Page 11 of A Sinful Trap

Chapter Three

Bailey. Bailey. Bailey.

He slowed and sniffed the air. He was home. Or home for now. The scents were too distinct to be mistaken. The brightly lit building was his destination.

He padded up the steps, unsurprised when the double doors opened for his arrival. They were expecting him. Light and warmth from the inside poured out onto the large patio, along with a wicked laugh that never failed to delight him.

“Someone’s in trouble,” Bunny informed him, smiling as she took in the white fur splattered with rust-colored dirt. “You’re a mess, Cam. What were you doing out there for so long?”

He dipped his head in acknowledgment, recognizing the tall, dark-skinned woman as family.

“He was exploring. Have you been out there yet? It’s wonderful.” A blond, broad-shouldered man appeared at her side—Aaron—grinning at him in approval. “Hey, boss. The rest of us have been flopping in the theater room, but your other half went for a swim, and now he’s headed upstairs to your office. Looks serious.”

They stepped aside for his large form to pass and Bunny ran a soothing hand over his hackles. “I know, but you might as well get it over with. Sometimes the only thing to do is be honest and take your lumps. If you ditched me to go for your first run in our new place, I wouldn’t be happy either. I thought you two always did that together.”

He leaned into her, appreciating the advice. He hadn’t meant to break with tradition, but he’d needed to wrap his head around what had happened tonight before he could share it with anyone else. Especially Davide.

Despite his reasons, the run from the inn to the sprawling mansion had been a revelation. He’d left the path to explore more than once, unable to resist the call that temporarily distracted him from his new obsession with the innkeeper.

Bailey. Her name was Bailey.

Each stone and tree pulsed with energy. The earth was alive here, thrumming beneath his paws and resonating with the beat of his heart. He was stronger. Sharper. He knew that this was why shifters were drawn to certain places. They followed the light, heard the song of it and formed packs to protect it.

Thankfully, there were no packs here. He would have sensed a boundary, and the power here would have made it that much stronger. How was it possible that this place had gone unclaimed for so long? He’d experienced the sacred in his travels before, but there was nothing like it anywhere else. It felt like it belonged to them. Belonged to him.

Was it because his grandfather had come here? Was it why he’d come here? The answers he was searching for were still out of reach, and all he had now were more questions. He hadn’t been expecting her.

She’s the reason we’re here.

The wolf had known the truth since she dropped into his arms, but the rest of him wasn’t ready to deal with what it meant. Not yet. He climbed the stairs slowly, following the scents of impatience and anger. Worry.

Davide.

They’d been together for decades. He trusted Davide with his body, his heart and all of his secrets. But what would he tell him now? How would he explain this new development that he barely understood?

His muddy nails clacked loudly on the tiled floor as he stalked down the hall toward the only open door. His office. Bailey didn’t think much of Cameron Locke or his business endeavors, so there was no telling what kind of garish, gold-leafed homage to decadence he would find inside.

It would be funny, if he didn’t care about her opinion. The persona he’d created to keep the people under his care safe and together had worked far better than he’d dreamed, if her comments were any indication. The tabloids saw what he wanted them to see. It was that illusion he’d decided to greet her with, until she was in his arms. Until he caught the scent of her arousal.

Now everything was different.

He paused, his heartbeat and breath quickening as he allowed the change to roll through him. He shook his body as if shaking water from his thick fur, and felt the shift shimmer around him. In a blink, the wolf was a man on two legs instead of four, his naked body slick with sweat from his long run.

Changing never brought him physical pain. Becoming a wolf was all exhilaration and heightened senses. Freedom. His worries fell away like a suit he’d never been meant to wear. Coming back to humanity was more emotional in nature. He was still the wolf inside, tempted to race back to the inn to bring his prize home for a bite. But he was also a man who needed to soothe his frustrated lover before dealing with the complications the curvy, irresistible innkeeper had created simply by existing.

He stepped over the threshold of the study, but Davide was nowhere in sight. It wouldn’t last long, he knew, so he used the time to take in the décor of the one room that, no matter what state or country they landed in, was where he would most likely spend the majority of his time.

A wall of glass led to the third-story balcony, seeming to bring the outside in. There was a small but impressive library with a rolling ladder to his right. In the center of the room, a wide-cushioned leather sofa that could comfortably fit his frame faced the stone fireplace, and several plush occasional chairs were artfully arranged around the hearth, reminding him of a Rockwellian postcard. The large, sturdy antique desk in the corner was somehow unobtrusive while still commanding the attention of all who entered.

The room was masculine but welcoming. Warm but not too casual. And the view left no doubt as to where he was at all times. It was, in a word, perfection.

He walked closer to the desk, noting the small potted cactus that carried traces of Bailey’s scent. Was this from the inn’s garden? It was easy to imagine her doing a walkthrough of the rental and adding the prickly housewarming gift as a silent, subtle rebuke of his presence. She might be afraid of spiders, but she wasn’t afraid of him. He liked that. Liked her.

The wolf wasn’t the only one that wanted her.

“How was your run, Cameron?”

Davide entered from the balcony, his dark curls damp, his body clad in nothing but a towel wrapped around his narrow waist. “It’s finished. How was your swim?”

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