Jayna couldn’t believe it. When she and Eric had started Operation Distrust three days ago, they’d had no idea it would work this well. Last night, Frasheri had told Eric that two of his most trusted soldiers had disappeared in the last week and that he believed Kos had killed them. Then Frasheri gave Eric a piece of paper with the address of a nearby self-storage place, the combination to the lock on the door, and a duffel bag full of money and guns to stash there if Kostandin made a move against him. At this rate, war could break out between the two factions by the end of the week. That could be very good for her and her pack.
Jayna was about to say as much to Eric, but as she gazed at him, she forgot about the Albanians. Eric’s eyes were molten gold as they burned into hers, and all she could think about was how much she wanted to kiss him right then.
“This is for taking care of Chris, Megan, and the rest of my pack,” she whispered as she closed the last few inches between them.
Jayna meant for it to be a simple thank-you kiss, but the moment her lips touched his, her entire body tingled from the contact, and she knew there wasn’t going to be anything simple about it. One kiss definitely wasn’t going to be enough.
But if she didn’t stop to take a breath, she was going to pass out from lack of oxygen. She lifted her head with a soft growl to find Eric regarding her with eyes so gold they almost glowed. He was just as excited as she was. He made no move to pull her close and pick up where they’d left off though. Instead, he caught a tendril of her long hair and curled it around his finger, the corners of his mouth curving up in a smile that was both playful and flirty.
“So, was that a simple thank-you-for-helping-my-pack kiss?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she answered, knowing it had been about a whole lot more. “But this next kiss is all for me.”
Giving him a smile, she slowly threw her leg over his and straddled his lap, then put her hands on his shoulders and leaned in to cover his mouth with hers. The move was so bold and unlike her, but it felt right too, and she just about lost herself in how amazing kissing Eric was. But as it always did, that little voice in the back of her head that came out whenever she got close to a guy popped up again to tell her she was making a serious mistake. She tried to ignore it, but the voice only got louder until it was practically shouting at her to slow down and get control of herself.
Eric must have picked up on the struggle going on inside her, because this time, he was the one who broke the kiss. “Is everything okay?”
She nodded and gave him a small smile, then leaned in for another kiss, but he stopped her with a frown. She sat back on his thighs and covered her face with her hands. Eric may have been the one guy she could finally open herself up to, and she was going to ruin her chance because she was so screwed up.
Eric’s big, strong hands took hold of hers and gently lowered them from her face. “Jayna, what’s wrong? If I pushed too hard, I’m sorry. But please, talk to me.”
Jayna couldn’t look at him, so she stared down at their intertwined hands through eyes welling with tears. “It’s not that, I swear. But it’s complicated. And a long story.”
“Well, with you sitting on me, it’s not like I’m going anywhere, so you might as well tell me.”
She would have climbed off his lap, but his hands settled on her thighs, keeping her seated firmly right where she was—straddling his hips in a position that made it impossible to ignore how much he enjoyed having her there, even with all the drama going on.
Jayna looked down at her hands. “I went through my change when I was seventeen…the night my stepfather tried to rape me.” Eric let out a soft growl but didn’t say anything. “Since then, I’ve had a hard time getting physical with guys, and when I do, it tends not to work out too well for the guy or me because I’m basically a mess.”
Jayna held her breath, waiting for him to ease her off his lap and pull away from her, but he didn’t. He didn’t say anything either. Oh crap. This was bad.
She slowly lifted her head, afraid of what she’d see on his face and praying it wouldn’t be pity. She’d be off his lap and running with all the speed her werewolf legs possessed if he gave her one second of pity.
But when she met his gaze, there was no pity to be seen. Just understanding.
“Thank you for telling me that. It explains a lot.” He gave her a small smile. “But I’m still here. If you feel like telling me the full version of the story, I mean.”
She stared at him, speechless. She’d just told him that she was messed up in the head and unlikely to be a good roll in the hay for a really long time to come. Yet here he was, waiting for the rest of the story. And the most amazing part? She was ready to tell him. It was a story that no one but Megan knew in full, and she was ready to tell a guy who wasn’t even in her pack, a guy she’d known for less than a week.