Chapter 39 #3
Damien studies my face for a long moment, then nods. “All right. But text me when you get home.”
I smile but have no intention of doing it.
“I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
I’m already turning toward Maren’s table before he finishes the sentence. “Night, Damien.”
The heat on my neck as I walk through the crowded bar tells me his eyes are following. When I reach their table, Maren’s face lights up.
“There she is. I was just telling Brian and Mark about the time you had to give a porcupine an enema.”
That particular story never gets less humiliating.
“This is why I don’t let her drink tequila.”
Brian laughs. “Sounds like veterinary medicine has its prickly moments.”
I groan, but I join in their laughing. “Maren’s rubbed off on you already.”
“I’ve been saving that one since she told me,” Brian says, not looking remotely ashamed.
“He’s been making wildlife puns for the last five minutes. I’m impressed with his originality.”
“Time to go.” I grab her purse and help her to her feet. “Before you do something JT will have to forgive you for.”
“But we were just getting to the good part!”
“The good part is where we both wake up tomorrow with our dignity intact.”
Mark and Brian wave us off, and I get Maren outside into the crisp night air.
“So…” She’s slightly more coherent now that we’re away from the noise. “Damien Wolfe… showing up and going all caveman on poor Mark.”
“He wasn’t that bad.”
“Luna, sweetie, that man took one look at Mark and Brian and basically pissed on you to mark his territory. Very alpha male.” I think about denying it, but she’s not wrong. “As much as my feminist side finds that macho posturing offensive, it’s also kinda hot.”
“He’s coming to dinner tomorrow night.”
Maren’s eyes light up. “Finally! Are you going to fuck him?”
“Maren!”
“What? It’s a legitimate question. You need a good, hard railing, Lu. It’s been too damn long.”
The tequila lowers my inhibitions, and for a moment I teeter on the edge of confession.
Everything inside me wants to spill. About all these emotions I can’t name, and the tangle of guilt and ecstasy that defines this relationship that exists only in shadows.
How he makes me his possession while somehow making me feel like a goddess.
The way terror and exhilaration dance together in my bloodstream until I can’t tell which is which.
And how fear and desire have become indistinguishable in the dark corners of my heart, tasting like freedom when it’s mixed with his touch.
But something holds me back. Speaking of it in daylight or outside a dark bar after tequila shots might strip away the perfection and break the spell.
“I’m not sleeping with Damien on our first date. I’m not twenty-five anymore.”
Maren studies my face, then shrugs. “Fine. But when you do, I want every dirty detail.”
My chest loosens as she lets it drop. “Noted. Now, can we please get an Uber to your place? My shoulder’s throbbing, and I’ve hit my limit of social interaction for the month.”
“Such a hermit.”
She arranges for our ride, and I stare into the darkness of the forest surrounding the small mountain town, wondering if he’s out there watching.
It sends a shiver through me, dampened only by the knowledge that tonight, my bed will only have Maren in it, kicking me in her sleep. Tonight, I won’t feel the cool metal of his mask between my thighs.
Maren appears beside me and links her arm through mine. “Our ride will be here in five minutes.”
I lean against her as we wait. “Thanks for dragging me out tonight. I needed this.”
She squeezes my arm. “Getting you drunk and trying to hook you up with hot, age-appropriate men are what best friends are for. At least until a sexy billionaire silver fox shows up.”
I laugh. “He doesn’t have much gray in his hair.”
“It’s incredibly sexy, though.”
“Yeah… it is.”
Our Uber arrives, a middle-aged woman in a sedan who beams at us as we climb in and asks about our night. Maren regales her with an exaggerated version of my bear encounter while I rest my head against the window, watching the town lights blur past.
The alcohol is making me philosophical, and I think about the two very different men in my life. Damien, with his wealth, power, and undeniable attraction to me. And my wolf, with his mask and darkness and the way he makes me feel like I’m burning alive.
As we reach the edge of downtown and drive through the quiet rural roads, that familiar sensation of being watched settles over me again.
I glance out the back window but see nothing except distant headlights in the dark.
Still, the feeling persists, making me wonder if somewhere out there, he’s watching.
Tomorrow, I’ll return to my sanctuary. And tomorrow night, I’ll have dinner with Damien. But after he leaves, when darkness falls, my wolf will come to me again.
How am I supposed to reconcile the growing attraction I feel for one man and the burning desire I have for the other?
Have I made a mistake by inviting Damien over? The last thing I want is to provoke my wolf’s anger, but part of me wants his reaction. I want him to lose control.
Under different circumstances, the shuddery feeling I get around Damien would make me want to pursue something real with him. But my life isn’t simple, and my heart isn’t free. That doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy dinner with a man who makes me almost as breathless as my wolf.
For tonight, though, I’m just a woman slightly drunk and pleasantly tired, heading to her best friend’s apartment after a normal night out.
Just for tonight, I can pretend that’s all I am.