Page 22 of Wolf Hunted (Rejected Moons 1)

NATE

Emlyndressesquietly.

I really want to know what she’s thinking. Did she enjoy that as much as I did? Are we going to do it again, or was it a one-time thing?

But I don’t want to make her answer a bunch of questions right after sex. We can talk about it later, when we’ve both had a little time to process what happened.

She adjusts her pants, then turns to face me. She isn’t looking at me, though. Her eyes are averted as she loosens her hair from the elastic holding it and shakes it out. I haven’t seen it loose before. It’s big and curly and dark brown with bits of red in it here and there, and I wish it had been loose when we were fucking because I would have loved to bury my hands in it.

Next time, the wolf inside me suggests with a sort of primal growl, and I almost have to laugh. We’re not even finished getting our clothes back on, and already the wolf is thinking about next time.

I can’t really blame him. I’m thinking about next time too.

Emlyn gathers her hair and secures it in a ponytail, then faces me. “So,” she says. “The coven?”

I’m so thrown off by this that I almost laugh out loud. I manage to compose myself before the laugh breaks free, but it’s close. “The coven?” I repeat.

“Yes, thecoven,” she snaps. “The one you said you would take me to. The one that’s the only reason you’re walking around free instead of locked up in that cage. Where is it?”

“You’re really in some kind of hurry, aren’t you?”

“Are you going to take me there or not?”

“I said I would, didn’t I?” I say. “But what’s your rush? I don’t know about you, but I could use a little recuperation after that great fuck. How about something to eat?” I gesture toward her backpack.

She jerks it away. “You can’t keep doing this,” she said. “You can’t keep putting me off by telling me you need food, or—or trying to distract me with sex.”

I’m actually offended. “That’s not what I was doing,” I say. “I wanted you. That was real.”

“Whatever,” she says. “Take me to the coven.”

I have to get her away from that whole subject, so I turn and start up the flight of stairs behind me.

“Where the hell are you going?” she demands, chasing after me.

“It’s still the middle of the night, in case you hadn’t noticed,” I tell her. “I’m not going out there under the light of the moon. That’s when Moon Casters are most powerful.”

She sighs. I know she knows I have a point.

“Why don’t you just tell me where the coven is?” she suggests.

“Right,” I say. “If I do that, you’re going to ditch me and go off on your own. You know as well as I do that the only reason you’re keeping me around is so I can lead you to the coven.”

“Why do you care if I keep you around or not?” she asks.

I leer at her. “The sex is good.”

She groans. “You shouldn’t count on that happening again,” she says firmly.

“I think you had just as much fun as I did.”

“That doesn’t matter. I was having a fit of temporary insanity, that’s all it was.”

I notice what she didn’t deny. “Youdidlike it.”

“Can you just knock it off?” she says. I hear the aggravation in her voice. It’s kind of satisfying to know I’m having such a strong effect on her. It’s almost as hot as watching her get riled up when I touch her.

I push open the door on the fifth floor, but Emlyn starts up the stairs to the sixth.

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