sound of amusement again. “You won’t need to pretend, sweetheart.”
He pressed her flush against him, one arm cradling her nude waist, the flap of his coat shielding her body from view as his other hand settled at the base of her throat. But he didn’t kiss her. Instead, he lingered there, his lips no more than a hairsbreadth away, the warm, welcome heat of his breath tickling her face peppered with the scent of mint.
