The Challenge (The Pack 2)

“What are we looking at?” Dom whispered, coming up next to me as he tugged his shirt over his head.

I glanced around, asking instead of answering his question, “The boys?”

“Your dad,” he replied before pausing. “You know we sound like an old married couple.”

“Yes, that thought did occur to me,” I hissed back, not sure what to make of the warm feeling that filled my chest at the thought. I’d always prided myself on being independent and postponing marriage and kids till I was older.

Much older.

Like a decade older.

But Dom and this life had shifted something inside of me. Loosened the knot around my heart as I saw the possibility of another life.

“Anna,” I answered belatedly. “She went with Trent and the others.”

“That’s good,” Dom replied, a hint of a question in his words.

“Yeah,” I drawled slowly and Dom rubbed his hand down my back.

“What’s bothering you?”

“It was Trent’s idea. He wanted to invite her help. Asked for her number,” I admitted and Dom hummed lightly. “I told him I’d give Anna his number and let her decide.”

“So, you’re surprised she called him?”

“A little,” I said with a nod, not mentioning the argument I’d heard them have the night before because I knew Dom would be upset if he found out where Anna had been headed.

“Trent’s a good guy,” Dom said casually. A little too causally, I thought as I glanced up at him.

“I know he is, but why are you telling me this?” I asked suspiciously and he rolled his shoulders, eyes innocent.

“I just didn’t want you to worry about her being around him. That’s all.”

“Uh huh. Sure.” The idea of Trent and Anna? I spared one last glance at them, watching as she flung a roll of paper towels at his head. No way, I thought to myself, never gonna happen.

“Come on, we better go rescue my Dad before Monster sets the motel on fire.”

“It’s cinder block. We should be fine,” Dominic murmured throatily as he backed me against the motel’s cinder block wall. “I have a better idea.”

“You do?” I replied, a smile creasing my cheek as I contemplated what his idea might be. “Tell me all about it,” I flirted, my hands fitting themselves along his washboard abs, the ones currently covered to my disappointment.

“We should go interrogate Wren while the boys and your Dad are distracted,” he replied, tilting his head to scan the parking lot and I realized he’d backed me against the building, not because he wanted to have his wicked way with me, but so he could keep an eye on the parking lot without being spotted

“Not what I had in mind,” I replied with a sigh, ducking my head around his arm so I could see what he was looking at. “But okay.”

“Time for that later,” he promised me with a wink, skimming his hand up my side, his thumb brushing the side of my breast tantalizingly.

“Or now?” I begged breathlessly, not an ounce of shame in me as he cupped his hand around my hip.

“Later,” he replied firmly, right before pressing a hard kiss to my lips and pulling back entirely too soon. Eyes dark he muttered, “Definitely later.”

He started walking then and it was a good thing he still had his arm around my waist because I’d forgotten how my legs worked.

Heart thudding a little harder than necessary, we made our way to Wren’s door. Dom knocked politely, making me lift my eyebrows and he shrugged. “No need to put her on guard.” I acknowledged that with a tilt of my head as I skimmed the parking lot. Most of the women had disappeared back to their rooms but a few remained, helping Sam, Trent, and Anna unload.

Dom knocked again when there was no response, and then eyed me. “What’s your stance on breaking and entering?”

“I’m open to it,” I answered, leaning around him to make sure the coast was clear. “But is it still breaking and entering when you have the key?” I dangled the massive key ring I’d shoved in my pocket earlier just in case.

“No, actually I don’t think it is,” he replied, a glint of admiration and something else in his eyes. “I have to ask, where were you hiding those?”

I smirked, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“I really would,” he echoed, practically stepping on my heels as I slipped through the door I’d just unlocked. The already small motel room shrank by half in his presence and I studiously avoided glancing at the neatly made bed. I would never admit how many fantasies I had that involved Dom and one of the empty motel rooms. It was an embarrassingly high number.

“What are we looking for?” I whispered, taking the room in with one quick sweep. It matched the rest of the motel rooms on this floor, the layouts all the same. Bed, desk, TV, with a bathroom on the left and a small kitchenette on the right.