He laughed softly. “We’re both over eighteen and they know they can’t stop us. And they still remember what it was like to be our age. My mom and Aunt Cara can try to sway me in my choices, but in the end, that’s all they can do — try. I guess they figure so long as we make our mistakes under their roof, they’ll be there to help us fix it.”
“So you could have a beer or do some shots of—”
Zack scoffed. “Nothing illegal. That’s where I’m sure they’d draw the line.”
He pulled the car against the curb in front of his house and, suddenly, my limbs were too drained to move another inch.
“Let’s get you into a bath and to bed. You’ve had a big night.” He brushed his lips against my temple. “You were magnificent.”
Yes, I was. And now, Charles would never bother us again. The part about me partially consuming him still hadn’t sunk in. Maybe it never would.
† † †
Following the smell of coffee, I crept out of Zack’s room, still a bit loopy from lack of sleep. Momentarily blinded by the bright light in the hallway, I jolted as Trevor’s youngest brother slammed into me. He must have been moving at warp speed because his head felt like a bowling ball crashing into my ribs. My hands shot out to his shoulders to steady him and I quickly scanned him for injuries. He looked totally fine.
“Oh. Hi Autumn,” he said, as if it were any other day.
“Good morning, Patrick.” I glanced away, hoping he wouldn’t wonder why I was at their house so early — in my pajamas.
“You slept in Zack’s room?” he asked, startling me out of what remained of my daze. His light brown hair stuck out in every direction.
“Hey.” Zack snaked around me and ruffled the boy’s hair. It looked exactly the same afterward. “We were out late last night so instead of driving home when she was tired, we had a sleepover.”
Zack could’ve explained that Cara had invited me to stay in the small room, but he’d obviously forgotten about that. Watching him dance around it was more entertaining anyway. I held back a nervous giggle.
“Like a slumber party? Is Maya here too?”
“No. It was just the two of us,” Zack said with a straight face.
“After we visit Auntie, we’re going to Legoland,” Patrick said and I breathed a sigh of relief for children’s short attention span. “Are you coming too?”
“Nah.” Zack mussed Patrick’s hair again. “We have things to do, hopefully bringing your Auntie home.”
“Okay.” Patrick disappeared around the corner.
“Finally, someone who sees it as innocent as it really is.” I beamed at Zack, thankful Patrick didn’t know I only lived a block away or he might have seen through Zack’s thin excuse. Apparently, I’d worried for nothing about being a bad influence on the boy.
“That’s because he’s only six. But Brian might be a different story. He’s ten.”
“Oh.” A little more time to bask in my triumph would’ve been nice.
“I want to get to the hospital early.” Zack jerked his head toward his bedroom door and I followed him in. “I’ll be ready in just a minute.”
Sitting at the foot of his bed as he stripped off his sweats, I pretended I wasn’t staring. Boxers weren’t all that different than shorts though. I sagged in disappointment. At least I got to gawk at his washboard abs once he’d peeled off his T-shirt.
Zack stepped into a pair of jeans, then shuffled to the closet where he chose a white button-down shirt. I sighed as he covered up that beautiful, flat, firm stomach. Such a shame. Grabbing a pair of socks and his sneakers, he sat on the bed next to me and put them on.
I scanned his face, noting a trace of stubble around his chin and over his lip. My stomach dipped. He looked sexy as hell. I hoped he didn’t plan on shaving.
“You ready to go?” he asked, running his fingers through his hair.
Go. Right. I reined in the lust. “Yeah.” I followed him to my car, Zack fully dressed and me in my PJs. A minute later we arrived at my house.
“We should arm wrestle again,” Zack said once we went inside. “While we’re here.”
I paused halfway up the stairs. “We just did that yesterday. You think I’d change in twenty-four hours? Or do you just enjoy whipping me?”
He shrugged. “Humor me.”
I tromped down the few steps, flopped into a kitchen chair and slapped my elbow on the table. His hands wrapped around mine and our gazes locked.
“One…,” he said, “Two… three.”
As our forces clashed, our hands trembled and our elbows pressed into the hard surface of the table. Heat flooded my body and I struggled against Zack. As the moments stretched on, our arms frozen, he growled. “I don’t know if I can take you.”
We may have been equally strong, but I didn’t have his werewolf stamina. My muscles slowly turned to jelly and my knuckles gently hit the table. “You won again.”
“Barely. Impressive strength increase for just one day.” Zack’s eyes thinned to slits. “I wonder why.”
“No idea.” I lifted a shoulder, then let it fall. Zack couldn’t be right about shifters being weaker or when I’d plateau. Since I was already this strong, I must have already peaked. “I’d better get dressed.”
I didn’t bother closing the door to my bedroom since Zack was still downstairs. I stripped off my pajama bottoms and walked to my closet, wearing only my panties and pajama top.
Hospitals were cold, so even though it was supposed to reach nearly ninety degrees today, I chose a faded black T-shirt instead of a tank top. Still in only my panties, I draped the T-shirt over my arm and shifted to face the pile of folded pants on the shelf.
A tingle danced up my spine and I spun to find Zack sitting at the foot of my bed, watching me. Just like I’d watched him when he’d dressed in his room earlier. “I thought you were downstairs.”
“I’m glad I’m not.” He grinned.
“Um…” Grabbing a pair of jeans, I pulled them on as quickly as I could manage, nearly tripping myself in the process. “Wouldn’t you be more comfortable in the living room?”
“Nope.”
“Are you sure?” I bit my lip.
“Positive. You watched me dress. Now it’s my turn. And don’t be sneaking into the bathroom to finish.”
“Fine.” In my rush, I stumbled to the top drawer of my dresser. Selecting a lacy pink bra that matched my underwear, I snatched it and held it to my stomach, hoping he wouldn’t see.
“Nice choice.”
Damn.
Ignoring him, I darted back into the closet and angled my body so he could only see my back. Shrugging off my pajama top, I put my hands through the arm holes of my bra and reached behind to hook it.
“I’ll get that for you.”
Zack’s warm breath on my bare shoulders had my every nerve at attention. I held absolutely still as he found both ends of the strap. The back of his hand was warm against my skin, but I couldn’t see what he was doing. Or not doing. It became harder to breathe as I waited for him to either finish or…
“Are you going to hook me up?” I asked, my voice unsteady.
“I’m thinking about it.”
What did that mean? He couldn’t be considering discarding the bra altogether. Though I secretly hoped he would.
As he and I had gotten know each other over the past weeks, he’d held back every step of the way, afraid that the legend of mixing species was true. Even if it was, that wouldn’t stop me from being with Zack. We just had to be careful. But with Charles dead now, I only had Renzo to worry about. For all I knew, he’d only been passing through and was long gone now. If we did get weaker, maybe no one would be around to know and we’d have time to recover. If werewolves and shifters recovered from that kind of thing…
Whatever. I couldn’t think about any of that. Didn’t want to. All I wanted was for us to be together, however we could manage it, and damn the consequences.
A second later, I felt a slight tug on
one side of my bra strap, then the other, as Zack connected the ends. Disappointment mingled with relief and I told myself it was for the best.
With him fully clothed and me in only a bra and jeans, I felt underdressed. I’d never been without a top in front of him — or any guy, for that matter. Except in a swimsuit, but this felt totally different. A wave of shyness washed over me.
His hands slid around my waist to my stomach and he pulled me against him. I leaned back and let my head loll to the side. He kissed my shoulder, then my neck as his hands traveled back to my hips and up my sides. A delicious shiver coursed through me. Then he gently turned me around to face him.
“God, you’re amazing,” he whispered into my ear.
Hope renewed, my heart pounded in anticipation as I unbuttoned his shirt and slid it past his shoulders, then tossed it across the room. He growled, scooped me up and laid me on the bed. The mattress dipped as Zack moved over me, his gaze wandering to the swells above the lace of my bra. When his warm, soft lips covered mine and our tongues tangled, electric fingers of pleasure spread from my stomach and out to my toes.
I arched toward him, my body straining to get closer as my fingers dipped past his waistband, my thumb brushing his zipper.
Zack sucked in a breath.
I bolted upright, planted my hands on his hips and gently pushed him back against the mattress. When I straddled him, his face was unreadable, eyes dark. Had I gone too far?
And then I was flat on my back again and he was on top of me, his mouth devouring me. Just when I didn’t think I could hold back another second, he blazed a trail of kisses down my neck then settled on the exposed flesh around my bra, the stubble on his chin sending little goose bumps over my skin. Sliding a thumb underneath the bra strap, he dragged it over my shoulder.
I wanted Zack and had no doubts about my feelings for him. We’d never said those three words before, but they were hovering on the tip of my tongue now, begging to be set free. But did he love me back or was that just wishful thinking on my part? Did I really want to find out too late that he didn’t feel the same way about me?
Zack whispered another kiss at the hollow of my throat. But now that my brain was working again — for the moment — I couldn’t push those questions out of my head.
He didn’t seem inclined to put on the brakes. In fact, he’d gone further than ever before. If neither of us stopped, how much further would we go and how weak would we become? How long before we regained our strength? Just a moment ago, I’d been willing to risk it all, but would a morning of bliss with Zack be worth risking our lives?
I wouldn’t have him at all if we were both dead. But even if we lived, I couldn’t predict the future and had no idea how long Zack was going to stick around. Not only that, he’d never even admitted he liked me. It was obvious he lusted me, but one L word was not exchangeable for the other. I knew he cared, but if he couldn’t say it out loud, he wasn’t ready to take the next step.
The room spun and I desperately wanted to stay on the ride. But we couldn’t. I knew we shouldn’t. “Zack…”
“What?” His eyes had a faraway look. “Did I do something wrong? Tell me what you like.”
I laughed nervously as I extricated myself from him. “Oh, I like all of it,” I said in a trembling voice. “A lot.”
He blinked. “Then what’s wrong?”
I couldn’t believe he had to ask. Why wasn’t he being the sensible one like usual? I pointedly put my palms on his face, lifting his chin and bringing his gaze above my neck. “Zack. We can’t do this, right?”
“What?”
“We’ll get weaker, remember? What if that guy at the coffee shop comes after us? Or werewolves come looking for Charles? We have to be able to protect ourselves.”
Zack leaped off me and flattened himself against the far wall. Putting his head down, he squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. “Oh, God, you’re right. I’ll wait for you in the car.” He grabbed his shirt off the floor and disappeared.
“Uh, okay.” Yeah, I was trying to be practical but he didn’t have to run from me like I had the plague.
I hurriedly finished getting ready, locked up the house and got in the passenger side of my car. After putting on my seatbelt, I glanced his way when he still hadn’t started the car. “Are you upset with me?”
His jaw tightened. “No, of course not. I’m the one who let it go too far. God, I can’t believe that I have so little control that I almost put us in a vulnerable position.”
“Zack, it wasn’t all your fault. I was there too, you know.”
“But I started it. Autumn, we can never be alone in your house again.”
Damn, we had zero privacy anywhere else. “You’re missing the point, though. We did resist and we’re okay. Everything’s fine.”
“Next time might end differently though.” He started the car, shaking his head. “Never again.”
I flinched at his tone, then turned to stare out the window. It was a ten minute drive to the hospital and we spent half of that time in silence before he pulled over and pivoted in his seat. Looking down, he absently scratched on the fabric of the car seat with his index finger.
“I want you, Autumn. Like really want you — as you could tell. So this isn’t me trying to push you away. But it’s just plain stupid to risk our lives this way. I can’t put you in danger like that.”
Fresh from my bedroom victory — I mean, what girl wouldn’t want that kind of a reaction from a guy? — I shouldn’t have been so sensitive to what sounded like a prelude to dumping me. Again.
I stiffened.
~~~
Chapter Ten
“Where are you going with this, Zack?” I wasn’t sure I really wanted the answer.
“We’re in too deep. We have to stop.”
Not even a week had passed since he’d agreed not to push me away again. “Zack, you promised!”
“That was before we killed a scout,” he said. “When Charles doesn’t check in, others will come looking for me. I’ll plead ignorance and point out how much weaker I am, that I couldn’t have killed him. They’ll buy that. But with more werewolves around, your chance of being discovered increases dramatically.”
I held up a hand and glared at him. “I’m sorry, but I’m still stuck at the part where you broke your promise.”
He turned away and leaned against the headrest, sighing. “That’s not it at all. I’m still here, and I still want to be with you. I just think we need to do things differently from now on.”
“And how’s that?” I tilted my head, narrowing my eyes.
“For one thing, we shouldn’t go running together anymore. Telling Charles we were there to make out worked with him, but it might not work on the next guy. I’ll run alone from now on.”
“Okay.” I didn’t love the idea, but if only one of us could go, it needed to be Zack. I didn’t know how long I could stay in my human form, but I had a feeling it was a while. “What else?”
“People can’t know we’re together.”
My brows scrunched in the middle and I twisted in my seat to face him. I really didn’t like where this was going. “Because of Charles? He’s dead. We don’t have to worry about him anymore.”
“No, but there will always be other werewolves. Renzo is proof of that.” He bumped my knee with his knuckle and softened his voice. “All Charles had to do was get close enough to you and he figured it out.”
“So we can’t hang around together? Ever?” My chest tightened. Maybe Zack was about to break up with me after all. “Is that what you’re saying?”
Zack shook his head. “Not exactly. They’re more lenient with new recruits and you’re my cousin’s girlfriend’s best friend. We can’t help but get thrown together now and then. But we can’t be a couple in public. It’s too risky. And it’s just smarter if everyone thinks we’re only friends, even our friends and family. Otherwise, it could get messy.”
But being apart could get messy too. “Beca
use we’d have to explain to Trevor or Maya why we’re pretending to break up.”
“Exactly. Too complicated and too easy to slip up.”
I pursed my lips and cast him a sideways look. “It feels like you’re dumping me.”
In one swift movement, he cupped the back of my neck and dragged me against him. Holding tight around my waist with his other arm, his mouth ravished mine until I was dizzy. My entire body tingled and I was pretty sure my eyes were glassy as he withdrew and breathed against my cheek, “You’re still my girlfriend.”
That was just the reassurance I needed to hear. I melted and rested my forehead on his shoulder.
Wait a minute… I covered my mouth to stifle a giggle.
“What’s so funny?”
“Before, we pretended to date, but we weren’t even friends. Now we’re actually together, but we’ll be acting like we’re not.”
Zack smiled for the first time since the bedroom incident.
“So far your plan doesn’t seem too bad, I guess. What else?” I asked.
“You need to get better at sneaking in and out of my bedroom window. If my family knows you’re doing it, so will a werewolf.”
At least he still wanted me to do that.
“And it might be a good idea to have lunch away from each other now and then.”
“Okay.” I’d have to go all day without kissing him and some days sit at another table? Ugh. “Anything else?”
“Yes.” He turned the key in the ignition and resumed driving. “Sometime over the next couple days, we need to have a big fight and break up in front of everyone. Like… tonight during prom.”
So soon? “No, I don’t want to ruin our prom. Let’s wait until Monday. Do it in the cafeteria or something.”
“Autumn,” he began, shooting me a quick glance before making a turn. “This is serious. The sooner we break up, the safer you’ll be. For all we know, someone could be looking for Charles now. Who knows how often he checks in? What if they’ve already noticed he’s missing? Someone could show up tomorrow.”