Operation Saving Daniel (Entangled Covet)

by Croft, Nina

  He was unsurprised when he heard the lock click; he’d known Lissa would follow him. When he opened his eyes, she stood framed in the doorway. She was beautiful in a long dark dress that left her arms and shoulders bare and skimmed the rest of her figure. With the short haircut she looked like a pixie or a sprite, her eyes huge in her slender face. If werewolves existed, why not pixies? Maybe she could cast a spell and get him out of this godforsaken mess.

  She strolled into the room and tripped over her feet. Swore loudly.

  He had a flashback to that other time he had seen her in heels. She had stumbled then as well. Best not to think of that time and how it had ended. With her naked in his bed and…

  “You can’t marry her, Daniel.”

  He shook his head to dispel the memory.

  “Why not?” he asked.

  “Because she’s a maniac. She’s not normal.”

  His eyes sharpened on her, searching for some sign of injury but she appeared fine and some of the tension eased from him. “What did she do to you?”

  “Nothing…yet. She just warned me off you.”

  She was getting closer, inching around the desk. Now was the time he should get up, go back to the party. Go back to Sophia. Instead, he sat and observed her out of half-closed eyes and took another sip of scotch, the warmth stealing into his belly.

  Lissa perched on the edge of the desk, so close he could reach out and rest his hand on her thigh. If he wanted to.

  Who the hell was he kidding? Of course he wanted to. He reached out for the bottle instead, slowly unscrewed the lid, and poured himself another glass.

  “You can’t blame her for warning you off,” he said. “The way you’ve been staring at me for the last couple of days.”

  “I haven’t been staring at you.”

  “You’ve been watching me like you want to jump me, drag me into the nearest bed, and have your way with me.”

  Shock flared in her eyes. “No, I haven’t.”

  “Yes, you have.”

  “No—” She cut off and scowled. Reaching out, she grabbed the bottle of scotch and took a long pull. “Well, maybe I have been watching you. I can’t help it. You’ve changed so much, and I’m trying to see if there’s any of the old Daniel left under there.”

  “None,” he said. “So don’t waste your time searching.”

  She took another swig, placed the bottle gently on the desk, and studied him, her head cocked to one side as though she were trying to take him apart, see what made him tick.

  “What happened?” she asked. “Why did you change?”

  “Maybe I just grew up.” Or maybe I got bitten by a fucking werewolf. But of course, he didn’t say those words out loud, though he wondered what her reaction would be. Probably total disbelief. But it might make her back off if she thought he was insane.

  And he needed her to back off. This close, her scent, sharp and sweet, filled his nostrils, so familiar but tinged with something else.

  Arousal.

  She wanted him.

  God, he wished she could have him.

  She licked her lips and his dick twitched in his pants. How did she do that to him? One look and he was hot and hard as hell for her.

  “You can’t marry Sophia.” She shook her head in frustration. “I don’t know what happened to you. What changed you…?”

  “You don’t need to know, just accept that I have changed. I’m not the same person I was back then and whether you believe it or not I have to marry Sophia.”

  “Have to?” She jumped on his choice of words and he swore under his breath. He could have phrased that better, but it was, no doubt, his subconscious talking.

  “You know what I mean. She’s right for me, we suit each other.”

  “She’s not, Daniel.” She took a deep breath. “She said she’d rip my hands off if I touched you. I mean, is that normal?”

  “She didn’t mean it literally.” Oh yes she did. Damn, she must have been to see Lissa after they argued that afternoon. “She’s possessive because she loves me.” He almost winced at the lie and determined that after this weekend, he was going to make sure Lissa and Sophia never met again. Ever.

  In fact, it would be best if he never met Lissa again. At the thought, something inside him cracked. The end of a dream. “We’re finished here, and we need to get back to the party.”

  But neither of them moved and the silence stretched out between them.

  This would be the last time they would be alone together. He had to taste her, feel her one more time. Afterward, he could turn away and do what he needed to do.

  Inside Wolf roared his approval and Lissa rubbed her arms.

  “What was that?” she said.

  She could sense his wolf.

  “Once,” he said. “Then never again.”

  He slammed his glass down, reached out, gripped her wrist, and pulled her off the desk and onto his lap.

  She didn’t fight him, just peered up with those enormous eyes, then licked her lips and heat gripped him.

  “Daniel,” she murmured his name and stretched up her hand to stroke the curve of his cheek.

  “You should get up and go,” he said.

  “I like it here.”

  It was too late, anyway. He curved his hand around her neck and dragged her closer, so her face was only inches from his.

  Her sweet ass pressed down on his cock, which was already hot and hard, his balls aching with need. A wriggle of her hips sent pleasure shooting through him. He tugged and closed the last small space between them. His lips touched hers and she parted for him. He kissed her, gently at first, almost expecting her to pull back even now. Instead, he felt the tentative stroke of her tongue along his own, and he gave up the fight.

  This once.

  He deepened the kiss, thrusting his tongue into her mouth, tasting her sweetness, feeling her response to him, scenting her desire.

  Heat pooled in his groin. He slid his hands to her hips and pressed her down into him. Thin straps held up the dress and he slipped them off her shoulders and tugged the material down to bare her breasts. She was so perfect. His hands cupped her, his thumbs brushing over the nipples. They tightened under his touch, and she gasped. He rubbed the stiffening peaks with his palms, then rolled them between his thumb and fingers. She liked it; he could tell from the little moans that slipped between her lips and into his mouth.

  Shifting her easily, he lifted her and turned her to face him so she straddled his hips. He dragged the skirt up over her thighs so she could get closer to him, and then he settled her astride him and kissed her again.

  The taste of her drove him wild, pushed him over the edge, and he came up for air. He was breathing hard as though he’d run. Her breasts were level with his face and he licked long, slow strokes over and over again until her skin glistened with moisture.

  A flush stained her cheekbones as her hands glided into the hair at the back of his neck and she pulled him to her. He nuzzled her breasts, taking one nipple into his mouth and suckling hard. Her hips pressed against him, pushing down. Little moaning noises were coming from her parted lips and the air was perfumed with her arousal.

  If he didn’t get inside her soon, he was going to go insane. But first, he wanted to feel her come for him.

  He slipped his hand under her dress and stroked the soft skin of her thigh, then higher. For a second he cupped her sex in his palm and she went still against him. He massaged her gently, feeling the hot wetness of her through the lace. Then he slipped his hands inside her panties, and pushed his fingers between the hot, wet folds of her sex.

  She was panting, her breaths short and fast as he circled her clitoris with his thumb, and at the same time, thrust one finger inside her. She was tight but so slick with need that he slid in easily. After circling her clit one more time he ran the pad of his thumb over her, and she came undone in his arms, convulsing against him. He held her still and rubbed again, and she exploded, her orgasm pulsing through her so the con
tractions pulled at his fingers as they thrust into her.

  He reached between their bodies to free himself, every nerve intent on one thing—getting inside her.

  “Lissa!”

  The call came from outside the room and he swore savagely. Gritting his teeth, he tried to bring himself under control. After taking a deep breath, he leaned away from her and withdrew his hand from between her thighs. She was staring down at him, her eyes blank, as though she didn’t quite get what was going on. He tugged up the straps of her dress and lifted her to her feet with his hands at her waist.

  She almost fell, and he tightened his grip, giving her a little shake.

  “There’s someone coming,” he said.

  Her huge eyes blinked up at him, but she seemed to come out of the sensual trance and she steadied in his arms.

  “How do you do that?” she asked.

  “Do what?”

  “Manage to make me lose it totally while you’re still paying attention to what’s going on around you.”

  “Good hearing.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  Swaying, she rested a hand against the desktop but waved him down when he moved in to help. “I’m fine,” she said.

  His glass was on the desk and she picked it up and drained it. “So where does this leave us?”

  He breathed in, sensing who was approaching. Julia and Sophia. Crap.

  “Nowhere,” he said. “It leaves us nowhere.”

  …

  The pleasure pulsated through Lissa’s body. Between her thighs, she was hot and soaked with need. They’d been so close, and now she couldn’t believe she had nearly made love in the middle of a party.

  But Daniel had the ability to make her totally lose her sense of what was going on around her. To forget everybody and everything but him.

  He’d retreated back behind that cool façade, but when she lowered her gaze the telltale bulge in his pants was obvious. He wanted her as much as she wanted him, and that made her feel slightly better.

  He sank down into the chair, and she moved so the big desk was between them. When she glanced down at herself, her nipples were stiff points against the silk of her dress, but there wasn’t a lot she could do about that.

  Someone rapped on the door and it opened immediately. Obviously, whoever it was didn’t feel the need to wait for an answer. Why was she unsurprised to see Sophia standing in the open doorway? Julia was behind her and she gave a shrug as if to say, I couldn’t stop her.

  Lissa reckoned she probably hadn’t tried too hard. After all, hadn’t this been the purpose of the plan—at least the original one—to have Sophia catch them in a compromising position. Of course, that plan had been drawn up before Sophia threatened to rip her limb from limb if she touched Daniel.

  Jim made up a third, and Lissa sighed with relief. No one would make a scene with Jim around.

  “Darling,” Sophia purred. “We missed you.”

  She oozed across the floor but Daniel’s body stiffened as she got close. Clearly he didn’t want her to touch him. So why the hell was he marrying the woman? What hold did she have over him?

  Julia edged into the room to stand beside her and leaned in close. “I brought Dad. I thought she’d be less likely to cause a scene if he was here.”

  “Good thinking.” Lissa viewed the happy couple for a moment longer. Something was wrong and she was going to find out what. “I think I’m going to slip out of the room before anyone notices me going.”

  “I’ll come with you.”

  But Lissa couldn’t resist one glance back at the door. Daniel stared after her with something close to despair on his face.

  Chapter Nine

  Daniel paced the floor of his office. He had work to do, but his brain refused to cooperate. He’d gotten up the morning after the party, his mind churning with a mixture of anticipation and dread, only to find Lissa already gone, which should have been a relief. Instead, the disappointment when he’d finally accepted he wouldn’t ever see her again had almost brought him to his knees.

  Four days later, and he hadn’t heard from any of his family, either. It was better that way. Really it was.

  Restlessness gnawed at his insides, and his skin stretched too tight. The moon was waxing; in two days it would be full. Usually he managed to blank it from his mind, but this month was different. This month, Wolf refused to be soothed. Instead, he stalked within the confines of Daniel’s body, raking his claws against his inner skin, howling to be free.

  He’d always felt as though he was in charge of Wolf. In fact, he was only just discovering that had been an illusion. Wolf hadn’t wanted anything before, except to run free under the full moon, and Daniel had never been able to deny his beast that. Now Wolf wanted something else. He wanted Lissa.

  Join the queue.

  Daniel wanted Lissa as well.

  He couldn’t get her out of his mind. She haunted him, day and night.

  What could she think of him, though? That he was the sort of man who would make love to one woman when he’d gotten engaged to another that very same day. Lissa probably thought he was a lying, cheating bastard. And he couldn’t explain. Besides this way, it was better. Better she never saw him again, never discovered what he really was.

  Inside Wolf howled.

  Daniel had always dismissed the whole wolf and his mate thing as a load of crap. Now he wasn’t so sure. He wished he’d listened more to pack law, but he’d relied on his science to tell him everything he needed to know about werewolves and dismissed pack law as fanciful rubbish. And now he was paying the price.

  He needed information. Someone who could tell him what the hell was happening to him. And how he could stop it.

  He thought of Joe, the second of the pack Betas. There had been no repercussions from the night of the last pack meeting when Daniel had prevented the attack on Sarah. He hadn’t seen the two assailants again and Joe had kept quiet. Could he be trusted?

  It was a risk, but if Sophia found out he was talking to Joe, maybe she’d see it as a sign that he was integrating into the pack and not interested in Lissa.

  He reached into his top desk draw and pulled out a photo—Lissa when she’d just turned eighteen. His family had held a belated party for her over the Easter holidays, and he’d snapped the picture when she hadn’t been paying attention. She was laughing at something Julia said and looked young and carefree. Her black hair was down to her shoulders, her golden eyes glowing. It was four months before she was due to seduce him and vanish.

  He was still staring at her face when the phone on his desk rang, and he picked it up warily.

  “Mr. Melville, Melissa Jackson is in reception and she says she won’t leave until I tell you she’s here.”

  “Thanks, Gretchen.” He studied the picture a second longer, then slid it back into the drawer. “Send her up.” And he slammed the phone down.

  What the hell was she doing here? Did she have no clue of the danger she faced? Sophia would find out. The business was riddled with her spies. An image of Bab’s torn and broken body flashed before his eyes. He didn’t think he would ever recover if the same thing happened to Lissa.

  So he’d see her quickly, tell her he could never see her again, and that would be it. Because even if he succeeded in defeating Ethan and Sophia, he could still never be with Lissa. He would be unable to hide what he was forever, and she would come to hate him for it.

  But that was the future. Right now, he was going to see her. Inside him, Wolf stopped his pacing and wagged his tail.

  …

  Daniel’s top floor office was bigger than the reception area, and it took Lissa a few seconds to locate him. His back to her, he was standing in front of one of the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring down at the city below.

  He didn’t turn as she entered, made no indication he even knew she was there. But his shoulders were stiff, every line of his body radiating tension.

  She moved to stand beside him. Breathing in deeply, she smell
ed that musky, almost feral scent she had come to associate with him. Aftershave? She thought not.

  Finally, he turned to her. He appeared tired, dark shadows under his eyes, his mouth held in a stern, uncompromising line. It didn’t matter; he was beautiful, and Lissa’s heart rate picked up as she studied him.

  She’d put off this meeting as long as possible. Obviously, he needed time and a bit of space. It was ironic, really. Ten years ago she’d been the one needing space, now it was Daniel.

  But she had an idea that there was more going on, so she was here to tell Daniel that if he explained why he’d changed and why he was forced to marry Sophia, she would leave them alone. If he refused, she wasn’t quite sure what she would do—stalk him maybe. Until she found out what was going on in his not-so-perfect life.

  One thing she wasn’t going to do was even think about sex. They were going to talk. That was all. In which case maybe she should back away. Put some distance between them, and maybe a big piece of furniture such as that desk. It was a huge desk, long enough to lie down on.

  Where the hell had that thought come from? There was absolutely no reason for her to lie on Daniel’s desk. Unless he was lying on there with her. Maybe on top of her. Or underneath her. Or…

  Shit, she hadn’t been in here five minutes and she was already thinking sex.

  “Lissa?”

  She shook her head, trying to dislodge the entirely inappropriate vision of Daniel and her going at it on top of his polished mahogany desk. “Yes?”

  “What do you want?”

  To strip you naked, push you down on that desk, and have my evil way with you. Luckily, she didn’t say it out loud. She’d gone for years without thinking much about sex, but now she simply had to be in the same room as Daniel and it was the only thing on her mind. And not only her mind—her body as well. Beneath her loose-fitting shirt, her nipples were hard little points and between her thighs, well she was soaked. She cleared her throat. “I just want to talk.”

  He turned so he faced her fully and took a step closer. “Really?” He breathed in deeply. “Why do I find that hard to believe?”