Tarnished (3 page)

Christ
. Not just any man. It was
him
. The guy.

He stepped around her and sat on her other side, his back skimming down the side of the building as he landed.

They sat in silence for a minute.

Kenzie froze, staring at the ground between her legs. What the hell was going on?

“I saw you slither out the side door,” he finally said.

“I didn’t
slither
,” she refuted.

He chuckled. “Snuck. Slinked. Slithered. What would you call it?” He turned his head her way and smiled.

She sucked in a breath and held it. She’d only seen him twice now. Once two years ago from across the room and then again about ten minutes ago in the hall. Both times she’d been on the move. Neither time had done her memory justice.

He was so gorgeous. Dark blond hair with natural highlights. Deep blue eyes that stared directly into hers. And his smile lit up his face. He was mocking her. But not in a menacing way. Just … teasing.

“Yeah. Any of those words pretty much sums it up, I guess.” She looked back down.
Holy shit.
She couldn’t hold his stare another second. He sucked the air out of the day.

“Hiding from someone?”

Yeah, you. And the rest of the world
. “I had to take a call.”

“And it wasn’t pleasant.” He didn’t ask. He knew.

“Not only do I have to eat crow when I next see my sisters, but my boyfriend is gay, and I didn’t know it.”
Why am I telling a stranger all this?

He started laughing, a low, deep sound that spread to her and made her smile. It was contagious. “That is bad.” He crossed his legs and situated himself better. “I mean, his loss.” He paused. His voice grew much more serious on the next muttered words. “My gain.”

She didn’t move. Kept looking at the ground. Her head spun. What the hell was happening, and why did she get the feeling her life was about to take a sharp veer to the right … or the left?

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh.”

“It’s okay. If it weren’t
my
fucked up life, I’d be laughing too.”

“So, where is this guy? I didn’t see you with anyone when I ran you down in the hall a while ago.”

He knew. Of course he’d known it was her. And then he’d followed her. Now, why did that make her cheeks flame? Two minutes ago she’d had the perfect boyfriend. On a dime, she was all aflutter about some stranger without a name.

Except she knew better. He was a wolf. She was a wolf also. She’d always heard this was how it would happen, but she’d never paid attention to anything anyone said about mating.

And she needed to distance herself now before she made a fool of herself. If she didn’t start slobbering, she would soon stick her foot in her mouth as she swooned like a gangly teenager. She’d never even felt faint when she was a teenager, and she wasn’t about to start now.

She scooted a few inches closer to the door. It was all the space she had before she’d get smashed if someone opened it.

Subtle, Kenz. So smooth
. “He’s with his family, I guess … or his new boyfriend.” She shivered just saying the word. She was no prude. It didn’t really matter to her whether he’d found another woman or a man. She still had the same predicament. No boyfriend.

“Why isn’t he here? At the gathering?”

She turned her face toward him.
Oh.
Realization dawned. “He’s human.”

“Ahh, I see.” He paused. “Do I make you nervous?”

She followed his gaze as he glanced down her body. She’d scooted even farther and crossed her arms over her chest. Her body language screamed
stay away from me
. She knew it. That was her goal.

“I suppose.”
Oh, hell.
Who was she kidding? “Yes.”

“I don’t mean to.”

“It’s not you…”
Fuck.
Had she not just cringed minutes ago over the same line coming from Darrell?

“So, it’s you?” He chuckled again. “I make you nervous, and it’s your fault?”

She smiled and looked back up at him. “Yes.”

Geez. He could melt chocolate with his gaze.
She squirmed under his intense scrutiny as he seemed to memorize her face. His scent snaked around her, encompassing her, permeating everything until she knew she’d never be able to escape it or forget it. A tingly sensation raised the hairs on her skin. Her pulse sped rapidly and her sex throbbed.

“I don’t bite,” he teased.

The last wolf did
.

His face fell. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For whatever happened in your past to put that look in your eyes. I promise I’ll never do whatever it was. I’m a nice guy. I swear.” His brows furrowed.

She’d have to give him credit; he was sincere. She almost believed him.

“I’m Drake, by the way.” He held out a hand.

“Mackenzie.” She tentatively took his hand and immediately regretted the action. Yep, she was in trouble. Even though they were both sitting on the ground, barely moving, they shocked each other on contact. And the residual wave of electricity shot up her arm and down her body, which now hummed with awareness. She released him and rubbed her palms on her knees.

“Nice to meet you, Mackenzie. So, what happened to the other guy?”

She narrowed her gaze at him. “Kenzie. My friends call me Kenzie. What other guy?”

“The one you left with two years ago. Thought he’d staked his claim. He looked intent.”

Wow, he missed nothing.

“Oh, he was mistaken.” She pursed her lips. “The asshole.”

Drake’s smile broadened. “Again, his loss. My gain. I’m batting a thousand today. I figured you two had run off into the sunset together.”

“Hardly. More like into the hall where I proceeded to bite his tongue, literally, when he shoved it in my mouth.” She cringed at the memory. “He was a pig.”

“Wow.” Drake scooted a few inches away from her, dramatically. “I’ll keep that in mind. Duly noted.” His voice was teasing, again. “Do you bite all men who kiss you, or just the assholes?”

Mackenzie swallowed the lump in her throat. “I don’t know,” she muttered.
What the fuck is the matter with me? Did I drink a truth serum?

Drake’s mouth fell open, but he didn’t speak. He turned kind of pale. Good, at least she got the shock value out of her comment. If she was going to be honest, she deserved some sort of reward.

When he finally closed his mouth and swallowed, she watched his Adam’s apple bob up and down. His muscular neck spread to his enormous shoulders, also ripped. He wore only a T-shirt, nothing fancy, but the thin material left little to the imagination.

Finally, he spoke again, softer this time. “Also duly noted.” He reached for her hand and clasped it where it lay on her knee. “I won’t take that information for granted.”

His palm was warm and rough. He had the calluses of a man who worked hard. She wanted him to run that palm up her arm and touch more of her skin. Was she in some kind of trance?

“I’m not…”
Not what? Not interested?
She was many things, but a liar she had never been. “I wasn’t planning on…”

“It’s okay. I wasn’t planning on… And I’m not… Either.” He grinned. His teeth were so white and perfect. She could smell his breath. Minty. If he kissed her, he wouldn’t reek like that Marcus jackass had. She stared at his lips, mesmerized. Soft. Inviting.

She licked her own lips.

“Stop that,” he muttered. He lifted her hand to his face and rubbed the back of her fingers against his cheek. The rough beginning of a shadow scraped over her knuckles and made her shiver. She wanted to turn her hand over and feel his face, his neck, his chest.

“Stop what?” Was she being coy? What the hell had happened to the Mackenzie Davis who had gotten out of bed this morning?

•

He shook his head and tucked his legs under him to stand. Pulling her up alongside him, he mumbled, “You’re going to be the death of me.”

Fuck me. I mean, fuck me hard. Holy shit.

In his wildest dreams, he never could have conjured up any images of today going like this. This woman was his. He could deny it. He could walk away. But, holy hell, no way was he going to do that.

She was skittish.
Shit
. She was more than skittish. She was unkissed! Except for the bastard who’d dragged her out of the room two years ago and played unfortunate tonsil hockey with her.

He needed to get her back inside. Not that he wanted to share her. Hell, what he’d rather do was drag her to his truck and drive across the state line as fast as possible. But she wasn’t that kind of girl. And he respected that. He would go slowly. It would kill him, but it would be worth it.

Never, ever would he want her to feel pressured. She was a treasure. A gem. He was sure of it.

“Hungry?”

She looked at him quizzically. “I guess.”

“Let’s get something to eat. We can head to the dining hall and grab a table. It’ll be better than this gravel under our butts.” He held her hand tighter than he intended. It wasn’t as though she could dodge him and run away. Although he wasn’t taking that chance… He just didn’t want to lose the connection.

He grabbed for the door, but she didn’t budge. Her arm stretched out with his grasp, but her feet didn’t move.

She bit her lip and lowered her gaze. “Could we not?”

“Not what? Eat? Sure. What would you like to do? Anything but that stupid meat-market room. I can’t take that.”

She lifted her gaze and gasped.

Hell, he would march straight to that room and make friends with everyone in it if it meant that much to her. “Unless you wanted to go there. I’ll survive.”

“No. It’s not that. It’s just that I called it the same thing you just did earlier today. A meat market. You surprised me. That place gives me the chills.”

Relief flooded him. Thank God. She was officially off the market. No need to seek out entertainment of the available-wolves type.

She still didn’t move forward. He stepped closer to her. When she didn’t protest, he cupped her cheek and tipped her head back. “Where do you want to go?”

“Can we just not? I’ve had a rough day. I can’t face my family right now. I don’t even know why I came here at all.”

“I’m glad you did.” He set his forehead on hers. She didn’t protest. Her scent burrowed under his skin. Into every pore on his body. Into his mouth. She made his heart race. He used every ounce of strength he didn’t really even possess to keep from taking her lips with his own. “Whatever you want.”

The woman could lead him to the moon. He didn’t care as long as she held his hand and gazed up at him with those wide chocolate eyes.

“Could we just stay out here? Or leave even? Do you think anyone would notice?”

Leave? Fuck me.
If he took her to his truck, could he keep from mauling her?
Hell, yes.
He could endure a lifetime of hard cocks if it was her wish. “I’m sure we could escape for a while. My family is more interested in the events than I am. They won’t notice me missing.”

She exhaled, her breath mingling with his between them. Inches separated their mouths.

And then she stepped back and turned away, her chest heaving for air as he watched her shoulders lift with each breath.
Thank God I’m affecting her as much as she is me.
It’d be hell if it weren’t equal
.

She pulled. He followed. It wasn’t in his nature. The woman had him under some sort of spell. He was a dominant alpha male through and through. Suddenly, this pixie of a woman, barely five feet three, had him by the balls. He was whipped. God. He’d never live this down once his brothers caught on.

“Where’s your car?”

Hey, at least he had one thing. Knowledge of the location of the vehicle. She couldn’t read his mind. “This way.” He nodded to the right and stepped in front of her.
I’ll lead
.

She shook her hand free and tucked both sets of fingers into the front pockets of her jeans. When he glanced back at her, she shrugged. “The connection was sucking my brain cells out of my head.”

He laughed. “True. I might actually be able to find my truck now.”

God, her smile was mesmerizing. It lit up her whole face. Tiny dimples formed on each cheek. Her gaze narrowed. He wanted to see that every day for the rest of his life. Now all he had to do was figure out how to convince her to go along with that in the next two hours.

He figured he could be gone that long without anyone missing him. And he’d treasure the moments alone with her.

The only sound filling the otherwise silent parking lot was the gravel beneath their feet. Everyone had arrived by now and funneled inside. The sun shone bright, beating off the roofs of the cars to warm the air and make him squint.

When they reached his truck, he opened the passenger door for her and helped her inside by gently holding her elbow. Her gasp at the contact matched his own elevated heart rate.
Lord, when will that spark of electricity ease up?

According to his parents, never.

Drake shut the door and rounded the hood at warp speed. His woman was inside his truck, and he didn’t want to waste a moment with her.

As soon as he started the ignition, he turned to face her. “Where do you want to go? I’m not familiar with this area at all. Are you staying close by?”

“I live here.”

“Oh, wow. That must be nice. Easiest commute ever.”

“I hate it.” She wagged her eyebrows and smiled. “This is not my thing. The entire… Never mind.”

He froze. What? What wasn’t her thing? Should he push her? He waited for her to say something else.

“Could we just sit right here? Maybe talk?” She fiddled with the hem of her sweater as she spoke.

“Of course. Anything you want.”

“What if I don’t want anything?”

That question was loaded.
Proceed with care, Drake
.

“You are a conundrum, my dear.”

She looked down at her lap. “Yeah, sorry.”

It was getting hot in the cab. Drake flipped on the air conditioning and glanced at the gas gauge. Good. Half a tank. That was plenty.