Rustling woke me from my sleep as I tightened my arms around the empty space in front of me. I groaned, realizing my grip must have slipped when I finally fell asleep last night.

Anna had slept through the rest of the night. It had taken her almost an hour to fall asleep when we’d first gone to bed, and it had taken nearly all my might not to move as her hands traced each one of my tattoos. Her touch was timid and even soft as she delicately smoothed over my knuckles and fingers one by one. It was one of the rare times I’d ever seen her so gentle and quiet, and it surprised the fuck out of me.

I was just glad she didn’t notice my erection growing under my boxer shorts. If expecting Anna to go straight to sleep was a mistake, then putting my nose in the crook of her neck so all I could do was smell her was a colossal fuckup.

And then, when she woke up after her nightmare...

The moment between us was deeper than I’d felt with anyone in such a long time. And when she touched the back of my neck, the black paw print, I could barely hold on to myself. I wanted to shut her down like I did whenever anybody mentioned my past, but I didn’t. Anna was so vulnerable that I couldn’t bear to shut her out; so instead, I opened my soul to her. And once I opened myself and saw Anna open herself in return, accepting what I had done—which I hadn’t for almost twenty years—felt easy. It had felt right. Anna had felt right.

Overall, I woke up with my emotions raw and my defenses violated and in desperate need of a tobacco fix.

I reached my hand out for my cigarettes and nearly groaned when I remembered I’d put them on the other bedside table. I let out an annoyed growl before flipping over onto my other side and—

“What the fuck?” spluttered from my mouth as my eyes moved to the round, beautiful ass pointed high in the air, only a single pair of black lace panties sliding between each cheek.

Anna leaped up at the sound of my voice, her clothes in her hands pinned to her chest as her eyes whirled to meet mine. I didn’t think it could get worse, but as my eyes rose and saw that she was also only wearing a deep red, lace bra that peaked out just behind her clutched clothes, I knew that I was wrong.

“Don’t scare me like that!” she snapped. Her eyes looked down at her bags before looking back to where I lay in the bed and then down at the clothes pinned in front of her chest.

“I could say the same thing,” I ground out, my eyes sinking back down across her body. I could feel my mouth watering at the sight of her deep, sultry curves. Where you could see the ribs of the girls in the club, Anna’s body was covered in soft, cushioned skin that smoothed over her bone structure. Her broad shoulders and heavy rack balanced with her wide hips, both covered in a soft, almost innocent pale-pink skin tone. She didn’t have a thigh gap, and the way her legs pressed together only made me want to sink my teeth into them. I could imagine my marks all over her skin, and the image near made me explode then and there.

Fuck, it was too early for this.

It must have been written all over my face because, as my eyes rose back to hers, I saw Anna take an unconscious step back. “I’m going to get a shower,” she snapped, taking her clothes over to the door.

When I quickly rose out of bed, Anna stopped in her tracks, her eyes going down to the bulging erection in my boxers. I didn’t even say anything before a husky but firm “No” came out of Anna’s lips.

Whatever moment we shared last night obviously became invalid now, because Anna was back to normal, which meant I needed to prepare myself to get burned. I’d always been the type who liked to play with fire.

“That word isn’t allowed in this room,” I growled, my feet prowling across the wooden floor, my eyes locked onto hers.

“I don’t care about your rules, Wolf,” Anna scoffed, bundling her clothes under her arm as she set one hand on her hips, jutting her waist to the side. “And the only reason I’m in this room is because you won’t let me sleep in someone else’s room.”

“You’re free to go sleep in another room,” I said and watched her eyes widen with surprise. “But if you do, they die.”

“What?” Anna snapped. “Don’t be fucking ridiculous. You can’t kill one of the brothers for letting me sleep in their room.”

“I can,” I promised, taking a step toward her. “And I will.”

Anna took a step toward the bathroom as her eyes searched my face. Judging by the deep scowl, I knew she could tell I wasn’t joking. Even so, I saw her eyes flicker to the door with longing.

“Try it,” I dared.

She whirled her head back on me with a vicious scowl. “Fuck you,” she snapped, picking up her feet and barging past me and into the bathroom. I let her go, watching her ass move in those tiny little panties while forcing myself not to move before I went and tore them apart.

“Fucking perv,” she hissed, punctuating it with a slam of the door.