Wicked Cravings (The Phoenix Pack #2)(31)
Author: Suzanne Wright

“If anyone knows who has the potential to pass that kind of training, it’s me. I’m Head Enforcer.”

She snorted. “Yippee for you.”

“Dante doesn’t go easy. It’s tough.”

“And I can’t do it because, what? Because I’m a female? I’ll have you know that there are plenty of things women can do that men can’t.”

Tao snickered. “Like what?”

“Well, bend over in prison, for one. Multitask, ask for directions, belly flop with dignity, bleed for five days every month yet not die—”

“Have multiple orgasms,” offered Dominic. When Tao turned and scowled at him, he shrugged innocently. “What?”

“All right, all right,” said Tao, his hands raised in a placating gesture. He turned to Jaime.

“Look, if you think you can handle it, by all means try it. I’m looking forward to you proving me right.

But don’t expect me to be okay with you staying here. You’re a nice girl and everything, Jaime, but you’re also a danger to the pack, and I can’t endorse you being here.” With that, he and the other enforcers walked away. Her wolf relaxed slightly, though Jaime doubted that she would have done so if Dante hadn’t been so close and his scent hadn’t been surrounding her.

“None of the pack trust me anymore, do they?” She already knew the answer to that.

Dante placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “It’s not that. They’re just all in an overcautious mind-set right now because Taryn’s pregnant and Glory’s being a pain in our ass. Plus, most of them were there when Trey’s mom turned rogue. They’ve seen what a rogue wolf can do, and it hurt them all when Louisa had to be killed. They don’t want to have to go through all that again.”

“They shouldn’t have to. Why do you insist on me staying? You said Trey wants me monitored constantly. You’re Beta, you have enough to do without watching over me.” He cupped her chin. “Yes, I’m Beta. This is what Betas do.”

“You look after your wolves’ well-being, I know. But what about their well-being? I’m a danger to them.”

“Only if you stop fighting.”

“Answer me honestly. Do you really think putting me through this kind of training will make a difference?” She refused to even begin hoping.

“I know it will,” he replied with total conviction. Why was he so sure? There was no other acceptable alternative to him than that Jaime was safe and well.

Although Jaime wasn’t totally convinced, she wasn’t put off by the idea of training. She’d known without Tao warning her that it wouldn’t at all be easy. But neither was fighting her wolf.

Dante was right; she could admit defeat and, in effect, quit, or she could strengthen herself and continue to fight. “I hope you’re right.”

“I am.” He hung an arm over her shoulders. “Come on, let’s go move your stuff to my room.” She stopped dead. “What?”

He frowned and shrugged. “I guess I could move into your room instead. But my bed’s bigger.”

“Whatever gave you the impression that we would be getting into any bed together?” Her body and her wolf were fine with this potential arrangement, unsurprisingly.

“Gabe told me about the nightmares. He said they freak out your wolf and then she tries to surface. Don’t worry, I won’t take advantage of you being next to me in bed.” Though he’d be so very, very tempted, and rock hard the entire time. The sound of his cell phone ringing disturbed him from teasing her further. “Hello.” In response to Trey’s request, he answered, “Give me five minutes.” After he ended the call, he told her, “Trey wants me to take a look at some paperwork. Choose where we’re staying—my room or yours.”

“Well, since your bed’s bigger, I guess your room.”

He smiled. “Good. I’ll walk you to your room. I want you to get your things together. When I’m back from the office, we’ll move your stuff to mine. Okay?” Reluctantly, she nodded. Admittedly, there was a part of her that was both curious and excited about sharing a bed with Dante. However, another part of her was absolutely terrified, because she wasn’t good at ignoring temptation. As said temptation didn’t return her interest, it would be pretty damn messy if she jumped on the poor unsuspecting victim.

It didn’t take her long to pack some of her stuff together to take to Dante’s room. She figured that she didn’t need to pack and move everything. It would be easy enough to go back to the room at some point if there was anything she needed that wasn’t basic stuff.

She had expected Dante to be a little put out at the sight of her things lying around his room.

Instead, he seemed kind of…self-satisfied. Her wolf, though still Dante’s number-one fan, wasn’t too pleased about the move. She liked being in a space that smelled heavily of Dante, but she didn’t like losing her own personal, private space. As a matter of fact, neither did Jaime. There was also the none-too-small matter that spending a lot of time with Dante would mean that she was in a perpetual state of arousal—something which he would be well aware of, unless she could find some nose plugs somewhere. In fact, two pairs of nose plugs would be nice. That way, his amazing scent wouldn’t be constantly teasing her and her wolf.

God, this all had the making of a disaster. Especially when she knew just how gifted those hands were, and especially now that her state of arousal had hit critical levels.

Huh…it occurred to her then that it was Saturday. And there was one thing she had planned for tonight. Operation Calm Libido. Oh yeah, that was what she needed. With some luck, she might actually bag herself a guy for the night, and that would help her function like a normal person around Dante—who wouldn’t be happy about her leaving pack territory.

Yeah, well, he would simply have to be unhappy, because there was no way she would let any person control her. Jaime had her own mind, and she knew how to use it. She was aware that she’d be in some serious trouble with Trey for ditching her guard, but Jaime’s motto was that it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission. There was a chance that Trey would count it as a strike against her and banish her, but she knew that was going to happen sooner or later anyway.

She’d seen the looks the enforcers gave her earlier; she’d seen the wariness and distrust in their eyes. That same wariness and distrust had been in the eyes of the rest of the pack at lunchtime and at the evening meal. Only Dante, Shaya, Dominic, Gabe, and Hope had treated her just the same as before. Trey and Taryn had been absent both times, and Jaime strongly suspected that Trey was purposely keeping his mate separate from her. She understood that, she understood all their reactions, but it still hurt. It was truly only a matter of time before Trey changed his mind and slung her out. Why not just get it over with?