She jumped in front of him, effectively halting any further steps. “I’m perfectly capable of carrying my own bags. And I don’t need, or want, an escort.”
She was tall, but still only came to his shoulders, her fists clenched and her jaw set. Her eyes were determined but all the same, he could hardly take her seriously when she had a spray of cute little freckles decorating the bridge of her nose.
“That’s too bad.” He sidestepped her and continued. She was tough, and he liked that. Her fierce stance the same one he’d seen in the forest. By the weight of the bag on his shoulder, he guessed the bow she’d been using that day was in the case. She was probably desperate to have her weapon at hand, especially if she was a trained Huntress candidate. “Most women would appreciate a man who was willing to help them out. You could be a little more grateful.”
One second he was walking, the next her legs were tangled with his and he was on the ground. He hit the floor on his side with a grunt and she clambered on top of him. She rolled his arm behind his back, effectively pinning him in place with her weight. Or at least, that was what he let her believe. If he was human, she definitely would have him beat, but being a werewolf, he could get out of her tricky little maneuver in seconds. He just didn’t want to—not with her straddling him the way she was.
His cock strained harder against his pants and he rolled onto his stomach, forcing her to adjust her position and sit on his ass. He wanted to laugh aloud at the sheer bliss of it all.
“You gonna let me up?” he growled, putting on an act of anger when all he really felt was total and complete lust. If he could only compel her to grind her * against him, he’d be in heaven.
“You gonna stop being a prick?”
He forced his smile back and craned his head to the side, his hair a tangled mess that partially obscured his view of her. “I’m just following orders.”
“Nah, you’ve been a dick to me from the moment you walked into that hall downstairs and I want to know why.”
Tread lightly. Say something nice.
“You’re too pretty to be a security guard. I wasn’t expecting that.”
A war waged on her face. She was obviously battling not to be flattered.
“Thought you might be a groupie.”
Wrong thing to say. Her expression crashed into a cold blank slate and she released him from her grip then quickly jumped up. “I take my job to protect very seriously. I’m not here in service to any of you men, and just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I’m any less capable of kicking your ass.”
Jaylon rolled over, brushed his hair back from his face and chuckled. “I didn’t mean any offense.”
She retrieved her bags from the floor. Hastily slipping on the shoulder strap of her weapon case as she stood, she wouldn’t make eye contact with him. “Just tell me which room is mine. I’ll find my own way.”
Jaylon sighed, accepting defeat this time. “Turn left, third door on the right.”
“Thank you,” she said curtly as she walked over his legs and disappeared around the corner, leaving him feeling slightly empty.
He was gonna need to get a handle on his speaking skills. His ability to offend even shocked him a little.
Chapter Five
A groupie? What the fuck? She knew she’d been acting like a lusty perv, no better than the women outside the gates but really…a groupie? Did she really radiate that kind of vibe? When Jaylon had backed her up against the wall, something inside of her had melted, pooling quite profoundly in her panties. He was incredibly sexy, more so in person than in the pictures she’d seen. He gave off this powerful punch of something both deadly and delicious. But what came out of his mouth was just garbage.
Ugh. Men.
She’d been waiting her whole life to be claimed by a Hunter, and now that day would never come. She didn’t exactly have a ton of experience in the romance department but she was pretty sure men didn’t act like total jackasses when they found a woman attractive…did they? He had called her pretty, though, and judging by the huge bulge in his pants, he was interested. But if he thought of her as a groupie, what did that mean?
A fuck and that’s it.
She was already flirting with the professional boundaries in her mind. She needed to get her shit under control.
Aubrey made it to her room and burst through the door. She dumped her stuff on the floor with an exasperated sigh. She might be trying to rebuild a life now that she wasn’t going to become a member of the Order, but that didn’t mean she had to put up with treatment from men like Jaylon. Just because her body ached for him didn’t mean anything. Right? There were plenty of other men she could feel that way for. Ones not associated with the band. Ones who weren’t quite as devastatingly gorgeous. And arrogant. And…
She slumped on the bed. Problem was, she hadn’t felt that way toward another man…ever…in her life. Until now.