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He eased into the driver’s seat and sat there unmoving.
“Devlin?” She wished she could read his mind, know what he was thinking.
His mouth crashed down on hers. The kiss was explosive and totally unexpected. Damn, he was fast. She hadn’t seen him move and then he was there. His tongue plunged into her mouth, mapping every part of it.
It’s all a facade.He appeared calm, but she tasted desperation, the raw emotion simmering beneath the kiss.
When he pulled away, they were both breathless. “Don’t ever leave me.” It was an order, but the thread of anguish in it squeezed her heart. “Promise me.”
“I promise.” But it was a lie. She would leave him eventually. He was immortal. At best, she had fifty years or so, assuming she survived the week.
…
I think I’m in love with you.
His heart thumped hard in his chest. He tamped down his excitement and the satisfaction the words gave him. It wasn’t an actual declaration of love, but it was close. He’d smelled the truth, even as he heard defeat in her voice. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be in love with him, wasn’t sure it was real. Neither was he, but he sure as hell liked the sound of it and how it made him feel.
Devlin glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She was staring out the window so her head was turned away. Neither of them had spoken since they’d left the parking garage, both lost in their thoughts.
She’d tried to leave him.
The lies had cut deep, so deep, he’d almost believed them. For the briefest of seconds, he’d considered letting her walk away and protecting her from a distance. She might be safer if those hunting him thought he’d abandoned her, that he didn’t care.
You’re not my type.
That much was true. There was no one like him, except maybe the gray and black wolves. The beast inside him snarled, not liking the idea of either of them getting close to her.
No one had ever tried to protect him. Twice now, knowing she was in danger, Zoe had done just that. Three times if he counted her grabbing the broom to back him up. She’d had his back both times. He desperately wanted to ask her why. The first time had been when she’d called out a warning when he’d confronted Pietro in the abandoned house, when most would’ve been more concerned about saving themselves. Now this.
Not even his parents had tried to shelter him. Not that they’d ever been the coddling type. There’d been little of the normal affection pups received from their parents. He’d often wondered if they’d sensed something, had somehow known what was inside him, what he would someday become.
He shook off the past. That was long gone. He hadn’t seen anyone in his pack since the day they’d driven him away, almost killing him in the process.
Had they been cruel to be kind the way Zoe had tried? It would be nice to believe that was the truth, but he doubted it. Even in a pack, he’d lived on the outskirts.
And how did he feel about her? The idea of her leaving had twisted his guts into knots and sent his heart pounding into overdrive. A cold sweat had broken out all over him. He’d been…panicked. That was the only word that came close to describing the sensation. If that was love, he wasn’t sure he wanted anything to do with it.
He wanted to keep her safe. Wanted to hold her in his arms as he slept, make love to her when she woke, feed and care for her. He’d kill whoever tried to harm her. Felt no remorse for the deaths of either of the two wolves he’d slain to protect her. Was that love?
People tossed around the word, but when it came down to it, what did it mean? He wasn’t sure he understood the emotion. Poets had written about it since the dawn of time. Men had risked their lives and fortunes for it. Humans fell in and out of it on a whim. Wolves mated for life, but that was an instinctual thing and didn’t always translate into genuine affection between partners—his parents were a classic example.
Zoe made him smile. Had made him laugh—a rare and precious gift. She’d put his safety above hers. Hurt herself and him in her bid to keep him safe. It was totally selfless and completely insane. Warmth spread through his chest. He absently rubbed it. “I’ve been thinking.” He waited for some wisecrack but got nothing but silence. “We need information.”
“You said we’re on our own. That we can’t trust anyone.”
“We can’t, but I want to talk to the other lone wolves.”
She turned toward him, her seat belt making it difficult. “You want to find out what each of them knows and compare the information.”
That she immediately understood his reasoning wasn’t a surprise. She was intelligent and had excellent instincts. “They wouldn’t work together, but if they both stumbled across the same rumors maybe there’s some truth in them.”
“I don’t get why you three haven’t been communicating on a regular basis from the beginning.” She tugged on her safety harness, turning slightly to better face him. “You’re all in a unique situation and have a rare understanding of what the others are going through. Seems to me you’re weaker apart.”
Stunned by her assessment, he pulled over, slid into a parking space on the street, and put the truck in park.
“What? Why are we stopping here?” She looked around, but he caught her face in his hand and turned it toward him.
“Why did you say that? That we’re weaker apart.”
