Page 26 of Wolf
“Trust me, I tried. My boss told me how much more I could earn on the stage instead of waitressing. It’s the red hair. It pops under the stage lights or something. Brings in the high paying clients. I wasn’t interested, but he kept trying to convince me... until he saw my moves. After that, he never brought it upagain.”
“Get overhere.”
She huffs out a breath and kicks off her shoes. I’m not expecting it when she drags her t-shirt over her head and shimmies out of the yoga pants she’s wearing. They’re both covered in some of the glass that shattered all around her earlier. What intrigues me is she’s not the least bit shy about stripping it all off while I’m standing right here, or even now, wearing only a bra and panties. Is she so at ease with me, or is she confident in her self-image? Either way, the room is twice as hot with her in it. I’m hard as granite in notime.
“You’ll be okay,” I say, adjusting my cock in my jeans. “You’re strong. Probably one of the toughest women Iknow.”
Rose slumps down on the edge of the bed, and her arms drop to her sides. “Of course. I’ve had to be that way for almost all my life. But I’ll tell you something. Today? I’m tired. I’m sick of keeping it together, watching my back, and protecting myself. I just want these people to go away. I want my lifeback.”
“Shh,” I say, sitting beside her. I run a hand down her back, and as I let it come to rest at the side of her waist, she rests her head on my shoulder. “You’ve got me. We can fixthis.”
“You’re dangerous,” sheadmits.
“That goes with the territory, but you’re growing onme.”
She looks up into my face, studying me. “How close are you to yourfamily?”
I meet her gaze with an empty stare. “I’m not. I never met my birth parents. My mother died during childbirth. My father wasn’t in the picture. All through my childhood, I thought the couple who adopted me were my real parents. They were older. My adoptive mother died of a heart condition when I was eleven. Her husband had a stroke not long afterward. Foster care didn’t agree with me… I ran away a bunch of times. Child protective services didn’t come looking after I turned fifteen. I’ve been on my own eversince.”
“That’s ... sad, never knowing your realparents.”
“Notreally.”
“You don’t miss them?” she asks, staring off in thedistance.
I shrug. “You can’t really miss what you’ve neverhad.”
After a brief silence, she looks at me again. “You take a lot forgranted.”
“Likewhat?”
“Like… you might not always have the luxury of choosing to be myally.”
There’s not an ounce of anger, disappointment or ill will playing on her face. She’s stating what she believes to be a fact. She’s not wrong. I have an employer. Orders can change. But that day she’s referring to—one where I may be the one standing on the other end of the barrel of the gun that’s meant for her—that day isn’t today. The more time I spend around this woman, the further away that dayfeels.
“Everyone can choose to make a change, including me,” I tell her to give her some hope. “Have a littlefaith.”
“Faith is for fools. I believe in what I can touch, in what’s in front ofme.”
“Well at the moment, I’m the thing that’s right in front ofyou.”
I shouldn’t make a promise I may not be able to keep, but this woman has me wanting to be the guy who makes her world right again. Somewhere during the last week, I’ve become a different man. And it’s because ofher.
I turn toward her and kiss the corners of her mouth. “Believe in this,” I growl against herlips.
Her breathing deepens and I see a trace of a smile as I pull from thekiss.
“Better now?” Iask.
“Abit.”
“Good,” I tell her. I give her a gentle shove, lowering her onto the bed. Using my leg, I spread her thighs apart and hold down her shoulders. Her eyes go wide, surprised by how quickly I’ve changed gears, and color rises to herface.
“What the hell are you doing,Thorne?”
I lower my hips to hers and grind my erection along her lower belly. All that stops me from entering her are my jeans and that thin material of her panties. “Before I leave to take care of this Murphy problem, I have another promise I’m going to make goodon.”
“Thorne,” she moans as I tease her. Her hands go under my shirt, and she slides her palms up my chest, taking the shirt withthem.
