by Kathy Love
“Jensen, why are you here?”
CHAPTER 14
“I had to see you.”
“Why? That blond woman seemed like she was nice. She-she suited you.”
“She is nice,” he agreed. He didn’t agree that she suited him, however. Once he would have agreed that she was his type. Now he realized his type had changed.
He waited for Elizabeth to say something more, but she only stared at him, remaining still in a way that was unnerving.
“Then I think you should go back to her. She would be good for you. A nice woman is what you need and deserve.”
“Well,” Jensen took a step closer, keeping his movements slow and steady as if he were approaching a skittish animal, “I know another nice woman. And I’d really rather be with her.”
Again she stared at him, but this time he didn’t need to see her features to know what her expression was-disbelieving.
She spun and headed toward the house, her long legs moving her in a near trot across the grass.
“Just go, too, Jensen,” she called over her shoulder, not slowing her pace to see what he was doing. “You shouldn’t have come.”
He hurried after her, not catching up until she was on the steps to the porch. He snagged her arm, tugged her to a halt. Still she didn’t turn to look at him.
“Elizabeth,” he said softly. “You know as well as I do, we seem powerless to stay apart.”
She stared down at the worn boards making up the porch stairs.
“Please,” her voice sounded huskier than usual. Tired. “I asked you to go away.”
“I can’t,” he said simply. “I just-can’t.”
She remained still, not struggling against his hold, but not turning to him. Not letting him in.
“Elizabeth. Just tell me why you don’t want to give us a chance.”
She lifted her head then, and pulled in a deep breath. Slowly, she turned toward him. The light was still behind her, casting her features in shadow, but he could see her. He could see her beautiful moonstone eyes, her lush lips. And he could see she’d been crying. Redness rimmed her eyes, making her thick lashes more pronounced. The sight made him feel like more of a cad. More selfish.
“Elizabeth,” he said softly, stroking his thumb up and down the soft skin of her wrist. “I didn’t mean to hurt you tonight.”
Her eyes held his, and he could see emotions warring there.
“You should just go,” she said again.
He didn’t release her, he just continued to stroke her skin as if she were an agitated animal. She didn’t pull away.
“I’m not that nice girl,” she told him.
“I think you are.”
“How can you possibly think that after the way I’ve acted around you? The ways I–I pursued you.”
He smiled at that. “I found your pursuit particularly nice.”
Her gaze left his, dropping to the ground, and he knew she was blushing, even though the damned light wouldn’t allow him to see it.
He still held her wrist, but with his other hand he touched her hair, brushing back the short tendrils that clung to her temple.
“Elizabeth, I realize we don’t know much about each other, aside from this strong attraction. But I do know I want the opportunity to find out more about you. Everything, if you let me.”
She started to shake her head, but he cut off her motion by stating sharply, “If you decide that I’m not a person you could be interested in, then the next time you tell me to go away, I will. I will leave you alone forever. But I really think we have something here that we should check out.”
She didn’t respond immediately, and he could tell she was weighing the idea.
“Jensen, I’m not the right kind of girl for you.”
She’d said that more than once, and for a moment, he wondered if she somehow knew about Katie. Except she didn’t know anyone he knew. She couldn’t know about his deceased fiancée.
“I’d like to be the one who makes that decision,” he informed her, then gave her a little smile.
Her gaze dropped to his lips just briefly, then snapped back to his eyes.
“I think you should just trust me on this. It will save you a lot of time.”
His smile widened at her glum tone, but more than that, he smiled because he realized he was wearing her down. She wasn’t saying, no, outright.
“Come on. We can date.”
She lifted an eyebrow at that suggestion. “Can you go to dating after the things we’ve already done?”
“Absolutely. And we won’t do those particular things again until we decide we actually do like each other.”
Elizabeth glanced down, staring at the ground but not really seeing it. She had a hard time looking at Jensen, both because of her own embarrassment, and the fact that she found his smile so appealing.
“You have to admit it’s a rather backward way to start a relationship.”
He shrugged. “Well, I don’t think there’s any right or wrong way. I just want the opportunity to get to know you.”
She wanted that, too. She wanted to know him. But she wasn’t sure he could ever know everything about her. Mina’s words rang in her head. She couldn’t control this. It was too powerful. And maybe he would understand.
She looked up at him, and again she was so tempted to just say, yes, she would date him. She’d do anything just to spend more time with him. And not have to see him with that other woman ever again.
But reality held her back. She could have him for a while. But she couldn’t ever offer him anything long-term or permanent. Hiding the fact that she turned into a wolf once a month was feasible with a casual relationship, but she’d never be able to be with him as a wife or even live with him.
Not that she could be his wife, anyway. She was mated to another-that was the fact, even if she wished it wasn’t so. And that wasn’t fair to Jensen, either.
Still she gazed at him, seeing the hope in his green eyes. Seeing that adorable tilt to his lips, and she felt her own lips moving before she even realized what she intended to say.
“Okay.”
Jensen’s smile faded, and he narrowed a probing look at her. “Okay?”
What was she doing? She couldn’t tell him that she would date him. The whole idea was ludicrous.
“Yes. Okay.” Who the heck had control of her mouth and her brain?
Jensen rocked back on his heels and looked for all the world like he’d won the lottery. Which he had, if the lottery winnings were a female werewolf with a mate. That was more like a booby prize, really.
Still he grinned at her, and she was lost. Lost and suddenly excited that she’d agreed to see him. Even though she knew it was doomed. What was wrong with her?
“So I think we should start tonight.”
His words managed to pull her out of her confused thoughts. “Tonight?”
“Yes, I want to go back to your brother’s bar.”
“I don’t think that is a good idea. My brothers aren’t exactly fond of you at the moment.”
Jensen rotated his shoulders slowly and stretched his back. “Yes, I noted that.”
She frowned, immediately moving to his side, placing her hands on his shoulders to shift him around. He allowed her to, and stood still as she untucked his shirt, peeling it upward.
She gasped as she saw his back. The skin was already mottled with red and purplish bruises.
“Oh my God, Jensen,” she whispered, heartbroken that he’d been hurt. Hurt over her at the hands of her brothers.
“I’m so sorry.” She trailed her fingers lightly over the marks as if her touch could erase them.
After a few moments, Jensen stepped away from her, then cleared his throat. “I think maybe you should stop that, if we plan to have our first official date.”
She frowned, confused at first by his meaning. Had her touch caused him enough pain that he’d have to leave? Did he need medical attention?
Then she saw the way his eyes had darkened to a deep p
ine green, hooded and intense.
“Oh,” she managed to say, even as a surge of reaction coursed through her.
“Let’s go to the bar.”
She tried to push away the longing growing inside her and focus on his words. Words that made no more sense.
“The bar? Leo’s? I don’t think that’s a good idea. You really are hurt-maybe you should just go home and rest.”
When he looked unimpressed with that idea, she added, “I will see you tomorrow.”
He smiled, her promise seeming to appease him a little.
“No. I want to go to the bar. I feel fine.”
She raised a dubious eyebrow.
“Okay, I’m a little sore,” he admitted. “But I don’t want to leave you yet. I think I definitely earned some time with you.” He rolled his eyes to the side to indicate the beating his back had taken for her.
“Then come inside.” She walked up the steps and waited on the porch proper for him to follow. He glanced at the house, a definite expression of longing on his face, then he shook his head.
“Nope. Come to the bar.”
She frowned. “Why? Why would you want to go anywhere near my brothers? I know I don’t want to see them for a long while.”
“Because the bar is where we first met. And I want it to be where we meet again-this time on a real date.”
She paused, touched by what he was saying.
“Plus, I should have been with you there tonight. So I want to start the night again.”
God, he was sweet.
But instead of telling him that, she glanced at her watch. “It’s nearly midnight. Isn’t that rather late for a date, anyway?”
“The bar stays open until three. Not a long date, but it’s a start.”
She shook her head at his persistence. Then she laughed. “I guess it’s time we did something slow.”
“Oh, we’ll do plenty of stuff slow.” Then he grimaced. “That probably wasn’t an appropriate comment for a first date, was it?”
“That’s okay.” Elizabeth had to admit, it was hard to take things slow. Not when she already knew what he felt like against her and inside her.
“Come on, let’s go back to the bar and start this all over again.”
Damn, he was so appealing-and damn, didn’t she want to say yes?
She nodded, then touched her face, running her fingers underneath her eyes. “I hardly look ready for a first date.” She gestured to her black yoga pants and gray sweatshirt.
He stepped forward, touching her cheek. “I think you look beautiful.”
She laughed. “Hardly.”
He studied her for a moment, then gestured to his truck. “We’d better get going. I hear there is a great band playing at Leo’s tonight.”
His response caught her off guard, and she laughed. “Yes, I’ve heard the same thing.”
He held out his hand and she accepted, loving the feeling of his broad palm against her smaller one and the way his fingers curled around hers.
He led her to the passenger side of his truck and opened the door for her. She remembered him doing that the first night. He’d been a gentleman then, while she’d been more like a wild animal. The memory caused her to hesitate, a blush burning her cheeks. That behavior now seemed so over the top, so not like her.
“Are you okay?” he asked when she just stared into the cab of the truck, not making a move to get inside.
She nodded and untangled her fingers from his to brace her hand on the door and lift herself in. Jensen’s hand moved to her elbow, helping her. He hadn’t done that the first night. In fact, she’d been the one who first touched him. His lips.
She cast a sidelong glance at him. His mouth was still the most beautiful she’d ever seen.
He hesitated as if he was going to say something, then he closed the door.
He rounded the front of the vehicle and opened his door. He didn’t speak as he got inside and turned the ignition.
Elizabeth tried to focus on the road, on the sound of the engine, on her own breathing, but all she could remember was what they had done in this truck. On this very seat. The steam on the windows, the hitched sounds of their breathing, the way he smelled, like woods and sex. The way he’d felt deep inside her, her legs straddling him as he pulled her down against him, groin to groin.
She realized that he’d pulled out of her road onto the one leading to the bar, before he spoke.
“This is harder than I thought.”
“What?”
“Pretending this is our first date.”
“Yes,” she agreed.
“I really kind of liked our first date,” he said, slanting her that adorable, cocky grin.
Elizabeth felt herself blush. “I don’t think that constituted a date.”
“Oh, I do,” Jensen said adamantly.
“I’m really not like that,” she felt the need to reiterate.
“I do know that. Frankly, I choose to be flattered.”
She paused at that, then cast him a small smile. “Well, I guess you should be.”
He smiled back. “Well, I am.”
They both still sported a smile as they turned into the gravel parking lot of Leo’s Karaoke Tavern and Saloon.
Then Elizabeth’s smile faded. “I really don’t know if this is a good idea. My brothers are a little bit protective.”
“I hadn’t noticed,” Jensen said, then gave her a wink.
She frowned. “You have to be in pain. You really should be resting.”
“Remind me to tell you about the time that I got kicked in the head by a mare in labor.”
Elizabeth turned on the bench seat, gaping at him. “That really happened?”
He nodded.
“Wow.”
“But I’ve got to say, your brothers are pretty damned protective.”
“And you haven’t even met Rhys.”
Jensen cringed. “He isn’t going to be here now, is he?”
“No.”
“Then I’m good to go. I can handle your brothers. They just got the jump on me.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to mention that they were, in fact, vampires, and it had been an unfair fight from the get-go, but she caught herself. That would be damned hard to explain, wouldn’t it?
As hard as explaining what she was.
“Hey, they are playing ‘Here I Go Again.’ That seems rather appropriate, doesn’t it?”
Elizabeth listened to a few of the lyrics, then laughed. “You’re funny.”
“I am,” he agreed, and they stared at each other for a moment.
“I really want to kiss you. Can you start a date with a kiss?”
She nodded. She actually knew nothing of dating. She’d flirted a bit at balls. She’d even stolen a kiss at one of the soirees, from a man, a lord who she’d dreamed of marrying and now who she barely remembered. She didn’t know anything about how real dates worked.
“I think we can,” she said, her eyes drifting down to that luscious mouth. She did know one thing for sure. No one on earth kissed like Jensen Adler.
He leaned across the seat, his mouth brushing very gently against hers. A faint touch, a mere hint at what his lips could feel like possessing hers. Then he pulled away. The fleeting touch was so entrancing, so erotic, she remained still, swaying toward him, until he touched her face.
“If we kiss any more, our new first date is going to end up pretty much like the original.”
Elizabeth blinked. For a moment she really couldn’t find a problem with that. Then she realized she’d degraded to pretty much what she’d been just a few days ago. Acting totally on sensation, on need.
Except this was more dangerous, because with this kiss she also felt emotions that she knew she shouldn’t. Emotions that she was liking far too much.
Still, she didn’t suggest they stop. She didn’t demand they just let things end here. Like she knew she should. She simply wanted him too much.
“Okay, are you ready to go inside
?”
She noticed that he was casting a rather wary look at the bar’s entrance.
“We really don’t have to do this. I appreciate your thought of going back to where we met, but I do realize my brothers are a bit-intimidating.”
Jensen frowned at her comment, then straightened, his broad shoulders straining against his button-down dress shirt. Oh, if he were undead or immortal in any way, her brothers would be in big trouble. Jensen had a fine, fine physique-he just didn’t have anything paranormal on his side.
For a moment, guilt hit her again. Then she cast it aside. She wanted this man so, so badly. And she’d never wanted anyone like this. She’d never believed it possible, really. She just couldn’t let it go. Call her selfish. She was selfish. But she just couldn’t turn him away. Not while he wanted her, too.
“Let’s go in,” he said, opening his door.
She started to reach for the handle, too, then she saw that he was coming around. She waited as he opened the door for her. Again she was struck by what a gentleman he was, reminding her of her life so long ago. When she’d been a real lady-and he would have been the type of man she’d had a right to marry.
It was too appealing, too wonderful to let go of now.
She accepted his hand as he helped her down from the cab of the truck.
“My brothers really are very nice,” she suddenly felt the need to say, knowing that if they knew Jensen, they would agree that he was the type of man she’d expected to be with. For a moment, Brody flashed through her mind. Huge, unkempt, coarse. He wasn’t even close to what anyone would have thought she’d be with.
She pushed that thought aside. She didn’t want to go there. Too much guilt was involved, too much regret.
Not about Jensen, she realized. But about why she’d made the choices she had earlier in her life. She wished she’d been stronger. But as Mina said, she had made her choices to survive.
“So you have three brothers?”
She nodded. “Three too many, huh?”
Jensen grinned. “Well, you are loved, that’s for sure. Are you the baby?”
The question gave her pause. How did she answer? She had been the baby, but now she was actually older than Sebastian. Sebastian was eternally twenty-five, and she was about twenty-seven now. Werewolves did age, just very slowly. But given birth order…
