This Dark Wolf (Soul Bitten Shifter #1) - Everly Frost Page 0,112
Now I sense that one of those forces has since won the battle.
I bite my lip, uncertainty settling in before I remember I’m supposed to be playing a part. Recovering quickly, I tip my head back to whisper, “Just so you know, I like it gentle.”
The corner of his mouth tugs up, his focus shifting from my lips back to my eyes. “Prepare to be disappointed.”
His hands slide up beneath my breasts, pressing firmly, his thumbs grazing across the naked skin between the bodice straps before traveling around my breasts to my shoulders.
I tip my neck side to side to give him access as his palms rise up and around to the back of my head. He slides his fingers into my hair, cupping the back of my head, pulling me up against him. He inhales as deeply as I did when he first approached, drawing my scent into his chest.
He won’t sense anything now. My scent is long gone, my power an undetectable threat.
His eyes narrow as he pulls back, a hint of confusion that he hides quickly as he continues patting down my back and across my backside.
My lack of extensive underwear will be obvious to him.
He releases me from close proximity with his body and lowers himself to squeeze down my right leg all the way to my ankle before switching to my left leg, flipping the tulle out of the way to travel all the way from my naked calf up to the top of my naked thigh.
Wrapping both of his big hands around the top of my leg, he stops, holds me there, and turns his focus on Tristan, checking Tristan’s reaction.
I prepare myself for Tristan’s wrath, but he returns Cody’s challenging gaze with a nonchalant stare so convincing that even I would believe it if I weren’t so attuned to his feelings.
He wants to fucking kill Cody right now.
Not getting a rise out of Tristan, Cody lifts himself, his palms returning to my chest and resting across my breasts, a light and swift touch, before his focus shifts to my left shoulder.
His thumb strokes across the spot where he tried to mark me that night—where I also refused Tristan’s mark.
Now I understand why Tristan chose a one-shouldered dress. The fact that I haven’t been claimed is plain for all to see.
Cody steps back, his expression shuttered. “She’s clean.”
At his announcement, Baxter storms down the stairs. “What the fuck are you doing here, Tristan?”
Tristan keeps his arms extended at his sides. “I’m here to negotiate the terms of a truce.”
“Truce?” Baxter shouts. “We’ll never have a fucking truce—”
“Dad.” Cody’s quiet growl makes Baxter pause. “We should hear what Tristan has to say.”
Baxter glares at his son, but Cody doesn’t back down. “This dispute is getting out of control. We’ve lost ten shifters in the last week alone. We should consider what Tristan is willing to offer.”
“Nothing could ever be enough,” Baxter spits, but he returns his son’s firm stare, becoming more subdued by the second.
The last time I saw these two men interact, Baxter walloped Cody over the head, smacking him down the same way my mother did to me, but now the tension between them feels different. The power between them has shifted, but I’m not sure exactly when or how.
I’m suddenly aware of a woman hovering in the doorway at the top of the stairs, but I don’t get a good look at her. Her long, blonde hair and jewelry catch the light before she withdraws into the shadows.
“Fine,” Baxter says between gritted teeth. “Be our guests. The party ends at midnight. Then we’ll talk.” He muscles up to Tristan, who remains impassive. “If you cause even a hint of trouble or ruin this night for my family in any way, I’ll have you gunned down like the animal that you are, do you understand?”
Tristan doesn’t blink. “I understand.”
The second that Baxter backs off, Tristan’s focus zeroes in on me again. He prepares to return to my side, but Cody steps between us.
“Tessa will come with me as collateral,” Cody says. “To ensure good behavior.”
Tristan tenses but remains where he is.
Cody offers me his arm like a perfect gentleman, but the tension around his mouth and eyes increases. “This way, Tessa.”
Chapter Thirty
Pushing away the nerves invading my stomach as we ascend the stairs, I glance at Cody from beneath my lashes.
I’m intensely aware of Tristan watching us go.
“Taking me as collateral implies that I can’t defend myself,” I say to Cody. “I’m a