My eyes smart, and I blink back tears. How can I stop myself from plunging headfirst into the sea of Charlie? But I have to. This is a man who can't even stay still for an hour in a motel room. He's not going to stick around and do a "relationship" with me. The idea is laughable. It figures I'd fall for a guy just like my dad-the hero who has to be off saving the world instead of doing the picket fence thing.
I feel like a selfish bitch for putting him in danger, but his protection means everything to me.
"Yeah. I'm still in. And Charlie,"-I reach up and touch his face-"Thank you."
His eyes glow for a moment under the moonlight, and he claims my mouth with the same hunger that seems to overtake us every time. Except now we're in public, and he's fucking my mouth with his tongue, grabbing handfuls of my ass in his strong hands.
I laugh and push him away because if I didn't, I swear we'd end up horizontal on the closest park bench.
He blinks his eyes rapidly and sucks in a tortured breath. "Let's get you back to the motel." He loops an arm around my waist and steers me back toward the end of the mall where we parked.
"Me? What about you?"
He hesitates one second too long. "Yeah, me too."
"Where are you going?" I ask sharply.
His smile is both indulgent and rueful. "There's no getting anything past a CIA agent, is there?"
"No. What are you planning?"
He shakes his head. "Nothing. I just haven't walked enough. I need time alone to clear my head. That's all."
Something doesn't quite ring true about his words, and it causes my belly to tighten. What is Charlie keeping from me?
Can I really trust him? Or is this the ultimate play?
But no, he couldn't fake the passion he brings to our sex. Couldn't fake the words that tumble out afterward.
Could he?
CHARLIE
I HEAD out into the night air, away from Annabel's intoxicating scent. Already I want to claim her again. But even when I do, it's not enough. That desire to bite her-visions of it-keeps rising up.
I fire up a burner phone and dial a Tucson number. It's not like me to call some dude and ask for help. Hell, everyone knows guys don't stop to ask for directions, especially not me. But I don't know what the devil I'm going to do next, and the moon is nearly full. Annabel's life could be in danger.
Tonight.
"Hello?"
"What happens during the full moon?"
The shifter on the other end of the line is silent for a moment. Then he says, "Dune."
"Yeah."
"I wondered if you'd call."
"Answer my question."
"You really still think you're in a position to interrogate me? Try again, asshole." He ends the call.
Okay, I totally deserved that. I am an asshole. The first time I met Jared, I swooped in when local cops raided an illegal cage fight he was in and took over his interrogation. I'd seen his eyes change color the way I remember my father's had. The way Nash's-a guy I knew from Special Forces-had. I thought they were part of a government experiment. Which was only half-correct.
The second time I met Jared, I followed his pack on a rescue mission to Honduras where I saw the pack members change before my own eyes-becoming wolves, lions, a dog, even an owl.
Seeing the impossible somehow activated something in my own biology. My half-shifter status made me vulnerable, and the dormant ability came to the surface. Jared caught me spying and commanded me to change.
And that's how I realized I keep a giant silver wolf pent up inside me.
I dial the number again. "Good evening, Agent Dune." He's mocking me now.
"I'm sorry." It costs me to say it. I can be anything, play any part when I need to for the job, but this is real, and I somehow intuit dominance within a pack means everything. My wolf can't stand me groveling to him. "Please." Again, it costs me. "What happens during the full moon?"
"You'll want to hunt. Eat more red meat. Get out and shift. You have someplace safe you can run?"
I wish to God I was back at my cabin in California. "Not at the moment."
"That's too bad." Then he says sharply, "You have a female with you?"
My body goes tense for whatever he's going to say. "Why?"
"It can make the need worse-if your wolf has chosen her as your mate. You can go moon mad if you don't claim her. Especially during the full moon."
The world around me spins, locks into place-a bad place. "What's moon mad?" I already know that's what's happening to me. Why else would I want to tear into Annabel's flesh with my teeth?
"The animal can take over. You shouldn't be without a pack for this. It's your first moon. Where are you, man? Can you get to Tucson? We can help."
"Uh... probably not going to happen. No."
Jared grumbles a bit. "You need me to come to you?"
I'm somewhat shocked by the offer. He would do that for me? I barely know the guy, and the interactions we've had haven't exactly been stellar.
"That's not gonna happen either. But thanks. I appreciate it." I pace around the back of the motel. "What do you mean the animal takes over? Like it tries to hunt? Does it hunt humans?"
"It means you lose your humanity. Yeah, hunting humans is possible. If it happens, you'd have to be put down. That's why I don't want you alone. Where's the female? Is she human?"
"Of course she's fucking human," I snap, then shake my head, as if I can throw off the fear ratcheting up my spine. It's not like me to lose my temper. Or be afraid. But this is Annabel we're talking about.