A low growling rumbled through Sully at Ace's words, a sound imitated by his men.
"Shit," the old man hissed, sensing things coming to a fever pitch.
"No," a different voice joined the group, familiar, feminine.
I couldn't see her, hidden behind the large bodies of the shifters, but I could smell her. The sweet fruit. But mixed with something else. The tangy scent of her blood.
Another growl rumbled from Sully as he started to bend forward, something I knew from experience with the older pack preceded their shift into wolves.
"I said no!" Lenore yelled as her hand shot out, grabbing onto Sully's back as he burst into wolf form. Her fingers came into contact with his fur-covered back, grabbing a loud yelp out of him as her anger burned him at the touch, making him shift right back into human form, reaching down to touch his red side.
"What the fuck?" Ace mumbled under his breath, gaze pinning Lenore.
Shit.
So much for keeping it from him and the others.
This was not going to be good.
That said, neither was her being used as a bargaining chip with the fucking shifters either.
"How the fuck did you get out?" Sully growled at Lenore, though his words weren't as heated as you might think seeing as she'd given him second-degree burns on his side.
"The door locked from the inside, not out," she said, having the balls to roll her eyes at him. "I belong with them," she added, voice gaining some strength.
"You belong here now," Sully objected.
"I'm a person, not a possession," she shot back, even though she was clearly a bit of both to us. They didn't need to know that.
"Afraid you are going to have to be both, witch," Sully said, shrugging. "You're worth too much to just let you go."
"I'd like to see you try to stop me," she challenged, raising her hands at him. I knew what those burns felt like. It was no surprise that Sully flinched when she brushed past him.
"You—" Sully started, only to have the older man put a hand on his shoulder.
"It's not worth it," he said, shaking his head. "We'll find other ways."
"Or other witches," Sully agreed, tone low, lethal, making Lenore shrink back a bit, likely thinking about her coven, and the loved ones she'd left behind there, not wanting to subject them to a similar—or worse—fate than hers. "If any of you step onto our turf again," he said, looking at Ace, "we will consider that a break of the long-standing truce we have known."
"Careful who you threaten," Ace shot back as Lenore moved in at my side, tucking herself a bit behind my shoulder. "Remember what happened the last time you fucked with us," he added, turning on those last words, and getting on his bike.
"Come on," I mumbled to Lenore, grabbing her arm, pulling her over to my bike. "Climb on behind me," I said when she stood there after I got on, unsure what to do. "Legs against the backs of mine, arms around my chest. Then hold on."
Not needing any more instructions, seemingly in as big of a rush to get out of there as I was, she climbed on behind me, and slid forward so I could feel each inch of her against me—her tits on my back a distraction I didn't need when trying to drive us home. Then her arms tentatively slid around my sides, folded across my chest.
"Hold tight," I reminded her as I backed the bike out then flew out of the lot, wanting to put space between her and the shifters as fast as possible.
Her body jolted hard, adjusting to the new sensation. Unless her coven had like... horses and shit... I couldn't imagine she'd ever experienced anything like being on a bike.
After a couple of minutes of clinging to me like she wanted to burrow into my skin, she slowly relaxed, arms releasing just enough to let me breathe properly again.
It was then, too, that her face pressed into my back.
It was nothing.
Or, at least, that was what I needed to believe.
I needed to think of anything other than how nice it felt to have her leaning into me, holding onto me more than she needed to. Almost as if she wanted to hold me, to get closer to me.
It was a long drive home.
Too long.
I needed to stop the bike, to grab her, get a taste of her.
I wasn't going to be able to think straight—let alone drive straight—without getting some sort of relief from the growing need inside.
I slowed up, let Minos pass to disappear down a hill, then pulled to the shoulder, reaching for my phone, shooting off a text saying the witch needed a pitstop, and that we were ten minutes behind.
"Why did we stop?" Lenore asked, making no move to pull away from me, arms and legs wrapping me up, cheek on my back.