“It’s enough for now.” He’d have River dig up the rest of the information. Tossing her phone aside, Luke caught her face in his hands, forcing himself to be gentle when all he wanted was to hunt down whoever sent that email and eviscerate them. “You won’t be going anywhere alone for a while.”
“I think—”
“Don’t argue, hear me out. This email … it doesn’t scare you, I see that. But if the sender did kill Macy, he’s already shown what he’s capable of. And here’s the thing, his fantasy world where you’ll be his forever is about to fall apart around him. You left the pack. You came home with me. You’ll very soon be claimed by me. In his head, you’ve betrayed him. He may choose to ‘punish’ you. That can’t happen. No one can fucking touch you.”
She gently cuffed his wrists with her hands. “I’m not planning to make things easy for this bastard.”
“Then you’ll agree to take precautions and not go anywhere alone.”
“I wasn’t going to argue with you about it. You just assumed I would. I might not like the idea of being guarded—dominant females generally don’t. But I’m not too proud to accept protection when it’s needed.”
A relieved sigh slipped out of him. “Good. Now here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to forward this email to Embry. I can’t envision him not taking it seriously. Whatever the case, we will.”
“Embry won’t permit you to question everyone in the pack. It would be seen as him submitting to you; seen as a sign of weakness.”
“I know,” he grumbled. “In the reverse situation, Tate wouldn’t allow it for the same reasons. But we don’t need to worry that our boy will lay low and remain out of our reach. He’s going to show himself because he won’t be able to cope with you being away from him. Then we’ll snatch the prick, and I’ll question him all I damn want—and more. In the meantime, it’s imperative that you be careful, Blair.”
“I know. And I will be. I promise.”
Exhaling heavily, he pressed his forehead to hers. “I’ll hold you to that.”
“I’d expect nothing less.”
Luke kissed her, licking into her mouth. That easily, his system calmed. Her taste, her smell, her size, her weight, the feel of her—soft, warm, toned, curvy—all filled him with a sense of rightness.
He gorged himself on her, letting her chase away the rage that purred beneath his skin. His cat pressed against her, needing the contact.
Long minutes went by before Luke pulled back. His gut clenched at the glazed look she wore. He sank his fingers into her hair, flitting his gaze all over her face. “You’re finally here. Where you belong.”
“And yet, you’re not inside me. Lame.”
“I’m not going to claim you while anger is riding me.” Even though his instincts to possess and take her were on fucking fire on hearing that another man thought he had rights to her. “You deserve better than that. And I do not want thoughts of that sick bastard in your head when I claim you anyway.”
She stroked his chest. “I don’t like that anger’s riding you. That’s my job.”
He groaned. “Witch.”
Her lips curled. “I can get another kiss, though, right?”
“One more. Then bed.” For the first time, his mate would be in his bed, sleeping beside him. And there would never again be a time when she didn’t.
CHAPTER FOUR
The feel of a hot mouth dragging kisses down her neck woke Blair. It took a few moments for her brain to register the situation. She was in Luke’s bed. He was spooning her, one hand under her tee stroking the pads of his fingers along her stomach, his cock hard and thick and digging into her butt through his sweatpants.
Well.
She let her eyelids flutter shut, sinking into the sensations as sparks of hot need licked at her flesh. His kisses were soft and almost lazy, just like the fingertips teasingly tracing patterns on her skin. But she could feel the tension in his large frame. She could sense how difficult it was for him to hold himself in check.
The graze of teeth made her gasp. Anticipation beat at her, making her body tighten and her nerve-endings prickle. She was seriously wishing that they were both naked, but he’d last night declared that his good intentions would fly out the window if they lay together without clothes—hence her long tee and his sweatpants.
“Morning,” he rumbled as the sleek, muscled arm she was seemingly using as a neck-pillow curved around her and rested on her shoulder, pinning her against him.
Like she had any plans to go anywhere.
She’d been craving this, craving him, for too damn long. She needed him inside her. Needed him to finally claim her as his. Her inner animal yearned for it just as much.