Perhaps going home wouldn’t be so bad now. A new Alpha. A fresh start. She had already begun to change with each mile that passed. Starting with learning Chinese. How much had they said the program cost on television? Small change, considering what she was used to spending. She turned to him and smiled. “Can I please have four hundred dollars?”
Marcus choked. “That’s an expensive book.”
“It’s not a book. Please. I need this to make a new start.”
He reached over and grabbed his wallet out of the glove box and thumbed through several bills before extracting and handing them over. “Here.”
She eyed him skeptically. “You aren’t going to ask what it’s for?”
“If you wanted me to know, you’d have told me. It must be important, so go on. Go get it. I’ll wait for you in the Mustang.”
She eyed the bills in his hand. That was some trust. How did he know she wouldn’t take off now that she had money in her pocket? Maybe because he knew as well as she did, there was more to the attraction than mating pheromones. There was a pull, something neither could resist, and she could run, but eventually, she’d turn and head back to him, unable to resist. Well, that and she could get herself killed if she didn’t stick to the plan, which was to go home and hide.
“I know what you’re thinking, and you can pay me back when you get a job. Go on, and stay out of trouble in there. I won’t be able to bail you out again. Not a government man anymore.”
Yeah, because of me. She had no intention of getting into trouble and ending up dead, and she could tell him she didn’t need to get a job. She had more money—in her brother’s name—than she knew what to do with.
Diego had never known about her using the money he’d given her for expenses to buy businesses throughout the West. He’d assumed her money came from her robberies. He’d thought she’d had expensive taste in hair stylists and clothing—much more than she really had. She’d cut corners and invested his money wisely, turning small amounts into substantial ones. Over the years, her companies had become a brand name. Snow’s Convenience Stores weren’t just in the Black Hills—they were all over the West.
In addition to the stores, she’d made several foreign investments and quadrupled her profits every time. Xio had kept all of it a secret by using an alias, knowing that if she ever needed to leave Diego, she would have to have funds to support her.
The bank jobs? Well, the first robbery she’d done on a dare, and to impress Diego. Later, she’d hit them for a more noble cause, or at least she’d convinced herself it was, choosing only the banks in Mexico that cheated the small folk.
And the one in El Paso that got her into trouble and put Marcus on her tail.
She’d gone after El Paso only because Diego had wanted her to, and when he wanted something, he got it. A smart person never said no once he’d asked for a favor. That was a good way to end up dead, and she liked breathing a little too much.
The money from the robberies? She’d given that to the impoverished people living in the tiny villages that dotted the Mexican landscape. It made her feel like a good girl, even though she knew she wasn’t. A part of her had craved the life she could have had if fate had dealt her a different hand. So she pretended to be more than she was, and the locals elevated her onto a pedestal, singing praises to her name. Their admiration became an addiction as strong as any narcotic. Over time, her reasons became less noble and more a way to chase the dragon that rewarded her with what she craved most.
Love.
After the disaster in El Paso, it had been a mistake to cross the border and hit an American bank again. But the carrot the FBI had dangled before her proved to be too irresistible, and she’d been bored—in need of a fix.
The Feds thought they’d recovered the cash from the bank robberies at Diego’s estate and she hadn’t denied it, letting them assume that was where her ill-gotten gains had gone. They’d gotten back one hundred times what she’d taken, and as far as she was concerned they were square. Paid in full—with Diego’s money from his own vaults. He didn’t trust banks.
I wouldn’t place bets on it.
Shut up!
Xio leaned over and gave Marcus a quick peck on the cheek, then bounced from the vehicle before he had a chance to grab her and take it further. Since that kiss they’d shared behind the Dumpster, he hadn’t been able to keep his hands off her. It was like he needed assurance she was really there, beside him. He was always brushing up against her, touching her arm or the small of her back. Always in contact. Like a mate would be.
Shit. She’d have to break him of that habit, and quick. Xio wasn’t ready to mate, settle down and start making babies. She doubted she’d ever be. If he was following her to the Black Hills for that reason, he’d be seriously disappointed. Not that she wouldn’t be all over him if she was that kind of girl. The man was everything a woman could want—well, a woman with domestic ambitions anyway.
Xio walked down the aisle with the language programs. Her grandmother had been from mainland China, so it was Mandarin she wanted. The hair on her neck rose as she realized she was being watched. She glanced sideways and spotted a store employee straightening shelves that were already in order. That one action tempted her to boost something, but this was a fresh start, and she’d sworn she wouldn’t screw it up. Besides, she’d promised Marcus she’d behave, and he’d already given up a lot for her.
Typical reaction, and she’d have to learn how to be…more invisible. As it stood now, people reacted the way she’d always expected them to. When she came into a room, women grabbed their babies and held them close, and store employees watched her every move. Before, she’d thrived on it. Now, it needed to be a part of her past, especially since she’d decided to make a new start. But how did one change an image like hers? Her tats, her persona? She’d had her full back done by a master in San Antonio a few years before. The image was a Western scene with Chinese influence. Coyotes and dragons, cowboys and Imperial warriors. A mixture of both sides of her heritage, woven together to tell the story of her family’s place in the Wild West. Some people saw it and thought she was Triad.
Some people were idiots. She was far more dangerous, or had been.
Before, she couldn’t have cared less that people stared. Now it bothered her. Maybe she should remove the piercing through her cheek, where a one-carat, heart-shaped diamond stud rested like a beauty mark? Nothing they’d seen in Kansas, from the looks she’d received. How did one reinvent themselves and blend, when all they’d ever done was try to stand out?
For starters, they stayed out of trouble and didn’t let little things like suspicious employees get to them. She slipped her hair over her shoulder to expose her good ear, listening for trouble as she picked up a beginner’s set of language CDs. She couldn’t wait to get home and shift so she could fix her hearing. Being a wolf did have some advantage.
The employee cleared his throat and stepped closer, hesitant as though he expected her to throw down a little kung fu. “Can I help you?”
“Do I look like I need help? Did I ask?” She didn’t bother looking at him as she flipped through the merchandise.
He put his hands up. “No. I was just trying to do my job.”
“If that’s what you’re doing, then you might want to head over to the music section and stop watching me. You have a couple teenagers cleaning you out.”
His eyes widened and he nodded, hightailing it for the kids she’d spotted when she’d walked in. Like noticed like. Little kleptos. She couldn’t fight the smile that crept over her face. They couldn’t be more obvious. At their age, she’d had skills and didn’t get caught. The kids in the bookstore didn’t. She might as well end their criminal careers before they started.
Perhaps after they were arrested, they wouldn’t end up on the same path she’d gone down. Hopefully they each had a family that cared enough to make them pay the consequences for their actions. At times she was sad she hadn’t had that kind of support. Who wo
uld she have turned out to be if she had? It didn’t matter. She couldn’t go back and do her life over.
But she could make a point of not screwing up, and having a kid who could end up like her. She shook off the thought of babies, one that had crept up on her twice in an hour. The last thing she wanted.
Xio grabbed a box and headed for the register. She placed it in front of the clerk who stared at it for what seemed like minutes before he looked at her. “Going to learn a little Chinese?”
“No, I thought I’d start with the Spanish.”
“That’s not….”
“I know it’s not Spanish. I can read English, and I’m fluent in Spanish.” Heat rushed to her face. Some from anger, the rest from embarrassment. “Just ring me up and stop making small talk.”
“Okay.” He scanned it. “That will be three hundred seventy-five dollars and ninety-nine cents.”
She slapped four hundred-dollar bills down on the counter. Nice. New. Crisp.
“We don’t accept bills that large.”
“You’re freaking kidding me?” She blew out a breath. This being honest stuff wasn’t easy.
He used his thumb to gesture to a sign behind him. No Bills Over 50, Please. “Sorry, store policy. There’s a bank down the street you can go to exchange….”
“No,” she all but barked out. Her and banks—not a good idea. “Don’t put it back. I’m going outside to see if my friend has anything smaller.” She snatched the money up and walked out to the Mustang. Marcus’s eyes were closed and he looked to be sleeping, but instincts told her he wasn’t. Xio sucked in a deep breath and tapped on the driver’s-side window.
It rolled down. “Yes.” He didn’t open his eyes or turn in her direction.
“I need smaller bills.”
“I don’t have anything smaller.”
“A credit card?”
He opened his eyes and grabbed his wallet again, pulling out a card and holding it up between two fingers. “You know that whatever you buy is going to show up on my statement. I have it itemized to keep track of my expenses when I was in the field. Had the program attached when I was working to catch a ring of credit-card thieves—to track if someone started using my card. Sort of left it there after the assignment.”
“They can do that?”
He shrugged.
Yeah, duh. FBI. Xio frowned. She so didn’t want to tell him what she was getting. That she had to buy it embarrassed her enough. She’d even planned to take the discs out of the box and hide them in her purse so he couldn’t see them.
Normally things like this didn’t bother her, but from the moment she’d realized Marcus was her predestined mate, everything she did seemed to fall short of her expectations. It was like she wanted to be perfect for him, and that was complete bullshit, since she had no intention of mating with him. Do I?
Yeah, you do.
No.
Yes.
Shut up.
Most wolves would have pushed the issue by now, but he hadn’t, and her inner she-wolf was quite bitchy about it. It was like she wanted him, even though she didn’t want him. Marcus was driving her crazy. The sooner she got to the Black Hills, the sooner she could dismiss him and send him packing. Of course, that was the last thing she wanted to do.
Gah.
She snatched the card from his hand. “Fine.” By the time he saw his statement, he’d be headed back to Texas and the El Paso Pack anyway, so it didn’t matter. This wasn’t going to work out between them and she planned to make that clear when they got where they were headed. She could be real convincing. He’d walked away from his life for her? Well he could walk right back to it. She didn’t need him, or the help he offered.
It’s your lie; tell it the way you want to.
Grrrr.
Chapter Three
The motel room carried a musty stench. The air-conditioning unit rattled like it had emphysema and kicked out lukewarm air, doing zero to comfort her. Sticky and miserable, Xio headed straight for the shower, needing the icy chill as much as the space.
The long day, riding in the car with Marcus, had left her frustrated and horny. Her mate had to be the one man opposite of her, a man who could toss her ass back in jail if he knew her secrets. She needed to put as much distance between them as she could, to ensure her freedom. Yet she wanted him. Bad. Regardless that her mind knew how absurd the whole situation was. Come on, a bank robber with a lawman? If that wasn’t a combination made in hell, she didn’t know what was.
Ha, ha, ha. Someone was having a good laugh over it. Certainly not her.
And she wasn’t the only one feeling the growing heat between them, demanding to get to it and get naked. Every time she looked over, she saw him watching her, his eyes off the road, swerving into the opposite lane. How many times did she have to tell him to look where he was going? This mating thing was turning out to be one huge distraction, one she didn’t need now, not with the future she faced.
When they’d finally found a motel, he’d hopped out and rented a room—as in not two. He’d carried her bag to the door, but she’d stopped him at the threshold, taken it from his hand, and slammed the solid steel barrier shut in his face, certain if he got too close to the bed, they’d be putting it to good use. Not happening. She answered to no wolf.
The cold water did nothing to ease the growing ache between her thighs. Tomorrow already looked like it might be another long, miserable ride. The tension had her wound so tight she wanted to snap. And when she lost it, she did things she shouldn’t. Like rob banks.
Sleeping with him would be a mistake. The chances of them bonding were above average. Avoiding it got harder with each minute that passed in his presence—and away from it. Damn, she was jonesing bad. She wanted to take a bite out of that man.
Or break the law.
Xio banged her head against the fiberglass siding of the shower. No!
Her she-wolf growled in frustration. You can’t resist once you hear the call.
Right. Resist this, bitch. She’d tell him a thing or two, straighten this out right away. There’d be no sex. There’d be no mating, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to do the alternative. Cuffs were so last season. Time to set him straight and get it all off her chest. Once she did, things would go back to the way they were before she met him.
Right.
Xio shut off the water and snatched the towel from the rack, wrapping her body, not bothering to dry off. She stormed into the room, and one sniff told her he still stood outside. Waiting. For what?
You know.
With a snort she threw the door open and stared at him. “We need to talk.”
Is that what you want to do?
Stop interjecting.
Make me.
Bitch!
Yes?
His gaze swept over her nearly naked, very wet body, and she shivered. A fine, very masculine brow lifted slightly, and a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. “About what?”
Actually, now that he asked the question, nothing came to mind. Need coursed through her, and her pussy began to throb. Screw it. Her current tactics weren’t working. Plan B.
Xio reached up, untucked her towel from above her breasts, and let it drop. Time to scratch the itch. She’d worry about the other problem later.
The smirk disappeared and his eyes turned copper, nearly glowing in the darkness. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing?” His nostrils flared and her stomach flip-flopped.
“I have a damn good idea.”
“I’m not someone you can play with and toss away when you’re done.” He didn’t step inside but continued to stare at her.
“You don’t want this? I know you been feeling it since we left Texas.”
“Baby, I want this more than you can possibly know, but until you’re ready to commit to me, it’s not going to happen.” He reached past her, grabbed the door. “Put some clothes on. I’m renting another room.” This time he was the one to slam the door in her face.
> Footsteps receded and Xio growled. “You did not just….”
Yeah, but he had. Her wolf howled.
You’re not helping.
Neither are you.
***
Marcus stared at the ceiling. The television blared in the background, but he didn’t have a clue what was on. He’d hoped the white noise would keep his wolf distracted from what it really wanted to do. His mind had been on one thing, and one thing only, since he’d started tracking her in Texas. He’d known from the first scent. She—the bank robber—was his mate!
He’d told himself he wouldn’t let it affect his job. But it had. He’d quit his career, given up his place as Beta in the El Paso Pack, and had driven her halfway across the country, toward a new pack, a new Alpha, and a position half the rank he’d held before.
For her. All for her. And what did she want? To use him and toss him away. He didn’t have to be a genius to see it. Some people waited all their lives and didn’t find their mate, and his had dropped into his life like a tornado, destroying everything in her path, and it didn’t look like she intended to slow down any time soon.
If it had been any other woman, he’d still be in the FBI, he’d still be Beta of El Paso Pack, and he wouldn’t be in this rickety bed alone. He might even have a couple females keeping him company. But since he’d first caught her scent, he didn’t want any other woman, nor wolf, regardless how they’d thrown themselves at him. Now that he’d found his mate, even if he’d been in the presence of naked females, he have been unlikely to notice them. But around Xio, it was quite the opposite. Marcus had a perpetual hard-on that nothing but the obvious solution would ease.
Who the hell had he pissed off in a previous life to deserve this?
Knock, knock, knock. There was a soft rap on his door and Marcus reached over and grabbed the remote, turning up the volume on the set.
The knock came again. Louder this time.
Black Hills Desperado (Black Hills Wolves Book 3) Page 3
