Dropping my hand from her waist, she stepped away, walking towards the lady's room.

My eyes tracked her, imprinting every detail. Flawless. Every goddamn inch of her.

The way her dress smoothly followed every curve, fluid over her waist, hips and that perfect round arse. She was simply mouthwateringly perfect. And, she looked just as good from the back as she did from the front.

Her hair, a few inches above her shoulders, left the smooth skin of her neck exposed. Again, the image of my hand wrapping around it, letting my tongue run up the side, forced my stomach to clench, and the hair to rise on the back of my neck.

Wasn't there any part of this woman that I didn't find sexy?

My jaw tensed as I tried to calm my pulse and the rushing of blood to my dick. Wouldn't look good being stood here with an obvious erection. And I didn't want Scarlett Monroe thinking she caused it. Fuck no. Her eyes already kept wandering over the length of me with that hopeful look in them.

I wished women wouldn't look at me like that.

I refocused on watching Sage. Swerving my head around Scarlett so as not to miss a thing. I could see how many heads she turned as she walked past them. Men took a second and third look.

The urge to rip their fuckin' eyes from their sockets was immense, and I clenched my hand into a fist without thinking, digging my nails into the palms.

My wolf snarled, and I felt an unreal possessive urge kick in, thumping through my head, coiling and twisting and tightening around my throat.

Jesus Christ, what is going on with me?

We both needed to chill the fuck out.

Swallowing down the unnerving feeling flooded my body. I focused on scanning the room to see the obvious interest from men and wolves in the room. Now I know none of these bastards would be stupid enough to approach her when they could see she arrived with me. But I see one prick looking at her—longer than he fucking should be.

Barry Lyons. Fuckin' pretty boy. Second to the Alpha stood next to him, Johnnie Walton from the West Side Pack. Bunch of nasty hard bastards. They didn't like me and it's fuckin' fair to say, the feeling was mutual.

I knew that look though. Prick.

Like he's thinking about fucking her.

And then the cheeky bastard looked at me with a fuckin' shit-eating grin spread across his face. Which his face would look a hell of a lot better when I've added a black eye, busted nose and maybe a few teeth missing.

My skin tightened as my wolf rippled just below the surface. He was desperate to be let loose on this wanker.

He continued to look at me and I stood straighter, pushing my shoulders back. Clenching my jaw, I glared at him.

He's fuckin' asking for it.

He sharply looked away. As anyone who knew me—knew not to fuck with me.

That's right sunshine—keep your beady eyes to yourself if you want to keep them!

Point made.

I kept my eyes on him for a few seconds more before I noticed two women behind him looking at her. Shitting hell. Just my luck it's Harriet and Chantelle, twins. Both were regrets of mine. Their eyes were turning green as they stared at her. Not that Sage noticed. She seemed oblivious to all around her.

I now wished that I hadn't brought her here, inwardly groaning, I let my gaze return to Scarlett as Sage disappeared from my sight.

Now for some strange reason, this made me nervous, and I had to stop myself from heading her way, planting my feet firmly on the floor.

In an attempt to shake the weirdness, I shifted my attention back to Scarlett here, and she's still babbling some sort of shit, I had no idea what.

When was she going to shut the hell up?

Sage had excused herself pretty damn quick when Scarlett here had called her 'another of my lady friends.' Christ! But I knew why.

Scarlett had pursued me for many years. Now as women go, Scarlett here is okay. Beautiful to look at, a body that would inspire many a fantasy and from a good family. Her dad was a pure wolf by birth and had a good standing in his pack, although he gave up being Alpha a few years back.

Her mother was as I like to call them a 'convert.' But he didn't change her until after Scarlett was born, so she wasn't pure blood. And that's where it got messy.

Scarlett here doesn't exactly fit it. And she desperately wanted to fit in. Even worse, she had this crazy idea that I was her ticket to fitting in—Never gonna' happen sweetheart.

And let's say I could spot crazy a fucking mile off. And I knew if I was to indulge in what lay between her legs—then I would never hear the end of it. Plus, I liked her dad. He was a principled man, and I didn't like to screw over those who had been good to me and my family.

Anyway, the last thing I wanted was for Sage to think she was one of 'many.'

Okay if I'm being honest then there have been quite a few women. I'll rephrase that. There's been more than I could remember and yes sometimes I'd been involved with two or more at any one time, both in and out of the bedroom.

Not proud of the fact, and I wasn't bragging. But I was safe and always upfront with my intentions and they were all aware of the fact that there would be no commitment on my part.

It's also true to say I rarely entertained wolves. Too much trouble, and in the wolf community there was a lot of jealousy, as wolves were possessive and too fuckin' clingy. Especially the younger ones as they were always on the lookout for their 'mate.' So I always made sure they had a mate and or married—that way they expected nothing from me.

But I'm a single man for fucks sake. So it's a given that I'm gonna sample what the world had to offer in the fairer sex—didn't mean any of them had meant anything. In fact, only one lasted more than a few dates and that was because she had tonsillitis and I had to wait.

I wasn't the settling type. I liked to 'fuck' and then get out.

Quick.

Painless.

And single status intact. Half the time I didn't even need a 'date' to get them in bed, plenty of women out there were eager to jump in. Truthfully, I think some of them used me as I used them. And fair play to them.

However, this is what I found strange with Sage. For some fucked up reason, I wanted to go on a date with Sage and I was looking forward to our date tonight.

Well, technically for it to be a date, she would have had to know it was a date, which she didn't...yet.

But I thought I had made it clear with my intentions of wanting to get to know her.

And this was another first. I didn't want to get her naked... tonight.

A hook-up wasn't the goal.

I had this crazy idea in my head that I wanted to get to know her. Figure what was different and then I would fuck her and that should be it. Job done. I should be able to move on, yeah?

Surely that will work, and my life could return to normal.

I pulled out my phone whilst Scarlett was still jabbering on about some pointless shit and texted my associate to be ready. I'd shown my face here, so it's time we got out of here.

I looked towards where she walked off and I still couldn't see her.

What was she doing in there?

The weirdness returned, like I'd lost something and my wolf paced behind my eyes.

I needed to find her and quick sharp.

"Excuse me, Scarlett, say hello to your Dad for me, yeah?"

"Oh, ok, I was..." she started to say. But I was already walking off. I wanted to find Sage and then get the hell outta dodge.

As I walked towards the bathroom, I saw the three Witches of Chelsea coming out.

Fuckin' hell, that's all I need.

These three were beautiful on the outside, but rotten to the core on the inside. I made the mistake of fucking 'Charlotte' who as it happened, was a wolf by birth.

Mistake number one. But in my defence. I was off my head and half wasted, and she told me she had a mate.

Mistake number two. I fucking stupidly took her for her word.

Never make that mistake again. It took me months to get her off my back. She stalked me to the point I had to take her by the throat one night and threaten her.

Anyway, my stomach dropped through my balls. If they had been in the bathroom with Sage, they would have definitely been bitchy towards her.

Fuck!

They looked at me and were ready to pounce like I was some goddamn buffet. Lucky for me, John, an old friend, was just behind them, and I ignored them and held my hand out to him.

"John, good to see you mate," I said, and the witches huffed and walked past me.

He shook my hand. "Long time no see Hunter. How's Zander?"

Him and my brother were close when we were younger.

"Still in America, he's heading up operations there, whilst I get the good ol' UK."

He nodded his head. "Right. Heard about the shit that's been going down, here in London. Any leads on it?"

John here was Alpha to a pack just outside Scotland, so only came up for functions like this one. Or if me or my brother needed his help. "Nah, not yet. Gunners on it though. Sure that will get some results soon."

He nodded again before he went a little quiet and rubbed his chin...and I knew what was coming.

"Listen, Hunter, I know I haven't seen you since... your Dad, and we're all sorry. He was a talented man, had a lot of respect for him. Good man."

I tipped my head. I hated these awkward conversations. "Yeah, but at least it was quick."

My dad had died in his sleep with a brain aneurysm. I didn't talk about him or his death. We weren't that close. He was always taking care of business and never had much time for me and my brother. But he was a good man—and I wouldn't have anybody say any different. Period.

John stepped to his left to allow other people to go past us and I spotted the red dress. Sage was on the balcony. I held out my hand again to John. "Listen, mate, it's good to see you. If you're around for a while, text me and we can meet up. If not, I'll come up your end soon."

He shook my hand. "Yeah, sounds good Hunter. You look after yourself."

Reaching the door, she didn't hear me. I placed my hand on the lower part of her back. She was gazing out onto the gardens.

I instantly relaxed. "I've shown my face, let's get out of here, yeah?"

She looked at me and her eyes narrowed slightly. Yeah, something was definitely said in the bathroom, she was stiff, holding herself at a distance from me.

"You hungry, I'm hungry... yeah?"

I was trying to be a gentleman but my dick hadn't got the memo and he hardened when her soft scent caught my nose.

She nodded and I led her out back through the main room, again with the whole room watching our every step.

We got in the car and I checked my phone. Nice one, everything was in place. "Ready?"

"Where are we going Hunter?" she asked and goosebumps rippled down my arms.

The way my name rolled from her tongue in that French accent was fucking delicious. And as expected my dick was back to full attention.

"Home," I said and turned to see her face drop slightly, which was the reaction I needed from her. I wanted to see if she would be disappointed if she thought I was taking her home.

And there it was—clear as day. She didn't t want me to take her home...yet.

I smiled and watched her cheeks flush. Yeah, whatever happened in the bathroom was fixable.

"Not back to your home Sage, I'm taking you to my home."

"What?" she asked. "Your home, where?"

"Well, I have a few apartments here and a very nice home in the city. But I want to show you somewhere else, where I like to relax. It's in Weybridge."

"Oh." Her eyes narrowed as she bit her bottom lip. She didn't know what to make of my plan And, I had to stop myself from groaning as I wanted to be the one to nibble on those perfect lips of hers.

"It's the closest I own with some land. And I want us to have some space." Now she looked confused and shifted herself in the seat. She doesn't have a clue I know what hides inside her. "We just have to head over to Harrods first."

"What... Harrods. Why?" she asked, as her voice went up a notch.

"Yeah, leaving my car there and taking the helicopter. It will be quicker. Traffic will still be a bitch being a Friday and people heading out of town for the weekend.

"Helicopter?"

"Yeah, you're not afraid of flying, are you?"

"No... but." She stopped and started biting her bottom lip again. Then she looked out the window. I wanted to ask what she was thinking—but I bit my tongue. It can wait. Let's get back to mine first.

We reached the underground car park of Harrods and Harry the attendant was ready to allow us access to the roof. "Hi, Harry," I said as I got out of the car.

Walking around to her side of the car, I opened the door, taking her hand in mine, helping her from the car. I liked the feel of her hand in mine, it felt right.

What the... I like holding her hand?

Thank the fucking lord my brother couldn't see me now; he would piss his sides at me holding hands. Don't think I've held a girl's hand since I was ten years old. Claire was her name, and she brutally brushed me aside for my brother—bastard!

I didn't let go of Sage's hand as I softly rubbed it with my thumb, and she didn't try to free herself. Although her eyes were wary of my intentions.

"Mr Stone and Miss." Harry tipped his head. "They're ready for you Sir, and I will make sure we return your car safely to your home."

"Cheers Harry." He punched in the code to the reserved elevator and we headed up to the top. I still had hold of her hand. Her skin felt so soft, and I wondered if the rest of her skin would feel the same.

We didn't talk on the way up, but I stilled my senses and tuned into her heartbeat. Yeah, it was going like the fucking clappers. She's nervous all right.

Reaching the top, we were welcomed by the pilot. She was quiet as we took off and I squeezed her hand to make sure she was okay. She looked at me and gave me that shy smile—and my breathing stopped, it was fucking breathtaking to see.

We landed at my home around twenty minutes later. She'd been quiet the whole ride over, but then again it's difficult having a conversation whilst flying, the noise for a start.

As I got out and helped her out, I took her hand and we ran towards the house. The blades from the helicopter were like being in a tornado, the wind whipped around us both. She gripped her dress. We stopped and turned to see our ride lifting off into the air.

Suddenly pulling her hand from mine, I felt the instant change as she placed one hand on her hip and tilted her head slightly.

Here it comes. Whatever's been on her mind was about to come out.

"Hunter, what's going on here? I mean... we were supposed to attend your function. You have me get all dressed up." She gestured with her hand towards her dress before continuing. "We stay around fifteen minutes tops, and then you whisk me off to... " She stopped whilst she looked around. "To here, your home?"

I could see her point of view. This looked over the top, perhaps even a little crazy. I needed to calm the situation before it got out of hand.

"Yeah, I can see this might look a little bat-shit. But I wanted to show you where I live. Nothing sinister Sage. You don't have to look so worried; I've not dragged you out here to have my wicked way with you. No matter what you might have heard about me."

She did that sexy thing with her mouth again. Nibbling on her lip and I could see she had a thousand questions running around that brain of hers. "But Why? You've only known me roughly forty-eight hours? Why bring me here?" She waved her hand as she took in her surroundings.

There was panic in her voice and I wanted to tell her I didn't have a good reason why I brought her here. I just knew I wanted to be here with her, now... like this.

"Listen, we can eat and if you're still unhappy, then, I will take you back home, yeah? But like I already said. I want us to get to know one another better, and I want to do that somewhere where I thought you might like, where we can relax."

I paused and could see, she was thinking about what I said. I continued. "Listen, during the day I have to be around people... all day. And they drive me fuckin' crazy most of the time. So, being here relaxes me, somewhere I can be myself."

"Do you often bring people back here?" she asked.

I could see where she was going with this and I needed to make it clear. "No Sage. Never. This is where I grew up and this is the first time anybody outside of the family has been here, to my home." I held eye contact. I needed to make sure she understood what I'd said.

Point made.

Her shoulders relaxed and a slight smile appeared on her that beautiful face of hers. I could feel myself getting warmer. Situation calmed. Thank fuck for that. "C'mon let's eat. I'm starving, yeah."

I wanted to take her hand again. But I didn't, instead, I gestured with a flick of my head and after a few moments, she turned and walked beside me following me into the house.

Time to impress her Hunter.