Free Predator's Claim by Rosanna Leo

her in dreadful wonder, as if his feet were glued to the floor.

Chapter 5
    The next morning, Charlotte pushed her cleaning cart around the lodge, losing herself in the busy crush of visitors as they headed down for breakfast in the various restaurants. She smiled and nodded at the guests, all shifters like herself, and did her best to ensure no one saw how frazzled she felt inside.
    It shouldn’t be hard. She’d banished emotion from her life at the age of sixteen and had grown used to feeling like a blank slate.
    And yet she’d begged him to kiss her. Un-fucking-believable. She needed her head examined.
    But it had been good. Off the charts good. Wet dream good. God only knew she’d woken up hot and sticky, fresh from raunchy, nocturnal images of him.
    Growling, she shoved her cart into an open suite and began to clean the area. It wasn’t long before her mind drifted away from rearranging bed pillows to the velvety persuasion of Bart’s tongue. She knew wolves had good tongues. After all, even in the wild, a wolf’s long tongue was used for lapping up water with an efficient flair. Nevertheless, she’d never kissed a wolf man who knew how to use his tongue quite like Bart did. He didn’t slobber all over her, but teased and coerced her, which had resulted in the floodgates opening between her legs. Even now, just remembering, moisture seeped between her folds and into her thong. “Oh, Jesus-fuck-me-Murphy.”
    She finished making the bed and then grabbed three pillows and whipped them against the floor in frustration.
    “Hey, Charlotte, you okay?”
    Her head whipped up at the inquiry. Lia Snow stood at the door, a crooked smile on her face as she regarded the poor pillows. Damn. With Lia being Ryland’s mate, she might as well have tossed pillows in front of the boss himself. So much for professionalism.
    The bear woman looked around and quietly entered the suite, pulling the door shut behind her. She picked up the throw pillows, fluffed them, and placed them on the bed with a grin. Then she sat there, patted the mattress beside her, and invited Charlotte to sit. “Want to talk?”
    She plunked herself down. “Not really.”
    “Oh, come on.” Lia wiggled a finger into her ribs, making her giggle. “You know you do.”
    She slapped the other woman’s fingers away. “Shouldn’t you be…canoodling with your husband somewhere?”
    “Canoodling. Is that what the kids call it now?”
    She brought her hands to her face. “Never mind. I don’t want to talk about canoodling.”
    Lia leaned in and whispered, “Are you having sex problems?”
    She whipped her hands off her face. “Oh my God. You’re my boss’ wife. I’m not having this conversation with you. Besides, I never have sex problems. People come to me with their sex problems. Fuck.” Her shoulders sagged. “Oops, sorry. Sometimes the curses just fall out.”
    Lia gave her a wide smile. “That’s what I like about you. You let it all hang out.” She grew serious. “Look, Charlotte, we’re all friends here. Family, even. And if you’re troubled, Ry would want you to have an outlet. We all need one. And seeing as your BFF Marci isn’t here, I’ll have to do.”
    She stared at the woman, feeling a measure of comfort in her friendly eyes. “I want to…canoodle with someone. A lot.”
    Lia nodded and slapped her hands on her thighs, a woman on a mission. “Okay. First thing’s first. Have you told him?”
    “No.”
    “Are you going to tell him?”
    “No.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because…I’m not the right woman for him.”
    Lia wrinkled her nose. “What does that mean?”
    Frustrated, feeling hot, Charlotte got up and walked over to the window, and then walked back, feeling no real sense of direction. Her feet just wanted to lead her to Bart anyway, which wasn’t an option. “Just how it sounds. I’m not right for him. He needs…more than me.”
    “What crap! You have a lot to offer. You’re smart and funny and, frankly,”