Dual Embrace: 3 (Shadowpeak Wolves) Read Online Free Page A

away?”
    “You could have tried.”
    “And miss feeling your skin against mine? The way you sigh when you are aroused? I don’t think so.”
    “That was a mistake, I was asleep, dreaming.” She turned to climb from the bed when he clasped her hand, pulling her back.
    “Some dream.” He winked then grew suddenly serious. “Stay. I’m leaving. You need to get some sleep.”
    She glared. “Now you leave?”
    He nodded and stood. “I am no saint, hellcat. Believe me, if you were any other woman I would have taken what you offered without a second thought.” His voice sounded puzzled, surprised. “This is all very odd. I think I should go.”
    “Go where? Who are you?”
    He drew on his clothes. How he managed to look so sleek and unwrinkled this early in the morning was beyond her. She glimpsed down at her own clothes. Yep, she was a mess.
    As she raised her face, he caught her by surprise, his lips taking hers in a kiss that flowed through her body. Her eyelids drooped, her world narrowing to the pleasure swimming through her blood.
    “What’s your real name?” she whispered and opened her eyes.
    Only to find she was alone.

Chapter Two
     
    When Dusty woke, sun was streaming in the uncovered windows, mockingly cheerful as it danced about the room. She held her palms up against her eyes, desperately willing her throbbing headache to dissipate.
    Memories of last night flooded her brain and she groaned. Cautiously, she opened her eyes.
    Nope, he wasn’t there. It had to have been a dream.
    Dusty gazed around the room, disoriented. It was a typical motel room—stark, minimally furnished and white. Too white. The glare assaulted her eyes, adding to the pain stabbing her head. A small-screen TV rested on the wall in front of her. In one corner of the room sat a table and two chairs.
    “Urgh, got to stop taking those pain pills.”
    The pills combined with the whiskey had obviously triggered a hallucination, as well as wiping out pieces of her memory.
    Except the only pills she’d taken yesterday had been the ones he’d handed her. So how could she explain dreaming him up before she’d taken the pills?
    Shit.
    There was no sign of the mysterious stranger. No lingering scent of spicy smoke, no indent in the pillow, no sock lost in his rush to leave before she woke.
    It was as though he’d never been here.
    “Because he was never here,” she muttered.
    After slowly rising to her feet, she limped into the bathroom, stopping to glance at the folio lying on the table.
    Wild Oak Motel.
    Okay, so at least she knew where she was. That was a start. Leaning against the hand basin, she stared into the mirror, grimacing.
    Urgh, it was as she’d suspected.
    Look at me, I’m a mess. I look like I’ve been on a five-day bender to Vegas, I’m fast becoming a drunk and a druggie, I’m having hallucinations, I’m a cripple and worst of all, I’m not even a wolf anymore, and that last bit, that’s just between you and me.
    Okay, she was totally losing it now.
    All she had to contribute to the pack was her fighting abilities, her skills as an enforcer. If she couldn’t do that, then she was a liability, a leech. She shook her head.
    I have got to stop feeling sorry for myself. Buck up and think. How the hell am I going to get to my Jeep?
    She limped to the window. Nope, her Jeep wasn’t in the parking lot. Wishful thinking.
    Moving back into the bedroom, she searched her pockets, finding a stick of gum, a packet of pain relievers and three quarters in change.
    “No taxi for me. And I have got to stop talking to myself like this. It’s freaky.”
    Who to call? Any of her packmates would come—it was just a question of who would annoy her least. She really didn’t want to deal with disapproving looks or lectures today.
    Her first thought was Cain. Guilt swirled in her stomach. She’d made no commitment to him. Why should she feel guilty?
    She’d been running from her feelings for him for a long time. Last night the