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  “No, she didn’t. My grandmother was responsible for that.”

  “What? Huh?”

  “It’s a little confusing, but it’s not when you actually think about it. I don’t want to talk to you right now. I’m so pissed off.”

  “Well, back up. Let me process what you’re pissed at.”

  “I’m pissed that rather than come home in the last three days, you’ve spent it hurting people, Liam. You’ve not once come to check on me. It’s like you’ve completely forgotten that you’re married.” She held up her finger that displayed the wedding band. “We are married.”

  She turned on the shower and climbed beneath the spray, screaming as the cold hit her.

  Liam wasn’t done with this conversation. Stripping out of his clothes, he climbed into the shower too.

  Jenny continued to glare at him.

  “You can be pissed at me all you want. I don’t give a shit. I’m not leaving this. Not once. I fucked up.”

  “Yes, you did. You royally fucked up.”

  He gripped the back of her neck and drew her close to him. He slammed his lips down on hers, sliding his tongue across her bottom lip. At some point, she must have brushed her teeth, as she tasted like peppermint.

  “I’m angry with you.”

  “Then be angry. I don’t care, but you’re not pushing me away.” He kissed her hard and pressed her up against the wall.

  At first, she was tense in his arms, completely unforgiving until she relented, wrapping her arms around his neck. He lifted her and groaned as he kissed her. Her wet pussy touched his cock as she circled his waist with her legs.

  Cupping her thigh, he slid a hand up to cup her generous ass cheek. So fucking sexy and hot. He wanted to fuck her harder than ever before.

  Jenny was the one to reach down for his cock, to align him to her entrance, and he helped her to slowly sink onto his dick. They both cried out and he nipped at her bottom lip.

  “You can be pissed at me all you want, but this, this is who we are. Don’t ever go out like that again.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do. If you’re not here, you’re not going to be able to stop me.”

  “Is that a threat?” he asked.

  “No, I can guarantee it’s no threat. I’m just telling you how it’s going to be.”

  Her tight heat surrounded him. She closed her eyes, arching her back, and he took the offering of her tits, sucking on the hard nipples.

  Fuck, he couldn’t get enough of his wife.

  ****

  Jenny didn’t expect to be so wet, but one touch from Liam, and she was ready for him. She wanted him more than anything else, craved him.

  He was everything, even if she was a little pissed at him.

  As he drove inside her, she reached down to stroke her clit.

  “Fuck, baby, yeah, touch your pussy. Stroke it. Make yourself all nice and wet for me.”

  Up against the corner of the shower, Liam fucked her. His thrusts pounded inside her, taking over completely.

  She moaned his name as he bit down on her nipples, taking his time on each before using his tongue to tease her even more.

  “Come for me. Let me feel you, Jenny. I want it all. Come all over my cock.”

  Jenny came hard and Liam fucked her even harder, making her take all of him. She loved the feel of him. The thickness, the length, and she took all of him with relish. Finally, when he came, spilling his cum deep within her, she lay in his arms, spent. The last of her energy completely taken out of her.

  He stroked her head. “I’ve got you.”

  She didn’t need to question what he meant as he pulled out of her.

  Liam held her close beneath the spray of the water, and he took care of her. He took his time, washing her body, her hair, caring for her.

  Once he finished, he turned off the water and grabbed a towel. All this time, he didn’t let her go.

  It was the first time in her life she felt truly … loved.

  No, that couldn’t be right. She’d been loved growing up, but not like this. Liam cared about her. The way he touched her. The tenderness, it meant so much to her.

  He dried her body, paying attention to her more than anyone else had. Then he pulled her close, pressing his face against her neck and breathing her in. She closed her eyes.

  She released a scream as he suddenly picked her up within his arms and carried her back through to the bedroom. He pulled back the covers and lowered her under them.

  “Stay here,” he said.

  Jenny nodded. It wasn’t like she had the energy to go elsewhere.

  She pulled the covers over her body, feeling the cold seeping into her bones. She didn’t entirely know what had happened tonight, and the truth was it scared her. Something big and bad was at that burning site. She didn’t understand the girl’s presence as she seemed just as frightened.

  Her grandmother hadn’t come back.

  “I know it’s not much, but it’s something,” Liam said, returning with a tray. She smiled as the microwavable meal of pasta with a couple of slices of bread warmed her heart.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  He left her alone, only to return with a tray for himself.

  She expected him to sit beside her, but he took the spot opposite her, his tray balancing across his lap. His gaze stayed focused on her.

  “Do you want to start by telling me why my men are afraid of you?” he asked.

  “You saw that?”

  “They’re supposed to be deadly men. The best kind to protect you, and yet you have them quaking in their boots. Why?”

  She smiled. “Let’s just say I shared all of the name-calling from my youth, as well as the gossip of our upper elite, and told a few lies.” She shrugged. “It wasn’t hard to do. So many people don’t understand me. They think I’m some kind of witch. Years ago, they probably would have had me burned at the stake.” She sighed, taking a bite of pasta. The food wasn’t great, but it was something to eat.

  If Liam had taken the time to cook, she wouldn’t have been able to see him now. His presence was enough to fill the empty, lonely void that had been placed in her heart.

  “Do you want to tell me what happened at the building site?” he asked.

  “Not really. I … I felt this need to go there. I don’t know why. It’s not like it did me any good.” The memory of the man, his beast, sent another spark of fear down her back.

  Liam touched her and brought her back to reality. “You said your grandmother caused it.”

  “I went there to see. I was told there were six deaths, but I’d seen three people. It wasn’t bad or anything. I had this feeling. I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s like a compulsion. Something lured me toward that building. I needed to go see it for myself. When I got there, I saw the little girl.” She stopped and frowned. “I never got her name. Do you know it?”

  Liam shook his head. “No children were supposed to be near that building, Jenny. I promise you. She wasn’t meant to be there.”

  “She was, and so was her mother.” She took a deep breath. “I think she’s trapped there. I don’t know.” She moved her food around, thinking about her.

  “Do you want to tell me what led up to you passing out?”

  She licked her lips. “The girl called him the bad man. When I looked at him, though, he wasn’t a man. Did one of your wolves die in that building?”

  Liam shook his head. “No, all of them were civilians as far as I’m aware.”

  “That can’t be right. He wasn’t human, Liam. Is there any way someone could be lying to you? I swear, that man was part wolf. His body had been transformed into an ugly, more cynical version of a wolf. He was scary, like he was draining the energy of the house. He had power. The lights flickered. I felt his rage. He hated me just on sight. The girl was terrified. She said he was mean, but she wasn’t allowed to leave. That he would disappear. My grandmother, before he could do anything, she was there, but in order for her to fight him off, sh
e had no choice but to take my energy from me.”

  “You know this all sounds a little…”

  “Farfetched?”

  “Little bit.” He held his fingers up and she laughed.

  “It feels it, believe me.” She ran fingers through her hair. “I’m sorry.” She pushed her food away.

  “Can you see your grandmother?” he asked.

  “No. She disappeared after everything went dark. Did I hit the ground?”

  “I got to you,” he said. “You didn’t touch anything but my arms.”

  She offered him a smile. “You’re my shining knight.” She touched his arm. “You’ve got to find out who her mother is.”

  “Baby, I have nowhere to start.”

  “You know what that building was for. You’ve got a starting point.”

  He shook his head. “We use that building as a cover to help distribute drugs and some other crap my father wants to sell, but I promise you, Jenny, on the night of the fire, that building was supposed to be fucking empty. No one was supposed to be there. All of our men are accounted for. The bodies that have been identified, we’ve had to run some kind of … interference, to show we still have control. We don’t know who it was, or how it burned down.”

  Jenny sat back, shocked. “You don’t know who caused it?”

  “No. We don’t.” He stood up and walked a few steps, then back. She watched him. His rock-hard body on full, tempting display.

  “We don’t know who could have been in the fire, or why. There is no reason for anyone to be there,” he said. “They were, but why?”

  Jenny looked at her husband. The little girl’s comments came back to her. “Wait a minute. The little girl. She must have passed due to the smoke inhalation because she told me she screamed for her mother but she didn’t stop. Her mother got out of the fire and into the car with suited men. Nice suits. The kind that if she sees, she has to be quiet. I know it’s not a lot to go on, but it’s something, right?”

  Liam looked at her. She saw his mind working, and she smiled at him.

  “The cameras,” he said.

  “What?”

  “The cameras on the building have all been wiped. We do it for our own protection, but what about across the street?” he asked.

  “Do you think someone might have proof of what happened that night?” she asked.

  “It’s worth a shot.”

  Chapter Seven

  The following day, Liam arrived back at the scene and glanced at his passenger, Jenny.

  “You didn’t have to come with me, you know. I can navigate this all by myself.”

  “I know and I trust you.”

  “But?” he asked.

  “But nothing, I’m just… I have to be here with you. I don’t understand it myself, but I feel like I have to be here. It makes no sense. I know that.” She climbed out of the car and he did the same, looking over the car roof at the building.

  “Are you getting anything?” he asked.

  “No. It even looks different in the morning. Strange.”

  No, to him, it was strange that dead people could zap his wife’s energy. That fucking terrified him, and not in a good way.

  He tapped his fingers on the roof of the car and looked at the building, trying to figure everything out. There was one story going out to the press, another to his men, and the truth he told Jenny last night.

  “What about over there?” Jenny asked.

  He followed the direction where she was pointing and saw it was another angle of the street. There were three other businesses, all of them with cameras pointing in opposite directions of his building.

  “I guess we better start going to look.” He slammed his door closed.

  “Did you bring your checkbook?” she asked.

  “I did.”

  “You’re going to need it,” she said.

  The first property was a florist. The woman gave him an angry glare until he pulled out said checkbook and wiped out half of her debt with the stroke of his pen. He handed her the piece of paper and she took him toward the back room where she held the tapes of the past week.

  It wasn’t too hard to find the one he needed. The times were on the top right-hand corner.

  The woman stayed with them as the footage played, but it didn’t give anything away. The shadows on the ground gave an indication of when the fire got out of control. There was also a fire crew at some point, but that was it.

  “Do you want your check back?” the woman asked.

  He declined and followed Jenny out of the florist. “Even with that money, she will never recover.”

  “Don’t be that way. Without your seedy business here, she might find a way of bringing in new customers.”

  “My seedy business?” he asked.

  “Yes. Do you think that eyesore didn’t cost a lot of people in the long run, not to mention your reputation?”

  “There is nothing wrong with my reputation.”

  Jenny turned toward him with a shake of her head. “Seriously, you want to play that game?”

  “I’m not playing any game, just stating a fact.”

  She rolled her eyes. “They don’t even know that you’re a wolf. That at the height of the full moon, you give in to your blood lust.”

  He wrapped his arm around her. “The only lust I feel is getting you naked and riding your sexy pussy on my dick.”

  She chuckled. “Soon, but we have got to do this.”

  “You’re in a chipper mood,” he said, taking hold of her hand as they crossed the street. “Do you care to tell me why?”

  “Sure. I don’t believe in allowing stuff like this to completely suck with my day.”

  He glanced at her. Her smile was so serene. She looked beautiful. Her hair did seem whiter than before, if that was even possible. He didn’t know if it was or not.

  Lifting her hand to his lips, he kissed her knuckles. “Have I told you lately how beautiful I think you are?”

  “No. You don’t tell me nearly enough times.” They had stopped in the street and Jenny’s gaze moved toward the main building.

  “Do you see something?” he asked.

  “No, nothing. It’s like nothing and no one is home, but I feel something.” She licked her lips and her hand trembled in his. “I don’t like this.”

  “Come on, let’s go to the next place.”

  The next shop was a toy store, and after paying a great deal of money, there was no luck there either. As he followed Jenny out, they went to the final store, which was an artisanal store that had seen much better days. He wondered if the owner was going for true authentic value, but he kept his thoughts to himself as they were played a tape.

  Jenny held his hand and the moment he saw a car, she tensed up.

  He watched as they were able to see a screaming and crying woman being pulled into a car.

  “That’s exactly how she described it,” Jenny said.

  “The little girl?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “I’m going to need this tape.”

  “But—”

  “Tell me how much you need and I’ll write it down, here and now.”

  Seconds later, they were out of the shop and back in his car.

  Jenny had gone quiet and her gaze was on the building. She all of a sudden got out of the car and walked right across the street.

  “Of course, my wife has to be able to see everything no one can.” He got out. He couldn’t deny his senses. His wolf knew that something was here. Without questioning it, he crossed the street.

  Jenny had crouched at the gate. Her fingers slid between the metal.

  “I know it wasn’t your fault. I am fine. I promise.” Silence. “Does the bad man come here often?” Another pause. “Okay, sweetheart. No, it’s fine. No. You don’t have to go.”

  He listened and heard Jenny sigh as she stood.

  “She’s gone.”

  “The little girl.”

  “She wouldn’t tell me her name.�
� Jenny put her palm to her head. “We better get out of here before someone calls the cops or has us uploaded on some social media sites.”

  “Oh, the joys of modern communication.”

  They crossed over to the waiting car. He opened the door for her and climbed behind the wheel. Without waiting, he started up the ignition and took off, leaving behind the mystery building and the little girl.

  “You ever thought about the fact the young girl could be … you know, haunting that spot? It could be her own special spot. Where she lures all of her victims and kills them?”

  “Don’t start. She was in the fire. The way her clothes are, and she has burned clothing. She is a little girl. A victim.” She rubbed at her temples. “And she’s afraid, but she can’t leave the grounds because of that asshole. He was there, I know he was, but whatever my grandmother did, he was too afraid to come out.”

  “Okay, did your grandmother kick some ghost’s ass? Isn’t that like impossible?”

  Jenny groaned. “Do you want to talk about this now?”

  “Why not?” he asked. “We might as well. I want to understand you a lot more.”

  “That’s not always a good thing.”

  “Give me a shot.”

  She took a deep breath. “Okay, fine. You know how you have all of these sightings? Ghost stories. Mysterious, floating things, and just odd stuff that never really has any great explanation or logical ones?” she asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, ghosts or spirits, they … it’s all a little vague, but it depends on their level of power. Their rage, and I also believe their intent to do harm. There’s no guidebook or rules even that govern them. It’s not like they’re going to get arrested for wandering into a woman’s house in the middle of the night and watching her get changed or sleep. Like living beings, most spirits are friendly or grumpy. You have a random bunch who can cause trouble, and kind of like whoever died in your building, you have some that end up becoming a rumor, then a ghost story, and before long, you’re chanting some words in front of a mirror for something to appear. It’s not like there’s an exact science to this. Far from it.”

  He heard the frustration in her voice. “I don’t mean to upset you.”