AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"I don't dare dance with you tonight," he said. "I don't know what Stone will do. But I had to have at least a few stolen moments with you."
I shook my head. "Stone has to understand. I told him that we were going to..."
He kissed me to stop me from saying anything more. Our lips teased against each other's, soft and slow. Cole's body was stiff against mine, as if he were worried about being caught even as his hands gripped my hips, and it made me feel exasperated with both Cole and Stone. I didn’t need these men to make decisions for me.
Then his hand slid into the bodice of my dress to cup my breast. His palm felt so good, but I grabbed his hands and stopped him, shaking my head. If he felt we shouldn’t push Stone here and now, then we wouldn’t. I’d already brought so much trouble to his pack and put his leadership in danger.
Although I longed for more of Cole’s touch, he gave me a quick nod of understanding and walked away.
This pack might not be able to see it at times, but I could see how much they needed Stone. How much we all did. I wouldn’t do anything to endanger Stone’s place as alpha.
Rose looked happy, dancing in a loose circle of other teenagers. But she saw my face and came over, looking concerned. “Amelia? Are you OK?”
“I’ll be fine,” I told her. “Men are impossible.”
“So maybe you should stop trying to collect them all like they’re Pokémon.” She gave me a saucy smile and I couldn’t hold it against her. She wasn’t being mean.
I went to find Cole, and saw him pouring something from a bottle into a glass. “What’s that?”
He looked startled to see me. “It’s a plus up. The alcohol is never very good here. Stone’s generous, but he’s notthatgenerous.”
I grinned. “Well, my pack never did anything like this.” I glanced around at the surviving Longroad members. Some of them seemed to be having fun, but others stood in resentful knots. It made me worry for Stone. “Do you think he made a mistake by bringing my pack in?”
“He wanted to make sure that you would be safe, that if you weren’t, there would be consequences,” he said. “he’s come as close as he can to ending this, given that he can’t find Nathan.”
The thought that Nathan was still out there sent a shudder down my spine. “There’s something wrong. How come he can’t find him?”
“The trail always seems to go cold. I worry Nathan has more allies.” Cole’s dark gaze sharpened. “What did you want to talk about, Amelia?”
He seemed distracted, so if he didn’t really care at the moment, and that bothered me. Was he hurt I’d pushed him away?
“Nothing.” I wanted to dance with him, even though I knew it was a bad idea. But still, I couldn’t resist feeling drawn to him.
He sighed. “You know that I want you…”
I gave him a tight smile. “It's fine.”
“There’s a lot I want to tell you. And I will, as soon as I can.”
“Well, you know where to find me when you’re ready to talk.”
I turned and headed away through the crowd.
When I turned back, Cole had both glasses in his hands, and he was passing one Stone. I watched as they both threw back the amber liquid. Stone looked incredibly handsome in his suit, tall and imposing. Even when I was angry at him, there was always a part that wanted to kiss him. He was maddening and intriguing by turns.
The party was fun, but the pleasure died abruptly when Joshua walked past me. He gave me a smile that I didn’t like.
“I’m surprised that you’re still here,” I told him. “That you haven’t run away.”
“I thought that was your job,” he said with a nasty smile. “Anyway, no one believes you. You’re just Longroad pack.”
I raised my glass of champagne to him. “We’re all King pack now.”
“We’ll see,” he said and it gave me an unsettling feeling.
* * *
Cole
