Read NocC 023 - The Ancients 05 - Bonnie Vanak - Incubus Wolf - Harlequin 2012-09 for Free Online Page B

wrench
away, but he held her fast. His prisoner now. Not going anywhere.
    “Let me go,” she whispered.
    Vehemently, he shook his head. “Not until you see what you came
to see, Alexandra. What I see. When your eyes are opened, I will let you
go.”
    Pressure eased as his fingers fell open. Alex ran for the
lodge, deeply confused.
    Every moment she spent in his company drew her closer to a
dangerous edge. Alex did not want to leap.
    Because once she did, she’d lie at the bottom, shattered and
broken once more, and he would not pick up the pieces.
    But only walk away, as he’d done before.
     

Chapter 6
    At dinnertime, Alex only wanted to avoid Dominic. But
she couldn’t hide from his scent. It was stamped into her brain.
    Hunger growled in her stomach. She needed her strength. So she
went downstairs to the big dining room. The pack of forty wolves greeted her
warmly enough, although a few of the males gave her hard, assessing looks. They
all seemed normal. No horns, no leering grins. No one was dressed in leather and
chains, as rumors had hinted. Self-conscious, Alex kept her gaze lowered.
    Gradually she looked around. Each pack member was not perfect.
With her full, rosebud mouth and dimples, Carla was lovely, but seemed frail and
vulnerable. Various others at the table had marks on them, as if they’d tussled
with attackers and won, but at a great cost.
    She did not join in their conversation, but listened. No one
treated her like either a bounty hunter come to haul their leader off to prison,
or like his captive.
    Alex began to enjoy herself. Dominic’s gaze burned into hers
the entire time. It was filled with heat. She found herself staring at the
strong curve of his chin, the lush outline of his mouth.
    That mouth had been on hers, licking and stroking…
    Dropping her gaze, feeling heat warm her cheeks, she
concentrated on dinner.
    After dinner, she asked Dominic for use of a computer. He
escorted her to his study, an enormous room, with heavy wood furniture and
natural lighting coming through the tall windows.
    .”Aren’t you afraid I’ll email and ask for help?” she
challenged.
    “Not you, Alexandra. You’re too proud to ask.”
    She puzzled over his words as he left. Alex logged into the
system and the Society’s database and began a search for Belaramos.
    The cursor winked at her as she stared at the screen. The
wizard was elderly and frail but possessed great power. Known for his gentle
protection of wild creatures, he’d lodged a complaint with the Society about
someone hunting wolves on his land.
    Gentle and frail?
    Not that dark, cruelly handsome man who’d laid a trap for her.
Her ankle gave a twinge of pain. And this wizard was desperate for Dominic’s
blood. And surely, it wasn’t only because Belaramos wanted a little action
between the sheets.
    Alex leaned back in the comfortable leather chair. It made no
sense. Protecting the wildlife? And now he caged them for show?
    Maybe the wilderness had seeped into Belaramos’s brain cells,
scrambling them into jelly.
    Michael, Dominic’s second in command, had led the pack in
Dominic’s absence. He’d been in charge when Belaramos moved next door.
    Alex shut down the computer and went into the kitchen to search
for Michael.
    Dominic stood before the stainless steel sink, hands braced on
either side, as he stared out the window. Next to him were the remains of a
half-eaten cherry pie. He turned and saw her. Something flickered in his
gaze.
    “Still hungry?” he asked softly.
    “I’m looking for Michael.”
    “He’s busy with dessert.” Dominic’s glance slid to the dining
room. A woman moaned loudly.
    Carla. A flush lit Alex’s cheeks.
    The sound of flesh slapping against flesh. Michael was driving
hard and fast into Carla, his grunts peppering her excited moans.
    “Perhaps you’d like some. Dessert.”
    Dipping a finger elegantly into the pie, he brought it to the
open cavern of his mouth. Dominic licked his lips. Alex’s body