Forever With The Wolf: An Erotic Shapeshifter Romance (Werewolf's Harem Series Book 5) Read Online Free Page B

said, cocking her head. She didn’t want to crowd him or overwhelm him, so she played it cool, dropping her gaze and dipping the bare toes of one foot into the pool’s wet warmth.
    “Funny, I would figure you’d been too busy planning the rest of your life with Brad,” he said, those blue eyes burning into her, accusing her. Kiley watched him closely, saw him searching for signs that she’d taken a mate. A mark, a tattoo, a ring. Of course, she knew he would find nothing, but she guessed that lack of a true marking wouldn’t be enough for him. Garrett honored the ideals of mateship, and he would never lay a hand on her unless she spelled it out for him.
    She licked her lips, trying to keep herself calm and collected.
    “Elijah called. He said you needed a contact for your mission,” she said, shading her eyes against the bright sun.
    Garrett laughed. It was a cruel sound, and it gave her goosebumps.
    “What mission?” he asked. “I can’t imagine what he had to have dangled in front of you to get you out here now, this close to your mating ceremony. Isn’t it just a couple of weeks away?”
    Kiley shook her head.
    “There’s no ceremony. It was set for several weeks ago, but it never happened.”
    Garrett’s brows shot up.
    “Why not?”
    “We parted ways,” Kiley sighed.
    “What about your sister?”
    Kiley snorted, rolling her eyes.
    “Brad parted ways with me, in favor of Amerie. They eloped together, if you would believe it. Left in the middle of the night, just snuck out and left a note on the kitchen counter. Apparently they fell in love, and they thought it was better to leave me out of the equation.”
    Garrett stood, arms crossed, his expression unreadable. Kiley looked at him for a long time, waiting for his response. When he said nothing, she tried a different tack.
    “So the mission? With the abducted females?” she prompted.
    Garret scowled.
    “I was kicked off that mission a month ago. Elijah gave me the choice between vacation and forced leave. Not much of a choice,” Garrett grunted.
    “Elijah doesn’t do anything out of the blue. What happened before he forced you to take vacation?”
    Garrett shrugged, but Kiley knew better. He’d done something bad, probably beat the crap out of a suspect or destroyed something valuable out of spite.
    “What does it matter?” he asked. “Sorry you had to come all the way out here, but now you can turn right around and go back to… wherever.”
    “No, I don’t think I can.”
    He gave her a sharp look, eyes blazing.
    “I’m sorry?” he asked.
    “There’s nothing for me to go back to.”
    With that, she sauntered over to the chaise lounge, grasping the hem of the dress and dragging it upward. She could feel Garrett’s gaze on her ass, taking in the skimpy black panties she wore. Where sex and nudity always made her shy and overly modest, with Garrett watching she felt bolder. She pulled the dress up over her head and dropped it to the ground, revealing her black and white lace bra.
    When she turned, Garrett’s expression nearly knocked the air from her lungs. Anger, longing, and lust mixed there, his jaw so tense and eyes so bright that they nearly made her blind. Her body moved of its own volition, bringing her to stand at the pool’s edge once more, letting him look his fill before she took the first step down into the pool, submerging her feet.
    “Kiley…” he said. Garrett seemed so conflicted, and her heart squeezed at the sadness and anger in his expression.
    She pushed on, sinking into the warm salt water as she descended the steps. Garrett’s uncertainty made her want to run away and hide herself, but the raw hunger in his eyes pulled her toward him. She knew him, understood what that desire meant. Garrett was a man of honor, and if he’d forsaken her altogether, his lust for her would have vanished. Even if there was just a tiny window left open in his soul, Kiley was going to use it.
    She waded a few steps in, until the