Even if they had the breakthrough she knew they were on the verge of, it would stil take years of testing and refining to perfect the treatment. They’d tried everything they could think of to block or regulate hormone release, inhibit magic. Synthetic chemicals, plant extracts, herbs. Everything. Some were more useful than others, but nothing had quite gotten there. The mix they had now was close. Very, very close.
She sighed in familiar frustration, scrubbing shampoo into her hair as if she could stimulate her brain into thinking up the answer. But nothing new came to her as she rinsed off, or as she hopped out of the shower, or as she finished preparing for bed. A disgusted growl rumbled in her chest. She’d gone over and over this so many times. The only thing she’d ever seen keep a werewolf in human form on ful moon was when Alex was shot with a silver bul et.
“Silver.” She jerked as if she’d been shot herself. Holy shit. That was it. Yes! If they used the current formula they had and added trace amounts of silver, it just might work. She could keep Alex from having to Change. She could save him, just as Jaya had always dreamed. She could increase the life expectancy of an entire Magickal race. Elation bubbled up inside her, and she danced out of the bathroom, twirling in a wobbly pirouette. “Silver, silver, sil ver.”
“What about silver?”
“Gah!” She jolted, reeling back until she bounced off the doorjamb. Clapping her hand against her chest, she tried to slow her rocketing heartbeat as she stared at Merek lounging across her bed. “Gods, you scared me.”
“Sorry.” Though he didn’t sound remorseful. “What about silver?”
A huge smile bloomed across her face, and at that moment she didn’t care that she was on his shit list or that he didn’t want her like she wanted him. Years of her work had just clicked into place. This used to be what she lived for—she stomped down on the thought that she’d have to learn to live for it again. “I think that’s it. What’l refine the formula we were working on. If we add trace amounts of silver, it would stop the Change.”
His eyes narrowed in thought. “It took more than trace amounts to stop Alex’s Change last month. It almost kil ed him in the process.”
“Yes, but we aren’t going to shoot anyone, and we won’t have the complications of trauma and blood loss.
Plus, trace amounts combined with the other chemicals we’re using just might do the trick. I have to run tests. Lots of tests.” She slammed her hands on her hips. “I want my lab back, damn it.”
He jerked upright, his fingers fisting at his sides. “Too bad. If you think for even a second you’re taking a field trip over to Seattle, you’re out of your mind.”
She huffed out a breath, and her elation dimmed. “Please. I’m not an idiot, despite what you may think.”
“I never said you were an idiot.” He sighed, his hands unknotting.
“We did our best in a bad situation, Merek. I know you’re not comfortable being this close to Seattle, and neither am I, but you were unavailable for consultation at the time.” The ghastly pale expression on his face from that morning flashed through her mind. “I’m sorry if you don’t like this, but we couldn’t stay where we were, and I made an executive decision.”
“I know. I know you did your best, and I appreciate your hauling my unconscious ass along for the ride.” He shook his head. “I’m not happy with this situation, but that means I’m worried for you, not angry at you.”
“Thank you for making that distinction. And you’re welcome. You would have done the same.” But he stil hadn’t addressed how she’d spil ed out her love al over him and he’d looked at her like she’d sprouted horns and a forked tail.
He met her gaze, and she knew his thinking had fol owed the same path as hers. “Are you angry at me?”
“No.” Not angry, hurt. She swal owed and looked away, unable to hold his gaze. “I’m not mad.”
“Do you want me to leave?”
The question sent a pang through her, and self-preservation warred with need. “No.”
“Good.” His breath eased out. “There are some . . . things we don’t agree on, but I don’t want to fight.”
Things. Like whether she could or should love him. Like whether they should have come to this island.
Yeah. There were some things they didn’t see eye to eye on. It was unlikely they’d come to an accord on either issue.
“I don’t want to fight either.” She offered him a wavering smile. “I just solved years worth of research. I think. We should celebrate.”
“Celebrate.” A naughty smiled flashed, the only warning she had before his hand shot out, snapped around her wrist in an iron grip, and jerked her facedown across his lap.
A squeak erupted from her, and her breath rushed out of her lungs as she hit the hard muscles of his thighs. Her hands bunched in the bedspread, her nose a bare inch from the soft fabric. “Merek!”
“What?” His voice was a silken purr. He stroked his fingers up the back of her calf, making her shiver.
Excitement whipped through her, and her nipples went rock hard in moments. “This isn’t the kind of celebration you had in mind?”
Her short laugh was incredulous. “You want to give me a celebratory spanking?”
Cool air rushed over her thighs as he drew her nightgown up and tossed it over her head. Her breath heaved in little pants, anticipation twisting within her as he cupped her buttocks in his palm. “Can you think of a better way to commemorate the occasion?”
She couldn’t.
His fingers hooked in the waistband of her panties and began working them down her legs. “Let’s get rid of these.”
A slow whimper trickled from her lips, and she arched her hips to help him ease the lace off of her.
Shrugging, she let her nightgown fal forward off her arms and onto the floor, leaving her naked. Her tongue twisted into knots, and she could do little more than moan when his cal used fingers caressed the bare globes of her backside.
“You have the sweetest little ass,” he growled.
“Oh, gods, Merek. I don’t know if—”
A sharp swat cut her off. “Too late to run, remember sweetheart?” He stroked her stinging flesh. She closed her eyes and tightened her grip on the bedspread. Far too late to run. From herself, from him, from how she felt about him. She shuddered, and he smacked her backside harder.
“Merek, I—”
“Tel me you don’t want this, and I’l stop.” He cupped both throbbing cheeks, then dipped between them to find the hot, slippery center of her. Her pussy flexed around his fingers when he penetrated her.
She panted, lifting her hips into the rough stroking of his fingers. Her mind whirled, and she scrambled to keep hold of her wits.
“Chloe—”
“Don’t stop!” She grabbed the leg of his jeans when he moved as if to set her aside. Everything in her rebel ed at his withdrawing now. She didn’t think she could handle being left alone. Her feelings were too raw and tumbled, from agony to elation to lust and back to agony. “Don’t stop. We’re celebrating.”
“Yes, we are.”
She smiled against the bedspread when she felt his fingers slide over her backside again. His cock was an iron bar against her hip, so she knew that no matter how jumbled his own emotions were, he did want her. It was enough. It had to be. Even if it hurt that she knew he might not be capable of giving her more. She understood why he might not want her to love him. His lost family would make him just as wary of love, of needing anyone, as she had always been. But it was too late to save herself. It had been from the very beginning, whether she’d admitted it or not. So, she’d take what she could get for as long as she could get it. She pressed herself into his stroking hand, raising her ass to fit against his palm.