Loribelle Hunt - Once Bitten

“He knew I couldn't resist you. Never could,” he whispered, leaning down, crowding in.

His mouth hovered over hers, close but not touching. Her breath hitched, then increased to a rapid rhythm. Anticipation overtook her. He was going to kiss her, and it had been so long since she'd let anyone kiss her. No one did it like Caleb. No one did anything like Caleb. She tilted her head to meet him, rose up on her toes, and he jerked back as if slapped.

She took a deep breath, struggled to steady her pounding heart. Okay. So he didn't want her. She'd known that, but it still hurt. He kept his back to her.

“There's a shower down the hall. First door on the left.” What the hell?

“Excuse me?”

He straightened, slowly turned to face her. She couldn't read his expression.

“You reek of magnolias. Stupid.” He shook his head. “You shouldn't have been in that bar, Liza. It didn't take Zach long to figure out what you are. How long before someone else would have?”

She scowled. She didn't need Caleb to tell her how to do her job or give her safety tips. It had been an acceptable risk. She was the Redhawke paladin and the beta's daughter—it afforded her more protection than most, and if it didn't, she could take care of herself.

“Just go take a shower. Or am I stuck with it? Is it one of your mother's spells?” Sort of. She'd bathed in the scent and her mother used her power to ensure it clung to her, but spells only went so far. Water would rinse it off. She didn't bother explaining that, just turned and walked down the hall.

Chapter Three

The door slammed behind her, and Caleb exhaled a pent-up breath, sagging with his forehead pressed against the wall. He shook with bitter disappointment. She hadn't come on her own. Hadn't finally stood up to her father and his to assert her independence. He may not have seen her in five years, but he could still read her, could still guess at her motivation. She wanted him sure, but she wanted to be fully accepted by the pack more. She'd never seemed to realize she already was.

He remembered the look on her face the last time he'd seen her, recalled his own fury and bitterness when he'd realized she'd come to him, seduced him because it was what his father wanted. His father wanted to join his family with his beta's family. Caleb had said the worst thing he could, the last thing he'd really meant, certain it would ignite her own anger, make her see how she was being manipulated.

The stupid, foolish words had the exact opposite effect. He squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to remember, but damned if the past was going to let him go that easily. Her shattered expression. The tears in her eyes she refused to shed. He'd been about to step forward, to apologize and comfort, when she'd nodded and left him.

And he'd known he couldn't stay with Redhawke. She was already progressing fast through the soldier ranks. She was everywhere he turned. Strong. Beautiful and smart. His. And he couldn't have her, because he could never be sure if she was truly his, if that was what she really wanted. It was better to remove himself from temptation.

At first, he'd secretly hoped she'd come to her senses and follow him. He'd nurtured that hope for a good three years before giving up. But now here she was. Again, at his father's bidding. His hands clenched when he heard the shower turn on, and he turned to look down the hall towards the closed bathroom door. The hell with that.

She was in his home.

His territory.

Far from what she knew.

He could keep her here. Could convince her she belonged to him and not because someone else thought it was a good idea. She couldn't hide her body's response to him. She still wanted him. Physically, at least. He just had to convince her it was more than that. So much more.

Before he could join her, however, there was a soft tapping on the door. Only one werewolf could have approached without his knowledge. Zach didn't wait for an invitation before entering. Shutting the door softly behind him, he set Liza's purse and coat on the side table.

Caleb couldn't help but smile. “How'd I know you'd get those?”

“'Cause I'm the details guy?” It was clear that Zach wasn't in the mood to joke around though.

He crossed his arms over his chest, his expression closed and no sign of his usual roguish charm.

Fuck. Caleb's reaction to Liza had been so over the top that he didn't blame Zach for being pissed and jealous. If the situation were reversed, he'd feel the same way. He was going to have to do some groveling to get back in Zach's good graces.

“So that's your witch.”

Caleb didn't bother with a response. In a drunken moment of pure idiocy when they'd first met, five years ago when he'd arrived here, he'd told Zach about Liza. They'd talk about her in a minute.

“I'm sorry about back there.”

Zach only nodded, giving no sign of the hurt or jealousy he must be feeling.

“Never seen you go possessive over a woman. It took me a minute to figure out.” He shook his head. “You can't let anyone know about her, man. You need to get her out of the area ASAP.”

No shit. And no way. He wasn't letting her go. “I wasn't planning on taking out a newspaper notice,” he said sarcastically.

Zach's eyes narrowed. “But you also weren't planning on sending her off, were you?”

He shrugged. What could he say? Zach knew him well enough that he'd see through a lie.

Instead of berating him, though, Zach smiled. Slow and wicked.

“Hard to blame you. She is a pretty morsel. Witch or not.” Caleb knew what he was thinking, and thankfully, unlike at the bar, his first instinct was not to smash his fist into Zach's face.

Zach spread his arms in a placating gesture, misreading Caleb's expression. “Hey, man, it's cool. You don't want to share. I get it.”

But his face made it clear that he didn't really get it and he didn't like it. They shared women all the time, and he'd told Zach about Liza, but he hadn't told him she was his mate. He hadn't told him because it was a truth he'd refused to see. Now it couldn't be denied. She was his.

He shook his head. “That's not it. Zach. I really am…sorry about the bar.” Zach laughed. “Just kills you to apologize, doesn't it?” He growled. “Keep pushing.”

Zach sobered, but it wasn't from the threat. “This changes things.”

“Not between us, it doesn't.”

He got a quick grin and short nod for his effort.

“Right. But either we're both taking a new lover or just you.” He didn't miss the question in Zach's statement and the more he thought about it, the less concerned he was about sharing her. But only with Zach. He wasn't sure how Liza would feel about that, but Caleb thought she might be willing to try it out at least. He'd seen the interest on her face when he'd interrupted Zach at the bar. Hell, he had no intention of giving Zach up either.

How would she feel about that?

Zach sent him a questioning look. “Stick around,” Caleb said, stepping forward for a hard kiss. “I really am sorry.”

One corner of Zach's mouth curved up. “You'll make it up to me.” He laughed, wondering how Zach intended to exact his payment. It was a relief to know they were still solid. His behavior at the bar hadn't changed that. Bringing Liza into the relationship would change things, but not that.

“This is a group relationship, not me involved in two separate relationships,” he murmured before kissing Zach again, letting it go slow and deep and sultry. They pulled apart when the shower turned off.

Liza didn't dally and a couple minutes later, he heard the door open, caught her clean, fresh scent. It affected him the way it had since she was a teenager, sending a carnal explosion of need through him. He'd learned to repress it, but now he let it free, embraced it, and power surged through him. That was a shock, because it wasn't his. He'd long suspected that it would be sex that unleashed her powers, but maybe it wasn't that simple. Maybe it was them together. He was so caught up in his musings, he didn't notice her enter the room until he smelled her fear.