Page 7 of Haze

She picks up the glass in front of me. With a lighthearted and surprising laugh, given the start of this conversation, she smiles and shakes her head. Tilting the pint glass, she pours her beer into it, minding the foam.

With the glass in hand, she draws a slow sip before slipping her tongue out to clean her top lip. It seems second nature, but I can’t help but wonder if she’s doing it for my pleasure.

My slacks are tight, and my breath catches. Beautiful images of that tongue and the tip of my cock only torture me further. It hasn’t been that long since I’ve had a woman in my bed. Lena has no business having this strong of an effect on me.

Unless she’s ours. Quit stalling and get closer, my wolf demands. I give in to his nagging, leaning forward in my chair, but there are still too many scents hanging in the space between us.

She swallows before answering. “Worry about whatever you’d like, but it would be bad for business to start killing off new patrons.”

Giving my beer a gentle pour, I raise mine toward her in a silent toast, then bravely take a sip. The sweet scent of the brew mixes with the first taste of home I’ve had in nearly a week’s time. It fills my mouth, and I groan with appreciation and pull another swallow.

“Woah, dude, it’s a beer. Keep it in your pants.” Lena huffs out a laugh.

Her hair bounces, catching in the muted bar light. It tempts me to wrap my fingers in it. If only she’d pull it to the side to expose her neck and give me better access to where her scent would be strongest.

Again, her tongue drives me wild as it finds the lip of her pint with a seductive lick before settling the glass and taking a swallow.

“Ahh, I see how you are.” I taunt her for a reaction. “You’re the kind of woman who wants to sit on her barstool and be bothered by a man so she can be rude and run them off. You get off on belittling them. It’s too bad, Lena. I prefer my women strong, not unnecessarily antagonistic.”

“Love when men assume they know everything about a woman because they’ve seen one before.” Lena snorts.

From the corner of my eye, I watch her roll her eyes and run her hand back through her hair. I draw a deep breath but can’t make out even a hint of her scent over the rest of the bar.

Breaking Lena could be fun, but do I want to dedicate time to that when I could be hunting down my mate?

May still be our mate. My wolf is slow to dismiss her. He’s always craved the challenging ones. He loves the fight of the bratty behavior and thrives when they come back to center, accepting our lead. He urges me to get closer and block out the scents of the room around us.

Would be so blessed to have her as our mate.

Lena’s not interested in playing nice. I mean my statement. “I’ll leave you in peace as soon as I finish my beer.”

“Something tells me you won’t be doing that,” she quips.

I rotate in my chair to look at her, and she tilts her head with a knowing look.

Her finger picks at her coaster. The quick little movements seem nervous and uncomfortable, the unease a stark contrast to the confidence and sharp tongue from a moment ago.

“Think you’re that interesting? That I’ll want to stay?” I pull another sip from the glass, and while drawing my attention from her, I relax back into my barstool.

She’s not wrong. I don’t want to go anywhere. Even with the hunt for my mate on, I’m content sitting here with her.

Looking around the room, I assess that Lena has a perfect vantage point of the bar. The reflection in the mirror above the door covers the other end of the bar the bartender would normally block.

Is she careful, or is there something more to the little woman beside me?

“I don’t think your wolf will let you,” Lena answers under her breath with a sideways glance, knowing I’ll be able to hear her over the packed bar.

Her. My wolf affirms. It’s her.

She gives away the secret between us. We’re both wolves. I turn my attention back to her. Spinning the stool, I risk giving my back to the door to watch every move she makes.

Get closer, scent her, my wolf demands loudly. There’s no way she’s not ours.

“Bold of you to think he’d be interested in someone like you,” I lie.

I’m ready to put money on Lena being my mate. I’m done waiting for a rogue gust of air to blow her scent toward me. God can only take someone so far before they have to take matters into their own hands.

I encroach on Lena’s space.

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