Broken Wolf: Moonbound Series, Book Seven (8 page)

“I knew she wanted to stop us for something,” Vadik said, swiping at his forehead. “I can just tell.”

“We’re lucky that’s all it was,” Dani said from the front.

“Can you tell Luther to take a cab to my grandma’s?” Niko said, making a sharp turn onto the airport drive. “I don’t dare go back for them with Mrs. Hitler watching.”

Dani began punching things in to her phone and Vadik tried to catch Andrea’s eye when she looked over her shoulder, but he couldn’t.

She wasn’t exactly ignoring him, but she wasn’t acting like the attentive, invested Andrea who’d woken up flashing him in her hotel room.

As happy-go-lucky as she could be, she had a habit of going inside herself when she thought no one was looking. But he was always looking.

She was his partner. He had to know her tells. They didn’t have much time to establish short-hand, but it would be invaluable in the field.

His hand raised, as though drawn to her skin, but he stopped himself from touching her. The sex had put him in a place with her that confused him. He was drawn toward her, inexplicably, at all times, but she’d pulled back from him, and he wasn’t always certain what had caused it.

Vadik couldn’t afford to have strangeness between them once they got on that island. He was going to have to talk to her.

He hated talking.

The women he usually worked with were masters at burying their feelings during combat and missions. But while Andrea covered hers up with smiles, there were those unguarded moments where she went inside herself and hid somewhere, and he needed to understand.

“Where are we going now?” she asked.

Niko glanced in the rearview and met Vadik’s eyes. “There’s an old, abandoned crematorium in Wicker Park. We don’t use it, because everyone in the neighborhood knows it’s abandoned. But it’s also near enough to the eraser factory, my uncle thinks we can get by with using it one night when they’re burning off their waste.”

Andrea’s body tightened. “So… We’re just going to leave her there? In an abandoned building? Like…we’re dumping her?”

Vadik touched her shoulder. “Don’t think of it that way. We’re going to put her in the crematorium and when it’s appropriate, Niko’s uncle will give her a send-off at night, when they can do it safely.”

“If we try to light her up in the middle of the day, the cops will show up.” Niko shrugged. “I’m sorry, Andi. There’s just nothing we can do.”

Andrea settled against the seat, but didn’t push Vadik’s hand off. “I don’t like the idea of dumping her, Niko. She’s a wolf, too.”

A wolf, too.

He let those words sink in for another long moment. He didn’t understand a lot about this culture, the wolves who were also human. There was so much about Andrea, and about her life and family that he didn’t know.

Yet, he felt such a strong pull to her, deep inside. Like, wherever she was in the world, he was always going to want to be there.

What the damn hell was wrong with him?

V
adik sat at the long
, heavy table in Vanya Lupesco’s dining room and did his best not to follow Andrea’s every movement, breath, swallow, and bite. He’d seen the disappointment on her face when they’d left Sasha’s body in the old, hollow crematorium and closed the door on it.

She wanted something better for Sasha.

Even though they’d all agreed, it was the only option, Andrea had been on edge since they pulled away from the abandoned, cracked-face building. She’d withdrawn, and her smiles were vacant.

This mission was getting to her. She kept trying to blend in to the crowd around her—he could see it—but she was only sticking out to him even more, with every lowering of her eyes and ever pulled in breath at a comment about the mission.

He wanted something better for her.

The dining table seated twenty that he counted, and it was packed, plus a children’s table in the family room. Everyone sipped their cabbage stew in relative silence, as if tension was the order of the day.

Niko’s uncle, Janosz, sat at the head of the table, and Vanya—who Niko called
Babcia
, which he assumed meant
grandmother
—sat at the foot. The families seemed to be crowded together.

Niko’s father with his children and wife. Janosz with his wife and sons. Another brother, Tomek, sat with two sons and their wives. The team was scattered between Lupescos, and everyone watched Janosz with at least one wary eye.

Except Vadik. He didn’t give an ass rat about the stocky Pole. Whatever it was they all thought he could do to them. Vadik could fight his own battles, and he had one to fight with Andrea, of that, there was little doubt.

She wouldn’t have been so silent, otherwise.

“Have Milla bring in the hams,” Vanya croaked out, her elderly voice breaking in to the clink of utensils and the slurp of liquid. One of Tomek’s daughters-in-law hopped up and ran in to the kitchen.

Vadik’s stomach still growled, even after a full bowl of soup and an assortment of nibbled breads he’d scarfed down trying to ignore the desire to look at Andrea. It was always possible that his hunger wasn’t for food.

But he didn’t want to entertain that thought.

“Both of them, Babcia?” came a voice from the kitchen.

The old woman rose from her chair and half the men at the table rose with her. Vadik jumped to his feet, but the grey-haired grandmother waved them all back to their seats.

“Keep eating,” she said. “Girls, come with me.”

Another of Tomek’s daughters-in-law rose, as did Niko’s other sister. The wives stayed, gripping their husbands’ hands. It was time to have it all out. The whole table had been holding something back.

Janosz set down his spoon with more force than the act required, and half the table froze at the act. He cleared his throat. “Niko, what’s this I hear from the Texas alpha about your mission failing?”

Niko’s gaze flickered around the group, landing on Luther, Maggie, Dani, and Andrea in turn, then raising to his uncle. “Our mission didn’t fail.”

“That’s not what Aaron VonBrandt tells me,” Janosz said with a frown. “He’s convinced that the enforcers have gone off-book. And after all this talk about the incinerator, I’m starting to listen.”

“It didn’t fail, Uncle. I promise you.” Niko set down his own spoon and it clinked against his plate. “We had to adapt the mission. That’s all.”

“You’ve been doing an awful lot of adapting in the recent weeks.” Janosz held up one finger to halt what appeared to be interference by one of his brothers. “Now, Aaron tells me that you’ve killed a man. That, coupled with losing the girl on the island, and then this other death that
we
have to help you clean up.” He wiped his mouth. “This is bordering on danger, exposing us to the humans.”

“But Uncle J,” Niko said, employing his best petulant teenager tone. “We couldn’t control either of those accidental deaths.”

“The point isn’t that you’re at fault.” Janosz glared at Niko’s dad when he tried to open his mouth. “The point is that you’re out of your depth.”

Andrea’s offended sigh cut the air like a machete and everyone’s attention flew to her. “My brother is jumping to conclusions,” she said. “Don’t let his protectiveness inhibit Niko from participating in the mission.”

Vadik’s fingers flexed into a tight ball when Janosz’s gaze fixed on Andrea. He was half a table away from the old man, but he could jump that far if he had to. If the old man raised his voice or his hand, he figured he could be across the distance in about two seconds.

He was coiled and ready and on the balls of his toes, when the old man laughed and waved her off. “Oh, my dear, you don’t understand, do you?”

Vadik’s jaw tensed, keeping his oar out of the water.

“This isn’t about Niko,” the grey-haired Pole said. “This is about your mission. You’ve all failed.”

Andrea jumped to her feet and Vadik felt his whole body corkscrew into a ready position. She threw her napkin onto the table and stalked out of the room, her boots making hard
thunks
on the old wood floor.

Maggie was halfway out of her seat when Vadik shook his head. He followed Andrea’s footsteps, not entirely certain he could stop himself if he’d wanted to.

Did he want to?

He turned the corner into the kitchen, but was greeted with unfamiliar faces and silence. Natalja emerged from behind the refrigerator door and let it swing closed. She pointed down a hallway and Vadik ran in the indicated direction.

A big wooden door slammed in his face. He placed his hand on one panel and sighed.

Andrea
.
Oh, Andrea
.

“I can feel you out there.” Her voice was hollow, and it made him want to break the damn door down.

“I won’t come in if you don’t want me to.” He tried to breathe through those words. He didn’t mean them, but she didn’t need to know that.

“I need to be alone.”

“Fine.” He ground his teeth.
But it wasn’t fine… it was anything
but
fine
.

Several seconds passed with no sound. She hadn’t moved since he touched the cold wood that separated them.

What was she doing in there?

“I said, I need to be alone.”

“I know.” The muscles in his arms tensed. He tried to push off the door, but couldn’t. He wanted to want to let her be in there on her own. He also couldn’t ignore the need to be close to her.

“You can leave.” Her voice was quieter, almost a whisper.

Vadik bounced on his toes, but he still couldn’t put more distance between them. “I’ll just… I’ll be here.”

The handle turned and he stumbled forward when the door opened, catching him off-balance. Andrea’s hands steadied him, and he found himself staring into her reddened eyes.

They were so close, he could feel her hot breath on his lips, her breasts pressed against his chest. He backed up half a step and held her at arm’s length. “I really just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“After the tongue-lashing I got from Niko’s alpha?” She laughed and crossed her arms. “Or after this morning?” One of her eyebrows rounded. “My bed was a little cold this morning.”

“You said you only wanted the night.” He regretted the words as soon as they left his lips. “I thought you’d want me to leave.”

“You couldn’t have woken me to ask?” Andrea tilted her head to one side. “Instead, I wake up alone and…fucking cold.”

He reached for her, and for just a moment, she pulled away. But her allowance of his hand on her shoulder was more than reluctance. She was conflicted, too. He could practically feel it.

“I’m sorry.” Vadik stroked her skin. “I know how you hate to be cold.”

She bit her lip and gazed up at him through thick eyelashes. “I do hate to be cold.” The tiniest of steps toward him. “You know me so well.”

He could feel himself falling into her orbit and he locked his elbow to keep her at arm’s length. “I really just came here to make sure you were alright.”

“I’m not all right, Vadik. And I’m
never
not all right.” Her attention fluttered from his lips to his eyes and back. “I haven’t been able to think about anything but you, all morning. I thought last night was enough, but then I woke up this morning and you were gone, and I wanted you to
be there
. And I never,
ever
, want that anymore.” She shook her head slowly, punctuating each shake with a hyperbole.

“I—Andrea…I…” His lips grasped for words that wouldn’t come.

How to tell her? How to admit?

“I had to pretend to trust you, as Sasha, but when I fell and thought I would keep falling, and you caught me…” Her hand traveled to his cheek. “I knew, I really trusted
you
. It wasn’t about Sasha and Ilya. And I can’t explain it.”

“There’s—”

“No, let me finish.” Andrea’s chest rose and fell. “There was a man once, a long time ago, who loved me, and I loved him, but I never felt this…I want to tell you
everything
. And I hold back from everyone. Even my brother. I don’t know what it is, and I can’t explain it, and it doesn’t make sense—”

“I can’t explain it, either.” He gripped her hand, still on his cheek, and warmth coursed through him. “As
Babushka
would say,
when love whispers, reason is silent
.”

Her smile was immediate and bright and filled his whole world with the hope of tomorrow. She gathered her lips to one side and laughed. “I’ve never fallen in love this fast. Is that what it is?”

“I don’t know anymore.” His words rushed out of him, like they came from some dark place beyond feeling. “I’ve been trying to deny it, and then trying to hold it back, and trying not to admit it, but I don’t know what else it could be.” He gripped her face in his hands and his breath came faster, almost in pants. “I don’t do this. I don’t get caught up in emotion. I don’t… it’s not about the sex. It’s you.”

He drew her face toward his and his mouth devoured hers.

I can’t get enough of you
.

Those were the words, but he couldn’t speak them. Vadik just wanted to kiss her, to hold her, be inside her and outside her and around her and with her.

He wanted to be her world, the way she had, inexplicably, become his.

Vadik walked her back against the closet, toeing the door closed behind him. He lifted her onto his hips and could feel his cock already straining to get to her. She ground down against him and he groaned into her mouth.

Fucking pants
.

He set her down and they fumbled with each other’s zippers. He gasped when she slid her cold hand onto his hot erection. He was getting harder each moment her skin was in contact with his.

Her pants fell down her hips and he plunged his fingers between her folds, stroking her until she sighed and sagged against him. He wanted her to be perfectly, totally wet, because he meant to fuck her right there in Niko’s
Babushka’s
bedroom or guestroom or wherever the hell they’d ended up.

“Oh, Vadik. Oh, fuck, Vadik,” she whispered in his ear, panting his name like his fingers controlled her breath.

He stroked her harder and her hand finally fell away from his cock, gripping his neck hard and moaning against him. He pushed her pants down her hips and she stepped out of them, then climbed back onto his hips.

Vadik pushed the closet door open and stepped inside, walking her all the way to the back and pressing her back against the much more sturdy wall. He went to his knees in front of her and lifted one of her legs so his tongue could easily find her clit.

The
whoosh
of air that followed drove him harder and faster, stroking her with his tongue, filling her with his fingers, searching for her release.

She hooked her leg over his shoulder and arched her hips into his mouth, repeating his name again and again until he heard the cascade of her pleasure take her, and it drove him to his feet.

Andrea reached a hand down and guided him into her. He choked out her name when he slid to the hilt and pounded her back against the wall.

The rhythm of his hips was fast and hard and his mind was awash in her scent and her breath and her pleasure. He kept driving until he collapsed against her, groaning his orgasm into her mouth as she sighed and laughed.

Their breaths mingled and tangled as they panted against each other in the back of the closet. Every few moments, she would let out another laugh, and he dropped his lips to hers, teasing her mouth open, so she could fill him with her laughter.

He needed her constant, insatiable laughter.

“Well…” she giggled. “That was unexpected.”

Vadik settled her body against his and held her tight. He couldn’t speak. Everything in him wanted to say again what he’d said before.
Love
. And being inside her hadn’t abated the yawning hole inside his chest. If anything, it’d made the need more pointed, more urgent. He held his breath.

“You have a way of saying everything without saying anything.” Andrea placed her hand on his chest and gazed into his eyes. “I…” Her mouth settled into a tight line, and she released a puff of air through her nose. “I needed that. Thank you.”

He took her face in his hands and stared at her, almost falling straight in to those blue, fathomless eyes. “Thank
you
.”

She bent down and grabbed his pants from where he’d stepped out of them. “Look. I know this is complicated.” She handed over his clothing. “How about this deal?” Andrea offered her now-empty hand. “No talking about anything until we make it off the island alive.”

Vadik raised an eyebrow and considered. Not talking was his favorite option, when it came to relationships. But this wasn’t like his other relationships.

There was something happening here he couldn’t explain, and he couldn’t name. He’d tried on
love
, and that hadn’t quite fit, either. It was something else.

But here she was, offering him every guy’s wet dream. Sex with a hot woman he cared about, and no messy talking.

Why don’t I jump at this opportunity?

He took her hand in his. “How about this deal. instead? We put our pants on, we go back out and finish dinner, and we kick this bad guy’s ass.”