Bonded (56 page)

“Because I’m
leaving. I’m going to Renwick—it’s a little town not far from
Kolding’s Pass—to be the DC agent for the area.” She walked around
him warily, picked up a tea towel and began to fold it, trying to
appear calm. What was going on with him? That Reno had a temper was
a well-known fact but he always seemed in control of it.

“That kind of move
takes months to arrange.” There was a definite tone of accusation
in his voice and she struggled not to snap back at him. Go easy,
she warned herself.

“Usually, but I
asked if they’d put a rush on it and by some miracle everything
fell into place. Look, Reno, I’m kind of busy so if you have
something to say, please say it and then leave.” She tried to brush
past him and get a new packing box but he grabbed her arm.

The heat of his
palm burned as it lay against her skin and she felt his thumb brush
back and forth in a small caress. Tingles of awareness spread
through her. Her heart began to race, an ache grew inside her and
she fought against the need to step closer, to rub against him.

Dammit, she’d
spent the last few weeks trying to banish all memory of him from
her mind and body but just one touch and she was craving him all
over again.

“What do you think
you’re doing?” She stared meaningfully at his hand, trying to
inject a cool disdain into her voice.

“You tell me.” He
growled the words at her and she looked up at him with a frown.

“What?”

“Don’t you already
know? Can’t you just tiptoe through my mind and tell me?”

Brandi felt the
blood drain from her face. He couldn’t know. Not after all this
time! The blood in her veins quickly changed from being heated with
desire to the iciness of fear. Her lips seemed to go numb and she
had to force the words through them. “I don’t know what you’re
talking about.” She started to step back but stopped when he
tightened his grip on her arm in warning.

“Yes, you damned
well do. The captain told me, so don’t even bother to try and lie
about it.” He pulled her closer, brought his face into her personal
space. “We’re the next fucking thing to blood bonded!”

She gasped and
tried to pull away, filled with indignation that the captain had
broken his trust to her, and appalled that Reno had found out in
such a way. “He had no right! He promised it would stay between the
two of us.”

“He had every
right but more importantly
I
had every right. How the hell
could you not tell me something this important?” Reno gave her arm
a shake as his voice infused with accusation. “Did it give you a
secret thrill? Make you feel you had some hold on me? Did you like
being able to read my mind without me knowing?” He snorted in
disgust, let go of her arm and took a step back, shaking his head.
“God, I’ve been chased by women before who wanted the thrill of
having done a rogue, but none of them went this far. Do you sit
around with your friends laughing as you give them the latest
update on my private thoughts?”

“No. It’s not like
that, Reno. I swear.” Brandi’s stomach clenched, a sick feeling
washing over her. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. She could feel
his hurt over what he perceived as her betrayal. Hurting him had
never been her intention. “I...”

“I don’t like
people playing with my mind, Brandi.” He stepped towards her, again
invading her space, and she instinctively retreated. He followed,
forcing her backward until she was pressed against the wall.
Placing a hand on either side of her, he caged her in. With nowhere
to go, she could only stare up at his menacing expression.

Reno flicked his
gaze over her before focussing on her neck. “Turnabout is fair
play, don’t you think?”

“What do you
mean?” Her stomach clenched with fear. She’d never seen him in such
a mood. The rogue wolf tendencies he’d always warned her about
seemed to have broken through his civilized facade.

“You bonded with
me, I’ll bond with you.” He leaned forward and nuzzled her
neck.

“Reno, no!”
Shocked at his suggestion, she froze, unable to believe he’d
actually consider such a thing.

“Brandi, yes.” He
mimicked back and then licked her throat.

She attempted to
duck under his arm but he took hold of her waist. Bringing her
shoulder up to protect her neck proved useless as well for he
threaded his fingers through her hair to hold her head still.

Trapped, unable to
move, her heart pounded in her chest. He crowded in closer, his
body pressed against hers. His breath was hot on her neck. She
could feel his teeth grazing her skin and against her will a thrill
of excitement shot through her.

“Reno, it won’t
work,” she protested. “You know that. A simple bite isn’t
enough.”

“No. But I’m
definitely aroused.” There was no denying his statement; she could
feel his erection, hot and hard against her belly. “The mating
hormone is pumping though my system right now just as it is through
yours.” His voice rumbled in her ear.

“No. No it’s not.”
She pushed against his chest, trying to get him to move away but it
was useless.

“Don’t lie to me,
Brandi. I can hear your heart pounding. The scent of your arousal
can’t be denied; you want me as much as I want you.”

“Physically, yes.
But a blood bond shouldn’t happen this way. You know that Reno.”
She squirmed and tried to twist her head around, hoping to make
eye-contact, to make him understand. “It’s not right! Reno,
please!”

For a minute she
feared he wouldn’t listen. His mouth was hot on her neck, his teeth
already gently indenting her skin. He clenched his fingers tighter,
lightly pulling her hair as he forced her head further back. A sob
broke from her and she squeezed her eyes tightly shut. For years
she’d dreamed of being blood bonded with him but not like this.

The moment
stretched out and she held her breath, waiting for the pinprick of
pain as he pierced her flesh. When it didn’t come she opened her
eyes to find him lifting his head, staring down at her with a dark,
tormented gaze.

“Brandi... I...I’m
sorry.” He let her go and stepped away, a look of self-loathing on
his face.

They stared at
each other, eyes locked. The only sound in the room was their heavy
breathing. Slowly, Reno extended a hand and brushed a tear from her
cheek. He dropped his gaze to look at the bead of moisture on his
finger then turned and stalked across the room to brace his arms on
either side of the window frame.

The sunlight threw
him into a near silhouette. She could see his clenched jaw, the way
his fingers curled into fists and the movement of his neck muscles
as he swallowed hard.

“Shit.” His single
word echoed through the room and Brandi repeated it in her head.
God, this was all such a mess!

She sniffed, tears
slowly dripping down her cheeks. “Reno, I wasn’t trying to pull
something over on you. That’s not how it was.”

“Then how the hell
was it?” He threw the question over his shoulder, his voice
harsh.

“I just didn’t
know how to tell you. It was an accident, Reno. Really. I
promise.”

Reno turned, lines
of strain evident around his eyes and mouth. When he finally spoke,
his lips barely moved. “Explain.”

She took a deep
breath and wiped her eyes, trying to calm herself enough to give a
coherent explanation. “It was that demo back at the Academy. Do you
remember how I scratched you? I didn’t mean to, of course. I was
just trying to get away. But then, when you leaned over me, your
face brushed mine and some of the blood must have smeared onto my
mouth.” She paused and licked her lips nervously, ironically
thinking that’s exactly what she’d done that fated day. “I didn’t
realize and I guess I licked it off.” Her voice faltered and she
felt her face flush as she forced out the next words. “I
was...um... aroused. Being pinned down by you like that excited me.
For months I’d had a crush on you and it was sort of like a fantasy
I’d been having about you hunting me down.” She ended her
explanation in almost a whisper. “I guess there was some mating
hormone in my system at the time.”

He gave a quick
nod and she wondered if he’d realized how she’d felt that day, if
he’d somehow been aware of her secret crush.

Relieved to have
the worst part over, she continued on. “I didn’t realize what had
happened at first. I thought I was going crazy; all these strange
thoughts and feelings kept drifting through my head. I didn’t know
what to think—it never even occurred to me—that a blood bond had
been formed. I figured I was stressed from exams and then the new
job.”

“But when we had
sex that first time? Didn’t you notice anything different?” He
paused and the slightest hint of embarrassment washed over his
features. “Supposedly, once you blood bond it’s...er...better.”

Brandi stared down
at her hands. “Reno, I was drunk and overtired. It was all sort of
hazy and I just...” She shrugged not sure what to say and peered up
at him through her lowered lashes.

He was staring out
the window again. Silent and still, possibly mulling over all the
information in his head. Her stomach did a nervous flip-flop as she
wondered what he was thinking, what he’d do. Finally he gave a
heavy sigh. “I almost bit you that night.”

“Really?” The
admission shocked her.

“Yeah.” He turned
to face her, rubbing his neck and giving a rueful smile. “Maybe my
wolf sensed there was a connection and wanted to complete it. I
just figured it was the rogue tendencies coming out again, but I
guess the beast is more perceptive than I realized.”

Brandi gave a
small smile, thinking of how insistent her own wolf had been over
the past three years. She wondered if Reno had been subjected to
the same treatment.

With an
uncharacteristic hesitation, he walked over to where she stood and
eased himself down on the arm of the nearby sofa. “So, when did you
figure it out, that we were blood bonded?”

“Partially
bonded,” she corrected. “I’m bonded to you. You aren’t bonded to
me.”

“Moot point. Tell
me when.”

“At Langstaff.”
She picked up the tea towel that had fallen to the floor when he’d
grabbed her earlier, and began to refold it. “Somehow, in my head,
I knew what had happened there even before I got to the scene.
Then, at the motel, I could feel your pain. I knew what you were
thinking, how you hated yourself, blamed yourself. Inside, I was
crying for you and trying not to show it. I’d never felt anything
like it. It went beyond sympathy and that’s when I started to put
it all together. Once the case was over, I talked to the
captain.”

“But why him? Why
not me?” Reno looked puzzled, even hurt. “I’m the one you’re bonded
to.”

“I was nervous.
Scared.” She placed the tea towel in a box and made a show of
pressing it flat. “I saw the results of what you and your wolf did
to the Purist pack members.” She shook her head at the memory. “I
wasn’t sure if I really wanted to be bonded to a hopeless rogue or
not. After Langstaff I...I was scared of you, of the violence I
thought existed inside you.” Giving the tea towel a final press,
she closed the box. “I didn’t think I could stand to be bonded to
someone like that.”

“I understand.” He
looked down at the floor, a certain air of dejection about him.
“It’s what I am.”

Brandi resisted
the urge to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. Instead, she
grabbed her abandoned juice bottle and leaned against the edge of
the table. “No. It’s not what you are, Reno. Right after Langstaff,
I started checking back on your old cases and the more I thought
about it the more I realized what happened there was an anomaly.
Any wolf—maybe even my own—might have reacted the same way in the
same situation. You only did what any Alpha or Beta would have done
to protect its pack.” She took a sip of her juice before
continuing. “I needed to be sure though, so eventually I got up my
nerve and told the captain what had happened.”

“And when you
realized I wasn’t a hopeless rogue, why didn’t you tell me then?”
He partially turned his head and looked at her out of the corner of
his eye.

“And trap you? You
didn’t want this bond but you would have felt obligated to do the
right thing.” She pushed back an escaped tendril of hair. “I didn’t
want that so I tried to stay away except our jobs kept bringing us
together.”

Reno snorted and
sat up straighter. “The captain probably ensured that, damn
him.”

“It was hard,
being around you so much.” She stared down at the bottle in her
hand, noting how she’d been nervously peeling the label off.

“So you decided to
be a bitch to me?” He raised his brows.

“Yeah. To keep you
away. To protect myself. I didn’t want to know what you were doing
or feeling or...” She tried to keep the hurt out of her voice as
she spoke the next words. “Or who you were with. I purposely
blocked you out but it was tiring and made my wolf angry. I guess
my mood was never the best.”

“I noticed.”

“So...now you know
the whole story.” She looked at him, twisting the bottle nervously
in her fingers and wondering what he’d say.

“Yeah. Now I
know.” He stared down at the floor. It all made sense now...sort
of. Which put the ball right back in his court. So now what was he
going to do about it?

Brandi set down
the bottle she’d been holding and stood up straight. “I still don’t
expect anything from you, Reno. I’m leaving Lycan Link and you can
continue on with your life here. I know you love being an Enforcer
so—”

“But I love you
more.” He interrupted her, laying bare his heart in a way he’d
never thought possible.

Brandi shook her
head. “No. You like me, maybe lust for me, but you don’t love
me.”

He stood up,
taking a step closer to her. “You know that’s not true. You can
tell. Just read my mind.”