Page 5 of Watch Me Burn
I look down at Ricky in my arms, his body warm against mine. The conflicting feelings I’ve been wrestling with all morning come rushing back.
Back to the incredible feeling of my wolf’s partial weight on me last night. And then to Damien’s kiss. Both men spark wild, forbidden feelings within me. But how do I reconcile my burgeoning feelings for someone who represents safety and normalcy with my craving for someone who embodies danger and darkness?
I don’t understand how I’m developing feelings for Damien when all I want is more from my wolf.
Then again, maybe that’s why.
Chapter two
Damien
Ilean back in my chair, my gaze fixed on the bank of monitors mounted on the wall of my Denver office. I haven’t been here for weeks, but I needed to handle a few things that couldn’t be done remotely, so I flew down before dawn.
The central screen shows Luna’s kitchen, where she and Maren sit at the table, still flushed from their morning hike. Steam rises from their coffee cups as they dig into a frittata and toast. I’d watched Luna shower after their return, water cascading over her perfect body, and then move through her kitchen with that grace that never fails to captivate me.
If she knew about the cameras in her bathroom, she’d castrate me. I’d installed them with her security system months ago. I wanted access to her everywhere, including her private spaces. I felt no remorse at the time. Still don’t, if I’m honest. But now that my obsession has grown into love, there’s a twinge of guilt for invading her privacy.
She’s aware her wolf hacks into the sanctuary’s cameras and scolds him for being a creep, but she doesn’t know the number of cameras and that they’re inside her bedroom and bathroom.
She also doesn’t know I’m her wolf. The masked stalker and serial killer who comes to her in the darkness. The man who ties her up, chokes her, and fucks her until she’s sobbing and coming on my cock so many times, she nearly passes out.
I’ve taken steps to hide my identity. The silver wolf mask covers most of my face except my mouth, hiding the silver threading through my hair at the temples, which I’ve heard Luna tell Maren she loves. I use a different soap. No aftershave.And I go to extreme lengths to disguise my voice. What started out as a way to anonymously take her, claim her, and make her mine has now spiraled into a duplicitous double life that I’m losing control of.
The struggle to keep my identities separate is reaching a breaking point. The lines are blurred, and I won’t be able to keep them separate much longer. Not if I want more with Luna than just what we have in the dark. Heat, passion, and a connection that defies logic.
When it began, she didn’t know Damien Wolfe, so it was easier for the mask to conceal my identity. Now that we’re spending more time together in daylight, she’s noticing the cracks in my carefully crafted facade.
Once she discovers my deception—that her dark, masked, serial killer lover is also her billionaire neighbor who donated a quarter of a million dollar security system to her wildlife sanctuary and paid off both her mortgage and student loans—the betrayal might just be too much.
Who the fuck am I kidding?
I’ll lose her. And that can’t happen. Living without Luna Foster—her light, her goodness, her warmth—isn’t an option.
“We need to figure out an outdoor space for Titus.”
The sound of Luna’s beautiful voice through the speakers draws me out of my thoughts.
“He’s come a long way, but he’s getting depressed being kept inside.”
“He didn’t hiss at me when I touched him yesterday.” Maren takes a bite of her toast. “I was starting to think you were the only one he’d ever let touch him.”
“He still hisses at me most of the time, too.”
Luna leans back in her chair and sweeps a damp strand of her long blonde hair behind her ear. My hand twitches. I want to reach through the screen, wind those strands around my fingers, and feel the silk of them again. Heat crawls up my neck and settles in my chest, then drops lower. My pulse kicks up, drumming in my throat, my wrists, everywhere.
“But then you do whatever Luna voodoo you do on animals, and he rolls over and lets you rub his belly.”
Luna laughs, and the sound wraps around me. When we’re tangled together in the dark, she gives me other sounds. Broken moans and desperate gasps that drive me to the edge of my sanity. Those sounds burn through me, set my blood on fire, but this laugh—this laugh—I want to chase, capture, and coax it from her lips again and again.
“I’ve been pricing out materials for an enclosure. Something separate from the wolf area and far enough from the barn that the horses won’t spook. And away from Gertie’s outdoor pen.”
“Because that goat’s already got enough attitude without a bobcat making her paranoid.” Maren takes a bite of her eggs. “How much are we talking?”
“More than I have.” Luna sighs, defeat written into the sag of her shoulders. “I still think I should talk to the bank about another mortgage.”
“No, Lu, don’t get yourself into that again.” The words come out sharp and protective. “Are there any more grants we can apply for? I’ll fill out the paperwork.”
“I don’t think we can get more from the state, but we can try for a few more federal grants. They’re not for wildlife, but considering we have a handful of domestic animals, we might be able to sneak in under their guidelines.”
