Ronnie gave a frustrated whimper.

Brendon opened his eyes to see Ronnie shake her head, a frustrated frown on her face.

“You need help going over, baby?”

She nodded, whimpered again. “I’m so close.”

He pulled one hand away from her hips and placed his thumb against her mouth. “Suck on this like you sucked on my cock.”

Without hesitation, she took his thumb into her mouth and sucked hard, her tongue swirling around a bit before going back to sucking.

I can’t believe I slept through most of that blow job.

Dragging his finger from her mouth, Brendon brought it down the middle of her body until he hovered over her clit. He stared up into her face, wanting to watch Ronnie while he did this. While he gave her this.

He touched her clit with the pad of his thumb and made small circles.

“Oh God, yeah,” she panted. “Oh yeah.”

Brendon increased the pressure a bit and Ronnie exploded, her orgasm ripping through her, leaving her shaking and gasping. And smiling. She always smiled when she came. He kept up the pressure and the movement until she caught his hand with her own.

“Stop. Stop.” Ronnie laughed and leaned back, shaking out her shoulder-length hair. “Whew! That was exactly what I needed, darlin’.”

Taking Brendon’s hands and placing them on her breasts, she said, “Now I need to know what you need.”

He grinned, loving that she cared enough to ask. “For you to finish that blow job.”

“Oh baby. That I can so do.”

Ronnie woke up when the morning sun hit her full in the face. She took a moment to enjoy the feel of Shaw’s back pushed up against her own. Took a moment to enjoy the scent of a male surrounding her. Shaw’s scent. But she only gave herself that one moment. Now it was time to go. Like she did nearly every morning she woke up in a man’s bed. And Shaw would be no different. No different from the other men in her life that she wrung pleasure from and then left before they ever woke up. Before they ever had a chance to ask her to stay.

Moving with the stealth she’d been born with, Ronnie slipped out of Shaw’s bed and started toward the door. Quickly, though, she realized she had to pee like a race horse. Taking a detour, she went to Shaw’s adjoining bathroom, pausing for a moment in the doorway. Good Lord, the man had a huge bathroom.

Huge bathroom, huge apartment, huge cock.

She used the toilet, washed her hands and face, brushed her teeth using her finger.

“You’re procrastinating, girl,” she said to herself in the mirror. “Just get your clothes and go.”

Ronnie slipped back into the bedroom, picked up her clothes and boots, and headed to the door. She stopped right in front of it, staring at it.

All she had to do was put her hand on the knob and open the door. She glanced back at Shaw. Still asleep, he wouldn’t know she’d left for hours. She looked back at the door.

Open the door, Ronnie Lee. Open the door and leave.

But the thought of going back to her boring hotel bed held absolutely no appeal. Usually, she couldn’t get out of the room—and away from the male she’d just had sex with—fast enough.

For the first time ever, she didn’t feel that overwhelming desire to escape. The realization unsettled her, but she blew it off. Merely the holidays, she told herself. People got lonely around the holidays.

Dropping her clothes into a chair, Ronnie walked back over to the bed. A deep breath, and she slipped back under the covers, resting on her side. It felt nice and right, but she blew that off, too. She was just tired, is all.

Shaw turned over and wrapped his arm around her waist, his face nestled into her hair, his cock snug against her ass. She rested her hand on his arm, smiled, and went back to sleep.

Brendon waited until he knew she was asleep before he let out the breath he’d been holding. True, he would have stopped her before she made it through his front door, but he wanted her to come back on her own. Wanted to see if the pull she felt was as strong as his own.

He didn’t feel smug in the knowledge she came back. More like relieved. He’d fallen hard and fast for this female. This woman. He had no intention of letting her go now, but he wasn’t stupid enough to believe it would be easy to keep her. Ronnie didn’t like anyone having a hold on her. Not a man or her family. Not even her Pack. If she knew Shaw wanted her to stay in his life forever, she would have sprinted out the door like in one of those Bugs Bunny cartoons, leaving a big Ronnie-shaped hole in the wood.

No, he’d have to be crafty. He wouldn’t trick Ronnie. He didn’t want her to stay because she thought he was dying or something. He wanted her to stay because she loved him. Because the wolf in her realized it had found its mate. So he’d have to be crafty to keep her around until she realized it. Until she admitted it not only to him but to herself.

Thankfully, cats were known for being crafty and extremely patient.

Already planning his next move, Brendon pulled her closer and smiled in pure pleasure when she gripped his arm tight—afraid to let him go.

Ronnie stood in front of Shaw’s refrigerator and continued to debate the pros and cons of its contents.

She absolutely detested eggs, so that was out. The man had enough bacon to feed the French Foreign Legion, but then she’d have to cook. She worked really hard to avoid using that stove thing.

She could eat some fresh fruit, but…nah.

“Uh…excuse me?”

Ronnie didn’t bother glancing over her shoulder at Shaw’s brother. She’d heard him at the front door as soon as he slipped the key in the lock and she smelled him as soon as he got off the elevator. And she didn’t feel self-conscious because Shaw’s Philadelphia Flyers hockey shirt reached below her knees, covering her naked ass.