“It’s actually a pleasant surprise to be accommodated somewhere indoors, and not in some broken down old shed.” Like most packs that begrudgingly allowed us to stay.
He growls and moves even closer.
“So, while you are a pain in the ass, you’re not that bad. For an alpha, anyway. Most of them are intolerable.”
The longer I speak, the darker Dean’s mood seems to get. “Are you finished?”
Pouting at his clipped tone, I nod.
“Good. If you’d let me finish, I wanted to apologise for last night, because our public display has put you in a position today where you’re going to have to deal with all sorts of gossip, when you should be focusing on your race.”
So, he’s concerned about people giving me shit, not him. It’s almost chivalrous, except that’s not the full story.
“That’s not true,” I say quietly. I should keep my mouth shut, but that’s never been my forte.
Dean tenses and narrows his eyes at me. “I don’t know what you mean.”
With a weary sigh, I wave away his pathetic attempt at playing dumb. Now is not the time.
“That’s not how you really feel, but fine. You tell yourself that. Is that all you wanted to say?”
Dean’s cautious expression morphs into one of annoyance. He’s not used to being dismissed, and I’m not even attempting to hide my lack of interest in continuing this conversation. “Do you genuinely want to know what I really think?” he asks, moving closer until he’s standing at the side of my bed, staring down at me.
I’m afraid to say yes as his blazing eyes burn into me, so I nod, a barely noticeable bob of my head.
“I think that I should be sorry, but I’m not one bit. Because rogue or not, you’re the most captivating woman I’ve ever met. And I can’t be sorry when I enjoyed it so damn much.”
Dean’s fingers wrap around my ankle as he leans down, one hand cupping my chin and forcing me to look up at him.
“But you’re an alpha, and I’m a rogue.”
Dean doesn’t deny that it would never work. Instead, his hand strokes up and down my calf while he speaks. “I’m judging the competition. I have to be impartial. And I have a duty to my pack, to my alpha, to think with my brain and not my...” We both glance down at the erection straining the front of his shorts and I swallow hard. It’s huge.
His fingers stroke my jaw, his thumb sliding up to brush gently against my lower lip. I get a tiny taste of him as I push my tongue forward, and his eyes blaze as he sees it touch his skin.
“Then why are you here?” I ask.
He bends down, jaw clenched, forcing me to lie flat. The hand on my knee slides up even higher until his fingers are splayed over my upper thigh. His chest, slick with perspiration, gleams in the pale morning sunlight.
I imagine our bodies slippery and wet, sliding against each other as he pounds into me. I want to pull him to me, but instead, I dig my nails into the mattress and pray for strength.
“Damned if I know.” Dean’s lips are so close to mine, that if I rocked forward, just an inch, we’d kiss. But I’m not going to be the one to give in. His mouth ghosts across mine, and my eyes fall shut, a wave of pleasure washing over me as I breathe him in and savour his presence looming over me. “I just couldn’t stay away.”
Pounding on the door interrupts our moment. Dean’s eyes darken, his wolf receding once more. He blinks hard, as if waking from a trance and only now realising exactly what he’s doing.
“Fuck,” Dean mutters, scrubbing a hand down over this face. Standing abruptly, he steps back and regards me with something close to suspicion in his eyes. As though I’m weaving some spell that calls him to my room and forces him to seduce me.
“Jamie, breakfast. Let’s go get some food, we’re going to need our energy.” Wyatt’s a morning person, and his enthusiasm at this hour of the morning is jarring. My brother bangs on the door once more, and I stare at Dean, frozen in place.
Go, he mouths, hiding his presence, and my heart drops. I’m just a rogue. Of course, he doesn’t want to be seen coming out of my room.
“Go on ahead. I’m just out of the shower. You can have your first breakfast while I’m getting dressed,” I call out to Wyatt. Sliding to the edge of the bed, I tug down my T-shirt and stand.
“Good idea.” Any time you tell Wyatt to eat, he thinks it’s a top plan.
His footsteps retreat, but then suddenly, he’s back. “Was Reynolds here? The place reeks of him.”
Dean’s jaw clenches, and he looks up at the ceiling, eyes squeezed tight.