Unleashed Temptation (12 page)

eye she watched him pause before walking back out.

Only after she heard the front door shut did she let out a sigh. If she wasn’t ready to

let everyone know about them, she simply wasn’t ready. He’d have to be a grownup

and deal with it.

* * * * *

Nick cursed himself for the hundredth time as he steered into the parking lot of his

shop. What the hell was the matter with him?

Unfortunately he knew the answer. The man and the animal inside him wanted to

mark Carly and let the world know she was his. She wasn’t ready though. So why was

he having such a hard time accepting it? And why did she want to hold off anyway?

She might not know they were mates but she had to feel the same connection he did. Or

at least something similar. The woman was absolute dynamite in his arms. There was

no faking that.

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He slammed his car door shut and stalked toward the front door of his office but

jerked to a halt. The garish roses that had been on Carly’s desk were smashed and

scattered across the entrance. And he’d seen Carly throw them out yesterday.

His entire body tensed at the possible implication. Why would someone go to the

trouble of digging flowers out of a Dumpster? Carly had told him her ex-boyfriend had

cheated on her so it was doubtful he’d do something like this. Not to mention he lived

in Chicago. Or Nick assumed he did.

The parking lot was empty, but he glanced around the surrounding area. A few

cars sat in the restaurant across the street but he recognized all of them.

As he bent to gather the fallen petals, a new scent accosted him. He took a deep

breath, sniffing the air. It was faint, but something foreign pricked his nostrils. There

were so many surrounding smells so he focused on what was new.

He couldn’t define it but it was earthy, piney, and he detected something acrid and

coppery. Almost as if something had been burned recently. The only thing he was sure

of, it wasn’t human. Or not all human, anyway.

Nick glanced at his watch then unlocked the front door. After grabbing a garbage

bag from the supply room he hurriedly gathered the crushed flowers and bagged them.

As he was tossing them in the garage’s oversized trashcan, Alex walked in zipping up

her jumpsuit.

“Morning, Cousin,” she said through a yawn.

“Who sent those flowers to Carly?”

She rolled her eyes. “Well good morning to you too.”

“Who?” He didn’t have time to play twenty questions.

Alex shrugged and started rolling up her sleeves. “It was that guy Dennis from

Friday’s party. I felt bad for the guy so I gave him her number.”

His hands clenched into balls by his side.

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She immediately held up her hands in mock surrender. “Hey, that was before I

realized you were seriously interested. I gave him her number and I’m pretty sure he’s

the one who sent the flowers. I don’t know though, why not just ask Carly?”

Because he didn’t want to seem like a jealous asshole, that’s why
. Instead of voicing his

thoughts, he said, “Where do you know that guy from?”

“I don’t know. I think he’s one of my brother’s friends. They might have met at a

club or something.” She shrugged again in that typically unconcerned way of hers and

he forced himself to bite his tongue.

Nick’s generation was so different it was sometimes hard to comprehend the way

Alex and her siblings acted. Inviting virtual strangers to family get-togethers was

something he would never contemplate. He made a mental note to talk to his father and

Thomas about it. This kind of behavior was going to end now.

“Don’t give Carly’s number to strange men anymore,” he ground out.

“Jeez, I’m sorry. Let me get some coffee first then you can yell at me,” she huffed

and stalked past him, flipping her dark hair as she did.

Nick scrubbed a hand over his face and racked his brain. There had been something

a little off about the guy at the party, but he couldn’t put his finger on why. Not to

mention, Nick had been more interested in getting Carly alone than talking to the man

hitting on her.

His cell rang, jarring his thoughts. When he saw Thomas’ number, relief coursed

through him. “Hey, I was going to call you.”

“Hey, little brother. I heard through the grapevine that you’ve found your mate.”

There was an unexpected note of sadness in Thomas’ gravelly voice.

“And what grapevine would that be?”

“Who else? Mom called and she is not happy with you.”

“
What
?” How the hell does she even know?

“Alex told her. I expect we’ll be meeting her tonight?” Thomas asked.

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“No. She’s not ready to meet everyone.” He hadn’t had a chance to cancel with

Carly yet, but if this morning was any indication, she definitely wasn’t ready. It was

apparent she was feeling overwhelmed by their relationship so he couldn’t introduce

her to the pack. Rules could be damned. If he did, he’d risk alienating her forever.

“She said that?”

“No. I think I’m pushing her too hard…” He shook his head and walked across the

garage toward the lobby. Carly would be in soon and he wanted to talk to her. “Listen,

that’s not important right now. What kind of being or creature smells like earth and

fire?”

“Uh, demon?”

“No, it’s definitely not that.” There hadn’t been a trace of sulfur in the air and the

scent had been too faint. The scent of a demon was unmistakable and as a rule, they

rarely visited this realm in pure form.

“Fire…” Thomas was silent for a moment, then he spoke again. “Was it almost like

the forest or a forest fire?”

“Yeah. There was a piney undertone.”

“Could be an Immortal.”

Nick frowned. He hadn’t come across an Immortal in nearly a hundred years. They

were a solitary bunch and for the most part, the few he’d met were all a little unhinged.

Hanging around for a few millenniums could do that to a person, he supposed. “It’s

possible, I guess.”

Thomas snorted. “Anything’s possible. Why are you asking?”

He briefly described what had happened with the flowers and was surprised by his

brother’s reaction.

“You need to bond with your mate as soon as possible.” Thomas’ words came out

as a harsh, throaty order.

“Don’t you think I know that?”

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“I’m serious. I’m not saying he is, but if this guy is an Immortal and he’s fixated on

your woman, he’ll stop at nothing to claim her. He won’t care that she’s technically

supposed to be mated to someone else. Until you’ve marked her, she’s fair game. To

anyone
.”

“How do you even know this?”

Thomas sighed and Nick could practically see him drumming his fingers on his two

hundred-year-old oak desk in annoyance. “Because I paid attention in history class.”

“I paid attention.” Sort of. When he’d been a randy cub, listening to the history of

werewolves, other shifters, and pretty much all other nonhumans hadn’t been high on

his list of priorities. He’d learned what he needed to know about his own kind and that

had been good enough for him.

His brother cleared his throat. “Yeah, right. If this guy is an Immortal, it sounds like

he might control fire, so be careful. I don’t know if it’s true, but I’ve heard they need sex

to stay strong. You don’t want this guy fixating on your woman.”

Nick inwardly cursed. He might not remember much from school, but he knew

enough that Immortals could be some scary guys if they were powerful enough. He

shook those thoughts away and straightened behind the counter when he saw Carly

drive up. “I will.”

“I don’t care how you explain it to her, but you need to mate with her. The last

thing our family needs is to tangle with an Immortal.”

“I said I’ll take care of it,” he ground out.

After they disconnected, he slipped his phone into the pocket of his jumpsuit. Shit!

He still needed time to make sure Carly was ready, but it didn’t look like he was going

to get the chance.

From what he remembered, there were four different types of Immortals. They

either controlled fire, earth, water or wind. The four elements. Some believed Immortals

were somehow connected to the earth, because if they died, they turned into whatever

element they controlled when they were alive. No one truly knew much about them,

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however. Unfortunately they were lone beings and it’s not as if they were going to

announce their weaknesses to the world.

The bell dinged as the glass door opened. Carly half smiled at him as she walked in.

“Hey.”

“Carly, I’m sorry about earlier.”

“Okay.” She clutched onto her purse strap and tried to move past him. Even if he

couldn’t smell her annoyance, it was written all over her pretty face. Her eyebrows rose

haughtily when he wouldn’t let her step by him. “You gonna let me pass?”

“We need to talk.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine. Talk.”

He glanced toward the inside of the garage before meeting Carly’s heated gaze.

Most of the guys were arriving, but no one could possibly hear what he was saying to

Carly. “I’m sorry about this morning.”

“What exactly are you sorry for?”

“For being a jackass.”

Her lips pulled up at the corners and the vise around his chest loosened. That was

definitely a good sign.

When she didn’t respond, he continued. “There are some things I want to talk to

you about tonight…” Out of the corner of his eye he watched an oversized, overpriced

Hummer park next to Carly’s small car.

Instantly his senses went on high alert. The hair on the back of his neck tingled and

he had to force his canines not to extend. When the man from Alex’s party stepped out,

his entire body went into battle mode.

He could feel his bones start to shift, readying for the change. If Immortals were as

dangerous as his brother said, he’d change in broad daylight for Carly and the rest of

the world to see if that’s what it took to protect her. Even if he didn’t want to, if he felt

threatened enough, his inner wolf would protect its mate at all costs. Human reasoning

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didn’t even factor into the equation. It had been nearly a decade since he’d fought

someone to the death, but if that’s what it came down to, so be it.

“Why can’t this guy get the hint?” Carly muttered next to him.

Her voice pulled him back to their current situation. Without looking at her, he

said, “Go to the office and shut the door.”

She placed a gentle hand on his arm. “Nick, I can take care of this myself—”

“Get in the fucking office!” He hadn’t meant to shout, but getting Carly out of the

way was all he could focus on.

Next to him she gasped, but did as he asked. As soon as the door shut behind her,

Nick walked around the counter. He met the man who called himself Dennis as he

opened the front door.

The man’s green eyes flared an unnatural shade, but he didn’t step any further into

the shop.

“What are you doing here?” Nick growled.

“I want to see the woman.” His voice was filled with raw possessiveness.

“The
woman
doesn’t want to see you.” The fact that he didn’t even refer to Carly by

name riled all Nick’s aggressiveness.

“Says who?” Dennis sneered.

Nick took two steps toward him until they were inches apart. “Says me. I know

what you are so I’m guessing you know what I am. Stay away from her or I’ll rip your

fucking heart out with my bare hands.” He spoke low enough so it was impossible to

overhear.

Even though he didn’t step back or flinch, the man’s green eyes flared again and

Nick knew he’d hit a nerve. If Nick remembered right, he’d have to cut off an

Immortal’s head or rip his heart out to kill one.

“She is not marked, lycan.” His words were just as low and menacing.

Nick gritted his teeth. So the man did know what he was. “She will be.”

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His gaze strayed behind Nick—no doubt to the shut office door hiding Carly—

before returning to Nick. A smirk played at his lips. “We will see.” At that, he turned on

his heel and left.

When the bell jingled overhead, Nick heard the office door fly open behind him.

Nick swiveled just in time to see Carly flying out of the office and marching toward

him. “What the hell was that?” She didn’t give him an opportunity to answer as she

poked him in the chest. “That macho bullshit might work on other women, but don’t

you
ever
talk to me like that again.”

He bit back a sigh. “Carly—”

“I don’t want to hear any excuses! Just because we’re sleeping together does not

give you the right to—”

“Carly!”

She placed a hand on her hip as she glared at him. “What?”

He cleared his throat and nodded behind her. Jimmy and Rodrigo stood in the open

doorway leading to the garage, both wide-eyed, staring expectantly at them.

She turned then whirled back to face Nick. She opened her mouth to say something,

but just as quickly snapped it shut. Instead, she shot daggers at him with her bright blue

eyes before stalking back to her office and slamming the door.