Hungry Like a Wolf (Claws Clause 1)

He had a plan.

A good plan.

Why did his fucking plans never work?

Maddox cleared his throat.

He purposely kept the distance between them. “I’m sure you have questions.”

“You could say that.”

A hint of fire. He felt hope, only to have that dashed when Evangeline seemed to remember herself. She pulled the sheet up again, as if trying to shield herself from him.

Protect herself.

Shit.

Maddox backpedaled, swallowing his snarl as he reached up, yanking the obnoxious collar of another turtleneck that seemed eager to strangle him. It wasn’t a game. This was his life. His future was at stake.

He had to fix this. Short of releasing Evangeline—because, if he did that, he was sure he’d never set eyes on her again—Maddox desperately needed to do something that would prove to her that he wasn’t a threat.

If that meant giving her space, then that would be what he did.

For tonight, at least.

“I’ll answer them all, I promise. Just not tonight. Not now.” Maddox pulled the keys out of his pocket. “It’s late. You’ve had a scare. I don’t blame you—“

“Blame me?”

He continued as if she hadn’t interrupted. “—but I think it’s best that I leave you be for a bit. I won’t go far. My room is the next one over. I’ll be right there if you need anything.”

Her eyebrows rose. “After all the trouble you went through to get me here, you’re just gonna leave me all alone? Not that I want you near me, but I could walk out of here and you would never know.”

“Yeah, not quite.” Maddox showed her the ring of keys. “I’m going to lock you in. If you need me, shout. I’ll hear you, and I can assure you that, where we are, nobody else will.”

Evangeline paled. In her eyes, he could just about see the visions of her grand escape going up in smoke.

“So I’m a prisoner, is that it?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You’re locking me in. What, so I can’t get out?”

“More like I figure you’ll get used to this room easier if I’m not in here with you. This way, you know you’re alone, even if you can’t leave just yet.” When she just stared at him in open disbelief, he shrugged. “And, okay, maybe because I feel better having you somewhere where I know you’re safe.”

“But how do I know I’m safe?”

Maddox set his jaw. “One day you’ll understand how deeply you just cut at me. You’re upset, and I’m sorry. But, I swear to you, Angie, you’ve never been safer than you are here with me.”

It was a slip. He didn’t mean to use that name. Not yet. Not when she wouldn’t have any clue what it meant between them.

She caught it. Her fingers clenched the sheet, bunching the material tight. “What did you call me?” she whispered.

Maddox had two choices: deny it or own it. He went with the latter because, hell, he’d already fucked this up as bad as he possibly could. “I called you by your name.”

“You don’t know my name!” The words exploded out of her like bullets from a gun. Whatever Maddox had done, he’d broken through her icy and careful shell. She picked up a pillow and chucked it across the room. “You don’t know anything about me!”

The pillow missed. Badly. It fell about five feet short, and two feet wide from where he was standing.