Robbing the Alpha

Ch. 12: The Hustler

BROOKE

Huck drove how he kissed, stealing my breath, igniting my blood, making me feel as if I were flying. Any sane person would have been afraid, but I seemed to have misplaced my sanity quite some time ago.

"Faster," I said, my tone nearly too low to be heard above the roar of the engine.

His brow lifted, then his foot slowly eased down on the gas, seeming to test how far I would go before I changed my mind.

The trees blurred. My chest heaved. "Faster."

Huck's smile was all fang. "Alright." His leg straightened, knee locked into place, and the engine roared, propelling us like a rocket.

We topped a hill, and for a moment, the car and everything in it defied gravity. I levitated above my seat, stomach in my chest, before crashing down with the tires. I laughed, losing myself in the moment, swept up in the excitement he never ceased to bring.

Too late, I saw the hook in the road. "Wai—ahhh!"

Huck jerked the wheel, and the momentum yanked me toward him as we drifted around the bend, coming dangerously close to the tree line. I gripped his bicep and screamed so loud my throat could bleed.

Laughter boomed from deeper than his lungs as the road straightened. He punched the brakes, and the car fishtailed, then squealed to a jarring halt along the shoulder.

I fought to catch my breath. "That was—"

He twisted and cupped the back of my head, pulling me to him, devouring me like a man starved. It wasn't sweet. Wasn't even sinful. There was no thought, no control, no artful melding of mouths, or rhythm. I fell prey to his madness, clawing him closer, kissing him back with the same ferocity.

With a harsh sound, he broke the contact and pinned his forehead to mine, searing me with scorching eyes. "Would it offend your mountain wolf sensibilities if I said I wanted to fuck you?"

Heat pooled between my legs, and my breath caught in my throat. It was crude. Scandalous. "It's supposed to," I rasped.

His eyes hooded, falling to my mouth, and I held my breath in anticipation.

"We have to move, or we'll never make it back before dawn."

He was right, but that didn't make it any easier to let go. Huck gave me a warning look, pried my grip from his ribs, and then sat back in his seat.

I straightened and folded my hands in my lap, trying and failing to snub out the fire still burning in my belly, and the rest of the ride down the mountain was filled with a nearly unbearable tension. Every so often, I'd catch him glancing at my legs, licking his lips as if imagining what it would be like to eat me. But he didn't. He kept driving until we passed the low town then parked the car amidst the trees.

"We have to travel on foot from here. It isn't much farther."

I nodded and climbed out, and he led the way back through the thinning trees. I'd never seen the valley before, and I don't know what I'd expected. But it wasn't what I saw when we topped the final hill. A literal wasteland. I stopped and stared at the miles of stumps stretching between us and the village below.

"What happened?" I breathed.

"Where do you think the money comes from?"

My mind snapped back to the conversation I'd overheard Titan having at lunch—something about losing harvesters. "They're selling the trees," I said. "And you're trying to stop them."

"Stop them?" He laughed, but it was a humorless sound.

"You're destroying their equipment. I overheard them complaining to Titan about it."