The Wolf Within (Purgatory 1)

***

Holly paced her living room. Again and again. As soon as she’d gotten an infusion of blood—okay, four infusions—she’d run away from Pate.

He’d let her go.

Probably because he knew there was no place she could escape to that he couldn’t follow.

Pate…a vampire? How had she not known about him? Why hadn’t he told her? Had he been a vampire that night, when she’d been so desperate to save him? By that time, had he already been changed? No wonder he was so keen for her to find a cure. The guy must have been using her karahydrelene, too.

Her hand lifted and smoothed over the wound on her chest. Well, not really a wound any longer. It had healed as she ingested the blood.

The Para Unit’s containment facility in the woods was being shut down. The order had come from above. The place had been deemed too unsecure and dangerous.

Only one prisoner was still alive in that building—and Connor was due to be immediately transferred to Purgatory. The other wolves—even Saul—had all died from silver poisoning. Their collars had been cranked up to full power.

And as for Duncan…

He was a wanted man. Werewolf.

Pate was searching the city for him, and Duncan was assumed to be a deadly threat.

When the power went out, six more guards had been killed in the containment facility. So many lives…lost. And all six of those men had been killed by a werewolf’s claws.

Only the werewolves had been killed, too. Except for Connor. But it seemed Connor had never made it out of his cell, so he couldn’t be responsible for all of those deaths.

Every sign pointed to the fact that Elias had been the one to hijack the system and take control of the collars, but he wasn’t a werewolf. He couldn’t have killed the humans in the facility.

So who had?

She knew Pate thought it was Duncan. She’d told her brother, again and again, that Duncan had been in his cell.

But he didn’t believe her. He seemed to think that Duncan had escaped and gone on a rampage. He had no trust in Duncan.

And she wasn’t exactly big on trusting her brother any longer.

When did you change, Pate? When?

Shane couldn’t back her up. Because he was dead. Too much blood loss. So said Pate.

Another lie? Could a vampire as old as Shane die that easily, that quickly? At this point, Holly wasn’t sure if Pate even knew how to tell the truth any longer.

Holly paced toward her window. It had been fixed, probably by one of Pate’s men, and she stared down at the street below.

Would Duncan run? Get out of the city?

She heard the faint rustle of a footstep behind her.

Holly’s eyes squeezed shut.

He wouldn’t run.

“You shouldn’t be here,” she said without turning around. Her eyes opened. “You know he’ll be watching my house.” Her breath rasped out. “Pate thinks you killed the humans at the facility. He’s hunting you.” Her hands clenched into fists. “Leave now, before he comes.”

The floor creaked.

“Please,” she whispered. “I don’t even know what’s going on. Pate isn’t the man I thought.”

No one was who she thought these days.

The floor creaked again. She could feel him coming closer to her. Feel the warmth of his body seeming to reach out for her. And she could smell him. The rich, slightly wild, masculine scent that was pure Duncan.

She remembered the first time she’d seen him. He’d come into her lab. Looked so intense. Dangerous.

His fingers brushed over her arm. Fingers.Not paws. He’d shifted back into the form of a man.

“Holly…”

He said her name with such need.

She whirled toward him.

And saw that the wolf wasn’t completely gone. His eyes still shined with the beast’s power. His face seemed sharper than before. His cheeks more hollow. His lips a bit more cruel. And his fangs were out.

Hers weren’t.

“Duncan?”

His hand rose. His fingers brushed over her cheek, and an expression of confusion flickered over his face.

“You need to leave,” she told him, voice husky.

He gave a hard, negative shake of his head. “Need…you.”

Then his head was bending toward her neck. Holly held herself perfectly still, not afraid of him, but afraid of what was happening between them.

Their relationship was dangerous. The world around them was spinning out of control. He should be cutting town and not looking back.

Instead, he’d come for her.

His breath blew lightly over her skin. Her hands rose to his shoulders and her fingers curled around him. “Duncan, you have to—”

His mouth closed over her, right there where her neck met the curve of her shoulder. She tensed, expecting pain, a bite, but he licked her flesh.

A wave of heat rose inside her.

“Need…” Duncan muttered again. “You.”

And she needed him.

The sharp edge of his teeth raked over her skin, but he didn’t hurt her. Had he ever?

Then his hands were on her shirt. He yanked, and the fabric tore. He tossed the material away. Shoved down her pants.

He lifted her into his arms. “Can’t think of anything…else…only you.”

Right then, he was all that mattered to her. “I was afraid I wouldn’t see you again.” Her confession.

“I’ll never leave you.” The promise was a man’s, not a beast’s.

Then they were in her bedroom. The lights were off. Like her wolf needed light to see. The mattress dipped beneath them. She expected wild, hot sex. He was coming off the full moon rush. Everyone had said this would be him at his most dangerous but…

But he was so careful with her now. As if he were afraid she couldn’t handle him. Silly werewolf. Was he forgetting what she really was?

His fingers pushed down her panties. Tugged away her bra. Then he was licking her. Licking her ni**les. Sucking the tight peaks. Driving her out of her mind.

Her nails clawed down his back as she tried to force him to go faster. She didn’t need this slow build-up. She needed him. All of him. Holly didn’t know how much time they had.

But he wouldn’t hurry. He parted her legs. Put one hand on each thigh.

Then he put his mouth on her.

The first orgasm caught her by surprise. Holly hadn’t expected it to come so fast, but he licked her, stroked her with his tongue right on her clit, then pulled back, only to repeat that sensuous pattern and the release hit her, slamming into her.

But he didn’t stop. He kept tasting her. Stroking. Learning every inch of her body. When she tried to lunge up and grab him, he just caught her hands in one of his and pushed her back on the bed.