In less than a second, he whipped her around like she was a Barbie doll and had her pinned against the wall. His hands remained on her upper arms as he looked down into her surprised face. Although dim, the light post over his shoulder allowed him to see blue eyes so startling clear they roused every nerve in his body. There wasn’t a hint of fear anywhere in their depths. Instead, she looked ready to give him another whirl.

“Give it your best shot,” he said, wanting to play. Hell, his playful side rarely made an appearance these days, and at the moment he felt like a ten-year old who’d eaten enough sugar to last a week. Only this time his sexual appetite wanted in on the action.

“That’s exactly what Dane said.” Impossibly long eyelashes reached up to her forehead as she spoke.

He was noticing eyelashes? And angling for a glimpse down her dress, if truth be told. “Yeah, well…”

Their close stance rendered him unable to string more than a couple of words together. He released his hold and took two steps back.

“Where’d he go, anyway? Maybe he found your friend?” She lifted herself from the wall without any apparent hard feelings or obvious intention to seek revenge. Instead, she closed the gap between them while waiting for his answer.

He moved another step back. Did the damn woman know what she did to him? Her pouty lips and keen eyes with long lashes suggested she did. Women didn’t play fair. “We decided to split up so I could get you back to your car.”

“I don’t need an escort.” She marched past him, shoulders back, head held high.

“Right. So you can sneak around some more. I don’t think so.” He caught up to her. She didn’t fool him. Not for a minute. “I’m taking you back to the bar and you’re going to get into your car and drive home.”

“Excuse me, but—”

“I give the orders,” he interrupted, a smile tugging at his lips.

“You sure as hell—”

“—can give them to you, so be a good girl and let’s get you on your way.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed her clench her fists and take a deep breath. She probably thought about hitting him. With his stronger than normal senses, he heard her heart rate speed up, smelled the salty scent of perspiration on her skin. Then she bit her bottom lip in a most distracting manner before speaking again.

“I’ll get myself where I want to go, thank you very much. You don’t get any say.”

“Tonight I do.”

“Tonight you don’t.”

“Do you argue with everyone trying to do a good deed?”

“You’re not doing a good deed. You’re annoying me.” She turned a corner heading in the wrong direction.

“Wrong way, oh wise one.” He snatched her arm to steer her the right way.

She yanked her arm back, but switched her stride. “I knew that.”

“Of course you did.” He glanced at his watch. Time ticked away. Time he should be using to hunt for Trey. He needed to ditch the exasperatingly attractive woman in the blue dress pronto. No matter how much the thought disappointed him.

“I’ll tell you what,” Tess started, “you fill me in on the Night Runners, and I promise I’ll go peacefully.” Her steps slowed. She dragged her feet as if they suddenly weighed eighty pounds each.

“Peaceful or not, I can get you to your car without saying another word.” He would not give her the upper hand.

“Yes, but that won’t stop me from yelling a few choice expletives on our way. I might rouse the neighborhood.” She tossed him a smug look. “And I’ve got news for you—when I’m mad my voice and language can be pretty alarming. I don’t think you want that kind of attention.”

Damn, she was good. Her combative nature and challenge to his authority had him wondering what she’d be like in bed. Bloody hell. Why was he letting his mind wonder there? “Two questions.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“You can ask me two questions that I’ll answer honestly. And then you’ve got to go.” He picked the pace back up, the realization of what he’d just offered making him want to hurry and put an end to this conversation. For reasons he couldn’t understand, he was willing to share with her things about his pack no other human knew. Fuck. What was it about her that made him want to spill everything he’d always kept close to the cuff?

She didn’t answer him right away.

The night shadows vanished, clouds swiftly blocking the full moon as he looked up to the sky. He felt the urge to howl, just to tease Tess, but refrained. Tonight’s sky held no real power over him besides causing the occasional itch. During full moons, Night Runners especially liked to mate. Maybe that was why he felt like confiding all of a damn sudden.

He steered her down a narrow alley that cut the distance to the bar by a block or two. The quicker they parted ways, the quicker his heart could return to a normal beat.

She tucked a few more strands of hair behind her ear while she peeked at him. The small gesture made him swallow. Hard. Her subtle study of him made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. A feat no other woman had accomplished.

“Fine. But no matter what I ask, you’ve got to answer. No picking another question—and no one-word answers.”

“You’d better make them good then.” Why did he suddenly not mind the questions?

Because she already knew about Veilers, he reasoned. If he placated her, maybe she’d stop being a pain in his ass.

“First question.” She paused and once again her blue eyes slayed him. “Explain what kind of wolfen you are.”

A brief sentence crossed his mind, but instead he decided to go for the longer version. Damn blue eyes. “Night Runners are half shifters with the unique ability to perceive, experience and feel human subjectivity.”

“How can that be?” she asked.

“Is that your second question?” He sensed her disconcertedness.

“No!” She turned her face away from him as if that might make it easier to refrain from speaking out of turn.

The corners of his mouth lifted without permission. He tried not to enjoy himself, he really did. He decided to give her a little more because…hell, just because. “My father is a werewolf and my mother is a Sentient.”

Her head whipped back in his direction, eyes wide. She was about to speak, then stopped herself and just stared at him like she was trying to decipher a code.

Laughter rang inside him. He saved her by continuing. “So when I shift I remain on two legs and have all the strength and animal instincts of a werewolf, including tissue regeneration, but my mind is able to pick up on things other humans can’t.”

“Like fear,” she said, not in question, but confidence.

Hugh choked. “Among other things, yes.” There was definitely more to Tess than met the eye. She knew about Sentients. Was she some sort of Veiler? Impossible. Her scent was one hundred percent human. He wanted to ask her questions, but bit his tongue. The last thing he needed was to get to know her better.

“I’ve always thought Sentients were angels in human form, but angels don’t procreate outside their kind. Which means…” Lines creased her forehead as she paused. “Are you telling me they’re just human? With special mind powers.”

“That’s right.”

She stopped, leaned against the side of a dilapidated building, and pulled off her shoe. “I keep getting damn pebbles.” She brushed away the tiny rock and fixed the shoe back on her foot.

“Where’d the heels go?” He looked at the broken shoes and tried not to laugh.

“They were slowing me down so I got rid of them.” She stayed put, thinking. He quieted the chatter in his head, not wanting to take advantage of the situation. If he gave into it once, it would be that much easier the next time, and he’d prided himself on keeping his connection to people as human as possible.

Temptation, however, beckoned him like it never had before. Tess was quite possibly the most infuriating, sexy and adventurous woman he’d ever met.