She grimaced. “They’re not. He’s still hung up on his ex-girlfriend, though he won’t admit it, so we haven’t even been doing the dirty.”

“Just like you’re still hung up on Dante.” At the sound of her growl, he held up his hands.

“Hey, I’m not judging. I just wish you guys would get your acts together and stop pretending you don’t want each other.”

“If he wanted me, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. It’s not like I played hard to get.”

“Sometimes people need to have something moved from their reach before they realize how much they want it.”

She loved her brother, but sometimes he made no sense to her. She knew Dante well enough to know that when he wanted something, he didn’t dance around it, he took it. “Whatfreakingever.” Gabe simply laughed.

As the party continued and Dante didn’t show any signs of slackening his stakeout, Jaime began to get restless. Having his total attention should have made her feel uncomfortable, but it heated her blood. Like her blood needed heating up any further! Good thing she, Ivy, and Riley were going to the club tomorrow night. Operation Calm Libido couldn’t come soon enough.

Eventually the party ended, and to Jaime’s surprise, Dante didn’t take the opportunity to corner her. That made her nervous, but she took advantage of that and scampered to her room. Not to hide.

No, of course she wasn’t hiding. Okay, she was hiding. But considering that she was about to be interrogated by someone who was not only an ace at it but who primed her body with his mere presence, was it really any wonder?

A few minutes later, there was a soft knock on her door. Bracing herself, she took a deep, calming breath. Opening it, she was surprised to find Shaya. She was even more surprised when Shaya pushed her way inside and quickly closed the door.

“I need a favor.”

Seeing her stand there with her hands clasped as if in prayer, Jaime tensed. “What’s wrong?”

“I need to get out of here for a little while. I was thinking of going to the Rouge Bar. Will you come? I just need to get away.”

“Why, what is it?”

After a long sigh, she spoke. “Someone’s coming to visit, and I don’t want to be here when he does. Bring Gabe and Hope if you want, and we’ll make a night of it. Just, please, I need to get out of here.”

“Shaya, you have me totally confused and worried. If you want me to come with you somewhere then fine, I will. But, please, tell me what’s wrong.” Shaya bit her bottom lip hard. “Not here. Once we’re off pack territory, I’ll tell you, okay?” Impatient to know but not wanting to push, Jaime nodded. “Okay. Just give me ten minutes to get ready.”

“I’ll be waiting in my room.”

Eager to get Shaya out of their territory before this mystery person arrived and Shaya hyperventilated, Jaime began swiftly searching through her pine triple wardrobe for something to change into that, unlike what she was currently wearing, wasn’t stained with chocolate—her favorite food group. It was while she was stripping off her clothes that there was a heavy rhythmic knock that almost made her jump.

“Open up, Jaime.” Dante’s tone was implacable, totally unyielding.

Well, hell. Not one to procrastinate, she quickly slipped on her white silk robe over her underwear and opened the door. She’d expected to find a very hostile-looking wolf staring back at her. Instead, Dante was wearing one of his cocky grins—a grin that had her body instantly heating.

“We need to talk, Jaime.” Dante swallowed hard at the sight of her. She had to be wearing a slinky robe, didn’t she? “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

So that I can have inexhaustible, carnal sex with you, he refrained from adding.

And have the cocky jerk sense the overwhelming effect he had on her libido? Jaime snorted inwardly. Not freaking likely. As pathetic as it was, Jaime wanted more of what he’d given her last night, wanted his hands and mouth on her again, even as she knew that the lust was one-way. Come on, how f**ked up was that? As such, it so wouldn’t be a good idea to have the object of her lust standing in her bedroom.

Lying down in it, sure. She mentally slapped herself for that thought.

Dante arched a brow. “Well?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“I’m a bitch like that.”

He persisted, “Let me in, Jaime.”

Ignoring the tug in his voice, she brought her index finger to her chin. “Now let me think…I’ve fed the cat, been to work, done my laundry, attended the baby shower…Sorry, but it seems that my schedule doesn’t include talking to you. Bummer.”

A huge grin spread across Dante’s face. He shouldn’t like her attitude, but he did. “Don’t make me push my way in, baby. You know I will.”

The stubborn set of his smooth jaw told her that he meant every word. Releasing an exasperated sigh, she turned and walked inside, leaving him to close the door behind him. Jaime watched in bemusement as he wandered around the room like he owned it. Typical dominant male.

Oddly, her wolf liked having him in her personal space.

Well that’s new . Her wolf was usually too territorial over her space to be okay with that kind of thing. All shifters were territorial, but not as bad as Jaime’s wolf.

“I like it,” said Dante as he took in the rustic look of the room and the warm feel created by the natural, woodsy colors. Jaime was clearly a messy person—something he would imagine drove Grace crazy when she came inside to clean—but the room was somehow inviting, calming. The white canopy bed caused a series of erotic images to flick through his brain. Not helpful.

“So you wanted to talk.”

He turned back to Jaime and was momentarily distracted by the way she was biting on her lower lip. Christ, that mouth. He wanted it again. He remembered how soft it was, how—

Enough. “Yes. It was an interesting conversation we had last night. I hadn’t been expecting to end up flat on my back. That’s some strength you have. What was it you said after calling me a son of a bitch? Oh yeah, that’s it. You said that if you want to f**k someone that you goddamn motherfucking will. Huh.” His wolf growled at the memory. “You even punctuated that by slamming the car door.” As he took a step toward her, a stifling sensual need assailed Jaime, twisting her insides.

Crap. Her body was now officially in “Must Have Dante” mode, and it would only be a matter of minutes before he sensed it. Damn it, why did his voice have to be so sexily gruff? And did he have to be so incredibly masculine? And why, oh why, couldn’t his self-assuredness piss her off instead of causing fluttering sensations in her stomach?

This whole thing sucked. Didn’t every girl imagine that she would one day manage indifference around the guy with whom she had been infatuated? Frustratingly, Jaime’s body was not on the same wavelength as her mind; her ni**les had tightened painfully, her br**sts were aching, her cl*t was throbbing, and she was so damn wet it wasn’t even funny. It was almost as though her body was submissively readying itself for him.

“Nothing to say to that?”

“What can I say?” she said meekly as she lowered her eyes. “PMS is a bitch.”

“The submissive act isn’t going to work with me any longer. Dominant vibes were washing off you in waves last night. Yet now I can barely sense your wolf. Maybe you could explain to me just why that is.”

“Maybe you could just go home to Olive Oyll and eat some more spinach.” There was that cocky grin again that tickled her in all the right places.

“Why can I barely sense your wolf, Jaime?”

She had to refrain from backing up as he continued to move toward her. The predatory look on his face and the stealth in his slow steps made her feel like she was being stalked. Her wolf liked the way he prowled toward her, liked being the sole focus of his attention.

“Jaime,” he drawled warningly, continuing to close in on her. “Answer me.” Again she ignored the pull in his voice, but it proved impossible to ignore the carnal hunger circulating through her system. And he was standing oh so close to her bed…She imagined herself on her hands and knees, clinging to the silk sheets, while he took her forcefully from behind.

“Don’t look away from me.”

She snapped her eyes back to his. “Why, are you going to do a trick?” He didn’t want to smile, but he couldn’t help it, damn it. He gave the smart-ass a look that swore reprisal. “Oh, baby, if you—” Catching a faint hint of her arousal in the air, he halted.

Fuck.

He couldn’t help inhaling deeply; the mix of the pure, tantalizing smell of her arousal together with her own unique scent was like a punch. A low growl rumbled out of him. It was definitely a mistake taking her scent inside him like that; knowing she was so wet and primed for him had his painfully hard c*ck throbbing.

His wolf strained toward her, wanting at her again. Hell, he wasn’t the only one. Calling on every ounce of control he had, Dante remained where he was. He couldn’t pounce on her; he couldn’t let himself have her, no matter how badly he wanted her. He had enough reasons to ignore his hunger for her, and he silently recited each one of them to himself.

As she watched Dante sense her arousal, Jaime inwardly cursed herself. She would have expected him to be wearing one of his cocky grins. To her surprise, there was no grin, no smugness.

Instead, pure male need blazed from his eyes. Not that she could take it as a compliment—the scent of a mature female wolf’s arousal would have undoubtedly stirred his wolf and interested his body whether Dante wanted it to or not. Still, his reaction thrilled her wolf; the animal wasn’t interested in the facts surrounding the situation, she saw only a strong, dominant, aroused male who would take care of her own arousal quite nicely.

Yeah, well, her wolf would have to be disappointed, because Jaime herself was interested in the facts surrounding the situation. This was a male who had made it quite clear that he didn’t want her. This same male had not only been shoving his nose into her business, he had actually marked her when he had no goddamn right or reason. Possibly worse than all that, Jaime wanted him regardless.

“Answer my question.” His voice was taut with the feverish lust that was pounding through him.

“I don’t have to tell you a f**king thing.”

Of course the word f**king had Dante’s brain going back to its favorite subject—the idea of f**king Jaime. More fantasies began playing around in his head, making his balls ache. “Why are you being so secretive about this? Just answer the damn question!”

“Or what? You’ll tell Trey? Go ahead.” She waved a hand at the door. “Go on, go tell him.” He probably should. No, he definitely should. But Dante knew that Trey would decide to banish her purely for lying about her wolf’s dominant nature—there was no room for deception in a pack. While Dante understood that, he wasn’t comfortable with the idea of Jaime being banished. Not until he knew exactly why she had lied. Jaime wasn’t a vindictive, disloyal person. If she was trying to keep her wolf’s true status a secret, there had to be a very good reason. “I can’t help you unless you’re honest with me.” He growled when she arched an imperious brow at him.

“Did I ask for your help, Popeye?”

In two strides, he’d covered the space between them. “Stop being so f**king stubborn and tell me,” he ordered, all Beta now. The scent of her arousal swirled around him, blending with his own, making him close to drunk. The obstinate, challenging, hotheaded female was actually able to shrug off his order, and God help him, he found it sexy as f**king hell. All he could think about was stripping her na**d and f**king her raw, f**king her into submission. His usually iron control was now papery thin, all because of this woman. “You don’t even know that you’re doing it, do you?” She double-blinked, confused—fully proving his point. She had absolutely no clue what she did to him, no clue just how hard he had to fight not to pounce on her and ravish her. If he didn’t leave this room right now, she soon would.

Reminding himself of all the reasons why he couldn’t have her, he stepped back. “Don’t think this is the end of this, Jaime. I told you yesterday that I won’t stop harassing you until I get answers.” He thought about apologizing for what had happened last night, but he wasn’t sorry—not even about marking her, oddly enough. So he turned on his heel and forced himself to leave before he dove on her again.

Deciding that she had definitely never met a male stranger than Dante, she stared after him as he waltzed out. His natural cocky swagger should have annoyed her, but damn if it didn’t have her stomach clenching in need again. Jerk.

Although Jaime was eager to know what had Shaya in such a state that she was chugging down a glass of vodka like it was ice water, she didn’t prod her for answers. She simply sat on the bar stool, waiting patiently for her to speak. Sensing that she and Shaya had needed a little alone time, Gabe had taken Hope onto the dance floor. He was good like that.

“I know I said I’d tell you, but I’m not sure I want to talk about it,” Shaya eventually said.

“I think you do. I think this is eating at you.”

Shaya offered a sad smile. “That’s almost the exact same thing that Marcus said.”

“Marcus is the one who has you upset?”

“No, no, definitely not. The shameless flirt guessed there was something upsetting me, and he wouldn’t stop hounding me until I told him.”

Jaime recalled seeing the two of them going on private strolls around pack territory together.