Read NocC 027 - Michele Hauf - Wicked Games 07 - Claiming the Wolf - Harlequin 2012-11 for Free Online Page A

split second of indecision, my heart said, ‘She
doesn’t know what she’s doing. She didn’t want this.’“ He dropped her wrist and
looked aside. So difficult not to pull her against his thudding heart and kiss
her until their pulses synched. “Am I right?”
    “Surprisingly so. You got all that from a flash of tattoo while
we were struggling in a fast moving vehicle?”
    He shrugged. “I’m a quick study. Pick up details most others
miss.”
    “And yet you didn’t know I was a woman.”
    “Okay, you got me with that one. You being a woman surprised
the bloody hell out of me. So what’s the deal with you? You haven’t been vamp
long, have you?”
    “Six months. I didn’t want this nightmare. I was forced.”
    “Then what were you doing in the nightclub trying to get close
to a pack principal? Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? Talk to me,
Danni.”
    “Does it matter? You’re leaving. You’re disgusted by me—”
    He gripped her shoulders. “Not by you. Never by you. What we
just shared? That was incredible. It’s just...”
    “I know. The blood. Which, in case you haven’t figured it out
by now, is sort of a necessity when dealing with me.”
    “Yeah, I get that. And apparently me, too, now.” He rubbed the
heel of his palm over his temple. “I’m lost here, Danni. I have to quit blaming
you for biting me. What’s done is done. So what’s next? Am I going to need to
drink blood often? I don’t want to go after mortals. That would kill me. But
could I drink your blood? All the time? And that assumes you’d even let me.”
    He exhaled, and as he leaned forward into the breath, Danni
slid her arms around his neck and pressed her body to his like he’d wanted to do
moments ago. Felt too good for a burly old bruiser like him to fall into a
gorgeous woman’s tender embrace, but he wouldn’t—couldn’t—resist.
    “I like you, Hart. More than I should. I’ll help you figure
this out, if you want me to.”
    Nodding, he laid his head on her shoulder. Wrapping his arms
about her, he pulled her into his world, knowing it would never again be the
same, yet hoping she might ignite the spark that would light his way. He wasn’t
too proud to admit he didn’t want to go it alone; he needed her direction.
    “Come back inside,” she whispered. “We’ll talk.”
    “I have to return to the pack. Need to check in with Caufield
and see what’s on the schedule for the night. I’m security. Can’t be
avoided.”
    “What about this?” She tapped the scar on his neck and Hart
shivered at the minute erotic thrill tracing over his flesh. “If they see
it...?”
    “They’ll not be pleased. I’ll have to hide it until I suss
things about the new me.” He kissed her. Her mouth opened for him, giving and
taking no more or less than he desired. And curse him, but he desired her. “Can
I give you a ring later?”
    “Don’t call, just come over. I’ll be waiting for you.”
    *
    He wasn’t needed for guard duty tonight, yet Hart had
gotten an earful from Remy as the pack principal had sat behind his big mahogany
desk toying with paperwork. Hart could never decide if it were a ruse to make
Caufield look important, because what the hell kind of paperwork did a principal
need to do?
    They were on the lookout for the vampire who had attempted to
assassinate Remy, he’d learned. Assassinate? He didn’t think Danni had gone so
far, though he’d not asked her exact intentions. She was tough and could hold
her own against him, but to slay a werewolf? And in
a nightclub with guards close by? It didn’t fit. But Remy seemed to like that
idea, and the pack was circulating word to be on the lookout for a tall vampire
dressed in black.
    That basically described ninety-percent of the longtooths
skulking about Paris. But with his night open, Hart knew exactly how to spend
it. And that involved finding a tall vampire who may or may not be dressed in
black.
    *
    Danni rubbed essential oil on her wrist.