“That one. Over there.”
Conall again started moving, pulling Miki behind him. He walked into the building, found a stairwell, and dragged her inside it. As soon as he released her hand, she slugged him in the chest. Then cursed up a blue streak when she felt the pain all the way up her arm. Of course, he didn’t even flinch.
“Are you done?” he snarled.
“Sonofabitch! What the fuck was that shit!” She shook her hand out, worried she broke a knuckle. Conall suddenly caught it and rubbed the knuckles between his two hands while he glared at her. She was almost positive he didn’t even realize he was doing it.
“Who the hell was that guy anyway?”
“Who? Troy?” Was he jealous? Well, then, she shouldn’t disappoint. “That was the future Mr. Miki Kendrick.”
Wrong! He was the future Mr. Miki Kendrick. Not some lame, tiny man with tiny little hands. He took one look at the guy and knew he was an asshole. No way would Conall let Miki anywhere near that guy. True, she was a vindictive bitch. But she was his vindictive bitch. He knew that now. No more bullshitting around. No more debating about what he really wanted. Miki Kendrick was his.
Clearly, though, he needed new tactics. The usual wasn’t working with her. Mostly because she was nuts. But he was flexible. And mean enough to go after what he wanted.
“I think you need to stay out of my life, Viking.” She tried to yank her hand out of his grasp, but he wasn’t letting go.
“And I think you fail to realize that I now have the upper hand here.”
“What? For drugging you? You expect me to believe for a second you’d hurt me or turn me in to the cops?”
“No. But who knows what I would do to him.”
Miki froze. Those big, beautiful brown eyes staring up at him. “You. Wouldn’t. Dare.”
“You spit food at me. You set me up with the cops at the airport. And you drugged me. Do you really want to test the ‘you wouldn’t dare’ theory now?”
He could see the muscles of her jaw clenching and unclenching. She was so pissed off, which only made her smell so tasty.
“Leave him alone, Conall. He didn’t do anything to you.”
He kicked her backpack out of the way. “But what about you, Mik? Does he have you?”
“Nobody has me.”
He stepped toward her until she backed herself up against the wall. He’d never worked so hard to be menacing before, but Miki kept bringing that out in him. And it didn’t help that every time he did it, the smell of her lust punched him in the face.
“But I want you.”
“So I gathered.”
“And if I’m busy chasing you around, I can’t exactly be kicking the living shit out of him, now can I?”
Miki crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I guess.”
“So then maybe we make a little agreement.”
“What kind of agreement?”
“You give me until Friday.”
“To do what?”
He placed both his arms on the wall above her and leaned in. “To get close to you. After you defend your thesis, if I haven’t gotten between those sweet thighs of yours by then, it’s over. I never bother you again. I won’t even look at you.”
“You have got to be kidding me.”
“When it comes to you, I don’t joke around.”
He expected her to kick him in the ’nads. But she didn’t. Interesting.
“At least give me a shot, Mik.” He gently pulled her arms away from her body and leaned in to her. She watched him closely, but didn’t try and stop him either. “See? That wasn’t so hard, now was it?” He leaned down and kissed her. A small one. His lips against hers. She didn’t pull away, so he nipped at her bottom lip until her mouth opened and she let him in. His tongue moved slowly over hers, savoring the taste of her. She tried to pull her arms away, but he held them tight, moving them so he had them flat against the wall over her head. He pinned her with his lower body, his knee sliding in between her thighs.
She moaned and he knew he had her.
What in hell was she doing? Had she lost her mind? Was she actually making out with the Viking in the stairwell of the biotech school? This was definitely a new low. It was early, but there were already professors and students everywhere. Sooner or later, they’d get caught. This was insane. She was insane. How exactly could she expect to get tenure at the school if she got caught getting all hot and bothered with some guy in the stairwell?
She needed to tell him to stop. She needed to push him away. She definitely didn’t need to moan. In fact, she really had to stop moaning.
Conall pulled out of the kiss and leered at her. “Yeah. That’s what I consider letting me get close.”
If she had the strength, she would have punched him again. In fact, she was all ready to risk her knuckles just for the hell of it.
But before she could deck him, Conall kissed her cheek, stepped back, and pulled her out from under the stairs where he’d trapped her.
“Miss Kendrick. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
Conall and Miki looked behind them and up. At the top of the stairs stood the dragon lady herself. Professor Irene Conridge. An imposing forty-ish woman, wearing one of her plain blue suits and a pair of killer fuck-me pumps. The woman had always been a total dichotomy.
“Really. I know how busy your schedule is. And as all I’m doing is running an entire department, please feel free to keep me waiting for another fifteen minutes.”
Miki snatched her arms away from Conall and pushed past him. “Professor Conridge. I’m so sorry. I lost track of time…” Because I was busy getting fondled.
Grabbing her backpack, Miki yanked Conall’s hair as she ran by, but she got the feeling he would only see that as more foreplay. She charged up the stairs, but Conridge had already walked off.
Miki stopped at the top of the stairs and looked back at Conall, hauling her way over-packed bag onto her shoulders. “I don’t know how long I’ll be.”
“It’s okay. Take your time. I’ll be here.” Of course he would. Because he was torturing her.
“Miss Kendrick!”
Miki shook herself out of her stupor and charged off.
Chapter Eleven
Conall sat on the stairs and worked really hard to control his raging hard-on. Man that woman was a little firecracker. It didn’t take much to get her worked up. To get her hot and wet. For him. He growled and forced his wolf back on its chain.
Nope. No one else was going to be good enough for him. He wanted Miki. Not for a night. Or even a week. But for a lifetime. He would have her, too. He’d just have to convince her. And hell, how hard could that be?
Conall frowned. There was that smell. The same smell from the rave. The same smell on Miki after her attack.
This time he’d smelled it as soon as they’d moved into the stairwell, but Miki had him totally distracted. Now he couldn’t ignore it.
It was faint, so he didn’t think any danger was near, but still…
Conall sniffed the air and realized it came from another floor. He followed the scent, letting it lead him up one flight of stairs. He could tell Miki was on this floor. He could smell her delicious scent above all others. He went up another flight. There were several labs on this floor. He walked past them. Past a bunch of classrooms. Then he found an alcove with professor offices. He followed the scent until he reached a door. He tried the door without success. Locked. He stuck his nose right up against the wood and sniffed. Then he sniffed again. He knew that smell. He knew it from somewhere. He sniffed again. A deep long one.