My legs moved across soft sheets as the low hum of an air conditioner made its way to my ears. I rolled over causing a familiar masculine scent clinging to the sheets to waft to my nose. My lips twisted into a wide smile.

Eli.

I could feel him beside me. His presence was strong. It pulsed through my veins when he was near. Two nights in a row. That was how many I’d spent with him.

Without opening my eyes, I rolled onto my side and trailed my fingers across the cool sheets between us to find him. The tips of my fingers traveled along the length of his ribs before I ventured over his toned abdomen. He stirred at the feel of my touch. I opened one eye and peeked at him. His eyes were still closed. Sun rays streaked through the thin slotted mini-blinds, illuminating his beautiful sun-kissed skin.

It was later in the morning than I thought.

My fingertips continued to trail along the ridges of his sculpted chest. I allowed myself to soak in every inch of him.

God, why had it taken me so long to accept what I’d always felt for him? How could I have been so stubborn? My stomach tightened as I realized I’d denied myself so much time with him. Years.

I’d been stupid.

“It’s way too early to be thinking as hard as you are over there,” Eli said, startling me. His voice was a low rumble that vibrated my fingertips pressed against his chest.

“So do something to distract me,” I teased as I flashed him a saucy smile.

Eli arched a brow while acceptance of my challenge shifted through his eyes. “Do something to distract you, you say?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he reached across the empty space between us and pulled me closer. His warm lips wasted no time finding their way below my earlobe to place warm kisses there. His fingertips wandered the length of my hip before making the journey to my inner thigh.

“How am I doing? Feeling distracted from your thoughts yet?” Eli asked as his teeth nibbled my earlobe.

“Mmmm, yes.”

“Are you sure? Because I can always amp things up.” His fingers brushed over my center in a featherlight touch.

I didn’t speak. I didn’t move. In fact, I could barely breathe.

Eli’s warm lips trailed down my neck, across my shoulder, and along my collarbone as he moved to position himself on top of me.

“You didn’t answer me. I assume that means you want me to kick it up a notch,” he said.

All I could do was chuckle in response. It came out breathy and strangled sounding, but at least it was something.

“While I have you quivering beneath me, let me ask you a question.” He held himself up with his forearms, his lips no longer on me. “When are you moving in so we can do this every morning?”

My stomach didn’t clench like I thought it might when/if he ever asked. My heart didn’t even hammer out an erratic beat. I was surprisingly calm as I stared into his bright green eyes. Until I remembered our bet. Then all I could do was grin.

“What? You look like you’re up to no good,” Eli said.

“How do you feel about purple? Dark purple, like maybe a plum color?”

The area between his brows scrunched together. He had no idea what I was talking about. He’d forgotten our bet.

“I ask when you can move in, and you ask how I feel about the color purple?”

“Exactly.” My grin grew. “You know, it can be a sophisticated color when it has gray undertones. Perfect for bedroom walls.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but the sound of my phone ringing had his lips clamping shut.

I knew who it was. Just as I knew she was probably freaking out because she’d woke up to me not home again.

Eli rolled off me as I reached for my phone. Gracie’s name and number lit the screen.

I knew it would be her.

“It’s Gracie,” I said as I sat up. “I should answer. If I don’t she’ll just call repeatedly hoping to wake me up with the ringing.”

“Go for it,” Eli insisted. “The sooner you answer her, the sooner you can answer me.” His green eyes glittered as his lips twisted into a crooked grin.

“Hello?” I said as I answered Gracie’s call, ignoring Eli’s adorable smirk and the way it had my stomach feeling alive with butterflies.

“Where are you? Did you spend the night with Eli again?” Gracie asked, her tone sharp.

“Good morning to you too.” Heavy sarcasm dripped from my words. I rolled my eyes. It was amazing how demanding and snotty she could be first thing in the morning.

“You’re supposed to be here. Winston has his vet appointment this morning.”

Was it really that late already? It couldn’t be. I glanced at the window, trying to judge the time by how much sunlight streamed through the blinds.

“What time is it?” I asked.

A huff filtered through the phone. “It’s eight. We’re supposed to be at the vet’s office before eight thirty. You said you’d take me. Winston needs these shots.”

“I am taking you. Calm down. I’ll be there in a second.”

“Hurry up,” Gracie said before she hung up on me.

“Wow. She sounds like a pistol first thing in the morning.” Eli chuckled.

“She is,” I said as I rolled out of bed to get dressed.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Eli asked. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back into bed with him. “You didn’t answer my question yet.”

“I have to go. You heard Gracie.”

“Nope. You’re not leaving until you answer me,” Eli insisted as he climbed on top of me, pinning me in place. “When are you moving in so I can wake up beside you every morning?” He buried his face into the crook of my neck and skimmed his tongue along the skin there. It tickled.

A laugh bellowed from deep in my chest. “Is that all you care about? Waking up beside me so you can get some action?”

“You know that’s not true.”

I did, but it felt good to hear him say it.

“I want action at night too.” He grinned.

“Funny.”

I maneuvered myself out from under him and slipped out of bed. He moved around on the mattress behind me, but I ignored him as I reached for my clothes on the floor.

“Don’t make me beg,” he surprised me by saying.

“I don’t have any intentions to,” I said as I pulled on my panties.

Eli shifted around until his arms were positioned behind his head, causing his biceps to flex and his abs to tighten. I really liked when they did that.

“Really? Because it seems like you do.” A ghost of a smile hung loose on his lips. “You know, I wouldn’t expect anything less from you. I know you well enough to know you’re going to drag this out for as long as you see fit.”

“Then why are we having this conversation?” I asked as I fastened my bra. My teeth sank into my bottom lip to suppress a smile.

He definitely had me pegged.

“Because of that right there.” Eli grinned as he pointed at me. “The sheer amount of satisfaction you get from it is sexy as hell.”

My face heated. He truly did have me figured out.

“Whatever,” I said as I rolled my eyes and reached for my tank top. I slipped it over my head and then grabbed my cut-off shorts. “I really do have to go. Winston’s appointment is in a few minutes. Gracie is going to have my head if I make her late.”

“I guess you better get going then.” He stretched out on his bed, tightening the muscles of his abdomen as a sexy look festered in his green eyes.

“I know what you’re trying to do,” I said.

“I’m not trying to do anything.”

“You are. You’re trying to make yourself look so irresistible I won’t leave.”

A shit-eating grin spread across his face. “Is it working?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” I reached for my cell and crammed it into my back pocket.

“It’s working. Oh yeah. I know it is,” he said.

“Confident much?”

“In this instance you’re damn right.” He flexed his arm muscles, making lust uncurl within my stomach. If I didn’t get out of here, I was going to jump him and then Gracie would be pissed because she most definitely would be late.

“Jesus,” I said as I bent at the waist, pulling my eyes away from him and searching for my sandals. Somehow I was only able to find one.

“How long is this appointment supposed to take?” Eli asked. “I’m off today, and I really want to spend as much time with you as possible.” All sense of teasing and playfulness had evaporated from his tone.

I knew why. Tonight I was supposed to hand myself over to Regina’s goons.

“An hour tops?” I said as I got down on my knees to look beneath his bed for my missing sandal. It was there. How it got under there was another story though. “It shouldn’t take me too long.”

“Good,” he said.

I extended my arm as far as I could underneath his bed. I was still barely able to reach my sandal. “Why? Do you have something planned?” I asked as I swiped hair away from my eyes.

“It’s possible.”

“Well, I hope it isn’t anything with a time limit. I’m not exactly sure how long this is going to take. I mean Shane’s brother, Peter, is the vet and it’s safe to say he’s not going in to work today.”

Or any day in the foreseeable future for that matter, considering we hadn’t figured out what to do with him after tonight yet. He was still in the basement of his house locked inside a cage he’d once used to house numerous werewolves from our pack against their will.

Karma was a bitch sometimes, but I happened to like her.

“Winston will get seen today. Don’t worry. Peter isn’t the only vet at the clinic,” Eli said.

“Since when?” I asked as I slipped on my sandals.

“Since about a week ago.”

“How do you know? Keeping tabs on the place?”

Eli sat up in bed. “Sort of. The new vet happens to be a member of the Montevallo family.”

I arched a brow as I stared at him. “When did they get back into town?”

I’d never met a member of the Montevallo family before, but it didn’t mean I knew nothing about them. They were the only vampire family allowed to live in Mirror Lake. I wasn’t sure why but knew it had something to do with the Caraway witches. The only other thing I knew about the family of vampires was they owned a gigantic mansion in town and every couple of decades found their way back to it.

“Around the same time one of them started working at the vet clinic,” Eli said, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Why didn’t you mention anything sooner?”

“I didn’t realize you’d be interested.”

I could see his point.

“What about Peter? What does everyone think happened to him? He’s been gone for over a week.” It hadn’t occurred to me until now how suspicious that might seem. Especially after the death of his brother, Drew.

The thought of Drew had my skin prickling with anxiety. I still couldn’t get the image of Eli snapping his neck out of my head. It would forever haunt me.

“Dorian had him call in sick,” Eli insisted.

“You can’t be serious.”

“I am. Why?”

“Because that’s not a good excuse. It’s summer. Who gets sick in summer?” I asked thinking Dorian should have had him say he needed to take some time off. It would have been more believable.

Eli slipped out of bed and reached for a pair of boxers he’d tossed on the floor last night. “Lots of people.”

“It doesn’t seem believable to me.”

“Only because you know the truth. No one else does. To them Peter being sick is the truth.” Eli stepped to where I was and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me into him. “Now, go take that cute little puppy to the vet for his shots and then get your sexy ass back here. Like I said, I’ve got plans for us today.”

Something soft and sweet reflected in his eyes. Whatever he had planned would be memorable. It was written all over his face.

“Okay,” I said as I stood on the tips of my toes to peck his lips. Eli held tight when I pulled away. “I have to go.”

“Then you better kiss me goodbye the right way. Not some little cheap peck on the lips.”

The quiver in his voice nearly broke me. He was worried his time with me was running short. Didn’t he know this wasn’t the last time he would see me? I wouldn’t allow it to be. Regina had stolen too much from me, from my family, from my pack. There was no way in hell I’d let her take my life too. It wasn’t happening.

Interlocking my hands behind Eli’s head, I stood on tiptoes and crushed my lips to his. He allowed me to think I was in control for a few sporadic heartbeats before he decided to take over. Lust coiled through my stomach as he skimmed his tongue across my lips, willing them to part wider. My body trembled in reaction. His fingertips dug into the flesh of my hips, pressing me against him until I could feel exactly how much he was enjoying our kiss.

By the time I managed to pull away, I was breathless.

“There. Now that was a goodbye kiss,” Eli insisted as he released his hold on me.

“Yeah. It was. I’ll see you in a little while,” I said as I dizzily walked out of his room.

When I exited Eli’s trailer and stepped into the bright morning sunlight, the air was already too warm. Humidity weighed it down, making it hard to breathe. When I was halfway to Gran’s trailer, a good layer of sweat already glistened across my skin.

My cell chimed with a new text. I let out a breath of air, knowing it was most likely Gracie wondering where the hell I was. I thought to ignore it but then decided against it. A name I hadn’t been expecting to see lit my screen.

Alec.

My heart beat erratically inside my chest at the sight of his name. I hadn’t spoken to him since breaking up with him, which he had handled too well.

Hey. I don’t know if you’re awake yet, but I wanted to let you know I was thinking about you. I know we’re not dating or whatever anymore, but I meant what I said when I said I still want you in my life. Think we can still be friends?

How was I supposed to answer? Alec knew my secret. He knew my pack’s secret. As much as I wanted to be friends with him, I wasn’t sure it was possible. He knew too much.

I crammed my phone into my back pocket again and continued home, knowing I’d eventually reply but also knowing it wouldn’t be anytime soon. Right now Gracie was waiting, and I was curious to see the new vet at the Mirror Lake Veterinary Clinic.