Wolf's Desire (5 page)

“It’s a dangerous job, isn’t it?
” Keira asked. “What do your parents think about your work?”

He nodded. “My life has been threatened hundreds of times. I don’t take these threats lightly, but I have gotten used to them. As for my parents, they have ac
cepted my choice, but not happily.”

“Then you and I have something in common, but at least you pursued your dreams,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

“I worked as a seamstress in the hopes of later becoming a fashion designer and opening up my own dress shop.
My mom is a nurse and my father is a doctor. They wanted me to pursue medicine and join their practice.”

“I reviewed your files,” he said, following her
lead and cutting into the second half of his salmon. “Unless there was a mistake, it says that you don’t work outside of the home.”

“
There is no mistake. When I married Jamison, I sort of agreed to work close to home, if not within it. He ran most of his business out of this estate as well, so the request didn’t seem that unusual at the time.”

“You were
only twenty three years old when you married Mr. Ellis. There’s quite a gap in age between the two of you.”

Keira placed her hands in her lap, not feeling hungry anymore.
“Jamison and my father were very good friends prior to me meeting him. Our household was going through a rough time back then. Jamison was old-fashioned. He asked my father for his permission to marry me, and in the process offered my father something he couldn’t turn down.”

“Your father didn’t mind the age difference
either?”

“
Not at the time. It wasn’t until Jamison and I moved that he began to voice his real opinions. It was too late because I’d already decided what I wanted. I grew even further apart from my parents after that decision.”

“When was the last time you spoke with them?”

Keira frowned. “At Jamison’s funeral.” She remembered it like it was yesterday. The horrid look in her parent’s eyes as Jamison was put to rest. The body was so badly mutilated that she’d insisted on a closed casket at the wake and burial.

Shortly after the fu
neral her mother had asked her what she’d gotten herself into, as if she’d had some hand in all of this happening. But she could tell her parents were just scared. They wanted no part in the danger of it all. Keira was left to deal with the loss alone, praying she wasn’t the next victim.

“I’m sorry to bring back these memories, but I have to ask these questions. I’m here to protect you, but I also need to understand the full extent of the threats to your life
to prepare for the worst. I’m sure you know what my next question will be?”

She swallowed, but it did nothing to moisten her dry throat. “I don’t know why they killed my husband.”

“They?”

“One of the killers was found dead last week floating in a pond.
His name was Leonard. He sat on the company’s board several months prior to his death. The case was recently closed and it was noted that Leonard held a grudge against Jamison and brutally murdered him out of spite.”

Aiden sat back in his chair.
“It doesn’t look like you believe this.”

“There is no doubt
there was some sort of falling out between he and Leonard, but the plot to kill Jamison did not happen overnight. And he didn’t act alone.”

“Someone else aided him?”

“Leonard wasn’t the man who delivered the death blow that killed Jamison.” She paused, and her gaze ran across the patterns on the table cloth. Why was she recounting the story for what seemed like the hundredth time? No one every believed her side of it. “There was no earthly way a man could have done what that thing did to Jamison.”

“What happened to Jamison?
What do you mean that thing?”

“He had an attack dog with him. Some kind of rabid wolf.” She shook her head lightly, trying to
dispel the image. “His throat…the thing tore out—” Before she could finish her sentence disgust rose to her throat and she clutched her tightened chest.

“You’re still upset about it.” Aiden’s expression turned from hardened to remorseful.

“Do you feel the need to quit now? After I’ve told you this…?”

“I’m not one to back down,” Aiden said, in a low but firm voice.
“Can you tell me more about the wolf? Did they find him?”

“No one believes me, not even my lawyer. But there was a wolf…there really was.”
A sharp pain tugged inside her head. A migraine.
She hated them.
Evidently the memories were still too much for her to handle. Keira rose from the table and tossed the cloth napkin next to her half eaten entrée. “I don’t feel well. Talking about that night has never been easy for me.”

“I understand.” Aiden rose and reached for her.
“I’m sorry for your loss.”

When his gentle hand made contact with her forearm, sh
e paused, almost forgetting her sordid past. His touch felt so right, smooth and reassuring against her skin. In that moment, she didn’t want to let go.

Keira
slowly lifted her gaze to meet his smoldering eyes. His pupils contracted reminding her of something exotic, feral…and animalistic. He was close. Close enough that she could feel his body vibrating against her.

Like this—so near to him—she could see the perfection in his skin tone and his facial features. He smelled of the forest after a rain storm. She
closed her eyes and imagined herself among thick green foliage, waterfalls, and beautiful prairies. Anywhere else but here, in the midst of tragedy and danger. Taking a deep breath, she let his scent engulf her and her headache began to subside. But she knew, without a doubt, that it would take more than his intoxicating smell and protection to erase the bad memories.

When she opened her eyes again, their bodies were pressed together. She wondered if she’d moved against him in the heat of the moment. Or did he? His gaze shifted across her face and his lips were slightly parted.
It had been years since she’d been this close to a man.

Her palm rested against
his chest and her eyes dropped to the top three buttons undone on his shirt. A glimpse of solid muscle peeked out. There was a long jagged scar across his shoulder blade. She couldn’t see all of it, but it looked like an old, yet painful injury. There were other scars, but this one stood out the most.

She pressed her fingers to his skin. “What happened here?” There was a sharp intake of breath as she slid a digit against the raised flesh.

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “It’s a long story.”

“I don’t have anywhere to go tonight, and I hope I haven’t scared you away.”

“I will tell you tomorrow.” He took her hand and gently placed it at her side. “But tonight, I would like you to get some rest.”

And just like that, he stepped back
and the cold air immersed her once again.

For several minutes after he dro
pped her off in her bedroom, she stood looking at the closed door. Something stirred within her. A feeling that had never been experienced before. There was the pull toward Aiden even after she could no longer see him. It was strange. As she stood there glancing at the light spilling under the door into her room, she still felt his presence on the other side of it. His scent, woodsy and fresh, was all over her—yet he’d only touched her for a few minutes.

Fatigue finally set in, and her pounding headache seemed to creep back up on her. She stepped back away from the door to get ready for bed. Only then did she hear the creak from the
old hardwood floors and solid footsteps retreat into the room next to hers.

Aiden was here to protect her for now, but he wouldn’t be for long. She had four months to find the
real motive behind Jamison’s death, keep the promise she made on the night of the murder, and then finally move on with her life.

“How long have you been standing outside of my door?” Keira asked, crossing her arms.

Aiden was speechless for a moment as her smell greeted him. Under the fresh floral scent of her body wash was the aura of peaches that he had come to know as her signature. She wore a long dress that caressed her body in all the right places and sandals that showed off small dainty feet and toenails painted red. She wore her hair straight, sweeping across her shoulders.

“I rise
very early, Miss Ellis.” It was better than telling her that he knew the exact moment she rose from bed, and that it had taken her an hour to get ready thereafter. As with any other assignment, his job duties began the moment his client rose. Keira Ellis was no different. Mate or not, he couldn’t protect her if he didn’t follow the rules.

“I smell breakf
ast,” she said. “Care to join me again? You asked me many questions, and I hardly asked you any.”

“I’m not all that interesting, Miss Ellis.”

She grinned, and gave him a sideways glance as they walked down the hall. “Let me be the judge of that, Aiden Price.”

Damn
, her voice was mesmerizing. The ends of her dress brushed against her ankles as she walked. The fabric on the garment was loose, yet it hung to her hips and ass teasingly. It took everything in him to force himself not to grab her, whisk her back to the one of the rooms, and lay her out on the bed so he could have his way with her. He felt helplessly entranced by the needs consuming him. No one could have ever prepared him for his. The day when he would finally meet the woman who had the power to bring him to his knees. And she didn’t even know it. Yet. And to protect her from those who threatened her, as well as his world, he would keep it that way.

Breakfast was already placed on the same dining table where they’d eaten dinner last night. Chafing dishes and serving trays were grouped in the center of the table with empty plates and shining utensils arranged neatly on two placemats.

“Do you eat like this all the time?” he asked before he could stop himself.

“What are you trying to say? That I eat too much?”

“No, not at all.”

“I told Thomas to make you feel at home. Balanced meals three times a day is what he promised
. Francine will ensure you have fresh linens, towels, and your clothes dry-cleaned each day. If you need anything else during your stay, let us accommodate you.”

“I’m on an employment contract. I don’t expect you to treat me like a guest.”

After taking her seat, she folded out her napkin on her lap and picked up her utensils. “Call it southern hospitality. I was raised to treat others as I want to be treated. It’s just my way of showing appreciation in exchange for your protection.”

“Your appreciation is noted, however, I committed to protecting you the moment the contract was signed,” he said, just before they helped themselves to the food.

Southern hospitality?
She’d showed him an abundance of it the moment they met. Usually within twenty four hours of meeting a new client, he could tell if he was going to like them or not. Liking them was one thing. Tolerating them was another. There was something about Keira that he was fascinated by. Was it the hint of sweet southern drawl in her voice? The warm cinnamon hue of her skin? Or was it her scent—the smell that reminded him of a lush peach orchard?

He wanted to pull
his fingers through her lush dark hair, drag them down her back, and mold them against the curve of her hips. When she was in his arms last night, he fought with the urge to kiss her senseless. She wasn’t some woman who he’d hook up with one night and have a quick tryst with. She was the client. He was her bodyguard. She was not someone he could fuck and then forget about.

Of course, what he could not rule out was that she was definitely his mate.

If he’d known beforehand that Keira would be so beautiful and would have such a riveting effect on his libido, he would have sated his desires before coming here.

How could this human be his mate? How was this possible?

The wolf within begged to break free. Just this morning, he’d instantly realized that Keira’s scent was still on the clothes he wore yesterday.

He’d had the
inclination to shift and run wild in the thick fields damp with morning dew in search of something to fulfill the void. Would he have discovered the peach orchards that she swore were nowhere in significant radius of the estate? He’d wallow around in it, bite into the ripe fruit, savoring the sweet juices. Once his taste buds were satisfied and his heightened senses restrained, then for sure, the sight and scent of her wouldn’t drive him so mad?

At that moment, they both looked up at the same time and their gazes locked. Keira had this wild determined spirit that he doubted anyone could break. She was very clear yesterday that she would find her ex-husband’s killer
. Young and innocent. Strong, yet scorned that someone would kill her spouse.

Keira bit her bottom lip, and the released it slowly. The nerves within his loins stirred as he wondered if her mouth tasted of the same lush fruit she smelled like.

Aiden had a rule. He had many rules that assured his mission carried out successfully. One of them being…