SIX MONTHS_(A Seven Series Novel Book 2)

Chapter 24


Reno watched Ivy dash by and he lowered his plastic gun. Game or not, he couldn’t shoot at a woman. The lights on the vest had become a nuisance, but that’s how the game kept score. He had this one in the bag. Denver always stayed on the lower levels to ambush those who went back to the base to recharge, so Reno stayed up top to score more points.
The layout wasn’t much different from other laser-tag places they’d been to. Reno preferred outdoor games like paintball, but the girls weren’t up for that. They didn’t like standing in the rain, and laser tag had air-conditioning and nachos. Each level had barriers and obstacles to maneuver around. The fog machine was a pain in the ass, as were all the neon-colored patterns splashed on the walls and carpet.
Reno regretted like hell April wasn’t able to join them. After everything she’d been through, that woman was a trouper, and that was a f*cking understatement. She helped around the house as much as she could and spent every morning looking for rentals in the newspaper. Not once had she complained about having lost everything, not to mention the pain of her recovery. He’d had a few sleepless nights thinking about how it could have been a hell of a lot worse. There had been several nights in the beginning when she’d moan in her sleep from the pain. Reno would bring her pain medicine, but she refused to take anything stronger than ibuprofen. Seeing that was all the fuel he needed to start tracking down Sanchez—the elusive sonofabitch.
Lexi quietly sprinted to the lower level and Reno fired a warning shot, smiling as she let out a squeal. Lexi wasn’t half-bad at this game and had taken off her shoes, which made it more difficult to hear her stealthily moving around.
“Goddammit, you can’t do that!” he heard Denver complaining downstairs.
Reno took another calming breath. Something didn’t feel right in his gut, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Maybe a man who had seen war shouldn’t be playing a game like this, or maybe it was something else.
“Shhh,” a voice said from the right.
That snagged his attention. Someone had broken the rules and teamed up. Footsteps moved to his right. Reno backed up against a pillar and spied through an opening. A red laser light beamed in and he squatted down, recognizing a tactical distraction when he saw one. That meant the other party was engaging in a flanking maneuver.
He wasn’t a fan of playing a sitting duck. Reno waited until he heard the shuffle of someone growing closer, then he knifed around the corner and fired.
“F*ck!” his opponent shouted. Jericho opened fire on Reno, but nothing happened. Then he pulled his black mask away and his hair spilled over his shoulders. He glanced down at his blinking vest, muttered a curse, and stalked off.
Trevor suddenly appeared and Reno raised his gun. Trevor shoved it to the side and closed the distance between them. “Maybe I’m nuts or having post-traumatic stress,” he whispered, “but I swear I just saw Sanchez.”
Every muscle tensed. “What?”
Trevor held his finger up to his lips in a “hush” signal. Reno peered through a hole in a curved pillar, scoping out the room. He couldn’t make out any movement and the noise downstairs was creating a distraction.
Reno mouthed “Where?” at Trevor, who pointed toward the other ramp that led to the lower levels.
Reno unbuckled his vest and let it drop to the floor. He stripped out of his button-up shirt and released his gun from the holster strapped over his tank top. Sanchez had made one hell of a mistake picking this location for an attack—he didn’t know who the f*ck he was dealing with.
Shadows moved about the room and Reno had to be careful not to target the wrong person. This could end badly if he had to fire off his gun in a human establishment. Reno had taken out one of Sanchez’s partners during a confrontation two weeks ago when the man pulled a gun and began shooting. After that, Sanchez had taken his focus off April and targeted Reno, which was exactly what Reno wanted. It’s why he’d been avoiding the pack—he wanted to hunt him down.
Reno crept up a ramp and charged forward to cover Ivy’s mouth.
“Get out,” he whispered in her ear. “Trouble. If you see the others, tell them level red. Don’t stop to look back. Just get the hell out of here as quick as you can and be on standby to call a Packmaster for backup if we need it.”
Reno unstrapped her vest and Ivy took off, crouching low as she made her way down the ramp.
Reno went in the opposite direction, toward the left side of the room, gun in hand, making his way down. Only in wolf form could he easily sniff out Sanchez, but Reno didn’t have control over his wolf and might get shot, or get someone else shot. Not to mention that after shifting back, he’d be walking around as naked as a jaybird. They had to exercise extreme caution around humans since there were strict Breed laws. Everyone knew the risks of what could happen if the rest of the world found out they existed. War.
Halfway down the ramp, he did a quick scan of the room and leapt over the railing, crawling toward the back of the room. He could hear Denver hollering somewhere and the sound of laser guns firing.
He made eye contact with Austin, who quickly understood they were in danger.
Maybe it was the look in Reno’s eyes, the fact that he was on all fours, or maybe the Beretta in his hand. Austin unstrapped his vest. He was ten yards in front of Reno and all Reno could do was mouth Sanchez’s name. Austin must have been a hell of a lip-reader because his eyes sharpened and he started scoping the outer perimeter of the room.
Lexi’s wolf scurried in and skidded to a halt next to Austin. Something must have spooked her to shift in public, but she was also new and not always in control of her animal. Reno recognized her silver fur and white face with black-tipped ears. Austin mouthed a profane word and rolled his eyes as he curved his arm around her neck to keep her still.
It grew eerily quiet. Footsteps tramped overhead and Reno’s eyes tracked the movement.
Reno crouched low and ran across the room to the ramp that led upstairs. Austin remained in human form so he could control Lexi’s wolf. A good man fought to the death for his woman. Her wolf was too green and leaving her behind to hunt for Sanchez could endanger her life.
Wheeler crawled into sight and sat with his back against the wall. He pointed at a divider to the left and Reno turned his attention that way.
Reno cupped his wrist that held the gun, scanning the room. That’s when he heard the distinct click of a trigger release. Metal snapped on the plastic wall beside his head.
He hauled ass in the opposite direction and dove behind a pillar. As Reno made his way up the ramp, he heard another muffled clack.
When he reached the upper level, he flattened his back against a wall, looking at every shadow in the foggy haze. He couldn’t risk firing his gun haphazardly or the humans would hear and come running into danger. If he was going to use his gun, then the bullet couldn’t miss.
Pain sliced through his calf and he winced. “Fff*ck,” he hissed. Sanchez had a silencer.
Amid chaos, he peered through a small opening and saw her.
April.
She limped up the ramp, her determined eyes wide and alert. When she reached the center of the room, every muscle in Reno’s body tensed like a cord being pulled taut. Dammit. She was going to offer herself to Sanchez to save his pack. Reno knew it would draw Sanchez out of the shadows and could work in their favor, but one wrong move could mean life or death.
“Sanchez, if you want me, here I am,” she yelled in a confident voice.
***

Walking up the ramp in my boot was an arduous challenge, but I finally made it to the second level. Ivy had rushed by, imploring me to get out. The blanket of fog made it difficult to see in the semi-dark room, but I kept my eyes alert. My stomach twisted into a nervous knot while I tried to decide if I was looking for Reno or Sanchez. But in my heart, I knew what had to be done to end this. Sanchez wasn’t after Reno, so I needed to lure him out to give the others a chance to get out safely.
I peered over the railing and my breath caught. Austin had his strong arms wrapped around a silver wolf and his eyes sliced over to mine. He pointed for me to get out and I shook my head. The wolf was struggling to get free and he tightened his grip, whispering into her ear. That wasn’t just an ordinary wolf—that was Lexi, my good friend.
When I caught Austin’s eyes floating up to the ceiling, I knew Sanchez was on the upper floor. Instead of crossing the room, I moved toward the walkway in the back that led to the next ramp up. When Wheeler saw me moving about, his eyes blazed, but I ignored him and kept moving.
A strange sound popped and it made my heart squeeze in my chest. When I reached the top, I decided to end the game.
“Sanchez, if you want me, here I am,” I shouted, uncertain which level he was on. I floated behind a wall and peered through one of the gaps. “Looks like you underestimated me. If this is all about pride, you’ll never get it back. You can kill me, but you’ve still lost.”
I moved around the wall and winced when my foot began throbbing. “Did Delgado find out what you’ve been up to?”
“As a matter of fact, he did.” Sanchez appeared out of nowhere and snatched at my right arm, throwing me off balance.
I let out a squeak and staggered as he dragged me to the center of the room.
“I should have done you in a long time ago, Vanilla. But I couldn’t get near your piece-of-shit trailer because of some mongrel. Got him with a screwdriver after he bit my arm, but he kept hanging around and I couldn’t get a shot at him. So I came to your shop. Never thought you’d actually come up with the money.”
“Take your hands off her.”
Reno emerged from the far end of the room. He moved through the fog like a man serving a death warrant. I noticed a dark stain on his pants below the knee and the level of fear in me spiked. He aimed a gun at Sanchez, holding his wrist steady.
“Should have known you were the one with the screwdriver,” Reno said, his voice so in control it was volatile.
“Sorry about your pooch,” he said insincerely. Sanchez jerked me closer and hooked his left arm around my torso, latching his hand on my right breast. His voice held a smile. “Have you seen these pretty tits of hers?” He placed the gun against my temple and squeezed my breast painfully.
A muscle in Reno’s jaw tightened, but he held his gun steady.
“Yeah, I thought so,” Sanchez continued. “I like that little mole right in the middle—I’d call that a bull’s-eye. You got yourself a real winner here with this one. She’s very business savvy, but it didn’t take much for her to show me her titties.”
No, I wasn’t playing this game either.
I gripped his elbow, pulled it up, and sank my teeth into his forearm. Hard.
Sanchez slammed the butt of his gun against my temple. Guess he didn’t hit hard enough because my teeth went deeper into his skin. “Motherf*cker!” he shouted.
“Just for that, I’m going to knock out your teeth before I kill you,” Reno said in a malevolent voice, his body rock solid.
I stopped biting and chills swept over me as I looked at Reno’s cold expression. Sanchez yanked me against him and extended his arm. Seeing the gun aimed at Reno seized my heart with fear.
This wasn’t like the movies where there was a big standoff and a lot of negotiating. Sanchez didn’t have a good hold of me, so I pried back his fingers and twisted my body around until he let go. He got a handful of my hair and I yelped, kicking him in the shin. Reno surged forward and at that very moment, Trevor appeared and rushed in front of him. Sanchez fired his gun and it made a muffled crack.
“No!” I screamed.
Tiny flashes of glittery light sparked the air and I almost fainted when Trevor fell to the ground, taking a bullet for Reno.
Before Sanchez could fire off another round, I struck his arm, hoping to throw off his aim. He yanked out some of my hair during the struggle, and before I knew it, Reno was on him. He wrested the gun out of his hand, tucked his own weapon behind his back, and slammed his granite fist into Sanchez’s mouth. A tooth fell out along with a stream of blood.
Sanchez let go of my hair.
While I heard the pounding of fist to bone, I dove to the floor and smoothed my hands over Trevor’s chest.
“Trev, can you hear me? Somebody help us!”
He smiled lazily, sexily, sadly. I brushed the hair away from his eyes as my tears splashed down.
“Don’t cry, babe. Your nose swells and you look like Rudolph.”
The sound of footsteps trampled into the room.
“You got him?” Austin shouted. He still fought to keep Lexi’s wolf under control as she lunged toward Sanchez. Her lips were peeled back, revealing her sharp canines when she snapped and snarled. “Lexi, no!”
I threw my attention back on Trevor.
Jericho stalked forward and fell to his knees. “Where’s he hit?”
Wheeler’s strong hands coaxed me up and I fought against him. “Come on, you don’t need to see this.”
“See what? Let me go! Trevor needs help!”
Trevor looked up at Jericho. “Get her out.”
“No, no, no!”
Wheeler’s arms locked around me tightly and he lifted my legs, carrying me out of the room at a quick pace. I stretched out to see around his shoulder and watched Austin kneel down beside Trevor.
“What’s he going to do?” I whimpered, not knowing enough about Shifters to abate my fear.
Wheeler lowered his eyes to mine. “Save him, if it’s not too late.”
My bad mojo was like a hurricane, injuring everyone within its path.
Wheeler yelled out as we went down the second ramp. “Ben!”
I squinted from the bright lights as the cool air hit us with a swing of the door. The sounds of bells and arcade music blasted, but it was a weeknight and not that busy. The attendant had taken off, assuming that we would be another half hour. Wheeler kept walking toward the exit and pushed it open with his shoulder.
I wiggled to get down when I saw Lynn sitting on the curb. Denver held Maizy and her arms were wrapped around his neck, her head on his shoulder.
“Is it secure?” Wheeler yelled out.
“The bad guy is over there,” Maizy declared, pointing her finger toward the right. “Denny, I’m cold.”
Wheeler spun halfway around and I glanced at the side of the building and saw a man lying unconscious on his stomach. By his bruised face and the bloodstains on his shirt, Denver had taken care of that problem. I couldn’t have imagined what that scene must have been like—Denver coming out to find Maizy in the clutches of a dangerous man.
“Is everyone okay?” Denver said in a quiet voice.
Wheeler set me down, and while they talked, I went to Lynn. “Do you need to go to the hospital? Lynn, let me see your head.”
She was holding a wad of paper towels from the bathroom over her head to stanch the bleeding. “I’m not sure I need to go to the emergency room, but I may need stitches.”
“Well, we can’t wait until the morning. Let me see.”
Her fingers and arm were covered in dried blood. Lynn had always maintained her appearance—perfect makeup and her clothes modest and ironed. It was hard to see her pasty complexion smeared with blood that was matted in her blond hair. She was a good woman and didn’t deserve something like this happening to her.
“Wheeler, she needs to go to the hospital right now. Can you take her? This shouldn’t wait until the morning. She was unconscious when I found her and might have a concussion.”
Wheeler cursed under his breath and looked at Denver. “I’ll use the truck. Tell Austin where I am… and where the f*ck is Ben?”
“Where do you think?” Denver said. “Five minutes into the game, he slipped out the door. I saw him in the back room playing cards when I was looking for Maizy.”
“You have got to be shitting me,” Wheeler said in a flat voice. He bent over and helped Lynn to her feet. She wobbled a little and I gave Wheeler her purse.
Maizy looked up and her lashes were wet. “Mommy, can I come?”
“No, Peanut,” Denver said. “Your mama needs to get fixed up, so you’re coming home with Denny.” He spoke in an easy and relaxed voice, keeping her calm as worry filled her eyes. “I think we should put on your favorite movie tonight. Let me see, what was that movie called? Oh yeah, King Kong.”
She smiled a little. “That’s not it, silly.”
Wheeler helped Lynn to the truck and Denver lingered.
“Go on and take her home,” I said. “Everything’s under control. I think.”
“What’s that mean?”
My lip quivered and I sat on the curb, still shaking. “Trevor.” I hugged my knees and dropped my forehead on them, tears spilling.
The door behind me clicked and heavy footsteps approached. Reno came into view only briefly before he scooped me into his arms and carried me toward his motorcycle.
“Where’s Trevor?” I whispered against his neck, trembling with fear.
“Austin had us clear out. He wouldn’t shift with us in the room. He’s in the f*cking closet, and he needs to come out.”
I laughed against his shoulder.
“Is that funny?”
“Kind of, yeah.”
Reno didn’t kiss or coddle me one bit. He put me in his leather jacket and fired up the engine of his Triumph, waiting for me to hold on tight so we could ride off on his badass bike.
“Your leg is bleeding,” I said. I didn’t have a helmet, so Reno could hear me fine.
“Don’t worry about me, April. It’s not the first time I’ve been shot.”
Heads turned as they always do whenever a motorcycle drives by, and I placed my right cheek on his back and nestled into him. He didn’t voice any complaints.
I realized that when romance novels happened in real life, it didn’t feel as thrilling. Bad guys sometimes won, people you loved got hurt, and maybe stuff like that would ruin that fragile piece of strength left in you.
By the time we got to the house, I was shaking from the cool air. When Reno didn’t see Denver’s yellow truck in the driveway, he sent him a text message. Denver replied and said he’d taken Maizy to the movies so she’d fall asleep and stop worrying about her mom. I can only imagine what a frightening experience that was for her and how she was probably crying on the way home. I admired the way Denver looked after her, and not because he had to, but because he loved her.
The wood floor creaked as Reno carried me inside the house and set me on my feet. He flipped a switch and a small lamp lit up the corner of the living room to our right. I sat down to remove my sneaker and walking boot, adding them to the pile of shoes they kept in the corner. They didn’t always adhere to the rules, but they made an effort since the outdoor mud created a mess. Reno helped me up and unzipped the oversized leather jacket he’d made me put on, tossing it on a chair to the right.
“Maybe you should leave that on,” he said absently, staring at the boot.
“It’s fine. My foot needs to breathe before it swells up. Should we call Austin?” I asked, anxious to get a status on Trevor.
As if on cue, his phone rang.
“Reno,” he answered. “Yeah, we’re here. Did Denver call you? … Good, then you might want to get in touch with Wheeler and see when they’ll be back. You know how long they make you wait in those damn human hospitals. … Right.”
His eyes locked on mine while Austin continued talking on the other line. Reno watched me, listening astutely.
“No sweat. Later.”
“Well? What did he say about Trevor?”
Reno set his phone on a small table and kicked off his shoes. “Your friend is fine.”
I exhaled a sigh of relief, covering my eyes for a second. Thank God.
“It wasn’t without a fight. He refused to shift with anyone in the room. Austin cleared everyone out except Jericho, and even then, he had to force his alpha magic on him. It took a few shifts to heal up his injuries, but he’s all right. They rented out the laser room for another hour so they could clean up the mess. Prince is helping them out.”
“Prince?” I smiled at the name.
“A Packmaster from our old territory. He and Austin have a respectful alliance, although we seem to be too much in his debt these days. Come on, let’s get you upstairs.”
“Wait, Reno. We need to talk.” I pressed my back against the wall, scared as hell at what I was about to say to him. When he stepped forward, I held out my arm, my hand flat against his chest. “Please. I can’t do this anymore.”
“Sanchez is taken care of,” he said in a stony voice, pushing his body against my hand. “I personally made sure of that.”
I shook my head as he drew even closer. “It’s not just Sanchez. What if Delgado comes after me?”
Darkness swirled in his eyes and he placed his hand over mine. I could feel his heart pounding against his chest in a steady rhythm. “If anyone ever touches you again, they’ll answer to me. That’s a promise. No one comes after you without coming through me first.”
I jerked my hand away, startled by his declaration to protect me. “That’s my point. It’s not worth the risk. We barely know each other, and you can’t keep sticking your neck out for a mortal. These are my problems and I need to fix them before I get involved with anyone. It’s not fair to you and it’s not fair to me. It’s not fair to us.”
Reno dropped his hand and stuffed it in his pocket, fishing around. “What are you saying?”
My heart constricted and I bit the inside of my lip to keep from breaking down. The nearness of him made it difficult to be candid.
“I’m not part of your world. I’m not even part of Trevor’s world, even though he wants to live in mine. I’m bad mojo, and that’s just the way it’s always been. Everything—my whole life. Rose was lucky. She found a great guy and got out of this mess before it touched her. It’s not just the debt, Reno. I’ve had bad luck following me my entire life. Did you know that when I was twelve I was taken to juvie? I was arrested with a few friends for joyriding. Maybe it wouldn’t have been such a big deal if we hadn’t crashed into a department-store window. My mom had to pick me up from the station, and do you know what she told me years later? That she met her first dealer because of me.”
Reno’s lips curled in and he shook his head.
“She blamed her addiction on me because of all the trouble I’d put her through—all the embarrassment. She said I was worthless and lavished my little sister with all the affection she refused me. I spent two months in juvie, and the only one who came to visit was my dad.”
Then the tears came and I wiped my face, reliving the visceral pain of my mother’s rejection. “I was so scared he would end up hating me, so I tried to be a better daughter. My trailer is paradise compared to where I used to live, Reno. So you think I look like some sweet girl, but I also made my dad go buy chicken.”
“What are you talking about, April?” He stepped forward, still moving his hand around in his pocket. “I don’t follow what you’re saying. Look, a lot of shit went down tonight—”
“No,” I said tersely, still crying. “I made my dad pick up dinner that night. He didn’t want to go because of the rain and said he’d make some macaroni, but I begged him for fried chicken. I even pulled out the pretty please with sugar on top routine. Because of me, he left the house and that was the last time I ever saw him. Do you understand how hard it is to know that because of you, someone else died?” I gasped and wiped the tears, remembering the words of blame my mother had said to me. “The last thing I said to my father was ‘don’t forget the rolls.’ What kind of last words are those?” I covered my eyes and gathered strength. You can handle this, my inner voice whispered reassuringly. “All these years later and it still hasn’t sunk in. I wish I could have told him I loved him and how he meant the world to me. They found his car in the river. It didn’t hit me then like it does now that I’ll never have a father to walk me down the aisle. I’ve brought nothing but pain to everyone I’ve loved. My last boyfriend slept with other girls because I pushed him away. But maybe I push a little because I’m scared of getting hurt. I didn’t give him what he wanted, so he got it somewhere else.”
Reno pulled his hand out of his pocket, holding it in a tight fist as if he wanted to hit something. “What’s his name?”
I sniffed, looking down at his fist. “What’s in your hand?” Something red poked out from the side.
Reno surreptitiously slid his closed fist into his pocket. He put his left hand on the wall above me and leaned in tight. “Listen to me and listen good. You’re not bad mojo, April. You were a young girl who had a shit life. You’ve paid your dues and then some. That’s the luck of the draw, and it pisses me off to hear that your ex treated you like mud on his boot.”
“But that’s not—”
“Quiet,” he interrupted.
I blinked in astonishment—Reno had never spoken to me that curtly. His eyes looked like static and I tried to hold his gaze. But then I saw something soften in his features, and his brown eyes melted like dark chocolate.
“Yeah, you f*cked up a few times. But I’m not going anywhere. That’s what makes me different from every other guy you’ve met. I’m a Shifter, and we don’t walk out on our women. You’re not your mother. You’re human. You make mistakes. So you made a few bad choices. Does that mean you don’t deserve happiness? Why are you setting me up to be ‘that’ guy? Something you may not know about me is when things get tough, I get tougher.”
“You can’t fight my battles.”
“Dammit, April. Let me in!”
“I once told Trevor that I wanted to be taken care of, but you know what? He was right. You’ll never learn to stand on your own feet if someone else is holding you up. I have to fix what’s wrong in order to deserve what’s right. I don’t expect you to understand it because you can be so damn bossy!”
His lips twitched. “You done?”
“No,” I said, finally getting my second wind. “You don’t seem to understand that this isn’t going to work out. What happens when I turn forty?”
“Then we have a kickass party,” he said softly, his eyes roving down to my mouth.
“And you’ll still look the same.”
“Maybe I won’t. I’m an old wolf, April. The years are catching up with me.” He sighed and lowered his eyes. “I had a woman a long time ago and she left me for another Shifter because I couldn’t get her pregnant. She went into heat four times and nothing. Maybe that doesn’t mean anything in your human world, but that’s a big deal in mine. I never told my brothers because that’s not the kind of thing a man wants to spread around.”
“How do you know you were the problem?”
“Because she got pregnant right away with the new guy.”
I knew Reno had a past, but it hurt to see it still followed him. Now I understood how he felt about my ex because suddenly I wanted to find that woman and wring her neck.
“I’ve always wanted a good woman, but it just never played out that way. The older you get, the tougher it is with Shifters. The women go after the young, virile men if they can’t mate with an alpha.”
I smirked and touched the sleeve of his shirt. “You’re virile.”
“Getting women isn’t a problem; it’s keeping them. I don’t tell them I’m sterile because I don’t ever let it get serious enough that I have to. But I’m telling you,” he said, his voice softening.
“You can’t get serious with me, Reno. I’m mortal. I’m not going to live hundreds of years like you will.”
“You don’t think it kills me to know I’ll have to watch you get older? I know a Mage who owes me a favor—I can find a way to bring you into our world.”
“But I don’t want to be one of you. I like who I am. I don’t even know what the heck a Mage is, but I don’t think I’d be okay with becoming something I’m not… just for love.”
I clamped my mouth shut and the energy in the room became electric.
Reno tilted my chin up and his sexy mouth stretched into a smile. “Did you just say what I think you did?”
“That I don’t want to be an immortal?” I said coyly.
His thumb stroked my jaw and insatiable desire bloomed throughout my body. “No. That last word you just said. Love.”
My lips had barely parted to conjure up a good argument when his mouth crushed against mine. It wasn’t rough and demanding, nor was it soft. Reno explored my mouth with his lips, working his way to my chin where he planted a soft peck. The feel of his bristly face and soft mouth became an argument that I couldn’t win.
“You want to say that again, princess?”
Oh, boy! Do you! my inner voice screamed excitedly.
I gave her the middle finger.
“No. I didn’t mean it that way, Reno.”
His warm hand slipped beneath my shirt and caressed my back. That was the moment my spine turned to jelly and I was all his.
“Sure didn’t sound that way.” He unzipped my black pants and they dropped to the floor. I stepped out of them and kicked them aside. The house wasn’t so quiet when it filled with the sounds of wet kisses, quickened breaths, and soft moans. Reno filled me with desire and I soaked him in like a sponge.
“They’ll be back soon,” I whispered. My heart raced like a greyhound on a track.
“They’ll be hours,” he promised through a kiss, stroking my tongue with his in slow, possessive motions. His thumbs hooked around the thin string of my panties on each hip and he pulled them down.
Reno’s body felt solid beneath my touch, like granite. I’d never felt a man so fit. I reached up and held on to his broad shoulders.
“Princess, that’s not where I want your hands.” His forehead tapped against the wall and his breath heated my ear. “Unbuckle my belt.”
A rush of exhilaration heightened my craving for more. It was his voice—the one I couldn’t resist. I stood before him fully exposed from the waist down, feeling even more desire than I had our first time.
I separated the leather from the latch and waited. I knew Reno liked to be in charge and part of that was giving detailed orders. I could have just unzipped his pants and continued with the obvious, but that would have taken away his illusion of control.
“Undo my pants,” he said in a raspy voice.
I stared at his shoulder, using my hands to feel my way to the button, and then I slowly dragged the zipper down. I knew how much he liked slow motions, so I took my time.
His breath felt like an Arizona wind against my neck. He shifted his head so that his lips were grazing along my earlobe. “Tell me what you want.”
Would he do anything I asked of him? I remembered our first night together, and yeah, he would.
“Shift.”
He jerked his neck back. “What?”
“Reno, your leg is bleeding and you’re in pain. If shifting heals you, I want you to shift.”
He stepped back, breathing unsteadily as if he’d run a marathon. “My wolf—”
“Won’t hurt me. We’re on good terms and I’m not afraid of him. Please, heal yourself.”
Something wild spun in his eyes and without a word, Reno shifted in a liquid movement of flesh to fur. Standing before me on a pile of clothes was that beautiful wolf with the dark mask on his face. He groaned deep in his throat and I rubbed his soft ears. “Oh, sweet boy.”
When he abruptly shifted back, Reno stood before me naked. I admired his impressive body, feeling a deep yearning to know every part of him. He brazenly reached down and slid his hand between my legs, working me over with skilled fingers. When I moaned, his actions were quick. Reno lifted my left leg and I felt the blunt press of him against my core, anchoring into position. He slipped inside me so fast I made a strangled moan in the back of my throat. I’d never imagined being taken by a man in such an uncompromising and primitive manner.
Reno lifted my other leg and held me against the wall, crashing into me like a violent collision as he went every bit as deep as he did hard. Something wild took hold—I’d never felt so much passion and became consumed by it.
“Look at me,” he said when my head fell back and my eyes closed. “April, look at me when I take you.”
A turbulent power rolled in his voice, and I wondered how he could sound so in control when his body felt anything but. I glanced down and as soon as our eyes met, something happened.
A connection formed that had nothing to do with sex. Feeling him deep inside me while we gazed at each other made it like nothing I’d ever experienced.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Our lips almost touched as we moaned and blew heated breaths against each other. Reno rocked his hips faster and faster until it felt so out of control I cried out. My nails bit into his back and all I could feel was the animalistic passion between us.
His simmering eyes looked wild as they devoured me, pupils dilating each time I let out a gasp. I felt my climax coming on and he must have sensed it closing in fast. Reno’s movements became skilled as my legs clenched against him, a ripple of tension and pleasure moving through me. This wasn’t about control where every move was premeditated. This was carnal desire in the raw.
“That’s it, baby. Gimme everything you got,” he demanded as he drove impossibly deeper. His whiskers scratched torturously against my throat while his mouth journeyed toward my ear—each word a penetration into my fantasies. “Don’t hold back. Jesus… I can feel you tightening around me,” he said in a ragged breath.
My breath caught and every muscle contracted when I came in his arms. Over and over. Reno kept pumping into me, and when my legs began to tremble, he held me firmly in his grasp, hands splayed beneath my thighs. His eyes widened as I gripped the back of his neck and arched my body, caught up in the animalistic desire I felt for this man. Reno let me ride out the wave of pleasure before he stilled.
I blinked away a few bright flashes of light and rested my cheek on his sweaty shoulder. Spent and out of breath, I planted a tender kiss against his skin and felt him shudder as I blew a cool breath of air on his neck.
Suddenly, I felt him move inside me, still fully erect. “Reno?”
“Yeah?”
“You can finish.”
“Nah.”
I lifted my head and looked at him. His hair was somehow smashed in different directions. I didn’t remember doing that with my hands, but I must have.
“What do you mean by nah?”
He turned to walk toward the stairs, still carrying me. “I like being inside you, princess, but two minutes ain’t nearly enough.”
“Reno?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re coming back down to get my panties and your clothes before they get home, right?”
“Nah.”
I jerked my head back. “What do you mean by nah?”
“I’m too busy admiring your flowery petals,” he said in a drop-dead serious voice.
I busted out laughing. “Have you been reading my books or are you making fun of me?”
He stopped and his eyes glittered with amusement. “Maybe I’m trying real hard to be the guy in those books for you, April.”
Damn if that didn’t sucker punch me right in the heart.
When a car door slammed, both of us froze.
“My clothes!” I screeched, wriggling my legs frantically until he put me down.
“April!” Trevor shouted from outside. His footsteps hammered up the porch steps and I panicked.
I scrambled toward my clothes and grabbed my pants just as the door swung open. My eyes went wide as I held them in front of me.
But not as wide as Trevor’s.
Then they narrowed and sliced over to Reno. “Guys like you are a dime a dozen,” he began. “You’ll f*ck anything in sight. Barely got the door closed and couldn’t wait to get off. Even though she’s hurt, even though she just went through some traumatic shit tonight. You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”
Reno walked coolly over toward us and lifted his pants from the floor, yanking them up. Trevor curved his arm in front of me so that I was behind him.
“Get dressed, April. We’re leaving.”
“Over my dead body are you taking her out of this house.” Reno zipped up his pants, not even bothering with a shirt. He moved so slowly that I got dressed even faster.
“Trevor, please don’t start anything,” I said in a calm voice. “Are you hurt?”
He gave me a sharp glare. “You didn’t look too concerned about my well-being when I walked in the door, babe.”
“Then why don’t you tell me how you healed from a bullet wound?” I said coldly, loudly, putting my hands on my hips.
His nose twitched and he slanted his eyes toward Reno. “You want to know why girls like you are so damn sexy to guys like him? You’re submissive.”
I expected Reno to lunge at Trevor, but he didn’t. That’s when I knew Trevor was right.