Page 19 of Soulmates
“Fanfuckintastic.”
I cross to the window simply to have something to do besides stare. “You’re lying.”
“Nope.” David sits up on his knees. “I’musing sarcasm. Did they do that back in your day? The phrasefucking fantasticsuggests something good happened.Fanfuckintasticimplies the opposite.”
His hands are fisted on his thighs and there are notes of anger and fear in his voice. Something happened. Something bad.
Dusk is deepening to night, and the highway out our window is streaked gold from the stream of headlights. I have options here. I could sit on the edge of the bed, waiting patiently for him to trust me, the way I would for any other wounded animal. I could take him up on his invitation and fuck him till he talks.
About the only thing I can’t do is leave.
My options aren’t great, and while I’m sifting through them, I standwith my arms crossed. I guess my silence bothers him, because he flips around and glares at me. “I’ve seen walls with more personality.”
“Maybe.” He’s close to breaking down. I can sense it and hold on for the blow.
“Damn it.” He punches the mattress, hard. “Don’t you believe in small talk? Hey David”—he uses a high, mincing voice—“how the hell was your day? What’d you do with yourself while I was, you know, dead?”
I don’t respond. My silence is pissing him off, but anything I say will make him angrier. Several moments pass, then he straightens up, squaring his shoulders. “Not that you care, but I had a busy day. I had thirty-seven texts from my sister, another two dozen from my roommate back in Seattle, at least one from each of my eight cousins, and an emailfrom my uncle.”
His voice quivers on “email.” “You seem upset.”
“Very observant.” He claps slowly. “Uncle Brendan is the family pack’s Delta, and I’m supposed to meet him in the morning.”
My knowledge of pack politics is rudimentary, but I think the Delta is the enforcer. “Why?”
He makes a disgusted “tsk.” “Because word got back to my fatherthat someone tried to kill me outside a nightclub, and now they all thinkI’m in danger.”
Interesting.“No commentabout the bomb in the hotel or the gunman at my condominium?”
He raises his hands and lets them flop. “Right, well, lemmeemail himback real quick andmake sure he’sgot all the deets, ’kay?”
He’s missing the point, but I let him carry on.
“He’s going to cut my vacation short, reel me in under the pretext of protecting me.”
“But you don’t trust him.”I’m stating the obvious, but I need to be sure.
The look he gives me is more complicated than what I was expecting. There’s anger and fear, yes but also determination and an unshakeable confidence. “The only thing I know for sure about any of my father’s sidekicks is that my wolf can take them.”
Now I do approach the bed. I don’t touch him,but Iget a better sense of the mix of pheromones he’s giving off. He may be dead wrong about everything, but he absolutely believes what he’s saying. “If there’s a chance that your uncle is behind all this bullshit, I don’t think you should meet him.”
The look he gives me is cold, leaving little doubt that he’s the Alpha’s son. “I have to. If I don’t, it’ll undermine my father’s control, and then they really will kill me.” He sighs, deflates a little. “I can take them. I can.”
“But”—I reach out, brush a strand of blond hair behind his ear—“this was supposed to be your chance to have a man in every orifice.” For someone so bold, he’s achingly young.“Email him back and tell him you can’t meet till nine p.m.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re not going in there alone. Your father hired a vampire, which tells me he anticipated trouble. Let me help you.” My voice drops to a whisper, and I’m not even sure where the words are coming from.I’m too old, too bitter over theloss of a lover who might not havedied.Instead of searching for Connor, I want to dress Davidup in his pumps and his furs, to take him outto some fancy cluband give him his pick of the crowd. Then two of us can gang up on him and make his dreams come true.
But that’s all a fantasy, and the reality is, I’m stuck in a shitty hotel room with a kid who’s got a death wish of some kind. He leans into my palm, and I thread myfingers deeper into his hair, twistingthe coarse blond strands.
“So where is this meeting supposed to take place?” He wouldn’t have given them our location.Would he?Nervous energy surges through me. If he’s told them, it’s already too late for us to try to get away.
“The national organization has an office suite downtown.” His dry lips brush against my skin. “I figure I’ll take an Uber.”
“You’re not taking an Uber.” I shake my head. “Tell them you can’t be there till after sunset, and I’ll call Sheena.” The skin of his cheek is barely rough, like the finest grain of sandpaper. “Between the three of us, we’ll make sure you get in and out safely.”
“Don’t assume the worst.” He shakes his head, rubbing his sandpaper skin against my fingertips. “This is my family. I’ll be okay.”
