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He might as well have. “You should be more careful, sir. You could have hurt the young lady.”
The softly-spoken words sounded like a threat. No, like a death threat.
I shivered, but not from the cold. And not from fear.
The mountain stared down at the fallen man for a moment longer, assessing him, then sent a glance my way. “Did he touch you?”
I couldn’t answer. I was busy memorizing the way the alpha’s neck muscles flexed below his thick beard. I’d been doing that a lot, over the past few weeks. Trying to commit this particular body to memory. Trying to get a good whiff of him, even though all he smelled like was wet wool.
I cursed the inventors of chemical scent suppressors, and their diabolical brains. Of course, my brother was really to blame. Nicky insisted all our bodyguards wear scent blockers, especially the alphas, but only Donovan seemed to take the order seriously. I’d never once caught a hint of his true scent.
Damnit.
“He didn’t lay one finger on her,” Tori answered, “but if he did, would you tear off his arms and present them to Valentine as a birthday gift, Donovannnnn?” She sang out the name, while Nessa helped me over a patch of snow in my short, heeled boots.
Donovan didn’t answer, but gestured for us to go past.
“Thank you, Donovan,” Nessa said with a giggle. “We wouldn’t want little Valentine here to miss the big night.”
“Big night?” The words came out as if forced. Donovan had only spoken a dozen words in the past few weeks since he’d taken over as one of our bodyguards.
The man he’d replaced—a beta named Bobby, who’d been my guard since I was ten—had finally taken some of his stored-up vacation time, and was in Fiji with his boyfriend until the first of March. Bobby was friendly. Chatty. Of course, he’d helped raise me and my sisters, more or less. He’d been the one to refer Donovan, an old friend from his hometown of Aspen Springs.
I’d asked if we could just stick with one guard, Rufus, until the spring. I didn’t like being around new alphas. But Nicky had insisted that the new hire was a perfect fit, though I didn’t see why he thought that.
Donovan was… not friendly. He was stern. Severe. Huge, with a craggy face, a thick beard, and a nose that had been broken at least twice. His dark eyes were framed by thick lashes, but they were the only part of his face that could be called classically handsome.
But his body… I swallowed hard, just thinking about it. He was well over six and a half feet tall, and twice as wide as me. Larger than almost any man I’d seen, and all of it was muscle.
A small trickle of sweat rolled down my temple as I stared. His massive body had to have been transplanted from some Viking warship centuries before. For some reason, his size made me feel safe. And unsafe, too, but in a way I wanted to explore.
I’d glimpsed his abs once, when he reached to unload some skis off a roof rack. He was almost too well-defined, as if all he did in his spare time was lift heavier and heavier weights until his muscles popped out like rigid shelves.
Shelves I wanted to crawl up on and lick, just to see if he tasted as good as he looked.
My face grew too-warm in the cold air. Maybe I needed to take a second pill today.
“Big night?” he repeated, his voice slightly deeper, still not looking at me.
When it was obvious I wasn’t going to answer, Tori took my arm and escorted me to the door of the club, unfastening my own puffy coat and revealing the borrowed cocktail dress I had on underneath. “It’s our twenty-first birthday, and the night little Valentine’s going to get her V card punched.”
I glanced back at him, blushing. For a second, I thought Donovan was going to say something. Or maybe yell it. His whole face reminded me of a thunderstorm rolling in.
But all he did was clench his jaw, nod once, and tap his earpiece. “Is it a go?” He was talking to the other guard, who’d gone inside to make sure the club had our reserved table ready, and to check the exits. “Are you sure?” he said more softly, pretending he was talking in his earpiece, but now his eyes were locked on my face.
“Yes,” I whispered. I was positive that I was ready to have sex.
It was just too bad that the only man I’d ever met who I wanted to do it with was eighteen years older than me, and my brother’s employee. A man who had never touched me, hardly spoken to me, and probably thought I was a stupid kid.
“I’m ready.” I dropped my eyes from his disapproving gaze and followed my sisters inside.
Chapter 2
Donovan
As an alpha, I lived my life constantly fighting for control.
No matter what it cost me, I knew I had to win that fight every day, and keep my alpha nature subdued. I was too strong, too powerful, to let the leash slip even the smallest bit. Especially around Valentine.
