The Darkest Kiss (Riley Jenson Guardian 6)

"No favorite, then? No club he went to more than others?"

"Maybe. I don't know. I could ring up and ask Jilli. She might know."

"Jilli being one of the wolves he mentioned recently?"

"Yeah. She owns and runs a coffee shop near the Blue Moon."

I raised my eyebrows. "Not Chiquita's? They have the best blueberry muffins there. And the coffee's not bad, either."

"So this coffee that I owe you - shall I pay the fee there?"

I considered him for a moment, seeing the amusement and playfulness in his eyes, feeling the answering response low down in my belly. Wondered when - if - I was ever going to get back to the business of being a free and easy wolf.

I didn't know, I really didn't know, and I knew part of that was the fear of getting hurt again. After all, my heart couldn't be broken again if I didn't put it out there. And yet, how much longer could I continue to ignore a side of myself that was a part of my soul?

"It'll probably be easier if I was there to talk to her, so yeah, that would be fine."

He raised an eyebrow, expression a little quizzical. "Why do I get the feeling that you're avoiding the intent behind that question?"

"Because I am." I turned and opened the drawer of the bedside table. Painkillers, books, and condoms. I pulled one out and showed it to Ben. "He fucked humans?"

"Yes. Not all the time, but he liked the challenge of the restraint they represented. He used condoms so there were no unwanted pregnancies."

Because a wolf didn't have to worry about STDs, thanks to our ability to heal all sorts of things during the shapeshift. "A condom is not one hundred percent safe."

"It's better than nothing." He considered me for a moment, then said, "So despite the fact I can smell your interest, you don't want to go out with me?"

I shoved the condom back in the drawer and slammed it shut. "Don't take it personally. I'm not going out with anyone at the moment."

"You're a wolf. That's a physical impossibility."

"Obviously, I'm not talking about the moon heat." I stepped around him and walked to the closet. Opening the doors revealed that Denny's neatness continued here. His clothes were all stacked via type and color.

"And I'm not talking about sex," Ben said. "Just coffee and a chat. Nothing more, nothing less."

I cast him a look over my shoulder, a smile twitching my lips. "I'm not believing that for a moment. You, wolf man, have loving on your mind."

"I can control my mind. And I don't do sex on first dates."

I just about choked on my disbelief. "Yeah. Right. Must have made being a stripper hard, then."

He waved a hand. "Stripping is different. So is sex for the need of it. Outside of work and the moon heat - or maybe even because of them - I prefer to take things slower. Get to know the girl before I fuck her."

Then he was a rare man in wolf ranks. I shut the wardrobe door. "How about we do the coffee-and-chat thing while asking if this Jilli actually knows anything, and see what happens from there?"

He studied me for a moment, then nodded. "Though I have to admit, I am curious about this sudden turn-about in your behavior. Last time we met, you were not so reluctant."

"Last time we met, I wouldn't have acted on my impulses, either. No matter how fierce the desire."

He nodded. "I saw that. I can also see that the reason here is different. It is a puzzle I shall have to solve."

"Try too hard and there's no coffee. I'm not in the mood to be psychoanalyzed right now."

I walked around to the hook. The vampire scent was strongest here, which did suggest he might have been involved in Denny's death. "Why would someone want to kill Denny?"

"I don't know. He wasn't the type to have enemies."

Everyone had enemies, even the nicest of people. My gaze went to the thick metal hook. I just couldn't imagine someone willingly tying a rope around his neck and cutting off his oxygen almost to the point of death just to get his rocks off. But then, I couldn't ever imagine finding joy in being beaten so badly the flesh on my back hung in raw strips. Yet I'd seen that done, and had felt the sheer and utter pleasure the women had gotten from it.