Forbidden Bond (6 page)

“You don’t know that. We need time.” She dropped her eyes to where their hands were still joined.
This is the right thing to do.
“
I
need time. I would really like to continue being Taylor McDaniel’s girlfriend for now and see where that leads.” She looked up, giving him a soft smile.

“That’s a good thing.” Taylor stroked the side of her cheek with the back of his knuckles, the ring nestled inside his fist. “Because I really like you being my girlfriend.” He lowered his arm and turned her hand over, exposing her palm. “But I want you to hold onto this.” Taylor positioned the ring in the center and folded her fingers over the solitaire. “That ‘no’…well, I’m thinking of it more as a ‘not yet’.” His smile grew. “Only a matter of time before this is going to be where it should be…” Taylor patted her wrist. “On your finger.”

“Taylor…” Olivia plucked the ring from her hand. “I shouldn’t keep this. I don’t want to lead you on.”

“Where is our server?” Taylor scanned the area around their table, ignoring her attempt to return the solitaire. “I think we need a little more to drink.” He pulled away and stood. “I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.”

Taylor stepped away, and Olivia couldn’t hold back the sigh that rushed from her chest. God, that had been hard. She stared down at the diamond between her fingers, the empty box sitting on the table where Taylor had left it. The recessed halogens over the booth danced off the facets of the stone, sending prisms of light into the air. She studied the patterns. So complex, beautiful. She loved Taylor dearly as a friend. Maybe with time, the deeper passion that she desperately wanted to feel for him would come.

Snatching her glass from the table, Olivia allowed her shoulders to fall against the seat’s backrest. She tossed back a large gulp of the slightly sweet wine, then glanced out at the other tables across from their booth.

Oh. My. God.

The Zinfandel hit her stomach with a heavy
thud
, and her head buzzed. Not from the alcohol, but from the person staring at her from across the room.

Eion.

Had he seen what had transpired between her and Taylor? His expression told her nothing about what went on in his head. Then with a flick of his wrist, he snagged his beer bottle and lifted it in salute.

Her pulse hammered to life.

He’d seen the whole thing.

With the elegance of a prize stud, Eion rose and sauntered in her direction. He hadn’t been in Little Crow for years, but the way he crossed the floor of
Chuck’s
, a stranger would have thought he owned the place. His aura screamed confidence, strength—dominance. On any other man, the swagger would come off as arrogance, but on Eion, it was just a damn fact. She yanked her gaze away from him and all his hotness, planting it on the beverage remaining in her goblet.

The heels of his boots struck the hardwood floor, their thump like a predator’s warning to its prey. But she couldn’t muster the strength to run. Or maybe there was something on a deeper level that kept her there, waiting for him to come to her once more. Yeah, she must be a masochist.

“Should I be offering my congratulations?” Eion’s deep voice rolled over her flesh like a warm blanket on a frigid night. She tightened her grip on her wine, battling the urge to run her palms over her arms. In the best nonchalant attitude she could muster, Olivia lifted her head.

Bad move.

The slow lift of her eyes to his face only allowed her more time to drink in the view. Black denim encased broad thighs, and a wide leather belt drew her focus to his narrow waist. Higher still, she found he wore a crisp white long-sleeved dress shirt which was a striking contrast to his sun-drenched skin tone, hazel eyes, and the black as sin locks that brushed his shoulders. His coloring, if she remembered correctly, was a gift from his Native American and Irish heritage. Olivia took another long swallow of her wine. He could wait for her response—that and for her nerves to settle.

“You spying on me, Mandrake?” she finally managed to utter and lowered her glass. “Because, lately, you do seem to pop up everywhere.”

“Hardly.” He propped one arm on the back of the booth. “Just kind of hard for one not to notice all the groping and tongue swallowing going on in the corner over here. When you two came up for air, I would have bet money that it was a couple of horny teenagers.”

Who the hell did he think he was?
Olivia leaned forward. “We were not groping,” she bit out through her teeth. “And why would you care if we were? Unless you were enjoying the show?” She cocked a brow, the word
pervert
lingering unspoken between them.

Gotcha.
She couldn’t help herself. Even now as a grown woman, the man triggered a deep competitive gene that rebelled at the idea of allowing him to have the upper hand. Her reaction to Eion was so different from how she responded to Taylor. Taylor didn’t push her buttons like this man did. Even back when she had been a teenager, something about Eion had made her edgier, had provoked her inner bad girl and just his glance made her flush.

In a slow deliberate move, Eion lowered his arm, and she could have sworn the brown flecks in his irises had flickered, taking on a more amber hue.
Strange.
She blinked and refocused her gaze. Eion stared back, but this time the vibrant array of blue, green, and brown were back to normal. The apparition had to have been the intensity of the halogens and the heat of the moment.

A hint of an amused smile curled one side of his mouth. “You always gave as good as you got, Liv.” He nodded and took a quick swig of his beer before plopping it onto the surface of her table. Without warning, Eion reached in and captured her hand. Her next breath lodged in her throat. He glanced down at the rock in her palm before turning his gaze to hers. “Why aren’t you wearing your ring?”

She swallowed hard. “Since you’re determined to put your nose where it doesn’t belong, we’ve decided to wait a little while longer.”

“I see…” Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the slight nod of his head. “You’re not in love with him?”

Did he know? He couldn’t read her that well, could he? She yanked her hand back and shoved it in her lap.

“What?” She shook her head. “God, you’re so rude.”

“It’s a simple question.” He shrugged. “Do you love him?”

“Yes,” she spat, nearly choking on the words and the remnants of her dinner that had somehow climbed their way to the back of her throat. “Taylor means the world to me. It’s just…it’s complicated.”

He grabbed what was left of his brew from the tabletop. “Must be, since you’re with the man you say you love and have a diamond in your hand, yet you look like you’d rather be anywhere else but here.”

Olivia jerked her head back in his direction, but he’d already moved toward the restaurant’s entrance. She drew in a shaky breath, willing her nervous system to reset to calm
.

“Hey there.” Taylor’s voice brought her back. “You okay?” He dropped back into place beside her. “I saw some guy leaving our table. Did he upset you?”

“No.” She shook her head and wrapped her fingers around his hand. “No, I’m fine.” Olivia pasted on a smile.

“Good.” Taylor slid in closer and brushed his palm over her hair. At that moment, their server returned to their table with a bottle of wine and set it on ice. Finished, Barb smoothed a few strands of her strawberry blonde tresses away from her face and quickly propped her hands on her hips. “Anything else I can get you two?”

“This will be fine,” Taylor said, pulling the bottle free from its icy nest.

“Okay then, enjoy!” Barb swished around and headed off.

With a
pop
, the cork flew from the chilled bottle. Olivia jumped. Geez, her nerves were on edge.

“Sorry about that.” Taylor chuckled and poured some of the golden liquid into her glass.

“That’s okay,” Olivia said with a laugh as he handed her a refill.

“So who was that?”

Her hand trembled at the memory, but she quickly recovered, putting the wine glass to her lips, balancing the weight. Olivia allowed the fluid to flow over her tongue, enjoying the bite of the alcohol and fizz on the roof of her mouth. After gathering her composure, she answered.

“That was Eion Mandrake. The guy you ran into at the clinic a couple of days ago.”

Taylor paused mid-pour, glanced her way for a second, then continued filling his glass. He set the bottle back in the ice with a
crunch
. “I guess I didn’t recognize him with his shirt on. So what did he want?”

“He saw your proposal from his table and came over, wondering if congratulations were in order.”

Taylor downed a swallow of his Zinfandel. “He waited for me to leave first, huh?”

“Are you jealous?” she teased and bumped his shoulder, doing her best to lighten the mood.

Taylor released a “pfft” and lowered his glass. “No.” He shrugged. “Just protective. That’s all. I’m not sure about that guy.”

“Protective.” Olivia smiled. “Okay.” She grasped his forearm. “I’m sure he just didn’t want to interrupt us, and when you left he saw a chance to say hello.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Besides, I’m sure Eion will be leaving Little Crow Pass very soon anyway. There’s nothing here for him.”

Chapter Five

He had to get out of there.

Eion jerked open the door of his black Silverado. The growl, trapped in his throat since seeing Olivia, spilled free inside the cab. He shoved himself behind the steering wheel, claws emerging, curling from their nail beds.
Shit!
He had to get a grip on his wolf. Eion yanked his arms down at his sides and sucked in a long, deep breath through his nostrils.

What was wrong with him?
Dumb ass question. He knew what, or who, was wrong with him.

The moment he’d watched them slide into the booth together, he should have taken that as a cue to leave. Oh, but hell no. He had to sit there and watch them make out. Eion repositioned in his seat, the ache in his groin a persistent and painful reminder of why he should have never come back. The longer he remained in her presence, the harder it would be to ignore the demands of his body, and his wolf.

Olivia was human, and nothing was ever going to change that. If only life was as simple as the movies and one bite could alter her DNA and make her one of his own. But this was reality, and no amount of wishing was going to change a damn thing. You were born a shifter, not made. The only thing his bite would do was announce to his world that she belonged to him—that they were mates. The thought made his dick as hard as a rock, but it solved nothing. She would never be accepted, especially not at their rising alpha’s side. His pack would want her either dead or gone—and neither was acceptable.

He groaned, allowing his head to bang into the headrest. This was so messed up.

He’d been an arrogant asshole walking up to her table after her boyfriend had left. But staying in his seat after what he’d witnessed hadn’t been an option. Unable to turn away, he’d watched them kiss, and thanks to the gift or curse of his extrasensory hearing, listened to the other man’s declaration of love—his desire to spend the rest of his life with Liv. Then he’d offered her a ring. Eion had nearly lost it right there amidst a room full of humans, until he’d noticed Olivia’s expression.

The look of resignation that had washed over her face.

His server had appeared at that moment with the check and the beer he’d ordered, and Eion had missed the final outcome of the proposal. Staying in his seat after Taylor had walked away was impossible.

According to Liv’s story, they’d decided to wait. She’d said no, yet kept his ring? Liv vowed that she loved him and the guy meant the world to her, but to Eion, her eyes reflected a different story. One that wasn’t a woman madly in love with her man.

What the hell was she doing?

Canines surged from his gums.

Blood pounded in his ears.

Eion thrust his keys into the ignition switch and the engine roared to life. Maybe he was wrong. He hadn’t been around her for twelve years, and maybe he was seeing shit that wasn’t really there. That’s what he was going to have to believe—didn’t have a damn choice in the matter. He had to get away from
Chuck’s
before he went back in there, ripped a certain man to pieces, and claimed what was his.

The ride home was an adrenaline-laced blur of white stripes on the road. Eion barely remembered the trip. He slammed on the brakes in front of his house and cut the engine. Every muscle in his body twitched, begging to release the beast inside.

Hold on.

Keys in hand, he shoved the truck’s door closed. The resulting
bang
echoed across the open expanse of the acreage. Clouds of dust from the race down his driveway filled the air around him like a veil, forcing the scent of dry earth mixed with the musk of nearby cattle into his nostrils.

He stormed up the few steps to his front door, jammed his keys into the lock, and with a twist of his wrist Eion was inside. Not a moment too soon. The door slammed shut.

Shoes.

Jeans.

Shirt.

They hit the floor one by one in a trail of desperation for freedom from his human form.

Eion flung the rear kitchen door open and fell forward onto all fours, slicing the screen door with his paws on the way down. With a nudge from his muzzle, the wood and screen barrier gave way and he bounded outside.

A sliver of a moon sat trapped behind the evening’s clouds, allowing a blanket of darkness to cover the one hundred acres of his land. Eion could no longer hold back the howl that tore from his lungs. He welcomed the shroud of the night, dove into it at a full run. It was the only way to temporarily exorcise the obsessive thoughts shredding his control.

He pumped his legs, air sawing from his lungs and exiting his muzzle in large huffs. Eion leaped over a fence rail, his presence stirring the horses he’d brought from home. The sound of their distress filled his ears. But he’d be long gone in seconds, and they’d soon calm. Thank God for the night, and the anonymity it brought when he could run free—claws, fur, and fangs revealed.