Call On Me (17 page)

Taking a step
back, Chris looked at Ali, a question clear on his face, right
along with uncertainty.

Ghost was
disgusted. A real man who truly wanted to make amends wouldn’t be
worried about pissing off another man. Regardless of the
consequences, Ghost would walk through hot coals to see his
woman.

Then Ali did
the unthinkable. After giving him a challenging glare, she turned
back to Chris and gave him a tight smile. Then she took the flowers
from him.

She took the
bloody flowers!

“Thank you.”
Anger still throbbed in her voice but she was obviously trying for
a pleasant note. “They’re beautiful.”

No bloody way!
No
bloody
way had she just taken that dickhead’s flowers,
not after what he’d done to her!

Chris seemed
relieved, though he was still nervously flicking glances at Ghost
over her head. “I just came to try and apologise once more
and-”

Fury surged
through Ghost.

“There’s no
need,” she said, cutting off Chris’s apology.

Even though he
recognised her ploy as deliberately making an attempt to get even
with him, to annoy him in turn because he refused to leave, Ghost’s
common sense seemed to have fled beneath a roiling fury of
possessiveness.

In that
red-hazed second he knew there was no mistake, Chris was here in an
attempt to win over Ali. He was a rival and there was no way in
hell Ghost was going to let her get anywhere near him.

The final tug
on the trigger was when she lifted the flowers to her nose and
inhaled deeply. “Thank you, Chris.”

Snaking one arm
around her waist, Ghost yanked her back against him while at the
same time reaching over her shoulder to grab the flowers from her
hand and slap the aromatic bunch against Chris’s chest, sending a
shower of petals raining down. “Take your bloody flowers and get
lost, Smith. Don’t ever come near Ali again.
Ever
.” He sent
the man a threatening look. “I’ll tear you limb from limb if you
even as much as look at her. This is your
final
warning.”

In the circle
of his arm, Ali stood stock still in shock. It was the only thing
that would have kept her silent.

Two big steps
and he was back inside the hall with her firmly pressed against his
front. With immense satisfaction, he slammed and locked the wooden
door in Chris’s face.

And then there
was dead silence.

He stood there,
Ali firmly clasped against him, her derrière against the tops of
his thighs, his arm just beneath her generous breasts, the cute
topknot of hair tickling his chin when he angled his head down
towards her. Every breath she took had the undersides of her
breasts brushing against his arm and he relished every bit of it.
Her scent drifted up, filling his senses.

His
woman
. If he was a wolf, he’d know her by scent alone. He
wasn’t so sure his horror novels featuring werewolves weren’t true,
for sure as shit he felt like howling at the moon right now,
howling out his ownership of his mate, marking her and fighting any
man who came near her.

However, just
like any good werewolf female, Ali wasn’t taking his sudden
dominating ways with good grace.

“What the hell,
Ty?” she yelled. Grabbing his arm, she tried to pry it away from
her waist. “Let me go!”

He did,
watching warily as she whirled around to confront him, her eyes
blazing with fire.

Oh yeah, Ali
had plenty of fire. Fire and spirit. It had his own fire flaring
right along with hers, only his wasn’t from fury.

Well, much.
Because there was that one little thing…“Me? What the hell in turn,
Ali!”

“What are you
on about?” Hands on generous hips, she smouldered with temper.

“Really, Ali?
You can do what you did out of pure spite and ask me that?”

“I have no idea
what you’re squawking about.”

“You accepted
his flowers and apology?” Taking a step forward, Ghost narrowed his
eyes. “After what he did to you, you can do that just to spite
me?”

Tellingly, her
gaze faltered. “I did not. To spite you, I mean.”

“Bullshit.”

Her lips
tightened.

“Bull.
Shit.”

“If you think
you can just come in here-”

“Think? I’m
doing it, Ali! Right now, I’m telling you to your face that being
spiteful to get back at me is low.”

“Low?”
Outraged, her eyes widened. “I never asked you to come barging in
here presuming to have rights enough to order away a visitor to my
house!”

“An unwanted
visitor.”

“That’s for me
to decide.” Lifting an arm, she pointed towards the kitchen. “You
got your arse over that fence to get in here, so you can heave it
back again.”

“No.”

With the
greatest of satisfaction, he watched her blink. For a second she
actually hesitated, unsure of what to say next. It didn’t last
long, however, not that he’d expected it.

“If you’re not
out of here in five seconds, Sinclair, I’m calling the cops!”

“Who, Adam?
Don’t you think he’s had enough of you breaking the law for one
day?”

“How did you –
forget it! I want you out! Now!”

She had her
dander up good and proper. Eyes flashing, cheeks pink, fury almost
making her vibrate. She was so full of life he wanted to grab her,
throw her against the wall and shove hard inside her, savour all
that sexual heat. Okay, not a bad idea. Eyelids closing half-mast,
he studied her.

Silence fell
between them as he waited for her next move, for he sure as hell
wasn’t going to walk away at her command. Especially not right
now.

“Fine.” After
several seconds she drew upright. “Then I’m going.”

When she made
to move away, he took a step directly in front of her. “No.”

“Damn it,
Ghost!” she snapped out. “What do you want?”

His answer was
immediate. “You.”

Ali’s mouth
opened immediately to retort but nothing came out. Instead, she
stared up at him for at least five seconds in confused silence
before asking, “Me?”

“You.” Moving
slowly but surely, each step deliberate, he backed her up against
the wall. “I want you, Ali.”

“I don’t…”
Nervous, unsure, she glanced around before looking back up at him.
“I don’t…Ty…”

Oh yeah, she
was uneasy. The uncertainty in her eyes and the nervous moistening
of her lips had his inner predator howling. Now he knew how his
werewolf character felt stalking his prey, only he didn’t want to
eat Ali, he wanted to have his wicked way with her. Over and over.
Okay, eat her, too, but not quite in the same way. He wanted to do
it deviantly.

Backed against
the wall, she watched with widening eyes as he closed the distance
between them. Reaching out, he drew great satisfaction in placing
one hand against the wall above her head and watching her
magnificent breasts swell as she sucked in a deep breath. Slowly,
so slowly, he leaned down towards her, inhaling deeply of her scent
that was so uniquely Ali.

There was no
denying he felt sexually aroused just by being near her, towering
over her, being in control. Dominating her, knowing it wasn’t going
to be easy, but he was up for the challenge. Relished it, in
fact.

Bending his
arm, he leaned further down until his face hovered just above hers.
Head tipped back against the wall, eyes wide, she stared up at
him.

Slowly he
smiled. Oh yeah, having Ali at his mercy like this was just
perfect. His gaze dropped to her lips, moist and slightly parted,
and he knew it could get so very much more perfect. So very much
more.

Slowly he
lowered his head, her lips the prize he aimed for, only to be
stopped by her sharp exhale and her fingers on his mouth.

“Ty! Stop!”

Lazily he
lifted his gaze to her eyes. Upon seeing the panic in the green
depths, he arched one brow.

“Wh-what are
you d-doing?” she stammered.

“What do you
think I’m doing?” he breathed against her fingers, smiling slightly
in dark satisfaction as she jerked her hand away, her cheeks
colouring.

“You can’t – we
can’t…” She stopped, shook her head. “We just can’t.”

“Oh, we can,”
he assured her. “We can. We did. We’re going to again.”

That again had
her eyes widening. “Ty, we’re friends. We
can’t
.”

“We can,” he
repeated. “We will.”

For several
seconds she gaped at him. “Are you nuts?”

“No.” Gaze
steady, he watched her expression change rapidly between surprise,
disbelief and denial.

Nope, Ali
wasn’t taking this at all well. Control was out of her hands and
she was a little freaked. That gave him the advantage, one he was
going to use without a shred of shame.

Searching for
something to say, Ali finally swallowed and muttered, “If this is
about what happened between us at the river, then don’t worry about
it. It’s over.”

“Oh, it’s far
from over, Ali.” Ghost smiled, slow and easy, feeling that surge of
satisfaction. “That was only the beginning.”

“The
beginning?” She shook her head. “No, this stops now, this-”

He stopped her
protest by simply taking her mouth, dropping his lips to hers,
smothering her words while sweeping inside her still parted lips to
thoroughly ravage her mouth.

God, it was
like coming home. Like having a cold glass of water after two days
in a hot desert without fluids. Like the warmth of sunshine on a
cold day. It was just so right. So natural.

Her lips
moulded to his as though made for him, her flavour had him seeking
more. Sliding one arm around her waist to draw her flush against
him, it was as though she were made for him, a perfect fit, every
soft curve giving to his hardness, his larger body bending over
her.

Protecting
her.

He’d protect
her from the world, from anyone who sought to hurt her, who worried
her.

All through
high school they’d been there for each other, he’d been by her side
through bad times, comforting her, warning off any boy who dared to
upset her, but this was different. This wasn’t just friends looking
out for each other. It wasn’t about domination.

It was that of
a man protecting his woman.

When he broke
the contact of their mouths and lifted his head, he watched as she
opened her eyes and looked directly up at him. Her eyes sparkled
with heat but they also held something more, something that had him
confused.

Her eyes held
fear.

Chapter 6

That emotion
hit him hard. Was she afraid of him? Surely not. God, no. She’d
never feared him, never, and he didn’t want that to start now. He
sought to reassure her. “Ali-”

“Let me
go.”

“Honey, it’s
all right-”

“No, it isn’t!”
Almost frantically she shoved at his arms. “Ty, let me go!”

Reacting to her
panic, he complied, but although he removed his arms from her body
he didn’t step back, placing his hands each side of her head to
keep her caged in, not allowing her to run.

Oh yeah, he
recognised that expression on her pretty face. Ali was looking to
flee but it wasn’t going to happen, because if he let her go now
she wouldn’t be hanging around for more talk. And he definitely
wanted to talk.

Okay, he also
definitely wanted to make hot, mind-blowing love to her, too, but
he wasn’t a fool. Trying anything right now was going to only end
up with his ears ringing from when she’d no doubt box them.

“Ali,” he began
softly.

“Ty, no.” Her
irregular breathing wasn’t solely from panic.

That, at least,
made him even more determined. “I’m not going anywhere until we
talk about this, Ali.”

“There’s
nothing to talk about.” She made to duck under his arm so she could
sidle away, but he foiled that attempt by simply dropping his arm
while keeping his hand on the wall. When she immediately tried to
skip free the other way, he repeated the action.

Trapped against
the wall by his body at the front and his arms at the sides, Ali
looked up at him and almost immediately glanced away.

The silence
lengthened but he refused to be the one to break it. He wanted to
talk, she wanted to avoid it, and he wasn’t giving in, not now. The
longer the silence went on, the sooner she would have to break
it.

Just as he’d
known, she couldn’t keep the silence up for long. It wasn’t in her
to keep looking away and finally she took a deep breath – which did
interesting things to her breasts – and lifted her gaze to his.

Cheeks pink,
she said softly, “Don’t make me do this, Ty. If you really care,
you won’t make me do this.”

“If I didn’t
care, I wouldn’t make you do this,” he replied just as quietly.
“It’s because I do care that I’m forcing this talk.”

“There’s
nothing to discuss,” she said. “What happened out at the river was
something neither of us expected. It was the heat of the moment,
all right?” Her cheeks flamed in embarrassment but there was no
denying that little hitch in her breath.

Oh yeah, Ali
might deny it, but she was still affected by what had happened
between them.

“Maybe it was
the heat of the moment,” he allowed. “But it was more than that,
too.”

“No, it
wasn’t.”

“Ali, what
happened between us was much more than just comfort.”

“Pity sex
doesn’t count,” she snapped.

“That wasn’t
pity sex.” He refused to be drawn into a fight no matter how much
she was now gunning for one. Another avoidance tactic he
recognised. “It started as comfort, I agree, but it turned into
much more.”

“It was
nothing.” Cheeks red, she looked away before forcing her gaze back
up to his. “A spur of the moment thing. It meant nothing then, it
means nothing now.”