Read Online Wild Nights with a Lone Wolf by Elisabeth Staab - Free Book Online Page A

breath and turned her head slowly.
    There sat Ash, still with his arm around her waist, looking like he might be mentally shoring himself up for a firing squad. Good. Good. Because she was about to give him both barrels.
    “Did that mean what it sounded like it meant?”
    He pressed his lips together. “Well. You see...” Oh crap, he was talking all serious and quiet, the way people got when they were about to say, “We’re very sorry for your loss.” He took a deep breath. “The negotiation part is concerning. I have contacts. I can make another deal, a better one than Jojo. Not humans though, that’s never been my thing. There’s a chance we’ll be up against someone who doesn’t want a different arrangement, and then it gets ugly.”
    He shrugged like that potential wrinkle was no big deal. “As far as the ceremony goes? The government doesn’t recognize wolf unions, so legally it wouldn’t mean anything. It’s really only for the pack.”
    Uh-huh. “A ceremony that will have us married in the eyes of your family.”
    His face turned hard. “I disavowed these fuckers. I wouldn’t be here at all if it weren’t for Jojo and his bullshit. I don’t give a damn what they think.”
    “But that’s what it would mean.
    “That’s what it would mean.” Ash closed his eyes and shook his head. “This is a test. I walked away with the promise that I would never again interfere in pack business, and I would also never betray the pack. If I do, I die. Bringing you into this, Jojo put me in the position of either letting you get sent across the border or putting myself in the pack’s crosshairs. If they think I’m lying or betraying them, they’ll kill us both. If I fuck up this trade, same deal.”
    “Oh, my God.” Sherri grasped the edge of a rough, threadbare sheet. “That’s completely nuts.”
    Ash sighed. “Family. Can’t live with ‘em, can’t get rid of ‘em without committing a felony.”
    “Under other circumstances, that might be funny.”
    He flashed that same winning smile he’d used to cajole her into taking a drink at the bar. “It’s sort of funny.”
    Sherri rolled her eyes. “Maybe. Anyway, I have to admit I’m glad you’re here. I’d like to think I could have gotten out of this on my own, but that Jojo packs quite a wallop.”
    He touched the side of her face. “I couldn’t have taken that risk.”
    She found herself leaning into his palm for one Mississippi, maybe two, before it occurred to her she had no clue what came next. “So what do we do?”
    “Only one exit from this room.” Ash dropped his voice to an even softer whisper. “Usually there’s a lull in activity around here before dawn. If we want to get out of here before the trade, I’ll have to disable them so we can sneak off the property.”
    “Disable. Right.” That sounded cozy. “Where are we? How do we get back?”
    “Unincorporated border town called Lupanar Oscuro. The pack owns everything including the town itself. It’s over an hour’s drive to Nogales, maybe less since it’s late and we’ll be driving like beasts outta hell.”
    “And the chances they’ll catch up?”
    He’d pressed his face close to hers so they could talk quietly, and his slow, wet swallow answered her without any need for words. “I’m certain they will,” he said. “They wouldn’t be fighting at home though, so they’d have a disadvantage.”
    She looked up at the yellowed ceiling. “Well with odds like that, who needs Russian roulette?”
    “Fuck.” He choked on what sounded like an almost laugh. One great, calloused hand wrapped around hers. “I’m sorry as hell about all of this, Sherri. I thought Jojo had a shady escort business. I came to the bar to make sure he kept it off my turf and met a woman who looked like she’d be a lot of fun if I could get her to let her hair down. It never occurred to me that he might come after you. I wouldn’t have spent the night with you if it had.”
    Ash’s lips