“Maybe.” Not like he could judge. He’d killed a coyote, too. And so had Jess . . . funny that the bastard was demanding vengeance when he’d just killed two of his own men.
Of course, Sarah was human. Pack took care of pack, but when humans tried to hunt . . .
“And what about Rafe?” Piers whistled. “You buy that she went after him with a silver knife?”
Now that gave him pause. “We didn’t search her when she came in.” The woman had looked so defenseless. Fucking mistake on his part.
“Shit.” Piers’s eyes widened. “You think she’s still got the knife.”
“I think I’m not going to be taking any more chances with our charmer.” He glanced back up at that window and found her gaze on him. “No chances at all.”
“The coyotes left.” And there hadn’t been a giant, all-out brawl below her. She exhaled on a hard breath that fogged the glass. “That’s great, right?”
Michael didn’t answer.
She turned and elbowed him. “Right?”
“Dane’s following them.”
She glanced back through the window, squinting. Night was falling so fast now, she could barely see anything. “Why?”
“Because I want to see if the coyotes really are teaming up with Rafe.” Lucas’s deep voice filled the room.
Sarah whirled around. “You shook his hand.” She’d seen that part clearly, and she’d taken the punch right in her gut. “I told you that the coyotes wanted to take you out and you stood there and shook a coyote alpha’s hand?” She marched toward him, anger humming through her. “I didn’t think you’d be such an easy mark.”
“I’m not.” Deadly quiet.
Wait—was that some kind of warning about the coyotes or was he saying—
“Get out, Michael. Get to work with Piers.”
Michael nearly ran out of the room. When the alpha says jump . . . You say how f**king high. Rafe’s words drifted through her mind as goosebumps rose on her arms. “What happened to the bodies?”
His eyes widened, just the tiniest bit. “You shouldn’t have seen—”
“I didn’t.” Michael had made sure of that. Did they really think she was that fragile? If they only knew. “Did you kill them?”
He leaned in close and his breath feathered over her cheek as he said, “You tell me. Am I a killer?”
Yes. That’s why she wanted him. No, why she needed him.
He laughed, and the husky rumble just made the goosebumps worse. “This time, I didn’t have to lift a hand. The coyote alpha—”
Jess Ortez. Yeah, she knew the lying ass**le.
“—he wanted to make up for . . . offending me. To show that our deal was still in place, he killed the two coyotes who came after me.”
“Your deal?” And the two coyotes from the park were dead? She swallowed. Don’t think about it, don’t! They would have killed you in a heartbeat. Hell, they would have, if Lucas hadn’t been there.
“I stay in California. He stays in Mexico.” A pause. “For the most part. We stay behind our boundary lines and no one gets ripped apart.” His fingers lifted and brushed down her cheek. “When shifters tangle, the blood flows fast.”
Every part of him seemed to surround her then. His body was too big. His eyes too intense. The wild, woodsy scent that clung to his skin filled her nostrils.
Lucas.
“Jess had a few stories to tell about you.” His finger slid under the curve of her chin, forcing her to keep looking into those bright eyes. “And now I’ve got some more questions for you, Sarah.”
Oh, she just bet he did. But he wouldn’t be able to spot a lie now. Her heartbeat was already racing hard enough to shake her chest.
“Did you kill one of Jess’s men?”
“What?” Not the first question she’d anticipated.
His fingers trailed down her neck. He leaned in close and his lips pressed lightly against the base of her throat. “Did you kill a coyote on your way to find me?”
The tip of his tongue lapped her skin. Her hands flew up and caught his shoulders. Held tight. “No.”
His fingers eased down her shirt, pausing in the hollow between her br**sts. “You sure about that? Jess seemed pretty certain you and your charmer lover murdered his coyote.”
Her charmer lover? “John wasn’t . . .”
The back of his hand brushed her breast. She sucked in a sharp breath and realized she had a death grip on his shoulders. Sarah forced her hands to ease their tight hold. “He wasn’t my lover.” Her voice came out too husky and soft.
“But Rafe was?”
“Yes.” So she had a weakness for bad boys. A weakness that was lifting its head again. Didn’t you learn anything before? Bad boys were fun for a while, until they turned on you.
His hands were on her body, steady, strong. He eased her back, walking slowly, until her legs bumped against the bed.
“Your lover put a bounty on your head.”
“He didn’t take rejection well.” True, but he also hadn’t wanted her to get away from him, not when she knew so much.
“Um . . .” That growling rumble vibrated from deep in his chest. “How much are you worth to him?”
His fingers skated down her bare arms. The flesh seemed hypersensitive to his touch. “Two hundred grand.”
One brow rose.
“Th-that’s what the coyotes said, you heard them in the park—”
“Coyotes lie.” His lips brushed the hollow of her throat. “And I think you do, too, babe.”
True. But was lying to protect yourself so wrong? “Three hundred grand.” That really was the truth.
“Dead?” He asked quietly, the whisper at her throat. “Or alive?”
She flinched. “Does it matter?”
“To me, it matters one hell of a lot.” Then he moved, fast, pushing her down and Sarah’s back hit the soft mattress. She didn’t have time to twist or jump out of the way because he was on her instantly, covering her with his body and trapping her on the bed.
“Playtime’s over,” he told her, no sensual heat in his eyes. Just hard, cold wolf.
His voice might have been arctic, but the body pressing against hers seemed to burn with fever, and there was no mistaking the fierce bulge of his c**k as it pressed against her.
Sarah’s hands shoved at his shoulders. “I don’t know what you—”