Page 61 of Attraction

“Kat, they all did it. The rest of the guys, they all did it. This is about making a connection —nothing else.”

“Wait… you want me bonded to him. But what about us? I thought—”

“No. No, it’s not the same thing and believe me, this is not about sex.”

She swallows nervously, watching him for a reaction, but his face gives her nothing. “After all I’ve done, you still want me to play your frat-boy game.” She takes a breath, biting her lip. “Alright. Okay…” Her heart’s beating hard as she thinks about calling their bluff. No way will Digby let her take all her clothes off in front of the guys. Hell, he wouldn’t even let her run around the block in shorts the other day. “Fuck it! Okay, you want to get your rocks off that bad, then okay do it. But I hope you enjoy it because trust me Ryan, this will be theverylast time you see my body naked.”

“Kat, please… you can’t be serious?” He frowns. “Look, it’s not… really… this is killin’ me, but—” he stammers, trying to convince her.

“Alright.” Now she’s almost curious to see what he’ll do. Will he stop her? “Well, you’ve seen my tits and ass before, so who cares. Okay, I’ll do this. I’ll play your stupid little boys’ game.”

She unclips her body armor, dropping it to the ground and then slowly unfastens her shirt, one button at a time, wondering with each one if it will be the point that Digby stops her—he doesn’t. Soon she’s just in her black sports bra and khaki pants and she quickly drops them and steps out. Now, still waiting for him to stop her, she grabs at the hem of her bra top, about to pull it over her head and expose her breasts.

“Alright….stop.” It’s Darius who now speaks. “That’ll do. Enough!” He takes a breath, almost embarrassed, as his eyes focus on her. If he were honest, he’s desperate to see what’s under that bra, but as much as he studies her, seeing her stood in just her underwear, he feels uncomfortable, not helped by the chesty growls of displeasure Digby keeps making. “It’s fine. We’ll do it like this.”

Digby nods. Pleased, he stops with his frantic pacing—he really wasn’t liking that at all.

Darius takes a firm hold of her hand in his and flattens her fingers out of the tense screwed-up fist she’s made.

She pulls frantically, trying to loosen her hand from his grip as the reality of what he’s about to do sinks in. “No! No, wait! What, you can’t be serious?” She frowns, tugging her hand only for him to hold her tighter. “Wait, you can’t do this. You can’t cut my hand. What the fuck. Seriously you can’t do this.”

“Trust me, I’m not going to hurt you,” Darius says.

“What? Seriously? You want me to trust you to cut my hand withthatknife? Are you mad? If you hadn’t noticed I’m a medic… a surgeon. For God’s sake, you cut it wrong—and with that knife it’s likely—then that’s the end of my career. No, that’s it, I’m not playing this game. No wonder you can’t keep a fuckin’ medic. Taking my clothes off is one thing. In these times youreallyshould reconsider even that. I’d let that shit go as a prank—locker room banter,but this… No. Don’t you see, this has serious consequences? I’m not doing it.” Her head drops, she’s so angry, so tired and so frustrated, after every obstacle it comes down to one thing, one thing she can’t—won’tdo.

“Digby, leave us.”

“Don’t bother. You’re not going to talk me into this… so forget it!”

* * *

Sitting himself beside the fire, Digby’s frustrated and rubbing his hands over his head, he sighs.

Zak rouses and gets up from his temporary bed to join him. “She’s not gonna go for it, eh?”

“No, I don’t think she will. Zak, I thought she trusted me, after what happened between us. I thought my word was enough.”

“Tough call, right? For her I mean.”

“But not when you did it? You just did it. Did what I asked. You didn’t question it and you didn’t hesitate. So why is she?”

Zak laughs. “What, you can’t see why? Diggs, she’s a fighter. She’s … well, she can’t be controlled like that—well, maybe she can, but not as easily as the rest of us. That’s what makes me wonder where she fits in this pack? Is there room for another Alpha?”

They study each other for a moment. The stepbrothers know each other so well and Digby sighs, turning to face him. “You know, don’t you? I mean, you know what she is?”

“Know what?” He smiles. “I don’t know anythin’… not for sure. But I’m not stupid and I can take a good guess. You know, I thought somethin’ like this… that I’d be able to tell a hundred percent. But other than the way you were so taken with her, I didn’t sense anythin’. The thing that threw me is her scent. I mean, she smells of nothin’. Why is that?” He sighs, staring into the flames of the fire, thinking. “…holy shit.So, she really is a… Wow! You know I never thought I’d get to see onethisclose—and in a pack with me…Fuck.”

“Mm-hm…” Digby smiles. “Zak, she’s fuckin’ beautiful! I mean, she is so amazin’, you can’t even imagine it, and she’s so fuckin’ big and strong—I mean,reallystrong.”

“Well, I can imagine a lot.” Zak leans back on his elbows in the glow of the fire’s warmth, thinking about the images he has in his head. “Well then, you better hope he can talk her around.”

* * *

“Do you want to be on this team or not?”

“What kind of dumbass question is that?” She frowns, staring, her bright green eyes focusing on his violet pupils.

“Trust me then. Look, it’s not in my best interests, or the team’s, for me to incapacitate my medic, right?”

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