Tequila Sunset (Last Call #4.5) Read Free

than a sweet human woman.
    Iris unbuttoned her thick blue jacket and
hung it on the hook he’d installed next to the door for her. Her
fingers hesitated next to the spackle that covered a hole in the
wall a few inches to the right, and he knew she had to be
remembering the day when she’d asked to borrow a screwdriver. She
hadn’t known how to hang the hook, or even what wall studs were,
and he’d ended up stifling helpless laughter at her frustrated
swearing.
    Belatedly, he realized he’d left his own
jacket at the bar. He cleared his throat and sat on the edge of the
futon. “I guess we have a lot to talk about.”
    She turned, and he could almost see her
gathering her determination around her like a shield. “I owe you an
explanation, and I’ll give you one. But I’m not going to change my
mind. You’re a good man, and you need a good woman.”
    He chose his words carefully. “And you think
that’s not you?”
    “ I’m a demon, Zack.” Gentle
words, spoken as if she wasn’t sure he understood -- or believed.
“I’ve played human for seventy years, but it doesn’t change what I
am.”
    “ So I’ve heard.” He rose
again, just to keep from fidgeting like a kid on his first date.
“Guess that means you think Leo’s making a mistake with his new
girl, too.”
    “ Caitlin’s too young to
understand what he is.”
    Her condescension set his teeth on edge.
“And me?”
    Iris met his gaze, and the challenge in her
eyes wasn’t enough to cover the tiny thread of nervous
vulnerability -- or the desire that stirred in her every time they
were alone together. “Alpha werewolves think they can handle
anything.”
    He ignored the challenge, though doing so
made his hands shake and his words rough. “Leo’s as whipped as any
man I’ve ever seen. So either his girlfriend’s an astronomically
terrific lay, or you demons aren’t as immune to emotion as you make
it sound.”
    “ I never said we were immune.”
She took a step closer, crowding his space, and for the first time
he felt power rise in her as she stared up at him with dark,
dangerous eyes. “If I didn’t love you enough to want you safe, I
would have fucked you straight into hell by now. You can’t trust
me. ”
    He wanted to grab her. Kiss her. Instead, he
took a deep breath and steadied himself. “Love doesn’t send people
to hell, Iris.”
    “ The things I want you to
do to me might.”
    Don’t even think about asking,
Elliott. “That’s bullshit. Give me another excuse.”
    Her mouth opened and then closed
again, as if she hadn’t been prepared for such a casual dismissal
of what was apparently her best argument. “I… that’s reason enough .”
    It didn’t come close to balancing out the
nights alone in his bed, dreaming of her. “No. It isn’t.”
    She huffed and spun on her heel before
stalking toward the door. “That’s it, then. If you’re so cocky you
don’t think anything can touch you, it’s pointless to argue. You
should go home now.”
    His steps were longer. Zack overtook her
before she could open the door and pressed his chest to her back,
trapping her against the wood. “I never said nothing could touch
me.” The scent of her filled his nose, heated his blood, and he
nudged her ass with his hips. “Tell me what you want that’s so
wrong, and we’ll see.”
    Her breath caught, and he could smell her
arousal as she braced her hands against the door. “An alpha
werewolf told me once that nothing made him as hot as a strong
woman’s submission, and that was my specialty. I decided he wasn’t
worth the risk, and I stayed away from strong werewolves after
that.”
    “ Your specialty was faking it…
or not faking it?”
    She shivered, and the words came hesitantly,
as if she wasn’t sure she wanted to give him the truth. “I faked
submission. But I didn’t always want it to be an act.”
    If he’d tried to imagine Iris telling him
these things, it wouldn’t have worked. Yet here she was… His