Free Ready to Were by Robyn Peterman Page A

more debilitating. The silence was heavy and my brain was jumbled.
    “Do you still love me?” he asked calmly.
    I glanced up and my eyes locked with his. Having nothing left to lose, I nodded my head yes.
    “Then you need to show me.”
    “I don’t know how.” I was stricken. How could I erase a year of pain and anger?
    “Essie, when you left me you were still a girl. I didn’t realize it—I was too close. You became your own woman this year. As much as it sickens me that we weren’t together when this happened, maybe this was the way it was supposed to be.”
    “You watched me. You saw everything I did. Why didn’t you drag me home?” I asked. He wasn’t prone to rash action, but he did have the wild possessive streak of a Were.
    “Trust me, I was tempted…but I wanted you to grow, and because I had Dwayne’s ear and big mouth I felt secure. Not to mention your Granny said, and I quote ‘I will rip your alpha ass apart if you don’t let that girl find herself’.”
    God, my Granny loved me something fierce. Standing up to your alpha was serious business. “What did Dwayne tell you?” I asked as I felt my cheeks heat.
    “You’ll have to ask him.” He gave me a half smirk that made me want to weep with joy and tackle him to the ground at the same time.
    We stared at each other for a long time. I literally ached to touch him, but I still wasn’t sure what the ground rules were. Did I have to pay penance? I was willing to do anything to regain his trust.
    “You’re going to have to make the first move, Essie,” he said quietly and leaned back against the wall.
    He was right and I was scared. Maybe he and Granny were correct. Maybe I did have to grow up. I was no longer just the alpha’s gal pal. I was my own woman—an agent, a strong, whole person.
    His green eyes turned a silvery blue and I felt wanted for exactly who I was—the crazy girl who would continue to attract trouble and make mistakes. The one who could love him like no other and the one who could finally accept his love in return.
    I stood slowly and slipped the straps of my sundress off my shoulders. His body tensed, but he stayed still. I let it fall to the floor and I giggled.
    “I’m still wired.” I grinned and approached him. My insides danced wildly and the scent of cinnamon filled the room. I was wearing a bra, panties, kick ass wedge Pradas that belonged to Dwayne , a wire and a small gun strapped to my inner thigh. I had never felt sexier in my life.
    “Officer, I’m going to have to ask you to remove your weapon,” Hank said in his sheriff's voice.
    “Wait, isn’t that my line? I’m the agent,” I answered as I bit back a laugh.
    “True, but I’m the sheriff…and your alpha. I trump. Remove the gun. I plan to spend some time there and I prefer to keep my manly parts.”
    “I prefer that you keep your manly parts too,” I said and stopped a breath away from him. His body went as tight as a drum and his Mr. Happy was very happy. I knew it took everything he had not to lunge at me. I marveled at his control and quite honestly at mine too.
    Carefully, I unstrapped my gun and put it on the coffee table. “Will you help me with the wire?”
    “Please?” His lopsided grin melted my insides.
    “Please,” I whispered.
    Having tape pulled from one’s body was not the usual foreplay I was used to with Hank, but it rocked my world at the moment. He ran his fingertips gently over the reddened skin and followed it with his lips. Somehow my bra and panties disappeared too. How had I not noticed that? Wait, who the hell cared?
    I stood before him in only my borrowed heels, feeling shy yet sexy. “You’re a little overdressed,” I murmured as I slid my hands under his shirt and pushed it up over his broad and familiar chest. The light sprinkling of dark hair tickled my fingers and the growl low in his throat made me grab onto him for balance.
    He did nothing to help me as I pushed the material over his head. The only