Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 72056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
“Of course you did. Then you fucked me, and once you had your fun, you told your lemming that I wasn’t worth the effort. Don’t bother denying any of it.”
He caresses my cheek. God, his touch… I’m so hot. And now…the blood lust.
“I won’t deny it, princess. You’re right. How long did it take you to figure it out after I told you Blaze is on my payroll?”
“Fuck you, Rogan.”
“Anytime, princess. Anytime. In fact, I have an image of you in my mind, your back against that brick wall, and I’m pounding into you.” He closes his eyes for a second and inhales. Then he opens them. “Fuck! How can this be happening?”
“Control yourself, Rogan. We both know it’s an act.”
He draws in a breath, closes his eyes once more before opening them quickly and meeting my gaze. “God, I wish it were.”
“You and I both know damned well that a lycan and a vampire can’t be fated mates. Stop it now. I’m not falling for it again.”
He grabs a fistful of my hair, brings it to his nose, and inhales, eyes closed again. “Everything about you…” He opens his eyes. “I don’t deny that you’re a beautiful woman. I don’t deny that you intrigue me in just about every way. But it’s something more than that, and I know, princess. I know you feel it too.”
I back up a few steps, pulling my hair out of his grasp, until I hit the wall with my back. “If you’re telling the truth about what you’re feeling, why did you set me up?”
“When the daughter of the vampire king shows up at my hotel, I need to know what I’m dealing with.” He closes the short distance between us. “Why are you here, princess? Daddy sent you, I’m sure, but why?”
I open my mouth. The words want to spew out of me. You’re a suspect in a double vamp murder. Your bite marks were on the victims.
But if I tell him, he may destroy any evidence he has.
And if I lie, he’ll know.
So I grab his cheeks and smash our mouths together.
His groan rumbles through me as my body heats. All sounds turn silent as the blood rushing through his veins takes over and I hear nothing else.
Nothing else except his heartbeat.
Th-Thump. Th-Thump. Th-Thump.
Faster, faster, faster, until I’m sure it’s going to beat right out of his chiseled chest.
My own heartbeat finds synchrony with his, and then—
He pulls away, his green eyes on fire. My jaw drops, and I meet his gaze. His irises… They’re…moving. Swirling. Darker, lighter. Emerald turning to gold.
“Fuck,” he says through gritted teeth.
“Rogan, what is it? Are you okay?”
“You. Princess. The change. You’ve triggered it.”
“The…what? I didn’t do anything.”
But then I know, as the rip of his T-shirt slashes through the air. His muscles—they’re pulsating. Growing.
“Run, princess.” His voice is hoarse, not quite normal. “For God’s sake, run!”
I scramble away, nearly tripping over my own feet. Fear surges through me, but curiosity wins out.
I look over my shoulder, slowing down slightly, and—
Oof!
I’m flat on my back, gravel pushing into my shoulders, and above, paws on my chest—
A wolf.
A gorgeous gray wolf with green-gold eyes and tattered dark denim hanging from his hind legs.
The wolf growls.
Does he know me? “Rogan?”
He growls again, and this time it’s louder. I swear to God the walls are quaking, he’s so powerful.
Most lycans are well in control of their wolf side.
What the hell happened?
“Rogan?” I say again, this time in a squeaky whisper as I’m losing my breath.
Does he understand me? I honestly have no idea. I haven’t come into contact with many lycans, and I’ve never come into contact with one in wolf form.
I should move. Fight. Anything except lie here.
But I can’t look away. His lupine beauty is that magnificent.
He’s large, though, and heavy. If he doesn’t move his paws off my chest soon, I’m not sure I’ll be able to continue breathing.
I gasp in a breath, and—
He moves from my chest. I clamber quickly onto my hands and knees, gasping for air. My heart is hammering, and once my breath is back under control, the wolf scent consumes me.
It’s Rogan on steroids. Everything I love about his scent is magnified a hundredfold.
This is who he is.
This is Victor Rogan, alpha wolf, his fragrance thick in the alley.
This is the man I’ve come here to seduce, to manipulate, to pump for information.
And damn…
I think I’ve fallen in love. The only problem?
I fucking hate the man I’m in love with.
“Rogan?” I finally squeak out.
No response. Wolves don’t talk or bark. They only growl and howl.
Yet no sound comes from the alley.
I stand carefully, my breathing still rapid. “Rogan?”
But he’s gone.
17
I brush the gray hairs off my chest.
Gray hairs. Gray wolf hairs.
My breathing finally returns to normal, and I lean against the brick wall for a moment.