Wolf Prey (Wolf Cove Book 3)

by Nina West

  “My vote is neither. I’ve seen her drunk before and I don’t think I want to be carrying her home.” He softens his words with a playful slap across my ass, his hand lingering afterward.

  “You are a frigid old woman tonight, Henry!” Margo teases, earning Joel’s laughter. “Pick one!”

  “Tequila, I guess?”

  Henry shakes his head. He sits, pulling me into his lap, murmuring, “You’re going to regret this.”

  She winks at me as she hands me my glass, her fingertips dancing over mine. “Bottoms up!”

  I manage to get the shot down under Henry’s watchful eye, my face twisting in disgust. “That’s horrible.”

  “Yeah, especially after you two shared three bottles of wine.”

  “No we didn’t,” I deny, though I’m pretty sure we did because I’m feeling pretty damn relaxed right now.

  “I paid the five-hundred-dollar-a-bottle bill, so I think I’d know.”

  My mouth drops open. The menu didn’t even have prices listed on it, so I have no idea what that dinner might have cost.

  “Here, have one more. It will taste better.” Margo shoves another shot into my hand, watching expectantly.

  I pour it back. And cringe. “You lied.” If nothing, it might be worse. Though, I can already feel the burn coursing through my body, warming me from the inside.

  Henry chuckles, cracking open a bottle of water. “Drink this or you’ll be puking tonight, and I can think of other reasons for holding your hair.”

  Margo and Joel have turned their attention to the dance floor, their backs to us, so I take the opportunity to lean in and nuzzle my nose against Henry’s ear. “Like what?” I whisper, letting my teeth graze against his lobe.

  “You don’t want to start this here, Abbi, trust me.” He hands me the water with a look of warning. “Drink it.”

  I settle against his chest, my body relaxed from the wine and shots of tequila and humming from the music, and I drink my water as I watch Joel and Margo spy on the crowd below. My eyes are on Margo especially, her hips rolling to the music, her fingertips toying with the hem of her dress as if she might lift it off at any moment, her legs apart in an almost suggestive way. God, she’s even more seductive when she dances. That’s what it is, she oozes seductiveness. I’m sitting here on Henry’s lap, mesmerized, wondering what she’d look like naked.

  At some point in the song, Joel shifts behind her and starts dancing with her, his hips grinding against her like the people below are doing.

  “We should get going,” Henry whispers in my ear, chasing it with a lingering kiss against my neck, his hand smoothing over my thigh in a slow draw, back and forth. It’s an automatic move, my need to turn and meet his lips with mine. I think the alcohol and music and the touches he’s stolen all night—his very presence, really—have finally come to a head because suddenly I can’t wait to get home.

  “Okay.”

  I turn back in time to see Joel slip Margo’s dress up over her hips.

  She’s not even wearing panties.

  My mouth drops open as she pulls the top of her dress down, exposing her full breasts. She rests her hands on the metal bar that runs across the length of the window in front of her, adjusting her stance to spread her legs.

  “Oh my God. Are they going to—”

  With his back to us, Joel fumbles with his belt buckle, unzipping his pants. They loosen around his hips as he positions himself behind her. She cries out as he thrusts into her.

  They’re going to fuck right in front of us, overlooking the busy club.

  I turn to look Henry. “We should definitely go.”

  He doesn’t seem to hear me, his eyes—hooded and heated—locked on them, skating over Margo’s naked flesh, his hand tightening around my hip.

  He may have said that he doesn’t want her, but I can feel the bulge growing in his pants, straining against the material.

  Margo murmurs something in French and Joel turns her around to face us. Settling her ass on the metal bar, she hikes her legs. He slides back into her.

  “Henry…,” she purrs, her seductive eyes locked on his as she says something to him in French, a “please” slipping through her lips with a slight moan at the end.

  He doesn’t respond but he doesn’t break eye contact with her—her eyes, her breasts, where Joel is joined with her—his jaw tensing. His entire body tensing, his fingers tightening on me almost to the point of pain.

  I feel like I’m not even here.

  And suddenly I don’t want to be here, to watch them eye fuck each other.

  I climb off Henry’s lap, a sharp ball swelling in my throat as I grab my purse and head for the door.

  “Abigail…,” he calls out in that low, warning tone of his.

  “I’ll meet you outside when you’re done,” I snap, throwing the door open. The hall sways a little as I rush along it. Or I sway, which is more likely the case, the tequila hitting me hard.

  I get all the way to the stairs before a hand seizes my elbow. “Where are you going?” He actually has the nerve to sound angry with me.

  “Figured I’d give you two some privacy.” I tug my arm away and begin taking the steps down.

  Too fast in these heels, when I’m more drunk than I first thought. How’d that happen so fast?

  My ankle folds, followed by my knee buckling. My body crumples forward.

  Henry is somehow suddenly there, his arm roping around my waist, his shoulder stopping me from tumbling. He swiftly carries me down the rest of the way.

  “Put me down! I can walk.”

  “You broke your heel,” he mutters, moving through the crowd.

  In seconds he’s sliding me into the back of an SUV. “Next time I tell you to stop drinking, please listen.”

  “You’re not even going to apologize?”

  The severe glare I get in return makes me second-guess myself and my anger for a moment. “For what?” He says it so coolly.

  “For lying to me.”

  His jaw tenses. “Even a gay man would be attracted to her, Abbi. You’re drunk and acting ridiculous. Stop talking right now, before you say something you’re going to regret.”

  “You want to fuck her, admit it!” I hiss. I should be embarrassed, having this conversation in front of the driver, but whether it’s my emotions or the alcohol—probably both—I can’t control the words spewing from my mouth.

  A condescending smirk twists his lips.

  The realization is like a punch to my stomach. “You already have.” Of course he has.

  He doesn’t deny it.

  I’m so stupid.

  We’re silent until the driver pulls up to the front of the building. I jump out and start rushing for the front door, desperate to get away from him. I get all of ten steps before I’m off the ground and in Henry’s arms again. It’s not nearly as romantic as the time he carried me from the dock to my cabin. This time I just want to get away from him. “Put me down!”

  “You’re not walking into my building drunk and in bare feet. Have more class than that, Abigail.”

  “Because Margo fucking her boyfriend in front of you is so classy,” I snap.

  His stony blue eyes dart to the security guards manning the door. “Good night, gentlemen.” He doesn’t set me down until we’re in his private elevator. It’s a smooth ride up and yet I’m still feeling queasy, my nerves shot. “How could you lie to me and bring me out with her tonight?”

  “I’ve never lied.”

  I let out a small scream of frustration as the elevator doors open. I barrel through his foyer, bumping into the table on my way. “Whatever.”

  “I’ve never lied!” Henry yells. It’s so rare to hear him raise his voice. Normally his words are ice, his tone cutting. But to hear him yell…

  I freeze at the bottom of the stairs.

  “You never asked.”

  “Bullshit, I didn’t! You told me this was just a business relationship.”

  “It is.”
/>   “Do you sleep with every woman you have a business relationship with? Hell, do you sleep with every woman you meet? Because it’s sure starting to feel like it!”

  “Watch it, Abbi,” he growls.

  Oh God, I don’t feel good. The room is starting to spin. “Why didn’t you tell me? When you don’t tell me these things, it makes me think you’re hiding something.”

  “Because it happened a year ago. And you didn’t ask if I fucked her in the past. If you had, I would have told you. You asked if there is something going on between us and there isn’t.”

  Somehow he’s turning this on me, like it’s my fault he wasn’t forthright. “So you slept with her, she clearly still wants to sleep with you—don’t deny it!” I yell when he opens his mouth. “And now you’re partnering with her for this hotel. How am I supposed to just deal with that?”

  He levels me with a gaze. “The same way I’m dealing with you still talking to the grounds crew guy you fucked. Who is still employed by me, along with the guy you did everything with but fuck, because I promised you I wouldn’t fire their asses even though I really want to.”

  That reminder takes a bit of the hot air from my argument. “I was completely honest. I told you exactly what happened with Ronan and Connor. You could at least have done the same.”

  “You want to know exactly what happened?” He begins stalking toward me in that intimidating way of his. “Okay, Abbi. Twelve months ago I met Margo and she made her proposal about the place in France. I flew out to see it. I watched her and her boyfriend at the time fuck. Then she asked me to join them, so I did.” He stops just in front of me, his massive body hovering over me. “I’ve had my dick in her mouth and in her ass. Is that specific enough? Do you want more details?”

  I bolt for the bathroom just in time, the vomit sailing up my throat.

  Chapter Ten

  I come to with the morning sun streaming in my eye and a hand on my hip, gently shaking me awake.

  “Abbi? It’s time to get up.”

  I groan, squinting against the light as I check the clock. Eight a.m. “I thought we had all day.” He’s the insane early bird, not me. The acrid taste in my mouth is making me wince. “Can I have some water?”

  “Right here.” The mattress beside me sinks and a cold glass is set into my hand, along with two Tylenol. I struggle to sit up and swallow the pills. “God, why did you let me drink so much!” Braving the sunlight, I look up to see Henry’s flat glare and I immediately drop my gaze. I’m naked.

  “Your dress is hanging in the bathroom. It’ll need to be dry cleaned,” he says as if reading my thoughts.

  “Why.... Oh, God.” I cringe as memories of vomiting into a toilet flood my thoughts. My first night together with Henry and I spend it drunk and puking. Those memories quickly give way to more horrific ones—of Margo and Joel at the bar, of Margo’s eyes locked on Henry, of Henry entranced by her.

  Of Henry admitting he’s already slept with her.

  “Oh my God.” I curl up into a ball, feeling ready to vomit again.

  “Yeah.” He sighs, his gaze drifting off toward the window. He’s already showered and dressed. “Come on. If you want a shower before the plane, you’d better get it now.”

  My eyes begin to sting with tears. I’m not nearly as upset about him sleeping with Margo as I was last night. Now I’m feeling more stupid than anything, especially given it happened so long ago. And panicked, that I have permanently screwed up things between us. “So that’s it? We have a fight and you throw me on a plane and send me home first thing in the morning?”

  “That wasn’t a fight, Abbi. That was you acting like an unconfident little girl. You know how unappealing that is to me.”

  “I’m sorry, I just....” Why did I have to drink so much? I would have been fine, had I stayed away from those shots. “You were watching them. Watching her. I got upset.”

  He heaves a sigh. “Look, I should have told you. I thought about it, but you are so goddamn insecure about us as it is, I didn’t want to make a big deal of something that meant nothing to me.”

  “How can I not be insecure about you? I don’t know a woman who doesn’t want you, Henry. And I can’t compete with a woman like that.” She’s up to bat in a stadium and I’m still on the playground.

  And she was calling his name, so seductively.

  “You already know how I feel about you.”

  “No I don’t!” I exclaim. “When have you ever told me how you feel?”

  “I show you, Abbi. Every time I’m with you.”

  “Like you showed Margo?”

  He glares at me, annoyed. “I haven’t touched her since that night. I haven’t touched another woman since the day I met you. You can’t say the same.”

  I flinch at the reminder.

  “Look.” He sighs, hangs his head. “Nothing good will come of talking about any of them, so let’s stop that right now.”

  “Okay.” He doesn’t sound like he’s ending things, at least. Though I can still sense his mood and it’s sour. So, I peel myself up again to crawl toward him, curling my head into his lap because I can’t punish him with my breath right now. “Let me make it up to you.” After I brush my teeth a thousand times and shower in scalding water.

  Henry’s chuckle is soft but I sigh all the same, because he’s laughing. His fingers stroke through my hair. “I wish we could, but we really do have to leave.”

  “Why?”

  He slides me off his lap and moves for his closet. That’s when I notice the two suitcases sitting next to the doorway that weren’t there yesterday. “We just got our annual projections in and two of my Wolf hotels are underperforming. The one in Barcelona is on the verge of shutting down. That’ll be the first Wolf Hotel in history to be forced to close because of economic problems. I need to be on the ground over there to try and fix this. Fire some fucking people and rebuild my teams.”

  “How long will you be gone?”

  “Don’t know. I’m flying to LA today, and then to Wolf Cove to meet with the engineers about the ski hill. After that, I’m guessing I’ll be overseas for five or six weeks. Could be longer.”

  Five to six weeks? Maybe more?

  Do we have any chance of lasting that long without seeing each other?

  “I’ll meet you downstairs.” He grabs the handles on his suitcases and disappears out the door, now in full Henry business mode.

  Dragging myself out of bed, I head for the shower, my heart heavy.

  ~ ~ ~

  “Give us a minute, Miles.”

  I smile at Miles before ducking out the door of Henry’s jet, though inside I’m insanely jealous of Henry’s assistant for the fact that he’s traveling with Henry. I want my job back. I want to travel around the world with him.

  Henry leads me to a black sedan waiting at the edge of the tarmac for the forty-minute drive back to Greenbank. “I’m sorry that I had to cut this trip short.”

  “It’s okay. I understand.” That’s all I’ve been since I woke up: understanding. Trying to soften the damage I might have caused with my tantrum last night, even though I hate this. Hate the fact that he’s leaving—again. Hate how we’re leaving things, feeling strained.

  I took longer than I needed to in the shower, hoping Henry would join me and allow me to apologize for my behavior.

  He did step into the bathroom, but only to tell me to hurry up.

  Then I hoped for a chance to reconcile on the hour-long plane ride.

  But Miles was there.

  Now I’m considering pulling him into this sedan, but the windows aren’t tinted.

  “I’ll call you,” he murmurs, handing my bag to the driver to slide into the trunk.

  I take a deep breath and, pressing myself against the contours of his body, I stretch to my tiptoes to kiss his mouth, dragging my tongue against the seam of his lips the way he likes it.

  He groans. “Abbi....” I inhale the smell of his cologne, and it brings me back to those first day
s at Wolf Cove. “I miss Alaska. I want to go back so badly.”

  He stares down at me, an unreadable look in his eyes. “So then come.”

  I smile. “Funny.”

  “I’m serious. Fly to Seattle on Wednesday. I’ll meet you there and we’ll go up together.”

  “Seriously?” My heart swells with relief. If he’s inviting me out, he’s still in this. He’s still willing to try “us.”

  “I leave for Beijing on Friday morning, so it’ll be a short trip.”

  Two days with Henry. Two days in my favorite place.

  “Okay.”

  His brow spikes. “Okay?”

  “I think so. I’ll have to check.” I already took off on Jed and Mama for a night. This might be pushing it.

  He tucks my still-damp hair off my face. “Let me know. Miles will book your flights.”

  Leaning down, he plants one more, deeper kiss on my lips. “Gotta go.”

  I watch him jog back to his plane, a smile on my face.

  I’m going back to Alaska.

  And I don’t care what Mama says.

  Chapter Eleven

  Just one more hour until I leave for the airport.

  Seven hours until I land in Seattle.

  Eight hours until I see Henry.

  I pause my last-minute packing to peer at my flight reservations for the hundredth time, my chest filled with only excitement by the prospect of being back there. Miles put me in first class to Seattle. Henry will pick me up in his jet and we’ll fly to the private airstrip. From there, it’s just a quick ferry ride and I’ll be at Wolf Cove again.

  It’s going to be weird. I’m no longer an employee there and that means that everyone’s going to know about Henry and me.

  Jed trudged around like a sour child all day yesterday, but he hasn’t said a word in protest. Neither has Mama, oddly enough. She sniffed a little at dinner last night, acting hurt, waiting for me to console her. When I didn’t fall for it, she reluctantly agreed with Daddy that I deserved to get away for a few days. That I’d been working hard and I had every right to go.

  It was rather odd, but I’m guessing Reverend Enderbey had a hand in that because I heard her on the phone with him. He’s still trying to convince her that time will change things. That I’ll break up with Henry like Jed broke up with Cammie, and we’ll find ourselves back together. I don’t know when they’ll finally accept that—