Free Wolf at the Door by Sadie Hart Page B

jeans and shimmied into a fresh pair. He might
have said fuck it and just taken off in the clothes he’d slept in,
but after a night spent snuggled up with her, he was sure her scent
permeated the fabric. Chances were he’d still get questions, fresh
clothes or not, but he didn’t have time for a shower.
    “Going out?”
    Brandt glanced up to see Timber leaning
against the stair rail. She wore a pair of loose-fitting jeans and
an old T-shirt. Her long purple hair was pulled back into a
ponytail, only a few loose strands teasing the edge of her face.
Staring up at her, he found it hard to concentrate on anything
other than what it had felt like to have her pressed up tight
against him, to have her lips on his. The heated warmth of her
mouth, the silken touch of her tongue against his.
    Her nostrils flared and he realized he wasn’t
being subtle. She could probably smell his arousal, even if it
wasn’t stamped all over his face. Brandt jerked his attention back
to the job. He stuffed his feet into a pair of socks and reached
for his shoes.
    “Yeah. Think we found someone who spotted
Wolfe in town.” Brandt tugged last night’s shirt over his head and
let it flutter to the ground. “You staying here? Hell. I never
thought to ask. What do you do, Timber?”
    He glanced up. Her eyebrows had risen in a
small arch as her gaze swept down the length of his chest and back
up. “Do?”
    “For a living? Do you have a job you need to
go to? I can have someone—”
    Her eyes clouded and Brandt nearly bit off
his own tongue to stop the flow of words as they tumbled out of his
mouth. Right. She still didn’t trust him enough to let him bring in
anyone else. He should be thankful for what trust she’d given him,
considering...but, hell.
    Maybe another one of his Hounds would have
had more restraint.
    “I write. Don’t worry, I won’t leave the
house today.”
    Brandt yanked on his shirt. “Good.”
    “You think— you think they actually saw
Charles?” Brandt wanted to tell her it was okay, that Wolfe
couldn’t get her here, but he wasn’t about to make her a promise he
couldn’t guarantee to both of them that he could keep. He’d have
Hounds posted outside all day, but he didn’t dare make her that
promise.
    “That’s what I’m going to find out. She’s
taking one hell of a risk either way. Wolfe doesn’t sound like he
likes loose ends.”
    “No.” She whispered it, but even across the
room he could hear the anger in her soft voice. Her knuckles were
white where she gripped the banister.
    Brandt stared at her a moment, watching the
play of emotions across her face. The hatred, the anger, the fear,
they spiraled through her, one after another. He doubted she knew
what she felt anymore. Especially now, when she’d fought so hard to
be free, only to discover it had been an illusion.
    Without thinking, Brandt strode across the
room. One hand clutched the banister as he swung around and took
the two steps that put him just below her. He waited for her to
flinch when he reached out, but she didn’t. Timber stood there,
unwavering, while his hand found the curve of her neck and slipped
up along the edge of her jaw. His fingers burrowed into her hair,
and he pulled her head down, lowering her lips to his.
    He shouldn’t.
    Everything in him knew better. She was a job,
a victim, someone he barely knew, and yet he kissed her anyway.
Just a soft, soothing caress of lips, until she was kissing him
back. Her hands framed his face, and when he pulled away he saw her
confusion. “I promise you, I’m going to do everything in my power
to keep you, to keep this other wolf, to keep everyone I can,
safe.”
    Then, before she could say anything, or he
could do anything else as reckless as kissing Timber again, he
turned and hurried to the door, snatching his keys off the table as
he passed.
    Somehow, between last night and this morning,
whatever boundaries he’d maintained between personal and
professional had blurred, but