LOGINDesmond’s POVI try to think of the dullest things I can to calm my raging erection. Spreadsheets. Council meetings. Her ex.The question explodes from me before I can stop it. “Why were you with that shithead? You don’t seem like you’d put up with being treated like that.”She stiffens in surprise at the question before taking a deep breath, her shoulders rounding, almost in defeat. “I’d just started at Neuroworks,” she says. “Ben came into the office one day and started chatting to me. I had no idea who he was. That charmed him, I think.”I scowl. “You charmed him.”I can just see it. Wendy, looking sexy as hell in some little pencil skirt and heels. The entitled little lordling, so used to people falling all over him, encountering… her. Lured in by her beauty, enchanted by her warmth and wit. Maybe she flirted with him in return, maybe she held him at arm’s length.I wonder how desperately she made him work for her attention, her favor. I wonder how long it took her to wrap him a
Desmond’s POV “What you all have here is beautiful. The idea of anything threatening it… of me personally being connected to its destruction…”I stroke my fingers along her scalp. “Nothing is going to be destroyed on my watch. Neither humans nor vampires have managed yet, despite some of their best efforts.”“Vampires?” She shivers. “But they’re one-in-a-million.”“They’re a lot more common than you think. You’ve probably encountered a dozen of them without realizing. They excel at camouflage.”“And vampires hate wolf shifters? Why?” I pause, gathering my thoughts. Do I get into it now, the details of our millennia-long, mutual vendetta with the vampires? The volatile relationship wolf shifters and humans have had over the same time period?I decide to give her the broad strokes, at least. “We both rely on humans to perpetuate our species. Wolf shifters need human mates. Vampires need human blood.”“Ah. So it’s a battle over resources.”“More than that. It’s two cultures, both deepl
Desmond’s POVI must be a glutton for punishment.The water splashes a little as she gets in. “Okay. You can turn now.”The bubbles hide her body from view. She gives me a smile. “You can wash my hair, but I’m taking care of the rest.”“Don’t trust me? Or yourself?”“It’s you I don’t trust. Of course.” She can’t even maintain eye contact while she spouts this obvious falsehood. I’m starting to think she is, in fact, a terrible liar.I pull up a wood stool to the edge of the bathtub and take a seat, close enough to feel the steam rising from the water. My wolf paces under my skin, keyed to the sound of her breathing, the bead of water sliding down her throat. As rain begins to patter against the fogged window, I steel myself for the most excruciating and wonderful moment of self-denial in my life.“Dip your head in the water,” I tell her, my fingers already flexing in anticipation of touching her. She does as I ask, the water lapping softly around her shoulders.I warm the shampoo i
Desmond’s POVI lead her to the bathroom and turn on the taps in the soaking tub. From a glass container, I scatter salt crystals on the bottom. I dig around in my medicine cabinet for the oil I use after a particularly bruising fight and add a few drops to the steaming water.“What is that?” she asks.“Copaiba oil. Anti-inflammatory, antioxidant. I use it after training.”“Is this the new clause in our deal? Am I supposed to be your bathing attendant now?”“The other way around. If you’re sore after this morning, I can help you with that.”Her lips quirk. There’s wash of pink across her cheeks now. “A for effort, but I’m not taking a bath in front of you.”I lean one shoulder against the doorframe, deliberately relaxed, as though every cell inside me isn’t alert to her nearness. As if the vision of her naked body hasn’t been occupying my thoughts and dreams.“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” “Yes, and I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of women a lot more exciting to look at than me.”
Desmond’s POVCold fear seizes me instantly.But then I catch a glimpse of chestnut hair from the corner of my eye, and see she’s on the balcony.Nothing happened to her. She didn’t somehow escape or run away. She’s still here. I approach silently, seeing that she’s bent over something. Her phone? The breeze is carrying her scent to me, but not mine to hers. She doesn’t notice me even though I’m just two steps away now. I move quietly against the backdrop of noises that disguise my approach: the scurry of a coyote in the underbrush, autumn leaves rustling in the wind, an owl hooting from the branches of a redwood. I’m not above sneaking around right now. What if she’s texting her ex? Good thing I had a tap put on her phone. If she’s texting him, I’ll know. But her long hair ripples in the breeze, and I see what she’s holding for the first time. In her hands, she has a circle with some fabric stretched over it, and she’s pulling a needle and threadthrough the canvas. Flowers.
Desmond’s POVAfter getting Wendy situated back at Dom Volka—and checked out by Cornelia—I force myself back to my duties. The faster I can deal with the other shit in my life, the faster I can get back to Wendy. As soon as Wendy is out of earshot, I pull Otaktay aside. “You’ve still got eyes on Maurice Harp?”Otaktay nods. “He pretty much just goes to work, home, and back again.”“And his research? Is he wiping away the evidence?”“We still have a tap on his phone from when he was here, but we don’t have access to his personal devices at home.” He gives me a significant look. “We could send someone down there. Hurry the process along.”“No. No need to be heavy-handed unless we have a reason to.”Otaktay accepts my reasoning without question. Which is a good thing, considering it’s not the real reason I have no desire to hurry Maurice along.If Wendy finds out from her dad that he’s held up his end of the bargain, she’ll demand I hold up my end too—meaning, release her.All the progr
Wendy’s POVThis revelation is deeply unwelcome.I understand it now, why he was looking at me like he already knew me that first night. Why he went out of his way to play hero for me. Why everything else that came after happened the way it did. “I suppose,” I say, forcing my voice to be light, “
Wendy’s POV“Look,” I begin. “I know I’m not in any place to make demands but… I’ve worked since I was twelve. Babysitting, restaurant hostess, campus bookstore clerk. I’ve never not had a job.”“Why?” he interrupts. “Surely your father makes an excellent salary at Neuroworks.”“He spends it as fas
Wendy’s POVOutside, brisk autumnal air fills my lungs. Redwoods tower over me, their canopies dissolving into the mist. There’s an otherworldly beauty to this place. If, at any moment, a dinosaur emerged from between the tree trunks, it would only seem fitting. My footsteps slow as I take in the
Wendy’s POVI follow Cornelia down another hallway. The scent hits me first: rich, spicy, and unexpectedly sweet. Cinnamon?She leads us into a gleaming industrial kitchen, where steam curls off a simmering saucepan. Standing before a pristine commercial range, Lars and Javier are mid-debate, their







