Page 46 of Wolves Always Bite

“Comeon,”Adriansaid, beckoning me over.

“Asmuch asI’vebeen thinking all day about all the sexy things we could do tonight,Idon’t think it’s going to happen.”

“I’mfine with just sleeping.”Adrianlifted the blankets.

“Areyou sure?”

“AmIsureIwant to hold you all night?Absolutely.”

Ihurried over to the bed before he changed his mind.Islid under the covers and kept on moving until my body was pressed against his.Hewrapped his arms around me, andIsighed happily.Sexytimes might be temporarily on hold, but this was almost as good.

Anhour or two later,Iwoke with an urgent need to piss, which shouldn’t be surprising considering how much beerI’dhad.AfterIdid my business,Icrawled back into bed beside the sexy werewolf.Iwas now sober enough and awake enough to feel the weight of the day’s discoveries likeRoadrunner’sanvil was resting on my chest.Itossed.Iturned.Butthe noises in the unfamiliar motel room didn’t help lull me back to sleep.

Soon, all the little worriesI’dforced aside during the day came back.

Myfirst problem was my rent.Howon earth wasIgoing to pay it?Whatwould my landlord do with my stuff if he decided to kick me out andIwasn’t there to pack it up?Ichewed on my bottom lip.Thewhole situation was so unfair.Babetteshould pay me the money she owed me.

Igrabbed my phone off the side table and typed out a text to my former boss demanding the wages she owed me.Ihit send.Ire-read it.Itlacked oomph.Ishould be more forceful.Sheshould knowIcould go to the police, right?Yeah.Sheshould know.Ishould tell her.

Isent another text.

Itossed my phone back on the nightstand and grinned in the darkness.Thatshould get her attention.AllIwanted was the moneyI’dearned.Iwas being completely reasonable.Thetension that’d hit me a few minutes earlier eased away.Itwas good to have a plan.Isighed and snuggled closer toAdrian.

Lifewas good.

ChapterFifteen

ADRIAN

WithJeremyin my arms, my imagination erupted with at least ten thousand thingsIwanted to do to him to make him moan and writhe and come.Butsomewhere around four in the morningI’dconcludedIshouldn’t do anything at all, no matter how muchIwanted him.Itwouldn’t be fair to either of us.Hewas a human.Iwas a wolf.Nothingcould come of us being together.

And, as a human, he’d be a hell of a lot safer surrounded by his own kind instead of supes.

Hewas so… fragile.Hecouldn’t heal likeIcould.Hecouldn’t defend himself likeIcould.

Itjust wasn’t safe for him to be in my life.

Butit was more than that.Itwasn’t likeIwas holding out for my fated mate like some people, but getting involved with a human was setting myself up for heartache.Afterthe dealImade withGage,Iwould already live longer than most supes, which meant my life expectancy was a hell of a lot longer than a human’s.WhenIconsidered that on top of how easily he could be hurt…Iwanted to lock him away and find a coven to put every possible protection on the place.Throughmy work withGage,Icould afford it.

Butthat wouldn’t be a happy life.Foreither of us.I’dconstantly be worried.He’dbe trapped.

Iswallowed and tried to push down my rising panic.

We’djust met, soIknew it was ridiculous to speculate about what would happen fifty or a hundred or more years down the line, butIcouldn’t stop myself.

HowcouldIgo into a potential relationship knowing it’d end so quickly?Ialready knew my time withGageand my team was limited because ofGage’sdeteriorating health.Itseemed self-destructive to willingly invite more pain into my life.

Grieffrom long ago events stabbed through me.I’dnearly gone feral from losing my pack and my parents.Icouldn’t fathom what would happen ifIlost a mate, even if he could only ever be a chosen mate.

Irubbed the ancient scars on my hand.Itwas almost as ifIcould feel my fingers there again.It’dbeen a long time sinceI’dfelt anything like that.Ididn’t like it, butIalso knew it was all in my head, an extra torment afterI’dwoken in the middle of the night whenJeremyhad wiggled close to me in his sleep.Iflexed my hand, but it didn’t do anything to relieve the situation.

Unsurprisingly,Ididn’t have any answers by the time the sun rose.Ijumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom, anxious to avoid havingJeremywake up in my arms.Hewas too tempting, andI’dpromised him things last night… thingsIdidn’t thinkI’ddeliver on today.

It’dbe safer… for both of us… if we didn’t let our attraction grow any more than it already had.

Ilocked the bathroom door and pretended the day was like every other day.Unfortunately, none of my daily routines scared away the insecurities that’d snuck in under cover of dark.Myhands shook asIadjusted the water in the shower.

“Whata fucking coward,”Imuttered to myself.