Didn’t he realize she had no idea what to do?

She stayed glued to her spot. Tried to get her breathing under control. A need stronger than any she’d encountered before filled her, but she had to remember there was an ocean between them, even though it seemed like a puddle the more time they spent together.

While the thought was unbearable, the best thing for her to do was let him go. Forget that she felt him all around her, yet his physical absence swamped her with loneliness and twisted her insides. Forget that he made her wish for things to be different.

Never before had she wanted anything—or anyone—so badly.

Could she take what she wanted and move forward? Could she make love to him and follow through with her assignment? Did she want any more assignments? Her recent failures told her no. Her heart and head told her no.

Sometime during the past week, doubts about her job and obligation to P.I.E. had escalated. Working with Hugh on something that seemed more legitimate in both its mission and cause had made her think. Not all Veilers were the monsters they were painted to be. Hugh had explained the growing tension between Wolf Seekers and the Night Runners. He’d shared the wrongdoings on both sides, and it reminded her that human history was rich with atrocity. Most Veilers lived in the human world without incident. They blended in and contributed to society. Criminals came in all forms, human and Veiler. Innocence couldn’t be measured by one’s heritage. And nothing was black and white. Yet prejudice played a huge part in culpability.

Was she prejudiced? She’d accepted the teachings of P.I.E. Followed through on assignments without serious question.

Until now.

A noise in the distance grabbed her attention and she looked toward the mountainside. A rabbit hopped out of the bush, its nose twitching. It was white and fluffy and Tess found herself wishing she had a carrot to dangle in front of it.

A carrot. To dangle. Hugh had just dangled one in front of her, hadn’t he? She’d be an idiot not to grab it.

She ran into the house and found the door at the end of the hall open. An invitation if she wanted it. She slowed her steps so she could take some deep breaths and quiet the rapid beat of her heart.

The idea of being intimate with him filled her with happiness. The kind of happy she thought she’d never feel again. The kind of joy that if she were honest, she hadn’t felt since her parents were alive. Unfair she knew, to compare Hugh and Jason, but with only one lover in her past, it was inevitable. The time spent with Hugh had made her realize what she had with Jason didn’t go nearly as deep as she’d once thought.

A couple of feet from his bedroom, she stopped and put a hand on the wall to steady herself. The musings over her past as she was about to embark on something new, something that would take away from those memories, gave her second thought.

She’d never reflected so much about anything. Follow your instincts, Tess.

Follow your heart.

She’d never been given that opportunity before.

Her mind had always ruled her actions, not her emotions. Now she felt so mixed-up that making any coherent decision seemed futile.

Time to go with her heart, she reasoned. See where it led her. What did she have to lose?

Everything.

When had that ever stopped her?

She moved to Hugh’s doorway and peered inside his room. He’d just stepped out of the bathroom and was pulling his shirt over his head. Tess stood mesmerized by the well-defined planes of his torso.

He was surprisingly void of hair, given his half-shifter birth. In her dreams, he’d looked just like this, but she’d thought the reality might be different. His chest muscles were definitely larger than her palms, and she wanted to splay her fingers across his skin for confirmation. Sliding her gaze to his rock solid abs—the sort with ridges she’d only seen on male models in magazines—she found she really wanted to touch.

His biceps muscles were exceptional too. Defined like a heavy lifter’s, and she was struck with the notion that he’d let her win their arm-wrestling match. But the sexiest thing about his bareness, aside from the way his jeans hung low on his hips to reveal a sprinkling of hair leading down past his button, was the tattoo.

On the smooth skin over his heart was a tattoo—a symbol with thick, beautiful black strokes like two waves curling around each other. It was about the size of her fist, and she found it more appealing than any artwork she’d ever seen before.

Her breath hitched, and if he hadn’t known she was there, he did now. He threw his shirt to the side and his eyes met hers. He looked at her with so much hunger that she wobbled, catching herself on the edge of the door. With just a look he had her panting, her nipples hardening, and the spot between her legs throbbing.

Seconds passed without a move by either of them, all the while their eyes were fixed on one another. Tess gulped. His gaze was a warm caress she didn’t want to end.

“Tell me what you want,” he said, breaking the silence.

She wanted everything, but couldn’t find the words.

“Tell me what you want,” he repeated, “and I’ll give it to you.”

Pudding, her legs felt like pudding. “I want…”

He inched closer, and the throbbing, the hardening of her nipples, the loss of oxygen, amplified. When he stood within reach, she touched the tattoo, the sculpted muscle. His skin sizzled. Heat, strength, animal magnetism poured off him.

“Tell me, Tess.” His voice, husky and thick with desire, made her heart pound.

His hands remained by his sides. Waiting for her cue. Her permission. Admission. If he didn’t touch her in the next five seconds she’d explode, or implode. Or something like that. Her brain was a little fuzzy.

“I want you to touch me,” she managed to get out with a breathless sound.

“And?” Deep, dark, commanding now.

“And kiss me.” She remembered the taste of him and wanted more. So much more.

“And?”

To hell with all his ands. “I want you to fuck me, devour me, ravage me. And then I want you to do it all again.”

He traced his finger along the base of her neck and slid it down, feather-light, until it reached the top of the scooped neck of her shirt, the top of her cleavage.

“The way I feel, that could take all night.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.”

His eyes dipped to her breasts. She took a deep breath, positive her nipples poked through the thin cotton of her shirt. Then he looked up, and she stared into blue depths that had captured a piece of her from the very start. Right now she swore she saw a flame flicker in their azure color.

A second later he captured her mouth with his and pressed her hard against the bedroom door, sealing it shut. He wasn’t the tiniest bit gentle, his chest crushing hers, his stance capturing her center between his legs. Energy radiated off him, sending powerful shivers of need through her. With his palms flattened on either side of her head, he kissed her with purpose, his lips spreading hers so he could sweep his tongue inside. She kissed him back with equal vigor, like her next breath could only come from him.

She kept her hands at her sides, flat against the door, enjoying the fierceness of the kiss too much to distract herself with feeling him anywhere else at the moment. He moved his hips an inch to the side and, oh God. His erection hit her just right. The sensation had her so turned on, she needed to get rid of the clothing between them before she came just like this.

Warmth spread from the center of her chest, coils of pleasure pulsed deep in her belly. Hugh knew exactly where to slip his tongue, where to press his lips, how much give and take to allow. When he pulled back to nibble on her bottom lip, she opened her eyes and found him gazing at her.