Page 72 of Wolf

I only grumbled a reply to him as I buried my head back in the pillow, the smell of my spicy body butter now mixed in with the flavor of his cigarettes. Speaking of which, he rolled to the side of the bed and picked up the packet of Java cigarettes, plucked one out, and put it between his lips, then cupped around his mouth to light it. He tossed his lighter back on the bedside table, letting it slide across the wood until it clinked against the glass bottle of whiskey, and let out a soft breath of cigarette smoke. The cloud gathered in the air before it drifted over to my side, and I tasted the dry, uniquetaste.

My muscles protested as I pushed up off the bed, where my worn body was content to stay, and rolled until I found myself draped over Wolf’s huge chest. He grunted at my sudden weight, but his eyes didn’t move from mine as their deep amber color watched me, slightly amused and still drowned in endorphins, as I reached to pluck the cigarette fromhislips.

His eyes narrowed, but when I leaned down and pressed my lips to his, feeling the soft brush of his new beard across my skin as I slid my tongue between his lips, his mind was appeased. Wolf’s arms reached up and threaded through my hair as his tongue came out to play. I stubbed the cigarette out in the ashtray on the bedside table withoutlooking.

One hand released my hair as it cruised down my back, over my rump, and grabbed a handfulofass.

I released his lips with a hiss as he squeezed, earning me a reluctant grumble fromWolf’slips.

“Fuck me,” he growled, a playful light dancing in his eyes as he looked down on me. “The only thing that could make this morning better is breakfastinbed.”

He looked at me in anticipation for a long fewseconds.

“If you want breakfast in bed, sleep in the kitchen,” I scoffed, pushing up off him, making sure to dig my nails into his thick chest, earning a hiss of painfromhim.

The second I stood, Wolf’s hand whipped out across my ass in revenge, causing metoyelp.

“Don’t sass me, woman,” hegrowled.

“Fuck off,” I hissed, moving over to the wardrobe and picking out my clothes before trotting off for a shower. This time, I remembered to lock the doorbehindme.

After standing under the shower for a long enough period—Wolf’s showerhead was almost touching the ceiling in order to accommodate his height, which forced me to step back a mile from the shower knobs to step into the spray—I dried, dressed, and brushed my teeth before opening the door just as Wolf’s phone begantoring.

I knew something wasn’t right the second heansweredit.

Russian spewed from Wolf’s mouth in a loud, raging boom. He shoved himself to his feet. Any sign of his lax, after-sex high was gone, replaced by a rigid expression that sank deep into the lines of his face as his lips pulled back in a snarl, as he continued to shout louder and louder down thephone.

He spun in his uncontained rage until his eyes hit mine, and he stopped dead. Whatever was said in his ear the second his burning gaze met mine made all the anger, the rage, and the destructive force of his expression disappear with the drop of his shoulders. The hand that was crushing his phone became so loose I was surprised the phone didn’t slip from his hand, and the frightening, snarling expression turned into a smooth, flawless expression of cold, hard shock. His white-ringed, stunned, whiskey eyes stared dead at me, and even before hearing what he had to say, I felt my heart drop in my chest like a stone on water. Cold rippled across my body and the blood in my veinscurdled.

Wolf said something else into the phone and pressed his finger down on the classic button until the phone beeped and the linecutoff.

“The Black Jacks?” I interpreted. Who else would Wolf speak fluentRussianto?

He gave a curt,stiffnod.

“They want to make a deal?” I continued. Knowing they wanted Ash, I couldn’t imagine they would attack the club now, and considering the length of their silence the past week, I wouldn’t be surprised if they had only just found out wehadher.

He noddedagain.

My hands clenched and unclenched at my side as I let my eyes rake over Wolf’s stiff, almost rigid posture. The slackness of his shock had been replaced with muscles wound so tight, his bluish veins bulged against his skin, and his hands were tightened into thick, tense fists at his side, making the plastic of his phone creak. Even the thickness of his jeans couldn’t hide the rippling of the skin beneath them as he all but turned intostone.

I was reminded of Wolf telling Charon to take his deal and get the fuck off his property. He said that without a second of hesitation to one of the most influential men in the United States. Now, he stood silent, unable to even answer my questions with a simple yesorno.

“Wolf?” I breathed, my voice quiet as he slowly took a step toward me and then stopped, not moving his eyes a single inch away from mine. His hands moved to reach for me, but they faltered and fell back at his side. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, knowing I didn’t want to hear what he had to say. Not with that expression. Not when he hadn’t even said no, never mind tofuckoff.

His flat lips broke apart, and for a moment, no sound came out. And thenitdid.

“TheywantAsh.”

He didn’tsayno.

He didn’t say notothem.

“Why didn’t you say no?” I blurted, my whole body seeming to come to life as I broke out of the cold shell that had begun to take me over. Fire bubbled up from the pit of my chest, becoming a feverish burn as Wolf didn’t answer me. “Why didn’t you say no?” I screeched, surprised at the horrifying sound of it as it came out of my mouth, but I couldn’t look away fromhiseyes.

When he took a step forward, I almost jumped out of my skin as I leaped back to avoid him. His whole body flinched at my reaction, his stunned face shutting down as a hardened mask came slamming down in frontofit.

“Anna—” Wolf growled, his voice deep, guttural, and from what I knew, pissed as he went to moveagain.

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