pretend I’m not wound as tight as a rubber band while I wait to see what she’ll do. I don’t want to force her. I really don’t, but I will if I have to.
When I hear her footsteps behind me, my tense shoulders relax. She only pauses once, when she steps near the body, but then she quickens and her scent flutters toward me.
I inhale. Her sunshine-and-caramel scent is tinged with sweat and a womanly musk. The fear is completely gone.
Fuck, she smells good, and she’s not afraid of me right now.
The satisfaction of that makes me smile. It does something else to me too. My dick tightens, swelling more as her scent floods my senses. I subtly rearrange myself, hoping she doesn’t notice.
Just cool it, Ward. One step at a time.
My jaw tightens, and I grind my teeth together, because I’m determined to do this right.
Chapter 13 – Collin
The car is still running, headlights on, door open, and sitting in the middle of the road. It’s pure luck nobody has driven by and noticed. I don’t intend to press that luck. We need to get moving.
“What if we get stopped by the cops?” Brianna pauses at the passenger door, her hand on the door handle. She doesn’t open it.
“Then we get stopped.”
“You aren’t worried?”
“No. Should I be?”
“Do you even have a driver’s license?”
“Of course I do.” It might be a fake with a fake alias, but I have one. I laugh at her expression. “Don’t look so shocked.”
She gives me one of those looks, a look that says she knows I’m completely crazy, but she still gets in the car.
If my psychotic wolf could purr, he would be purring like a lion right now. His contentment heats my insides because our mate is choosing to come with us.
I slide into the driver’s seat and slam the door. I don’t bother with a seatbelt, but Brianna is dutifully putting hers on as I shift into drive and hit the pedal. I eye the gas. Full tank. Score.
“How long do you think it’ll take to get back to my apartment?” she asks.
“Three hours as long as traffic isn’t bad around Phoenix.”
She settles in, her lean muscular thighs angled toward me. Damn. I could drink in the sight of those legs every day.
I make myself shift my attention back to the road, but my cock responds again. I suck in a breath. This drive is going to be harder than I thought it would be.
At least five minutes of silence pass before Brianna says, “Why did you try to find me again?”
The headlights illuminate the dusty county road. I slow for the approaching intersection and put the blinker on. “What do you mean? You got in a truck with a strange guy. For all I knew you weren’t going to get home safely. I found you to make sure you were okay.”
She makes a little noise. “And you don’t see the irony in that? You abducted me last night, you intended to kill me, you almost killed me this morning, and then you were worried for my safety?” She sounds genuinely confused.
I frown. “I know it doesn’t make much sense.”
“Exactly. It makes no sense.”
I can feel her looking at me. Waiting. As if I’m supposed to say more. “What?”
“Aren’t you going to explain yourself?”
I sigh. “What do you want me to explain?”
“For starters, why did you abduct me in the first place?”
I work my jaw. Given that she doesn’t ask another question, and she’s still looking at me, I know she’s going to insist that I answer.
“There was something about you. Something that called to me. I couldn’t leave without you.”
She folds her fingers together, then unfolds them. Her nervous movements continue when she asks, “Have you been watching me?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know, watching me. Following me. Stalking me. Were you doing that before you took me?”
Damn. She’s more perceptive than I thought, but telling your fated mate that you met by stalking doesn’t bode well for a healthy relationship.
“Is that how you knew I was a waitress?”
I cock an eyebrow.
“Back in the car, when we were driving down the mountain, you asked if I liked waitressing. How could you have known that unless you knew where I worked?”
Dammit all to hell. Now I have to admit to stalking her. Way to go, Collin. You’re officially the creepiest mate to ever come out of the Wyoming pack.