the harsh truth of it bruised her heart. putting down her mostly uneaten sandwich, she rubbed her hand surreptitiously over the organ. she didn't know if she was trying to quell the ache or contain the wild fury of what she felt for riaz. but she had the sinking feeling it was too late. perhaps it had been too late the instant her wolf first responded to him, the attraction visceral.

having finished his sandwich, he turned to grab his water, saw hers. "eat the rest."

already on edge, she bristled. "since when do you get to give me orders?"

eyes of pale gold met hers, lashed by black silk. "since i realized you have a tendency to not eat properly." picking up the sandwich, he held it out.

she took it, placed it back down. "don't try to control me."

riaz's voice was a deep rumble. "i will not let my woman mistreat herself. eat the sandwich or we'll be here all day."

my woman.

her throat choked up, until she couldn't speak, every part of her hotly conscious of the hand he'd placed once more on her thigh. a couple of inches higher and he could slide that big hand to cup her with the same intimacy he'd done last night, in the hushed dark of her bed. the rough heat of his body so close, the dusky bronze of his skin an invitation to her lips, it stole her mind, made it impossible to think.

pushing aside his hand, she brought her legs up to crouch on the boulder-then jumped off the other side. "maybe i'll eat the sandwich later"-her heartbeat punching into her throat-"if i feel like it." this had nothing to do with the sandwich, they both knew that.

narrowed eyes. "you really want to challenge me over this?"

his tone raised her wolf's hackles ... and shot adrenaline through her body. "you know, why don't you eat it, since you seem to like it so much." with that, she turned and sauntered into the forest, ensuring her hips swayed in a way designed to further arouse his most dominant instincts.

riaz stared into the trees where adria had disappeared, his wolf at snarling attention. if she thought he'd just let her go after that kind of provocation, she had no idea who she was dealing with. taking the sandwich, he wrapped it up in the paper bag and slid it into the pocket of his jeans. it was going to be squashed all to hell by the time he ran her down, but his empress would damn well eat it.

a grim smile on his lips, he was on his way into the forest when a small body barreled into his legs. "whoa!" grabbing the pup, riaz set him upright.

but the boy wobbled, his face screwed up in a childish effort not to cry.

"hey." crouching down, riaz checked the pup over, discovered a sprained ankle. "come on, little buddy." he took the boy into his arms. "we'd better go see lara."

the distraught pup attached himself to riaz like a limpet and wouldn't let go until his mother arrived at the infirmary, by which time adria had a fifteen-minute head start. however, riaz was a lieutenant and one of the best trackers in the pack. it took him only two minutes to pick up the crushed berries and ice and wild musk of her scent, another thirty seconds to realize two very important things.

one, adria had run full-tilt the instant she was out of his sight; and two, she'd made an attempt to cover her tracks, so she clearly understood the consequences of the gauntlet she'd thrown in his face. his blood turned hot, the chase suddenly a very adult game ... until her tracks, no longer concealed in any way, showed that she'd slowed down to a walk.

he bared his teeth.

adria thought he'd given up. that was her second mistake. her first had been to taunt him in the first place. stalking her in silence, he tracked his quarry to a natural pool fed by two streams, taking care to remain upwind. a pile of discarded clothes lay on the bank, but that wasn't what drew his eye.

sleek and wet, she rose up out of the clear water, reaching back to squeeze the excess moisture out of her hair. her nipples were hard, bitable points from the chill of the wind, her skin cream licked with gold. flexing and unflexing hands that wanted to stroke and pet and possess, he dipped his gaze to the dark triangle between her thighs, his body rigid with the need to drive his cock into the molten tightness of her.

no more running, my stubborn, beautiful soldier.

chapter 50

adria finished wringing out her hair and considered whether or not to use her t-shirt to blot her body dry. she could always shift and return home in wolf form. it might be best if she did, because she wasn't sure she could hide the painful depth of her disappointment otherwise.

the chase had been a test, a game put in motion by the wolf that lived within her, wary and hopeful and with the courage to roll the dice. she'd needed to know riaz cared enough to be pissed off, enough to follow. changeling males who'd claimed a female were touchy about the kind of challenge she'd handed down, never simply allowed one to pass. that he had made it clear that though he'd called her "his" woman, it was only the shallowest of commitme-

"i like what you're wearing."

she was hauled back against a hard male body, one of his hands splayed possessively on her navel, the other cupping her breast to pluck at her nipple before the import of that deep male voice registered. her pulse turned into a hammer, her breath coming in soft gasps.

"sorry i'm a little late," he murmured in a way she knew meant trouble. "pup emergency."

relief and exhilaration threatened to make her melt against him ... but she was a dominant female wolf. slicing out her claws, she went to break his hold, but he'd read her intent-she found herself being spun around, her wrists imprisoned behind her back. he was using only one hand, but his hold was unbreakable.

"that wasn't nice." he gripped her jaw hard enough that she couldn't use her teeth against him, and bent to take a bite out of the side of her breast.

"that hurt!" she clenched her thighs, the delicate folds between her legs slick with a moisture that made lie of her attempt at a snarl. "riaz."

hot, wet laps of his tongue. "you liked it." he squeezed her jaw in warning when she growled low in her throat, eyes of wolf gold looking into her own. "behave."

she might not have been a lieutenant, but neither was she a submissive. not telegraphing her actions in any way, she brought up her knee at the same time that she snapped forward her head.

rearing away, riaz blocked the groin strike, but the dual attack distracted him enough that she was able to free herself. slashing out with her claws before he could regain his balance, she scored four perfect lines across his chest, shredding his tee. red seeped into the edges of the white fabric, but the cuts weren't deep. only enough to remind him that he was playing with a strong, dangerous woman, not an untried girl.

tugging off the torn t-shirt, he threw it aside. "now," he said, stalking her with slow, prowling steps and an unblinking stare, "i'll have to do more than just bite you."

oh, god. seeing his nostrils flare, the tang of her arousal thick in the air, she fought the primal urge to pin him to the earth skin to skin, and shot him a deliberately provocative smile. "i don't see you anywhere near me."

he laughed ... right before he lunged at her. the solitary reason she got away was because she danced left and into the deep pool created by the convergence of two streams. coming up a second later, she saw him crouched on the verge, watching her, his head angled in a very wolfish way. "i don't want to get wet."

"good, i'll stay in here then."

thick black lashes lowered to hood his eyes. "i just saw an eel swim past."

she jerked. "no you didn't." except what was that brushing her leg? yelping, she jumped a fraction to the right, glared at him when he chuckled. "you're making it up."

a grin that was all teeth. "come out and i'll only bite you a little."

she shuddered against the impact of him so playful and more than a tiny bit dangerous. that was it, she was a goner. dead and buried. don't give in. it was a command from her wolf-who understood that the male stalking her was having fun. so was she.

treading water, she shook her head. "thanks for the offer, but i don't think so."

shrugging, he dug his now-bare feet into the grass and settled in, watching her with that same unwavering and unquestionably predatory focus. "it's right behind you," he said a minute later, the tension between them a thrumming bowstring. "with a friend."

she spun around, backed up. "lia-"

"gotcha." he hauled her out of the water and pinned her to the soft grass in a single powerful move.

nipples rubbing against the exquisite friction of his chest hair, she wrapped her legs around the possessive intrusion of his hips. "you just wanted me close enough to grab." she scratched lightly at his shoulders with the very tips of her claws.

arching into the caress, he said, "i'm a wolf. what did you expect?" he slid his hand between her thighs with a boldness that intoxicated. "let's play a different game now." thumb and forefinger slick with the creamy evidence of her welcome, he rubbed the taut bundle of nerves that was her clit.

shuddering, she said, "yes," and tugged his head down for a kiss that ended with his tongue in her mouth and his fingers pushing inside her in hard male demand. "let's."

an hour later, riaz's hand trembled as he stroked it over the damp silk of adria's hair, her face peaceful in sleep. his beautiful, prickly, wounded adria had fallen asleep in his arms after the playful dance of their loving. he understood what that meant, knew he'd reached a part of her most people didn't even realize existed.

it was only fair.

because she'd reached deep into his soul, too, to places he'd thought would remain forever barren. quite simply, he was happy. cautious eyes, claws and all, adria made him happy. he'd worried his wolf would fight him, fight how hard he'd fallen for her, but the predator in him was delighted with the lover who had become a friend ... and who now owned a great big chunk of his heart. it nuzzled against her as he indulged his bone-deep need for skin privileges by caressing the sweep of her back.