He wondered what tattoo he would choose to represent how he felt right now. What symbol could illustrate how much he felt like a fish out of water?
His wolf grinned. Or a wolf in a kitten parade?
Angel came to his side, grabbing his arm. “What’s going on here?”
“I know who he is.”
She stared up at Parker, her gaze seeking for some kind of answer from him. He wished he had any to give her. If she wanted to leave, they would leave. If she wanted to stay, they would stay. He rubbed the back of his neck to try to release some of the tension forming there.
Angel squeezed his arm. “What’s wrong?”
“I feel like I’m going to crawl out of my skin.”
Angel turned to look at Cullen. “Is there somewhere he and I can be alone for a few minutes?”
“I thought you wanted to see Tristan.”
Angel held up her hand. “I know what I said. Now I’m changing my mind.”
Summer stepped forward, grabbing Cullen’s arm. “Yes, there are several guest suites. I’ll show you where they are. Then we’ll all talk around dinnertime. How does that sound?”
“How does that sound to you?” Angel’s voice in his head was like a warm balm.
“Right now, the only thing I can focus on is getting out of this room.”
“That sounds fine. We’ll do that.”
Angel took his hand and tugged on it. He moved with her toward the door as they both silently followed Ashlee. He thought it would be better when they left the room only it wasn’t. The lights in the hallway weren’t fluorescent but they might as well have been.
The glares made his head feel as if he was going to explode.
“Seriously, sweetheart, are you okay?” Angel’s voice was low but Parker knew Summer could have heard them across a courtyard. It was one of those wolf things.
“Sweetheart?” He tried to keep his tone light. He suspected he failed. “Does this mean you’re not going to get rid of me?”
“Get rid of you?” Angel covered her mouth as she realized she’d spoken aloud. He would have laughed if his head hadn’t felt as if someone had put a jackhammer inside of it. “What do you mean?”
“You want to end our mating.”
Angel stopped walking. “You wanted to end it, too.”
“Do you still?”
Something flashed in her eyes, something he couldn’t identify. She reached up and stroked his cheek. “Parker, your eyes, they’ve gone totally wolf and you look like you want to claw your way out from six feet underground. What is going on?”
“Answer the question.”
“I don’t think whatever is wrong with you has anything to do with my answer to that question.”
He sighed. “Answer it anyway.”
“No, I don’t want out of our mating.” She smiled. “I’ve gotten used to how cozy your soul feels inside of me.”
She squeezed his hand and they moved again catching up to Summer who stood outside of a door. The whole building felt like some deranged hotel. Twists and turns led all over the place and if he didn’t have his sense of smell he wasn’t sure he could have found his way out again. Still, as long as the guest suite had a bed where he could lie down he would be happy.
Summer smiled as she opened the door and they walked in quickly. Their guide made some innocuous remarks he didn’t listen to. Instead, he waked straight to the back where he assumed the bathroom was and turned on the water to the shower.
He somehow managed to not tear the clothes from his body as he forced himself under the hot water. He hadn’t lied when he said he wanted to claw off his skin. He did.
Let me out.
Parker’s eyes got huge. You? You’re doing this?
Actually, I’m not. His wolf snorted. This place is. We’re meant to be wolves here. Be a wolf.
No. He heard himself growl.
Nothing bad happened when you let me out to protect Angel. Nothing bad will happen now.
I decide when and where.
The shower curtain sprung back and Angel stood before him still fully clothed.
“Seriously, what is going on?”
“I feel funny.”
As he watched, she pulled her shirt over her head. His eyes widened as he looked down at her.
She had on no bra, and her breasts—heaven help him—her perfect breasts laid out in front of him like beacon of lights in the darkness. He reached out to grasp one and she stepped back so he couldn’t reach.
“Define funny.”
“It feels as if my skin is going to peel off my body. This place, for some reason, it makes me want to shift like I’ve never wanted to before.”
Angel pulled her pants off leaving only a pair of sensible but oh-so-hot white panties on her body. She had the longest legs he’d ever seen and he wanted to drop to his knees and lick her from her toes to the pink tips of her rounded breasts. After that he’d make love to her neck…
“So why don’t you shift?”
“Right now I have other things on my mind.”
She raised an eyebrow. Her dark gaze held a grin even as her mouth stayed serene.
“Aside from that, why don’t you shift?” She toyed with the waistband of her panties.
“You’re going to torment me into talking about this?”
“Now you’re catching on.”
“I don’t shift because I’m dangerous. I watched my father brutally destroy my mother. I won’t be that man. I won’t give into the animal any more than I have to.”
She was silent for a moment. “You shifted for me. You shifted to rescue me.””
“I did.” He shrugged, not able to meet her gaze and not wanting to explore why that was.
“Why?”
He looked at her. He had heard women insisted on talking all the time and apparently that was going to prove to be true. “Why do you think?”
Finally, she smiled. “We weren’t mated yet.”
“You smelled the same mating signals I did. There was no way I was going to let you get hurt.”
With one finger, Angel slowly drew her panties down her legs. There was, however, nothing slow about how quickly his cock hardened as he watched. He hissed in his breath. She was this exquisite creature and she was all his. Like a man possessed, he couldn’t pull his gaze from her lingerie until she slipped them over her feet.
Finally, he pulled his gaze up to meet Angel’s.
“Parker, first we fuck, then we shift. You’re about as dangerous to me as a bunny rabbit.”
She jumped into the shower, pushing into his arms. He had one moment to be grateful he caught her before he lost himself into the sensuous assault that was Angel’s mouth on his own.
Chapter Nine
Angel couldn’t get close enough to Parker. It was a good thing he was so strong because she had foregone supporting her own weight immediately after jumping him. He held her up against the wall like she was a feather. Which she knew was not the case since she was five-foot-ten and not skinny.
She thrust her tongue into his mouth and he groaned. It was a glorious sound. She felt powerful.