Enemy Mine (16 page)

They hit the pavement once, then seconds

later she heard the front door slamming.

Jayce continued staring at her, his chest

falling and rising erratically. Oh yeah,

she’d pissed him off really good.

“Get. On. My. Bike.” The words tore

from his chest with apparent difficulty.

She really should just give in.

Especially when he was in a mood like

this. But she wasn’t in the mood to be

passive or appeasing. She was in the

mood to fight. “No.” With her gaze still on

him, her eyes mocking, she pulled her cell

phone out of her pocket and flipped it

open. Before she had a chance to call

someone for a ride, Jayce plucked it from

her hand and shoved it in his front jeans

pocket.

Kat stepped toward him until they were

inches apart and held out a hand. “Give

me my phone.”

“If you want it, come get it.” He lifted a

dark eyebrow in challenge.

Swallowing hard, she looked at the

front of his jeans where the bulge of her

phone was. Yeah, that so wasn’t

happening. Glancing past him, she looked

at the bike. She could be stubborn and

walk home, but that thought wasn’t

appealing. So she ignored him and strode

toward the bike. After sliding on to the

back—no helmets for either of them

apparently—she sat there and tried to

ignore the heated stare he gave her.

A combination of red hot fury and lust

emanated off him, both of which she could

do without. She wasn’t scared Jayce

would hurt her but she didn’t want to deal

with his anger. Despite her desire to fight

with him, when they argued, things almost

always ended up in the bedroom

afterward.

And she definitely couldn’t handle that

right now.

Too many things had happened since

they’d been together and she had too much

resentment toward him. She averted her

gaze, purposefully ignoring him as he got

on the bike in front of her. As he tore out

of the driveway she had no choice but to

grasp on to him.

Sliding her hands around his waist, she

gripped him and tried to ignore the feel of

all that strength beneath her fingertips. His

back was incredibly muscular and the feel

of it pressing against her breasts was

almost enough to take her back to when

they’d been together. Back when they’d

actually liked each other, not just

physically wanted each other.

Nine months wasn’t that long but it

might as well have been a lifetime ago.

She was a different person now even if he

wasn’t.

When he took another sharp turn she

had no choice but to grip him tighter. Over

the sound of the rushing wind, she thought

she heard him laugh but it was impossible

to tell.

After what felt like an eternity they

pulled up to December’s house. Kat

immediately jumped off and strode for the

front door. She could get her phone later

and she certainly wasn’t going to ask him

for it again. Before she’d made it up the

front steps, Jayce passed her and inserted

a key into the front door.

Gritting her teeth, she hung back as he

stepped inside without giving her a

backward glance. “What do you think

you’re doing?”

He didn’t bother to turn around as he

flipped on a light in the foyer. “We’re

talking. Now.”

For the first time since she’d seen him

that night she was beginning to second

guess her decision to bait him earlier. She

should have just kept her mouth shut.

Sighing, she stepped inside and shut the

door behind her. But she didn’t bother

locking it. Jayce wouldn’t be staying long.

Leaning against the closed door, she

crossed her arms over her chest as he

turned to face her. Under the small,

decorative chandelier in the entryway his

gray eyes almost seemed to glitter. She

refused to look away but she was thankful

for the door holding her up. “What do you

want to talk about?”

He took a menacing step toward her.

“You and your bullshit.” Before she could

lay into him he continued. “You might not

care about yourself but every time you go

out in public without telling anyone where

you are, you put the entire pack in danger.

You might be an adult but you have the

skills of a cub. Until you learn to control

your urges or your ability to shift, you

need to use your fucking head.” All his

words were gravelly and filled with

anger.

“I didn’t ask for this life,” she snapped.

“No. You didn’t. But at least you’re

alive and it’s time to stop feeling sorry for

yourself.” He covered the distance

between them and before she realized

what he intended, he caged her against the

door using his body and braced his hands

on either side of her head.

Asshole.
“I don’t feel sorry for myself.”

Maybe she did but she wasn’t going to

admit it to him.

His snort told her he didn’t believe a

word she said, but he didn’t contradict

her. “If you have a need to find sexual

release, you won’t search it out with any

other male but
me
.” The words rumbled

up from his chest in a low growl that

sounded more wolf than human.

The statement took her so off guard she

dropped her arms from their protective

embrace around herself. “
Excuse
me?”

He leaned in closer until his entire body

was a mere inch from hers and his mouth

was next to her ear. His hot breath sent a

tingle racing through her, searching out

every nerve ending until her entire body

practically trembled with the need to feel

that mouth all over her. “If you go to

another male, I will kill him. That human

tonight is lucky he’s alive.”

“You wouldn’t do that,” she whispered,

even though she knew the truth. Could hear

it in his darkly murmured words. She’d

known he still physically wanted her, but

this . . . was unexpected. And a little

insane. Why should he feel all possessive

when he was the one who’d decided she

wasn’t good enough for him by lying to

her about the bonding process? It had to

be his animal side asserting dominance.

That was all. Like a dog peeing on a

freaking fire hydrant, he was just acting

territorial because he could.

“Do you really want to find out if your

puppy
will bite?” Another low murmur

against her skin.

He wasn’t quite touching her, but she

could feel the heat rolling off him and onto

her nonetheless. She didn’t answer,

partially because she didn’t trust her

voice, but mainly because she knew the

question was rhetorical. Jayce was a

deadly warrior, not a freaking puppy dog

as she’d said earlier. She knew he was

reminding her of that.

As she stared at the spot where the

curve of his neck met his shoulder, she

fought the sensation that shimmied through

her. The thought of going to bed with

Jayce was tempting. Even thinking about it

made her feel light headed.

He’d said she could find sexual release

with him, but that was all it would be to

him. Even if he did care about her, he’d

never give her what she wanted. Not that

it mattered anymore. She was so messed

up and broken, she had no hope of having

anything normal in her life again. And she

refused to go to him for any sort of sexual

pleasure. Especially since it wouldn’t be

about control. With him, she’d lose it, not

gain it. She could find control of her life

in other places. Like revenge.

The word rang loudly in her head.

Revenge.
After what that APL bastard had done to her, she was going to make every

single one of them pay. And she didn’t

need Jayce interfering with those plans.

Ducking out from under his arms, she

put a few feet of distance between them in

the blink of an eye. Without his spicy,

earthy scent overpowering her, she could

breathe again. And think clearly. “Get out

of here.”

Jayce gave her a hard look before

fishing her phone out of his pocket.

Wordlessly he handed it to her then

opened the front door, but before he’d shut

it, he paused and turned back around.

“Don’t test me,
Katarina
. I don’t think you could live with the knowledge that you got

someone killed.”

As the door shut behind him she pushed

out a long breath and grabbed onto the

stair railing to brace herself. Somehow

with him gone, the pain and loneliness

eating at her was almost impossible to

bear.

Which was stupid. She’d left him over

nine months ago. Or almost a year, she

reminded herself. It sounded better when

she rounded up. Why oh why couldn’t she

get him out of her system? When she’d

first met Jayce she’d been utterly

entranced. Not because of his looks—

though she loved the dark edge to him—

but because of the raw, untamed power

that practically rolled off him.

Since she’d grown up with an arms

dealer for a father, she’d never been

intimidated by anyone. Until Jayce. Of

course she hadn’t let him see it. She’d

called him a puppy even then, completely

taunting him. He’d been so surprised. She

would never forget the shocked look on

his face as she’d teased him. He deserved

the taunt of course after saying something

rude to her. She couldn’t remember the

exact phrase but he’d insinuated that he

wanted to do something sexual to her and

she’d laughed at him.

From that point on he’d chased her with

a single minded focus. Not that she’d

minded. Being on his radar had made her

feel empowered and sexy in a way she

hadn’t imagined possible. Before Jayce

men had either been too scared to

approach her because of her father’s

shady dealings—and his violent reputation

—or they’d wanted to get close to her

because
of her father. Not Jayce. He’d

just wanted
her
. She’d made him wait six months before agreeing to go to lunch with

him. At the time she’d thought she could

drag out her teasing even longer but they

hadn’t even made it to her parked car at

that restaurant before he’d kissed her.

And oh what a kiss. He’d told her

everything she’d needed to know in that

one very long kiss. He was claiming her,

making a statement that she was his. Or at

least that’s how she’d taken it. But it

hadn’t been a permanent thing. That

knowledge made her stomach turn sour.

She’d wanted to make a life with him, but

when she’d broached the subject of their

future he’d told her that the chance of a

human turning into a shifter from a bite

was one percent. What he’d failed to

mention was the fact that if he’d taken her

as his bondmate she would have changed

into a shifter without any issues. He’d lied

because he hadn’t wanted her as his

bondmate. He’d never actually admitted it

to her, but what other reason could he

have had for lying? Swallowing hard, she

ignored the sudden sting of tears.

Instead of heading directly upstairs to

her room, she made a beeline for the

kitchen. Sleep had been elusive the past

month, and even though she hadn’t wanted

to, she’d seen a doctor just to get a

prescription. After taking two sleeping

pills she prayed she would finally get at

least a few hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Once in her room, she didn’t bother to

take off her clothes, just slipped her boots

off and slid into bed.

The moment she closed her eyes

Jayce’s face appeared in her vision,

mocking her. It made her want to scream.

Or maybe cry. She turned on her side and

curled into a ball as she closed her eyes

tight. She would
not
think about him. She couldn’t afford to give him any power

over her when all she wanted was some

control in her life. Well, control and

revenge.