Grady withdrew from her body and rolled over, unpinning her, and totally not touching her anymore. He stretched out on his side next to her and propped his head on his hand so he could stare at her.

“Why did you break up?”

She winced. “Well, I got off work early one day and I walked into our apartment to find him with someone else. He was literally nailing her in our bed. I was shocked. I trusted him completely and never saw that coming. There were no signs.” She shrugged. “I was hurt and really angry. Then he had the nerve to tell me it wasn’t what it looked like.” She snorted. “He was inside her. How can you misconstrue that? Not only did he betray me and hurt me but he insulted me by trying to treat me like a complete moron.”

Grady’s eyes twinkled and she could see he fought a smile. “What did he tell you it really was? I’m dying to hear this.”

She turned onto her side facing him. The pain had mostly faded from her ex’s betrayal but the anger remained. “She was his boss. He said he was trying to get a promotion so he would make more money so we could afford a house.”

“What an ass**le.”

She nodded. “I told him he was lucky she didn’t fire his ass for incompetence.” A smile played at her lips. “When that sank in and he understood what I meant, he got pretty mad.”

Grady laughed. He had a great laugh. “Not too good in bed, huh?” She shrugged. “He was okay but it was nothing compared to this.” She glanced down at his body. “Not even close. He made me laugh and I thought I was in love with him. I was more pissed off than hurt when he cheated on me. We got along well and it was comfortable living with him. We had the same interests.”

“You settled for him.”

She didn’t look away from Grady. “I guess I did. I probably should be happy he did cheat on me. I told him if he ever did it that I’d never take him back and I wasn’t kidding.”

“Did he try to get you back?”

She nodded. “He still tries. He calls my cell phone every few days and he’s sent flowers to my work half a dozen times but he’s wasting his time. I delete his messages without listening to them and every time he sends me flowers I give them away at work.”

Grady reached out and rubbed her hip with his large hand. “He was stupid. If I were a human guy, I’d do everything to keep hold of you.”

“But you’re not one. Not fully.”

“No. I’m not. Ready to get some sleep? It’s been a long day.” She nodded. Grady released her and rolled away. He stood and walked around the bed. Mika turned onto her back and tracked him as he reached down and picked up his discarded underpants and jeans. He walked toward the door of her bedroom and then paused but didn’t turn around.

“Good night, Mika.”

“You aren’t sleeping with me?” She was astonished at his actions. She saw his muscles stiffen as he shook his head slowly.

“No. You’re leaving soon so it’s best if we keep some distance between us. Sweet dreams.” He reached out and flipped off her light. He left the door open and walked away.

Mika frowned and rolled onto her stomach. She could see Grady picking up his discarded shirt and his footwear. He had a really nice ass that she got a great view of as he bent to retrieve his things from the floor. She lifted her head and let it fall, banging her head over and over against her soft comforter. Shit, I’m in trouble. She was really hurt and disappointed that he wasn’t going to sleep with her. Bad signs, she told herself.

She bit back a curse when anger was her next emotion. She was good enough to f**k but not to sleep with? Is that what he thought? He’d get close during sex but he didn’t want to hold her in his arms all night. She climbed out of bed and walked to her door. She slammed it closed, not caring how he took that little action of hers, her anger growing. She flipped on her bedroom light and stormed to the shower. She smelled of sex and Grady. If he wouldn’t sleep with her, she sure as hell wasn’t going to inhale reminders of them together when she was alone.

She turned on the shower and stepped into the stall. She stood there letting water pour down her body for a long time. She finally moved when she got her anger under control, though it wasn’t anger as much as hurt, she realized. She liked Grady way too much and she always tried to be completely honest about her feelings. She confronted them. She was falling for a guy who didn’t want anything lasting with her. She wasn’t a wolf and he was set on never hooking up with a human mate. It really hurt and when something did that, she tended to turn that emotion into raw anger, something she could deal with more easily than tears.

She took her time and even shaved her legs. She washed her hair and let her conditioner set for a good five minutes, anything to stall until she got a grip on herself.

When she was sure that she wouldn’t burst into tears or storm out there and tell him off, she dried off and walked back into her room.

The bedroom door was still closed the way she’d left it. She listened but didn’t hear anything coming from the other side of the door. She figured that Grady must have just gone to bed since she’d have heard the television if he had it on. She walked to the scene of the crime and yanked down her comforter. She climbed na**d into her bed and reached for the light switch over her head on the wall. The room went totally dark.

Mika couldn’t sleep. Why was Grady acting the way he was? Would it kill him to sleep with her and to share her bed? He had no qualms about burying his face between her thighs or burying his c**k to the hilt inside her. That was damn personal. Sleeping in a bed with her obviously wasn’t a line he wanted to cross. She decided he was a total jerk and a major ass**le.

Gritting her teeth, she flipped over onto her stomach and sighed, knowing she should be tired. It was almost eleven-thirty at night and she’d gotten up at eight. At home she usually went to bed at ten. She sighed again and flipped back over. Maybe some more sexual release would put her out. She stuck her finger in her mouth, wet her index finger, and spread her thighs. She closed her eyes and put an image of Grady in her mind. It turned her on remembering he had one hell of a body, picturing him na**d as she rubbed her clit.

She softly moaned at the thought of what Grady’s mouth could do to her and spread her knees wider. She drew circles around her clit, imagining it was his tongue.

She tilted her head back and bit her lip. It didn’t take her long to get to the point where she was ready to come. She tensed and softly cried out as pleasure tore through her. She sighed and shut her legs, withdrawing her hand from under the covers as her body relaxed and she tried to calm her pounding heart.

Her bedroom door came crashing open, loudly slamming into the wall, and Mika lunged for the light switch. She heard a growl and then her bed dipped. She flipped the light on right as the covers were torn from her body. She stared in shock at a na**d and very aroused Grady glaring at her. He was on his knees on her bed by her knees. She couldn’t miss the hard-on that was pointing right at her.

“If you really wanted me to share your bed all you had to do was say so,” he ground out harshly. His hand gripped her leg, yanked her flat on her back and shoved her thighs apart before he came down on her. “Don’t ever torment me again. I could hear every breath, every moan, and every other sound you made while you touched yourself.”

Mika cried out in sudden pleasure as Grady entered her. He gripped her arms, jerking them above her head, and used his elbows to support his upper body weight, to keep from crushing her. His hold was tight but not painful on her wrists. He started to move in her in deep, long strokes. Mika wrapped her thighs around his h*ps and curled her legs over the back of his ass.

Intense pleasure hit her while Grady f**ked her hard and fast. He drove in and out of her. She wound her arms around his neck and clung to him as their bodies moved together when he released her wrists. He tensed and she felt him jerk on her. He groaned and came. She noticed that he kept his face turned to the side, his teeth far from her skin.

Disappointment hit Mika. Grady cursed softly and then was rolling them over. His large, strong hands gripped her. He moved her so she was straddling his lap sitting up on top of him. He was still hard inside her. He released her and lifted her with his hips, driving into her. One of his hands gripped her hip to steady her while his other hand reached between them to rub against her cl*t while he bucked her on his hips. In less than a minute Mika came hard.

Chapter Six

Mika woke up alone. The bedroom door was open, allowing the smell of coffee to lure her into crawling out of bed. She winced a little as sore muscles protested. She was a little tender between her thighs in that day-after-too-much-sex way.

Grady had growled the night before as she sprawled on his chest, panting after he’d made her come. Mika had just lain there, letting the aftermath turn her into jelly. She had breathed in that wonderful scent Grady’s skin put off and listened to his heartbeat pounding in her ear. He was damn warm, large, and comfortable to lie on. Mika had drifted to sleep on top of him the night before.

She studied her bed as she climbed out of it. Had Grady spent the entire night with her? He’s accused her of tormenting him. What the hell was that about? She sighed and stumbled to the bathroom. Her mind gave her simple instructions— use the bathroom, brush your teeth, take a fast shower. Zombielike, she stumbled through her morning habits.

Ten minutes later when Mika walked out of her room, still damp and wearing a robe, Grady was in the kitchen. His hair was wet and she knew he’d showered too. He was leaning against the counter holding a coffee mug in one hand and a cell phone held to his ear with his other. His dark gaze fixed on her but no emotion showed on his face.

“I’m going to have to put that off.” His voice was soft as he spoke, looking away from her. “I’m sorry. I know we had plans.” He pushed away from the counter and walked around Mika. He was careful to not touch her as he moved into the living room.

“I got assigned pack duty and I can’t take off for a weekend.” Mika walked to the coffeepot and poured some into a mug. She cocked her head, straining to hear anything but it was silent, as though Grady were listening to someone.

She couldn’t see him since he’d moved out of the room. She hesitated and then tiptoed over to the wall and pressed her ear against it.

“I know it’s mating season and I know we had planned on spending the weekend together, Megan. I just can’t get out of this because its pack related. You know how that goes. Your job with your pack is important to you and so is mine as an enforcer. I was looking forward to a few days of no-holds-barred animal sex with you myself. We’ll do this in a few weeks when our schedules clear up again.” Mika hated the raw pain that sliced through her as she realized he was on the phone with a woman. That no-holds-barred-animal-sex comment had hit her as the verbal slap that it was. She reeled away and walked back to the sink to stare out the kitchen window. Tears filled her eyes, blinding her, and she hated them. It hurt that Grady was talking to another woman, obviously a werewolf bitch, and possibly the one he’d mate with when he wanted to settle down. He said they’d meet up in a few weeks so he was definitely planning on f**king that bitch.

She closed her eyes, frantically fighting more tears, and just stood there trying to get hold of her emotions. The real problem was that she was having them. She was falling for Grady as fast as if a ton of cement hung around her neck and he was never going to fall too. He’d slept in her bed but he was talking on the phone to another woman, making plans to meet up with her in the near future. She admitted it hurt and she was jealous.

“Morning,” Grady said from behind her.

She kept her eyes closed, refusing to acknowledge him as she took deep breaths until she knew she had the urge to cry under control. She opened her eyes, sipped her coffee and stared out the window to avoid looking at him. She needed to get a leash on her temper that was rising fast because anger was how she handled the raw pain of knowing he wanted to be with another woman instead of her.