Running with the Pack: Cannon Pack, Book 3 (14 page)

His eyes filled with pain and his voice grew hoarse. “Why didn’t she listen to me? If she’d only waited a few hours, I’d have gone with her. I’d have protected her.”

“You blame yourself for letting her go.” He didn’t have to confirm it. She could see it in the way he ground his teeth, the way his shoulders dropped.

“I could have saved her.”

“Or died with her.”

He pulled away and strode to the other side of the room. “I would have preferred death than life without her.”

The swift slash of envy almost knocked her over. Would she ever know such a wondrous love? Would she ever find anyone who would lay down their life for hers? Someone who she would give her life for? Torrie hadn’t lived a long life, but she’d had a rich one, filled with an amazing man who’d treasured her.

“Daniel, from what you’ve told me about Torrie, I don’t think she’d want you searching for revenge. She sounds like the kind of woman who would’ve wanted the best for you, and who would’ve hoped you could enjoy all the happiness you could find.”

“Torrie wanted the best for everyone. She refused to harm hunters even when they threatened her.” A cloud darkened his features. “Which, of course, meant she was an easy target.”

Guilt washed over Lauren. She’d taken Torrie from him by murdering a kind soul who had deserved to live a full life. If she hadn’t joined the hunters, hadn’t listened to John’s lies, Torrie Cannon would be alive and Daniel wouldn’t be filled with regret and pain. “Daniel, it’s okay. Do what you need to do. If it takes my death to make you start living again, then kill me. I deserve it.”

“Like I said, you’ve got spunk, too. You’re a bit foolish maybe, but spunky.”

She couldn’t help it. The way he grinned at her made her smile.

The hardness of his face left and his eyes grew soft. “I don’t want you harmed. Not by me or anyone else. You’re a brave woman, Lauren Kade.”

“Pff. Don’t let me fool you. I’m whining and crying on the inside like crazy.” Did she dare risk asking? “Daniel, do you believe me? Do you forgive me?”

“Yes, no. I don’t know.” The humor fled him as quickly as it had come. The alpha leader was back. “We’ll find out soon enough if you’re telling the truth. We’ll see if Mysta confirms your story when she wakes up. If she wakes up.” He sat on the edge of the bed. “I’ve gotta say, Lauren. With Mysta not awake yet and Tyler missing, I’d say you’re doing a bang-up job of helping us werewolves. Maybe we’d be better off if you stopped trying to help us.”

“Hey, I’m doing the best I can. I’ve saved quite a few werewolves over the past year and you weren’t even aware of my help. But if John ever found out… Well, I’d rather not go there. Have you heard from Tyler?”

Daniel rubbed the back of his neck. “No. I sent a couple of men to scout the area where you left him, but they couldn’t find anything. Of course, that doesn’t mean much. Anything could have happened to him.”

“Maybe he was able to get away but couldn’t make it back to the pack. If he’s injured, he might still be out there, hurt and alone.”

“I’ll send another search party out to cover a bigger area and see what they come up with.”

She sat beside him, daring to let her arm brush his. A sizzle, reminding her of their lovemaking, fired through her. She licked her lips, wanting to entice him to kiss her. “I think you’re starting to believe me, aren’t you? Come on. ’Fess up.” But she didn’t give him time to argue. “Think about it. I had plenty of time to kill Mysta if I’d wanted to. Why would I let her live if I was a cold-blooded killer?”

He frowned, considered her reasoning.

“Do you remember my gun lying on the ground? Think about it, Daniel. What hunter would place her gun on the ground after cornering a wounded animal? A very stupid one, right? And, aside from letting John brainwash me, you know I’m no dummy.”

“I don’t know what to make of you.” He spoke the truth, the clarity of it ringing in her ears. “You’re a different kind of hunter, all right.”

Lauren blinked, then smiled. “Gee, thanks. I like you, too.”

He laughed for real this time, loud and bold. Damn, how she loved the sound of his laugh. If only she could make him laugh more often.

“I didn’t say I liked you.”

“Fine. On that point, we’ll agree to disagree.” She moved closer to him, sensing sensual tension between them. “But I think you do. Or at least you like me enough to do you-know-what.” She glanced at the bed.

“Sex doesn’t mean I like you. In fact, I don’t like most of the women I take to bed.”

Had she misinterpreted his signals? No, she didn’t, wouldn’t believe that. “Again. Gee, thanks. But I still think you like me.” If nothing else, she intrigued him. Could his interest grow into something more?

“Why do you think that?”

“Why else would you bring me here? You could have hurt me in the alley, on the way here, or earlier. But you didn’t. Why didn’t you, Daniel?” She rested her head against his arm. “Because, Mr. Cannon, you like me. Whether you know it or not. Whether you admit it or not.”

“You’re right.”

“Ah-hah!”

“Now hang on. You’re right that I could’ve hurt you at any time. In fact, that was the plan. But plans change for a lot of reasons.”

“What was the reason this plan changed?”

“There are two reasons. First, I don’t like hurting women. Even female hunters.”

“Good to know. And the second reason?”

Daniel trapped an auburn hair curled in front of her face and brushed it back. “I had to have you.”

“Oh.” A blush flowed into her cheeks, warming them. But it was the way he looked at her that sent liquid fire to the cleft between her thighs.

“I wanted you and now I want to believe you.” He skimmed his thumb over her lips.

“And I want you to believe me.” She peeked her tongue out to lightly touch his skin. “Believe me because it’s true.” Her eyes sought his. “Can you tell me you do, Daniel?”

“I don’t know.”

He disappointed her, a twinge in her gut telling her that it hurt. But why? She barely knew the man. He was her captor, the shifter who’d kidnapped her. Yet he was so much more. In Daniel, she saw the qualities she’d always wanted in a man. But he was filled with contradictions. At once treating her like the prisoner she was, then holding her, comforting her, taking care of her.

The sound of someone speaking to Tucker reminded her that Daniel had others to answer to, others to protect.

“No way will the pack accept that a hunter would help shifters.”

Their eyes met and joined forces. Lauren leaned forward, parted her lips and closed her eyes.
Please, Daniel. Kiss me. Make love to me again. If you don’t believe my words, then believe my touch.
When he didn’t answer her plea, she opened her eyes to search his face.

He tilted his head at her in that endearing way he had and narrowed his eyes. She held her breath, afraid to hope that he’d heard her thoughts. With a groan, he leaned in and grazed his lips over hers. The slight touch magnified her senses, doubling them so that every nerve came alive. She pushed against him, wanting him closer than was physically possible. He answered her, enveloping her in his arms, crushing her breasts to his chest.

“Do you want this, Lauren?”

“Mmm-umm.” She tickled her tongue against his lips, then slipped her tongue inside his mouth to eagerly enjoy his taste.

Daniel clasped the back of her head, holding her to him, his kiss growing harder, more possessive. Their tongues intertwined, playfully drinking the juices from each other. She wanted to stay this way forever, man and woman, hunter and shifter.

Daniel broke free and took a long look at her. She swallowed and waited. Would he stop? If he did, what could she do to keep him kissing her?

He dropped his gaze, taking in the rise and fall of her breasts, then brought his attention back to her face. “I don’t ask.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I don’t ask. Women have always done whatever I told them to do. But you’re…”

“I’m what?” The one who’d taken Torrie from him? Or could he mean something better? Maybe he would say she was too beautiful, too alluring, too much woman for him. At least his rejection wouldn’t hurt as much.

“You’re different.”

She hadn’t expected that. Different? Was that better? “O-kay.”

Daniel rubbed the frown off her forehead. “Different as in special.”

“Oh, I’m special now?” She made air quotes around the word. “What do you mean by special?”

“Special is good. You’re not like the other women I’ve known since…”

She fingered the button on his shirt. “Since Torrie?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you saying this is more than a good time? More than a captive and captor fling?” She prayed he’d say the answer she desperately wanted to hear but was afraid to hope for.

He searched her, his mouth set. “I don’t know what or how this is different. Not yet. I just know that you’re not like all the rest.”

Lauren could see his uncertainty, feel the way he held his body apart from her. Lifting her lips toward his, she closed her eyes and passed her tongue over them, tempting him to kiss her again. He crushed his mouth to hers, taking her tightly by the arms.

She mewed at the taste of him, the unfamiliar taste of wolf mixed with man, and yielded to him. The kiss deepened, growing at once hotter and sweeter. Again their tongues played the game of exploration, rolling over and under. She had to have him, no matter what happened afterward. Standing, she locked her hands behind his neck. She smiled, moving her core against the bulge in his jeans. “You don’t have to ask me either, Daniel.”

“I don’t?” He buried his face in the hollow between her breasts.

“No, you don’t. Because I’m telling you. Take me.”

He lifted his head, his face flushed by her skin. Giving a quick howl, he nipped her neck, then skimmed his teeth over her skin down to the nipple hidden under her shirt. She rocked against him, delighting in the growth between her legs, and fumbled to get his jeans open. He copied her, tearing the buttons off hers as she yanked off his shirt. Her shirt was next as he ripped the material away.

“Hurry, Daniel. I need you.”

He growled, at her or at himself, she didn’t know. She helped him scoot his jeans to his ankles while tugging her own off. Soon, nothing stood between their naked bodies. Mimicking his growl, she dragged his lips to hers. The kiss was as wonderful as before, but Daniel was after more.

Taking her underneath her arms, he broke the kiss, then slid his hands down her back and over her hips to cup her buttocks. Lifting her, he moved her bottom back and forth, rubbing against his cock.

“Do me, Daniel. Now.”

Taking hold of him, Lauren guided him, kissing him as he nuzzled her neck. His shaft slipped inside her and her walls gripped him, welcoming him. She leaned her head back, closing her eyes to concentrate on the feel of him encased by her. He slid back and forth, taking his length almost to the last part of her, then pushing inside again. Together, they rocked, enjoying the sexual dance.

“Oh, Daniel.” No other man had ever made her feel as womanly, as sexy, as alive as he had. She laced her fingers around his neck and dipped her head for another kiss. Her breasts brushed his chest, eased away, then brushed it again, tingling her nipples. Taking his hair, she tugged his head, forcing him to look at her. Brilliant amber eyes blazed at her and, for one sweet moment, she saw both beast and man within them.

“Daniel?”

He panted his reply. “Yes?”

In that moment, she knew what she wanted from him, what she needed from him. Suddenly the stories about a werewolf biting a victim to change them into a shifter became enticing, sexy. Her gaze locked onto his fangs tipping over his lower lip, teasing her. She arched her neck, exposing her throat to him, offering herself in the most intimate way she could. He tensed, growing still.

“Lauren.” The sound was soft, loving, neither a question nor a statement but something in between. He clutched her, his body tightening more, then groaned his release as he buried his face in her neck.

Why didn’t he bite her? Lauren’s climax followed, jolting the question from her.

“Daniel?”

Who said that?

Strong hands lifted her off of him, tossing her to the bed. Daniel leaned his body in front of hers, blocking the view. A smirking Tucker stood at the door.

“What the hell do you want, Tucker?”

Lauren scrunched behind Daniel, making sure his large body would hide hers. With her luck, her butt would stick out anyway. The humor in Tucker’s voice, however, told her she was too late.

“Mysta’s awake and asking for you.”

Chapter Seven

“It’s about time you came around.” Daniel eased into the chair next to Mysta’s bed, then enclosed her hand in both of his. “That bullet must’ve done some real damage to keep you out of it for so long.”

Lauren sidled away from Tucker, slipping closer to the window. Unlike the room where she was held hostage, this window was large and without bars. Sunlight spilled through the lace curtains to slice a path across the bed. Traditional furniture decorated the space and a neutral color highlighted the paintings on the walls. But it was Daniel’s obvious affection for the injured werewolf that stabbed her heart. Were the two together? Was Mysta his next mate? The thought angered and confused her. Yet why should she care?

The lovely woman, the human counterpart of the beautiful werewolf she’d tried to help in the alley, smirked at Daniel. “Fuck off, bub. I’m doing the best I can. Besides, I figure I deserve a rest after everything I’ve gone through.”

So much for the mouth matching the sweet exterior. A chuckle slipped from Lauren’s mouth and all eyes fixed on her. “Oops. Sorry.”

Mysta tilted her head at Lauren. “You look familiar.” She sniffed, then shook her head. “And your scent is familiar, but you’re no shifter. How do I know you?” Her demeanor changed, instantly on guard. “In fact, you smell like the hunter in the alley—” She silently questioned Daniel.

“Yeah.” Daniel shot Lauren a warning to stay silent. “This is the human who had you cornered. Later, after the hunt.”

With Daniel’s help, Mysta struggled to a sitting position and zoned in on Lauren. “Yeah, now I remember. Didn’t I tell you to fuck off?”