Sex had always been a bit of fun for Max. An easy, enjoyable way to blow off steam; one that didn’t require any more of him than what he was willing to give. But it’d never been like that. Like what he’d just shared with Vivian. Never a blinding need. Something vital and real that just kept building inside him, like an ever-expanding hunger. One that would never be sated, no matter how many times and ways he took her.
Somehow, what they’d just done together had been the single most intense, mind-blowing experience of his entire life, and he hadn’t even fucked her! He tried again to wrap his brain around it, but couldn’t. All he could reason was that fooling around with one’s life mate didn’t just change the rules of the game—it changed the fucking game altogether.
But at least now he understood why all the couples in the Alley were constantly running off for “alone time.” Hell, after what he’d just learned, Max was surprised they ever managed to make it out of their beds in the first place.
And on top of it all, he genuinely liked this girl. He’d never found a woman as appealing as he did Vivian, even when she was sniping at him…or driving him crazy by running away. She was sharp and witty, not to mention incredibly brave and beautiful. Funny and giving and sometimes impossibly sweet. She was the whole friggin’ package, and he wanted to stay close to her in a way that felt like a physical need. Wanted to keep holding her in his arms, just like this, watching through the bedroom window as the sun melted its way out of the sky and darkness fell around them—but there was no way in hell he was going to ignore the warning that Arra had given them. Not when his woman’s safety was on the line.
But first, he needed to make sure she stayed healthy, and that meant taking care of her and getting something in her belly before they hit the road.
“Think you could eat something now?” he murmured, running his palm over the feminine curve of her hip. When she glanced up at him, suddenly looking a little shy, he couldn’t help but tease, “Real food this time.”
She blushed bright pink, which was freaking adorable.
“Look at that blush,” he husked, stroking the pad of his thumb across her burning cheek.
“Shut up,” she huffed, giving a playful smack to his shoulder as she shifted around to sit beside him, her long hair falling down her back in a silken wave.
“We’re gonna have to get out of here soon, so I’ll make us some sandwiches while you get dressed.”
Forcing himself to move to his feet, Max leaned over and scooped her up off the floor. After he set her back down on the bed, he couldn’t resist leaning over and getting another taste of her sweet lips, a groan rattling in his chest when he had to force himself to pull back before he got carried away and they never made it out of the bedroom. And from the heavy-lidded way she was looking up at him, he had a feeling Vivian felt the same way.
With a smile on his lips that felt like it might stay there forever, he turned and started doing up his fly as he headed for the door, feeling better than he had in years. But before he’d even set foot in the hallway, his smile fell, a wave of tension overtaking him that grew stronger with each step that he took away from her.
What the hell?
It was like his body was physically protesting not being close to her, and an uneasy feeling crept up his spine, curling around the back of his neck like a yoke, weighing him down. He knew he sounded like a dick, but this… Shit, he didn’t have a single idea where her head was at or how she even felt about him, other than that she wanted him physically. And here he was, already…
Christ, he couldn’t even think it.
Completely clueless about the crap going on in his head, she called out to him. “Hey, before you go, I wanted to run something by you.”
Turning in the doorway, he kept his expression neutral as he pushed his hands in his pockets and braced his shoulder against the doorframe. “I’m listening.”
“I really feel like I need to talk to my mom,” she said, and there was a tightness in her expression that hadn’t been there a moment ago, as she wrapped the soft afghan from the foot of the bed around her and moved to her feet. “I keep thinking about it, and I really want to ask her some questions…about my dad. And what’s…happening to me. So I was wondering if maybe we could drive to Ohio.”
“I wish we could, but it’s too dangerous to go to her place, Viv. There’s always a chance they could be watching it, as well as her work and your brothers’ schools. And like I mentioned before, they could have already tapped her phone.”
“That’s why I thought we could go to my grandmother’s place,” she said, giving him an imploring look as she tucked the afghan under her arms. “If they looked for me there, then they know she’s gone. The last time I talked to my mom, she told me that Gran was going down to Florida until the end of January so that she could spend some time with her sister. But my mom stops by super early every Wednesday morning to take care of her garden for her, whether Gran is in town or not. I know I took us in the opposite direction last night, but if we hurry, we could be there in time to catch her tomorrow morning.”
He scrubbed his hand over his jaw, an uneasy feeling in his gut. “It’s still dangerous.”
“But not if we’re super careful. I think we could sneak in from the back. No one watching the house would even spot us, and I have a key for the back door.”
“Huh. You’ve got an answer for everything.”
Her hair moved over her bare shoulders as she shook her head, her blue eyes filled with worry. “Hardly. That’s why I need to talk to my mom, and this seems like the safest way.”
“Safer for her maybe,” he muttered, still not liking the idea.
“Max, I need to do this.”
“Fine,” he sighed, recognizing the determination on her face, since it was the same stubborn expression that he’d seen Michaela wear from time to time, whenever she decided to dig in and do things her own way. “And, hell, anywhere has got to be better than this place.”
A shiver moved over her, and she cast an uneasy look toward the window. “So it’s not just me? It’s creeping you out too?”
His chest jerked with a gritty laugh. For a guy who loved the outdoors, Max had never been uneasy in a forest before. But this place gave him what Michaela would call the “heebie jeebies.”
“Yeah, it’s creeping me out,” he told her. “Makes my skin crawl whenever I think about going outside.”
She took a step toward him. “Then let’s go ahead and get out of here. We can grab some food on the road.”
“Good call.”
“What?” she asked a moment later, when she looked over and saw him still just standing there, giving her his undivided attention.
“I just hate watching you get dressed,” he drawled with a crooked smile, before forcing himself to turn and walk away.
And his smile stayed firmly in place as her soft laughter followed him like a shadow down the hall.
Chapter Nine
Born This Way
Twenty minutes later, they were back on the road in his truck, heading toward Ohio. With one hand on the steering wheel, and the other resting on his thigh, Max took a moment to pull in a deep breath, loving the way Vivian’s lush scent had filled the interior of the cab. Then he got down to business, saying, “So your mom, she has a place in Dayton, right? Not far from your grandmother’s house in Perryton?”
“Yeah. The apartment’s not very big, so my little brothers share a room. And she usually has whatever loser she’s decided to hook up with for the moment living with them. She kinda goes through men like paper plates.”
“Do you think that’s why your old man took off?”
From the corner of his eye, he caught the dark look she shot his way. “What?”
He’d known the question was a bad idea as soon as it’d left his mouth, and was quick to try and explain. “Hey, I’m not saying he wasn’t a dick for abandoning his wife and kids. I’m just wondering what went wrong between them. If it was because of what
he was…or something else entirely.”
A quick glance in her direction showed her staring out the passenger-side window, the elegant shape of her jaw tight with irritation as she pulled her hair over her shoulder and started twisting the long strands. “Why do you even care, Max?”
“Christ, Viv. It’s not like I’m interrogating you. And I’m sorry if that all came out wrong. I just want the chance to get to know you better.”
“Well, my mom did not cheat on my dad. The opposite in fact. She freaking worshipped him. But he…” Lowering her gaze, she blew out a rough breath and rubbed her hands over the tops of her thighs. “He was just never there, even when he was. You know what I mean?”
“Yeah, I’ve known some people like that,” he said, thinking of some of the Lycans up in Shadow Peak who had never managed to find an even footing again after all the trouble that had nearly torn the pack apart nine years ago.
“So when he finally just didn’t come back from one of his trips,” she said into the deepening twilight, “it wasn’t that surprising. Heartbreaking, and it… It definitely broke her. But I don’t think she was surprised.”
Wishing he could take her into his arms and give her a comforting hug, he reached over and grabbed her hand. “That sucks, babe.”
“I just don’t understand why he stuck around for as long as he did, knocking her up three times and creating a family, if it wasn’t what he wanted.”
Rubbing his thumb over her delicate knuckles, he kept his voice gentle as he said, “Sometimes people try to convince themselves that they can handle things that they can’t. I don’t know what your old man was thinking, and it sounds like he was a selfish prick, but maybe he wanted to be something that he couldn’t. And when he finally realized it was never going to happen, he gave up trying.”
“Maybe,” she said softly, turning to stare out the window again. Sensing that she wanted some time to think, he set her hand back on her thigh and turned the radio on to a holiday station, keeping the volume low, his own thoughts mired in the past, and in his increasingly confusing present, as they headed down the highway.
“It looks like there are some fast food places up ahead,” he said about thirty minutes later, eyeing the signs at the side of the road. “Anything sound good to you?”
“Ohmygod, I’m starving now. They all sound good.”
Glancing over at her, Max was relieved to see that she no longer looked quite so lost in her bad memories, her lips curving in one of those beautiful smiles that always hit him right in the chest. Not that he blamed her for getting caught up in the past. That was like his gold medal event, after all, and he understood far too easily how quickly a person could slip down that slope. He just hated to see her upset about things that she couldn’t ever change.
I’d point out how ridiculous it is to hear that particular thought coming from you, but hopefully you’re smart enough to figure it out for yourself.
He ground his jaw, hating it when the smart-ass wolf made such perceptive points. Especially ones he couldn’t find a single argument for, because the bastard was right. Didn’t he spend far too much time in his head, bemoaning the things that he’d lost? Hell yeah, he did. And it’d become a futile, dangerous pastime that had kept him from fully embracing who and what he was today—one that was even affecting the way he looked at Vivian and what they could someday have together.
Max could have easily mulled over those troubling thoughts for the rest of the night, but as the exit came up for their dinner choices, he decided to focus on the beautiful woman sitting beside him instead. They chose to grab some Mexican food, and after going through the drive-thru, he parked in the lot and they ate in the truck, listening to the radio and making casual conversation that didn’t require anything heavier than naming their favorite movies.
“Everything okay?” she asked, when he pulled his phone from his pocket to check the text that had just come through.
“Yeah. It’s just a message from my sister.” Michaela was worried sick about him, but he didn’t think that was something that needed to be shared. Noticing that there was a popular coffee place on the other side of the lot, he pointed toward it. “You feel like some caffeine?”
“I’d kill for a latte.”
“Same here.” He tossed their trash in a nearby bin, then drove them across the lot, grabbing a space near the shop’s front entrance.
Just as Max started to open his door, Vivian reached over and placed her hand on his arm. “You sit tight and let me get this.”
“Viv—”
“I’m serious. Just chill and tell me what you’d like.”
He sighed, feeling like he should keep arguing. But when she gave him a pointed look, he gave in. “I’ll take a large caramel latte.”
With a smile on her lips, she turned and climbed out of the truck, his gaze glued to the graceful way that she moved as she made her way inside. The entire front of the shop was made of glass, and Max could see that the line was long, so he figured he’d get out to have a smoke and go ahead and bite the bullet by calling Elliot.
Unfortunately, once he got Elliot on the phone, his partner didn’t waste any time making a shit suggestion. “Look, I don’t know what the hell’s going on with you and Vivian, but I think you should let Lev and the guys meet up with you. They can escort you back here like they did with me and Skye, and make sure you don’t run into any more trouble.”
“Sorry, man. But I don’t think that’s going to work for us.”
“Why the fuck are you being so stubborn?” Elliot asked with a harsh growl. “Just get your ass back here.”
“We’ve got a lot going on,” he muttered, taking a deep drag on his cigarette, “and Vivian isn’t ready yet.”
“Then convince her. Christ, her best friend is here. Skye is worried sick about her.”
He exhaled with a frustrated curse. “And she’s worried about Skye, but the situation is complicated. So stop giving me shit about it and just take care of things on your own end. Right now, I need to get back to Vivian.”
“Look, before you go, there’s something I need to tell you. Skye...she’s mine, man.”
“She’s your what?” he asked absently, itching to get off the call as he took another long drag on his smoke.
“What do you think I mean? I knew the instant I caught her scent. She’s mine.”
“Oh… Uh, holy shit.” Stunned by the news, he gave a soft whistle, then grinned, genuinely happy for the guy. “So now that you’ve got your girl, are you finally getting lucky?”
“Don’t be a pig.”
Max laughed under his breath. “Seriously, man. You claim her yet?”
“No.” Elliot’s voice got tight and low. “We’re together, but there’s still…things we need to talk about. And I haven’t actually told her yet.”
“Shit.”
Elliot snorted. “That pretty much sums up the situation.”
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay. If anyone deserves something good coming his way, it’s you.” He took another drag, then slowly exhaled as he thought about what he’d learned. “I should’ve known what was happening, after seeing the two of you together at that apartment.”
Quietly, Elliot said, “You were dealing with your own stuff.”
“Yeah.”
Or not dealing with it, his wolf grumbled, sounding disgusted with him.
Clearing his throat, he added, “I’ve got my fingers crossed for you two.”
“Thanks, man. And I’m here to talk, whenever you need. Just…come the fuck home as soon as you can. We’re all worried.”
“Gotta go,” he murmured, watching Vivian come through the door of the coffee shop. “But I’ll be in touch.”
Disconnecting the call, Max couldn’t stop the small smile that curved his lips as he walked over to the nearby trash can and tossed the cigarette butt, glad that Elliot was finally getting some. For years, he’d been giving the guy a hard time for not sowing his wild oats while he was still young, bu
t he didn’t doubt that his partner was making up for lost time now. Shit, he wouldn’t be surprised if Elliot had claimed the girl before the end of the week, and while he really was happy for the guy, there was no ignoring the ugly burn of jealousy ripping through his gut. He grimaced, pissed at himself for feeling that way, but there was no denying it.
It was just that for Elliot, Skye being his life mate was like the motherfucking golden pass, while Max was still just muddling through like a dumbass, unable to come to grips with what the life-mate connection meant for him. Because while Elliot’s relationship with his beast had been strained for a long time now, which was putting it lightly, the guy was still a pureblooded wolf. He’d grown up accepting who and what he was, and even though he’d hit a dark time just before Max had been turned, Elliot hadn’t let it break him. He was one of the strongest, most loyal people Max had ever known, and he knew the guy had to be dying to make a blood bond with Skye that would tie their lives together until the day they died.
Thanking Vivian as she walked up and handed over his coffee, he said, “I talked to Elliot while you were inside.”
“Is everything okay?” she asked, walking beside him as they headed back to the truck.
“They reached the Alley.” At her look of confusion, he realized he still hadn’t explained about where he and Elliot lived. “Bloodrunner Alley is where me and Elliot and the rest of the Runners and their families live. Plus a group of mercenaries who can sometimes be pains in the ass, but are good guys and lethal fighters. So pretty much everywhere you look, there’s someone who’s more than equipped to handle anyone stupid enough to set foot on our land.”
She made a soft sound of relief. “So they’ll be safe there.”
“Hell, yeah.”
“That’s awesome.” They stopped by the passenger-side door, and her head tilted a bit to the side as she studied his expression. “You okay?”
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