Free Found in Flames by Desconhecido Page B

“At the moment … maybe,” she finally admitted, voice breathless.
    He grinned and took a single step backwards, withdrawing his hands from her shirt. “Glad we understand each other, then,” he said with a smirk. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were glazed over with lust. The scent of her arousal had him straining in his jeans and he was very seriously tempted to continue their game, but he knew he couldn’t. Not yet. “Come sit with me,” he requested, stepping past her and into the little cave. “I want to ask a favor of you.”
    That was bound to get her attention.
    “You what?” she asked, clearly thrown enough for the lust to be cleared a little from her brain. She followed after him immediately, claiming a seat within arms’ reach next to him.
    Good.
    Dropping an elbow onto a lifted knee, Luka said, “While I’m out today I’d like it if you could interact with the pack. Keep your ears open, but don’t be obvious about it. I want you to listen to their conversations, try to get a sense of their impressions of each other.”
    Curiosity was flooding her scent now. “What do you mean? Do you have a traitor in the midst or something?”
    “No,” he assured her. “I need to choose a new Beta, and the Beta has to be someone they trust. Someone they respect.”
    Joella was quiet for a moment, processing his words. “I kind of get that, but…. Is ‘Beta’ wolf-speak for, like, ‘prince’ or something?”
    Again Luka’s lips twitched and he met her gaze easily. “Not quite. Think of it more like your military. It’s ‘wolf-speak’ for ‘second in command’.”
    Her delectable lips made a perfect ‘O’ and she nodded. “Okay, I get it.”
    Unable to help himself, Luka teased, “Otherwise it’ll have to be you.” Not that that was possible, but she didn’t know that, and all of a sudden he just had to have a little fun with her.
    Joella sputtered, eyes widening, and screeched, “ Me ?” Shaking her head, and her hands, wildly, she added, “Uh-uh, that would never work. For one, I’m human.”
    “Obviously. I’d have to Turn you.” And he knew she didn’t know the implications of that. He had no intention of explaining them just yet, either.
    She paled, swallowed, and hesitantly asked, “Are you … planning on doing that?”
    So she wasn’t ready. That didn’t surprise him. Hell, he wasn’t really sure he was ready for that, either. But the fact that he’d thought it, in a round-about way earlier, had forced him to realize he would very likely need to be giving that idea some serious thought in the near future. For now, though, he could answer honestly. “No,” he replied. And to distract her from his own terrible choice of subject, he exaggeratedly rolled his eyes and added, “I’d have thought you had a sense of humor.”
    Joella balked. “That was a joke?” She reached out and swatted his scarred shoulder. “I didn’t think you had a sense of humor!”
    “I like to keep everyone on their toes,” he said easily, glancing forward as a new breeze rolled in. The twins were returning, breakfast would be soon.
    “Now that I believe,” Joella mumbled. Then she did the most unexpected thing. She adjusted her position until she was leaning into his side, her head on his shoulder, and let the fingers of one hand dance along his nearest leg. Except her scent indicated she wasn’t trying to make a move. She was just … resting. Casually.
    And he liked it. Fuck.
    She sucked in a sharp breath, body immediately tensing, and straightened as if she’d taken offense to his realization. Which was impossible, so he frowned, intending to ask her what was wrong. She groaned before he could speak and turned horrified eyes to him. “Luka … we didn’t…. Oh my God, I can’t believe I was so thoughtless!”
    What the hell is she talking about? Tapping her forehead deliberately, Luka said, “Whole sentences, Ella. We didn’t what?”
    She swallowed, grabbed his wrist in