Wolf (The Henchmen MC 3)

"Didn't say that," he said in a way that implied they would be my guards for however long he commanded it. Damn it.

"Let go of me," I said in a low, lethal voice, expecting to need to save my voice for the inevitable pissing contest we were going to have. Surprisingly though, his arms dropped from around me and he let me go. I jumped up and started pacing the room as he sat there and watched. At about my fourth turn, I stopped in the middle of the room and turned to him.

"Why are you keeping me here? I blew up your compound!" I reminded him, wanting some kind of reaction. He gave me nothing. "I killed god-knows how many people at Lex's place! I... I turned traitor and blew up the only home that would have me!" Okay, I was getting a tad bit emotional. What can I say? It had been a crazy couple of days. "Jesus fucking Christ! What is wrong with you?" I demanded as he just kept sitting there watching me with a blank mask on his face. "Are you like some kind of robot? Complete automaton. You know, normal people have feelings and reactions. They don't just... what are you doing?" I asked as he slowly stood and moved toward me. There was something about him, something I didn't know or understand that had me taking a step back each time he moved forward. I wasn't that girl. I didn't retreat. I didn't give up my ground. Ever. But I was doing just that. I backed up until the kitchen counter jabbed me in the back and I had nowhere to go. "What?" I asked, adopting a scathing, mocking tone because it was better than betraying the weird cocktail of fear and excitement I felt low in my belly. "Are you trying to freak me out? 'Cause, newsflash Wolf, I don't scare all that easily. So you can just..."

He was toe-to-toe with me, his pelvis pushing against mine and I had to crane my neck up to see his face, but it was ducked down toward me, his keen eyes watching me. "You're hurting," he said oddly.

"What? No, I'm not. I'm fine. I don't even need the ibuprofen anymore."

"Not here," he said, his hand brushing over the gauze on my arm. Then his palm pressed against my chest, right above my left breast and stayed there. "Here," he clarified.

It couldn't have been a more killing blow if he did it with a knife.

I felt my spine straighten at being found out and my survival instinct immediately told me to deny deny deny.

"What? Don't be ridiculous. I'm not hurtin..."

"Don't lie," he said again, shaking his head slightly at me.

"I'm not..."

I didn't get the rest of my sentence out because both his hands were suddenly at my shoulders and jerking almost violently, making my teeth clank together. "Lying don't fix it," he told me with a sort of understanding that only came from personal knowledge.

"I'm not trying to fix anything! I am trying to get out of..."

"Blowing things up?"

"How could blowing things up possibly fix anything?" I objected, screwing my face up in confusion, trying to throw him off. Because he was too close, he was way too close to being right.

"You tell me."

"I'm not telling you anything," I blurted out, then rushed to cover. "There's nothing to tell. I just like bombs. I like blowing things up. I'm good at it. It's fun." All that rang true, because it was true. I had taken to bombs the way spaniels take to water. "Just because you obviously have some demons that..."

"Don't," he broke in, his tone almost savage.

"Don't what?" I shot back, jerking my chin higher.

"Don't think you can know me," he finished, his hands moving from my shoulders to cup my face, holding a little too hard, almost painful, and I wasn't sure if it was from his anger or just not knowing his own strength. "Ever."

I stared up at him silently for a moment. There was something in the air between us. It was something I didn't understand on a conscious level. But it was charged, electric, it was sparking everywhere our bodies were touching, it was vibrating everywhere we weren't. Wolf seemed to notice it too, his hands gentling on my face but not releasing it.

"Don't think you can know me either," I said into the silence, but my voice came out almost... sad. But that was ridiculous. Because I absolutely did not want him to know me. I didn't want anyone to know me. If they knew... if they knew what had happened...

No.

No one knew.

No one was going to know.

Certainly not the giant in front of me.

"Stubborn," he said with a brow lift.

"Right back at you."

I was rewarded with another small smile before his thumb moved out to stroke across my cheek. The sensation fluttered across my face and shot a line down the center of my body, ending in a strange little tightening in my sex and I felt my lips open in surprise and confusion. His gaze dropped to my mouth and the pressure low in my stomach intensified to the point of pain before I finally recognized it for what it was: arousal.

But that was impossible.

Never. Not once. Not since...

No.

Wolf's eyes met mine again. I guess he saw something there because he let out a small sigh and leaned down toward me and rested his forehead against mine. It took every ounce of control inside me to not melt into him. There was something there, in that moment, something weighted, but in a good way that made me want to press forward, that made me want to angle my head up and offer my lips as an invitation.

But then his head shifted slightly and I felt him press a chaste kiss to my forehead before pulling away. "Bed," he said, moving back over toward his chair and sitting down, pointedly avoiding looking at me.

I stayed against the counter for a long minute, taking deep breaths that did nothing to quiet the unfamiliar chaos working its way through my body as Wolf turned the TV on and cranked up the volume. Another silent communication telling me we were done talking for the night.