Page 54 of Rugged

He eyed me closely. “What have you found out from her about Chapman?”

I blew out my breath. “Nothing new. Which means nothing.”

“Did she call him?”

“Yes, yesterday. No answer.”

At the time, I’d been relieved. But now? Fuck. While he’d given me two days, I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. Chapman wasn’t getting any less guilty because I found my mate. Me taking time off wasn’t helping get him caught and the trafficking to stop.

The pressure of being with my mate balanced with this new job was a lot. So was being pushed to mark a human who, while she’d said she loved me, was… skittish. How could I tell her about shifters, marking, and being mine forever when she might leave?

“You need to get that info out of her.”

“What do you want me to ask her? She hasn’t seen him in weeks. Doesn’t know where he is.”

“Have her call him again.”

“We talked about this. I admit, I distracted her.”

“Leave a message that there’s a bad garbage disposal or the ice maker leaked and ruined the wood floors. Something. I don’t give a shit. Get him on the horn andhave her ask about where he is and when he’s returning to his ranch.”

I didn’t want Lyssa in the middle of anything having to do with Chapman. Just knowing she’s an employee of his, had been living alone in his place, made me want to lose my shit. I started to pace. Then tugged on my hair.

“Listen. You need to be careful with her tonight. You should probably come out with us on the full moon run to work off some steam. Otherwise, your wolf might try to mark her without you meaning to. With the way you acted last night, I’m not sure you can control yourself.”

I nodded respectfully, but there was no way I could leave Lyssa here by herself or even with the other women tonight. We only just met. She wasn’t going to stick around for my cowboy ass if I bailed on her. I sure as hell didn’t want her to head back to possible danger at Chapman’s ranch while I was off running with my pack mates.

Still, I muttered, “Yes, Alpha” to get him off my back.

Rob tipped his hat and walked off toward the barn. I turned on my heel and went back to the bunkhouse.

Lyssa was in the kitchen making a pot of coffee. I should have felt bad that she was tired enough for a cup this late in the day, but the memory of keeping her awake to fuck her over and over–the female who said she loved me–only made my dick hard again.

“Hey baby,” I murmured. “You don’t need coffee. We’re going to nap, remember?”

She looked over her shoulder from where she was measuring the grounds. Her hair was long and tousled down her back.

I loved her.

“Oh, yeah. That sounds good.”

“How was the call?”

She tilted her head back and forth. “He offered me a new position he texted about yesterday.”

I tried to remain calm through this, but my wolf was not happy.

“So this was the job in Hollywood doing special effects? The one you quit a few months ago?”

She hesitated, just for a fraction of a second.

What didn’t she want to tell me?

“Yeah. It was… crazy.” Ditching the coffeemaker, she spun around to face me. After our shower, she’d gotten dressed, but barely. She had on one of my t-shirts and was definitely not wearing a bra. Or shorts.

I was distracted by her hard little nipples and over whether she had on panties.

I curled my finger, and like a good girl, she came to me. I wrapped my arms around her, set my hands on her ass.

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