Guardian (Wolf Shifter Romance): Reckless Desires (Alpha Protectors Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

as much as I actually did.” Blunt, but it was kind of the truth. Vaguely. It was taking every ounce of willpower I possessed not to pin her against the wall and finish what we’d started.
    She recoiled as if I’d slapped her.
    Fuck. What was wrong with me? I’d admit I wasn’t a ladies’ man with a smooth tongue, like Angel, but I could usually manage to talk to a woman without insulting them. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
    “Whatever,” she snapped out, waving away my excuses. I could see her tugging herself back together, weaving her icy facade between us. “Don’t worry, you won’t have to put yourself through the…hardship again.”
    I wanted to wrap my arms around her and tug her close, make her understand how I really felt, but I couldn’t. My body was frozen with indecision as my mind flared with panic.
    So, I did what any reasonable man would do, I clamped my lips together and nodded. There’d be plenty of time later to figure this all out, but first I needed to get her to safety.
    I was taking her home with me.

Chapter Seven
    Natasha
    C ole had barely spoken three words during the drive, his hands pinned to the wheel as he steered his massive overgrown truck through late-night traffic. His jaw was locked tight, his face illuminated by the brief flare of passing streetlights, highlighting his five o’clock shadow and lips stretched thin with tension.
    I huddled in my seat, fighting against curling in on myself and forcing my hands to rest easy on my lap. There was no reason to be afraid of the man next to me. He wouldn’t hurt me. Deep down I knew he wouldn’t. But the jumping pulse in his throat, the twitch at the corner of his eye—something was wrong. And for some reason, I didn’t think it was the fact someone had tried to kill me.
    Not that he’d tell me. He’d shut me down as quickly as he’d stuck his tongue down my throat.
    My pulse jumped as I remembered how it had felt to be cornered by him, the utter bliss of not being in control for once. Not worrying about how it looked, what people would think. All responsible thoughts had been shoved aside by him . There had been no room for thinking. His sheer presence had dragged a response from my soul, his mouth demanding and hands questing until I had surrendered.
    A shudder teased my senses, liquid heat throbbing through me as I indulged the memory, anything to block out the sheer panic that threatened to overwhelm me. Someone had tried to kill me . Like cold water being poured over my head, the shudder this time was distinctly unpleasant.
    A loud creaking noise caught my attention. Muscles corded his arms where they were braced against the steering wheel. His bare chest rose and fell as he sucked in a deep breath.
    “Where are we going?” My voice sounded strange in the silence.
    No reaction.
    “Cole, I said—”
    “My home,” he eventually ground out, his lips barely moving. He wasn’t looking at me. His eyes were pinned to the road.
    I was pretty sure that even if he hadn’t been driving, he would’ve been doing everything in his power to avoid me anyway. Why? What had I done? I mentally shook my head; it didn’t matter anyway. I’d hired him to do a job, and so long as he did it, then we didn’t have a problem.
    I relaxed back into the seat, calm washing over me. So what if he had issues? They weren’t anything to do with me. Liar, liar, pants on fire , a voice whispered in my head.
    Green eyes flicked to me, then back to the road.
    I closed my eyes, letting the rumble of the road beneath us flow through me, the passing lights tinting my closed lids pinky-red. The truck slowed, the indicator flicked on, and then we lurched to the right. Opening my eyes, I took in the long, sweeping driveway outlined by a tall line of trees. At the top stood a large house, a massive structure of gray stone and steep-vaulted slate roof. Twin columns stood on either side of a solid wooden door holding up an overhang just big enough for