Brandi (12 page)

“What do you think is going on here, Brandi? I missed you the moment you left me. I want things to be the way they were between us during your burning time. I want you to need me that fiercely again,” he whispered roughly. “The truth is I almost didn’t let you leave. In fact, I wish like hell now I hadn’t.”

Brandi snorted as his lips kissed a path up her neck to her mouth. “You say that like you could have stopped me from leaving.”

Groaning when his exploration back down her neck led his lips to the sensitive skin across her collar bone, Brandi felt her body surrender. Instead of pushing Gareth away, she wrestled her hands free and used them to hold his head while he found her mouth and kissed her just the way she liked most.

“My methods wouldn’t have been fair to you, but I could have found a way,” he whispered.

Brandi felt his hands tremble as they skimmed her hips, then they gripped hard enough for bruises. The heat between her legs became an inferno worse than any she had experienced during her burning time. His desperation for her was contagious and feeding her own desire. Tonight the cause was not hormones run amok. The cause was the man resting between her thighs, waiting for her to cave into her own need for him. She resented her desire for Gareth, but not having him was out of the question.

“Are we doing this or not?” Gareth demanded, grinding himself against her until they both groaned loudly.

“Yes—I guess we are. But I still think you’re a manipulating bastard,” Brandi warned.

“I’ve been called a lot worse,” Gareth conceded, dipping his mouth to her neck again.

Clothes, weapons, and everything else were discarded in haste and pushed out of the way without grace or caring. Once skin was revealed, neither of them asked the other any more questions. There were more important things to do.

Brandi tried to find a rationalization for her indulgence. Having more sex with Gareth was no way to settle things between them. But the moment the man positioned himself to enter her, his name was wrenched from her throat in profound relief.

“Ah Gareth…”

“I know. I feel the same way. Being together is like coming home.”

Hearing his admission had her shaking her head. “Don’t make this more than it is.”

“Too late for that warning. It’s already everything,” Gareth declared in a rough whisper.

“No…” Brandi began, but the rest of her denial was lost in Gareth sinking completely inside her in one sharp, possessive stroke.

His fierce thrusting sent her shooting instantly over pleasure’s edge and the bliss continued without stopping long enough to allow her a reprieve. Unavoidably more compliant after her first release, Gareth pulled her now unresisting legs up around his waist and ordered her to tighten them. He skillfully angled her hips to take the rest of what he was offering.

It was more physical aggression than Gareth ever shown her before. Brandi’s complete enjoyment was as thrilling as it was shameful.

She knew liking this less restrained version of him didn’t say much for her character. A second orgasm ripping through her unchecked silenced the remaining guilt.

The tsunami of pleasure his triumphant growling brought her finally broke through the emotional barricade she’d spent a lifetime building. Tears of relief and a bone deep satisfaction streamed down her face as Gareth practically howled above her, celebrating their bond.

How could she feel so emotionally and physically connected to a man who had so willingly betrayed her? It was like she didn’t know herself when she was with him like this.

Gareth’s grip on her as he calmed remained tighter than any handcuff, chain, or strap ever used to restrain her. It made her think his words might have been true about simple desire for her being the real reason he’d helped her in Wasilla.

But if that was the truth between them, it definitely meant Gareth had betrayed their genuine connection when he’d informed his old department about her existence.

Did Gareth really think she couldn’t see through the great sex to the reality of their situation? Any way she turned their relationship toward the light, all the shadows revealed the same darkness hiding in them.

Brandi sniffled, but control over her emotions was gone. Nothing was going to stop the tears. Nothing was going to make her not want Gareth, no matter what he’d done. It was as humiliating as it was real.

Gentle kisses over her eyes and down her face were approving of her total lack of resistance. Nearly cried out now, her senses were finally starting to return to normal. His assumption of her continued compliance made her madder than ever. It also made her incredibly sad.

She sniffled once more as she felt Gareth’s kiss on her cheek. How could such a tender man have brought her more pain than she’d ever imagined possible? How could she lie here and let him use her heart to get his way?

Brandi’s hand swept out looking for something solid to ground her. Her hand landed on her discarded gun. It gave her some of her dignity back to remember who and what she was sans werewolf. Maybe she was stupid about the man in her arms, but that didn’t mean she had to be completely helpless against fighting her desire for him.

She pulled her loaded gun to her and released the safety with her thumb before lifting the barrel to Gareth’s head. He instantly pulled away when he felt cool metal against his temple.

Brandi stared at him. Regret washed over her… but not for the right things. All she regretted is that she had let him break her heart.

“What the hell are you doing?” Gareth demanded.

“Hell is a good word for it. Thanks for the great sex, Gareth. Now get off me. I don’t like sleeping with men who stab me in the back.”

Brandi met his glare as he pushed off her to stare down in shock. Gareth’s disbelief was real, but so was her disappointment in what he’d done to her. The pang of guilt she felt for pointing a loaded gun at his head was quickly dismissed with remembering how often she had warned him not to mess with her emotions.

When Gareth finally and carefully moved away, she rolled to her feet, her nudity not bothering her. She didn’t even care she was still being recorded. The sexual mistake of trusting the wrong man ran like a loop in her life.

Keeping her gaze on his stunned face and the gun pointed at his forehead, she backed toward the bedroom door.

“Don’t be like this, Brandi. Stay and talk to me,” Gareth begged.

“No. You’re lying to yourself more than you are to me. If you really cared the way you say you do, why did you send me in to face Sheldon Crane so unprepared today? You could have warned me… but you didn’t. So I think we’re done talking… and done with everything else too.”

“Stop it. All this is being recorded,” Gareth hissed.

“I am well aware of the fact,” Brandi exclaimed.

She wanted the recording to clearly show her disdain. She wanted Lane to have to call and verify things with Shitty Sheldon. She also wanted Lane to see her nude and know she’d been with Gareth.

Two birds—one stone.

Both men had played her for a fool. She was now playing them back. Her stupid feelings for Gareth might always be a personal liability, but at the moment, they were a professional asset in ending another relationship she had no use for.

Turning swiftly, Brandi stomped into the bedroom. Once inside, she closed and locked the door, and then moved a dresser across it, grateful the conversion had made her stronger. A paltry barricade of cheap furniture might not stop a full blown, angry werewolf from getting through, but it would slow Gareth down enough for her to aim her gun at him for real. Her bullets weren’t made of silver, but she’d put six in him without thinking if he tried to use her feelings for him against her again.

To her thinking, tonight was nothing more than a good-bye to the sexual part of their relationship. She couldn’t afford to think of what happened any other way.

Old habits were a comfort to her, especially now that she was all cried out. She slid the loaded gun under her pillow and let her body slip toward the void the moment she eased between the sheets.

Experience had taught her long ago to rest while she could. Tomorrow she would need all her wits.

***

After Brandi barricaded herself in the bedroom, Gareth lay back down on the floor and rubbed the center of his chest. He couldn’t believe Brandi had actually held a loaded gun to his head… and with a sincere intent to use it. He had seen the truth in her glare.

“Son of a bitch… I can’t stand this frigging anxiety. It would have been better if she’d just cold-cocked me and gotten it over with.”

He rubbed his chest again… and then started to laugh. After all, his ego hurting was his own damn fault for having no restraint where she was concerned. Maybe he should make a mental note not to make her cry during sex, as if he could stop the emotional growth happening between them.

“I guess it’s a good thing she carries a gun and not a knife. I might have ended up missing man parts come morning.”

Cursing the violent female he and his wolf both craved, Gareth rolled his head and looked around him, assessing the damage to his person as well as to the layout of the room. He could smell her through the bedroom door, so he knew for certain she hadn’t gone away.

Rising to a sitting position, he glanced at the fallout from their brief interlude. Brandi had left her clothes and taken her gun with her. Her priorities amused him, but elicited grudging respect as well. What could he do about a woman so determined to see the worst side of his every action?

He rose and found a small bathroom to use. Coming back to the sofa, he dressed and stretched out on top of the comfortable leather.

Since Brandi had passed up killing him for a second time, maybe there was still some hope, Maybe he could one day convince her he really did have her best interests in mind with every decision he’d made to date.

Despite his ego still hurting from her violent rejection, Gareth fell asleep with thoughts of their future on his mind.

Chapter 9

The moment his eyes opened the next morning, he knew immediately that Brandi was already gone.

“Fuck. What now?” Gareth demanded, rolling to his feet. He was glad he’d dressed before going to sleep. It saved time this morning.

He took care of the necessities and headed out the door at a run.

Raising his arm to hail a taxi, he allowed himself only a few moments to long for the clean clothes stashed in his company allocated hotel room. He could call Fallon and Lars to have them collect some for him, except for the fact he wasn’t up to hearing their cackling amusement over his dilemma.

Settling into the non-descript backseat of the first cab that stopped, Gareth realized he didn’t understand it either. Why was he tormenting himself this way? He could just go home to Wasilla. Nothing was really stopping him. Obviously, Brandi could handle things herself.

Yes, he’d promised Ariel he’d take care of her, but the woman had made it crystal clear she didn’t want his help. No reason was rational enough to let her keep kicking his ass or pointing loaded weapons at him.

Gareth rubbed his forehead. He hadn’t even taken the time to wash up before leaving her apartment. Being with Brandi was like being on a mission, you couldn’t let your guard down long enough to do anything normal, like washing your face or shaving.

Two blocks from his actual destination, he climbed out of the cab and paid. He covered the remaining distance at a rapid pace and was soon descending to headquarters level. Outside Crane’s office, Fallon and Lars lurked. They were not really standing guard, but they weren’t loitering either.

“Your woman is with Dr. Crane and she is fine,” Fallon said tightly. “There was no stopping her.”

Gareth snorted. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

“You should trust her, Gareth. She smelled more like you this morning than she did yesterday,” Lars reported, getting between his anxious friend and the office door.

Gareth lifted a warning finger and held it close to Lars’s face. “Keep your nose to yourself before it gets lopped off that pretty face Fallon cherishes so much.”

Fallon laughed at his mostly empty threat, but Gareth chose to ignore him.

“Move, Lars. I’m going in and you’re not going to stop me.”

Lars shook his head. “Regretfully old friend, this we cannot allow. She wanted to… what was it she said, Fallon? I never see past Brandi’s flashing eyes when she is in such a temper.”

Fallon grinned. “It was something about making her own deal with the devil.”

“Yes. Exactly that,” Lars said, snapping his fingers.

Gareth put his hands on his hips and told himself to breathe. Brandi could handle her own life. Hadn’t he just decided that on the ride over here? He shouldn’t have to keep reminding himself. What the hell was he worried about anyway? Why did he feel like he had to get through that damn door and find her?