Moon Glamour by Aimee Easterling (books to read to be successful TXT) 📕

face Tank, breathing in his proximity like a hit of pure oxygen.

“Do you want to tell me where you went tonight?” he asked.

Ah, there went all the oxygen. My lungs seized up. I shook my head rather than reply.

“Hey.” His finger skimmed across my cheek, disappearing as quickly as it had made contact. “It was only a question. No wrong answers.”

That wasn’t how male werewolves acted. But Tank was more than a male werewolf. He was so close now that his heat lit me on fire, strumming my nerve endings into a sensitized alert.

As of that moment, I could have given Clara a definitive answer to her question about my sexuality. Men. I was definitely attracted to men...or at least, to this specific man.

“I’m going to kiss you now.”

Tank’s words were a deep breath, almost inaudible. But I felt them all the way down to my toes.

After that, he waited. One, two, three seconds. Giving me time to say no or just to wriggle sideways. When I didn’t, his hands thudded down on the seat back on either side of me. His broad chest blocked every one of the stars.

I should have felt caged. Instead, I arched up to meet him.

And, for half a second, I fell into paradise. Lost in the cascade of sensation as if I’d caught a ride on a falling star and plummeted through the atmosphere....

Searing heat. Overwhelming desire. I couldn’t quite manage to breathe.

Then I remembered where I was. Who I was with. A werewolf. Someone who would be in my life for five days only.

The deadline struck me like a bucket of ice water. So much like my father, the man I’d seen once. I couldn’t even remember the deadbeat’s voice.

Tank must have been less lost in the moment than I was, because he responded the instant my brain started churning. Pulling back, he took the starbursts with him as he retreated.

“What went wrong?”

“Nothing. You did nothing wrong.”

Tank’s head, I noted, was twisted away from me for the first time since I’d asked him to cut out that behavior. It felt like pushing through molasses, but I reached out to bring his chin back front and center. “This has nothing to do with your face.”

“What then? Talk to me.”

A faintly stubbled cheek sank into my palm, as if I wasn’t the only one finding space between us inconceivable. Maybe that’s why I said it. “I know nothing about you.”

“I’ll text over my CV.”

His phone was in his hand, and I couldn’t help myself. I laughed at him. “You’re a geek.”

“Geek. Lawyer. Medic. What else do you want to know?”

Each syllable raised a rumble of desire. But there were so many questions in my stomach, most of which couldn’t be summed up with words.

Instead, I started with something easy. “Why did you join the Samhain Shifters?”

“Do you want the reason I gave on my application or the real reason?”

“Real reason.”

“Part of it’s simple. You’ve met Kira. There are dozens in our pack just like her—smart, kind, strong. I can’t risk losing them to the fae.”

I nodded. “But that’s not your only purpose.” After all, he’d said there was a reason that wouldn’t have fit on his application. I was sure Lupe would love the idea of hiring someone as loyal to his pack as Tank was.

In response, he inhaled deeply. Jaw muscles bunched beneath my fingers. Then he told me:

“I’ve lived in the same pack all of my life. I’m related to most of them. Anyone I’m not related to, I’ve considered already.”

The word pack made me twitch. But that was Tank’s life, not mine. I focused instead on what he was saying. “Considered for what?”

I only realized my hand was still on Tank’s cheek when the words vibrated through my fingers. “Considered for the role of mate.”

Chapter 19

Mate. The word was worse than pack. I jerked away as if I’d been burned, thrusting my hand under my thigh so it wouldn’t be tempted to reach back out to him. “You think you can choose a mate in five days.”

A simple matter for male werewolves. After all, they considered their mates little better than chattel. Keep the home. Churn out babies. Do everything her partner and alpha demanded.

When Rowan had insinuated his interest in me, he hadn’t mentioned the M word. But he’d made it clear where my duties would lie. I was endlessly grateful my mother hadn’t gotten caught up in the werewolf world of misogyny. Even saddling us with Nick was better than that.

Tank kept talking as if he hadn’t just proven he was no better than the other werewolves I’d had the misfortune of knowing. “The timeline was fourteen days when this gig started. And, yes. I think I can choose a mate in that time.”

I’d been such an idiot thinking Tank was different. I shook my head as I fumbled in the darkness for the ankle brace he’d slipped onto the console between us. “Thanks for covering for me,” I said, giving up on the brace and pushing my door open. Maybe Tank wouldn’t notice my lapse in the darkness. Maybe he wouldn’t use his gift as an excuse to come after me....

I wasn’t so lucky. Air followed as I tried to retreat. A dark shape loomed, not quite far enough away for me to slide past him. “You’re angry.”

He was right. I was furious. “Angry that you’re willing to kiss any female wolf who isn’t related to you? Angry that I happened to stumble in front of your lips? No. Why would that make me angry?”

My throat was tight, my words more heated than I’d meant them to be.

“Athena.” His hand hovered a millimeter away from my arm. As if he wanted to grab me but was forcing himself not to. “Hear me out. Please.”

The please did it. Or perhaps the fact that he could easily have used his superior size and strength to force the issue but didn’t. I swallowed cold air, tamping down anger.