Page 31 of Venice Heat (Urban Heat 2)

When she wiggled in his hold, he let her go. She took two steps back, but not too far, so he wouldn’t feel the need to come after her again. “I’m guessing being your mate isn’t on the table anymore now that you know who I am.”

He didn’t say a word.

“That’s what I thought.” She stifled the hurt even though she had turned his high-handed solution down. “Am I going to be attacked again for taking out the trash?”

“I did not attack you.”

“Whatever.”

Eiji stepped around her and picked up the trash bag. She watched him walk to the door and then turned toward the bedroom. Apparently, she was to be held hostage a little longer.

That night, when she lay in bed, she expected Eiji to join her, but he never came into the bedroom. She knew he was still in the house because she smelled him, and if she listened hard, she could pick up the quiet breaths he took as he slept. Loneliness and rejection tasted bitter in her mouth. Eiji had felt like the only person she had on her side, but he had been there because he didn’t know the truth. Now he did, and while he didn’t walk away, he wasn’t there either.

Sleep took its time coming, and when it did, she tossed and turned so much, she woke up repeatedly. By morning, the agitation of the previous night drove her to get out of the house. She showered and dressed in a bikini and sundress with flip-flops. She waited until Eiji occupied the shower and then left the house, headed toward the beach. Rather than walk the boardwalk, she continued to the warm sand and on to the water. Freezing cold, the waves came in to cover her feet. When the squishy sound her flip-flops made jarred her raw nerves, she took them off and walked along holding them.

After some time, an odd feeling came over her. She stopped and looked around. Darryl stood not ten feet away, and bile rose in her throat.

“Good morning, baby.”

“Kiss my ass. I know what you did to me, Darryl, and it’s not going to work.”

He laughed and strolled toward her as if he had all day to get there. “If I wanted, I could have you stripped and spread for me right here for all the world to see.”

“And the moment you let me go, I will cut your throat.”

He waggled a finger and chuckled again. “I like your fight. It’s going to feel good to break you.”

“No man can break me.”

“Oh yeah?”

He came closer, and for no reason at all, she laid a hand on his chest. To her utter horror, her pussy clenched in longing for this bastard. She fought with everything inside, to the point that beads of sweat broke out on her top lip and rivulets of moisture ran down from her temples. Darryl nipped at her chin with his teeth, a playful move as if they were lovers, teasing each other.

“You shouldn’t challenge me, baby girl. You’ll always lose.”

“I hate your guts.”

“I can even make you say you love me.”

Panic stirred in her stomach. “If that’s how you get your rocks off. Maybe no woman has ever been willing. You must be proud.”

“Bitch,” he growled.

He grabbed her chin and squeezed so hard she cried out. She tried doing to him what she’d attempted with Eiji, but this time she couldn’t even raise her leg, let alone connect her knee with his balls. Darryl ground his mouth over hers, pressing hard until she tasted blood. She cried out and fought to get free from his hold. All she managed was to dig her nails into his arms, but she did all she could to cut into his flesh. He grunted in pain and shoved her back. She lost her footing and fell hard on the ground. Not even waiting for him to take control again, she flipped over to squat on her hands and feet and kicked out. Her foot connected with his leg, and the big bad wolf went down.

Darryl snarled his rage. He was on her in seconds and flattened her in the sand. If the soft grains hadn’t provided a cushion, she would be dead or unconscious. Even so, her neck and shoulders ached with the strain of protecting herself. Darryl knotted fingers in her hair and yanked. She cried out.

“Hey!” someone called, but Darryl ignored the person.

He ran a hand up her thigh, raising her dress. He paused at the mound of her pussy, and she almost threw up in her mouth. Gathering a bunch of sand in her hand, she prepared to rub it in his eyes, but he anticipated her move and squeezed her wrist until she lost all feeling in her fingers.

“Miss, are you okay?” Hairy, pale legs stopped in her peripheral vision. Shae opened her mouth to say she wasn’t okay, but Darryl’s face made her pause.

His eyes shifted to the wolf’s, and his canine teeth lengthened and sharpened while his muzzle protruded just enough to freak out any human who had the misfortune of seeing it. She didn’t have to guess what he had in mind.

“You protect the humans, right? Wonder what this one will taste like.” His laugh was low and throaty. “I vote it will taste like chicken.”

“You wouldn’t do that. You’d risk exposing your kind, and none of the shifters want that.”

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