Chapter 60

Erin’s POV

My heart was pounding quickly against my chest; I couldn’t tell if it was because I was caught snooping through Gavin’s office or because I was so furious with him. But the accusatory way he was looking at me made my blood boil.

“What am I doing?” I asked, stepping around his desk with the Moonshadow list in my hands. “What are you doing, Gavin?”

His eyes traced my face for a moment before landing on the paper I held.

“I can’t be too safe.”

“You think I’m a member of the Moonshadow?” I asked disbelief in my tone.

However, considering I was a member, it wasn’t too odd for him to think that.

“You have abilities, Erin. Both you and Henry do. It can’t be a coincidence.”

“You could have just talked to me about it but you’ve been investigating me instead,” I hissed, fury boiling through me.

“Would you have told me if I were to ask you?” He asked, narrowing his eyes at me. I fell silent, unsure of how to answer him. Of course, I couldn’t tell him the truth. The organization would most definitely come after him and me. “That’s what I thought,” he said, shaking his head with dismay written all over his face.

I didn’t have much argument, and he knew he was winning this battle. I dropped the paper onto his desk; I had no words for him.

I was hurt that he didn’t trust me, but I never gave him a real reason to trust me. For as long as he knew me, all I did was break his trust.

“Why are you in my study anyways?” Gavin asked.

Oh, right.

“I wanted to see what information you had on who started the fire and what you knew about Bane,” I told him truthfully. “It seems you are tying the two together.”

“Wrongfully so,” Gavin admits, stepping closer to me. “From what I heard from some of the victims, it seems a woman started the fire.”

“A woman?” I asked, raising my brows. “So, it wasn’t Bane?”

“Nobody seems to remember seeing him. But they do remember a woman in a red cloak. Some called her the woman of fire. Because the fire never touched her.”

So, the fire was started by someone with abilities. A woman who has the ability to manipulate fire. My skin crawled just thinking about it.

“Do they remember what she looked like?” I asked, peering up at Gavin with obvious worry in my eyes.

He shakes his head.

“The cloak was covering her face,” he answered. “But now that I know there is someone out there with that kind of ability, it’ll be easier to narrow it down.”

“The victims that recently died; all had burn marks that made their faces almost unrecognizable, right?” I asked.

He nodded his head once.

“So, do you think this woman of fire is the real criminal? The one who’s killing these innocent people?” I asked.

“Yes,” Gavin answered without hesitation. “I think she’s the one we’ve been looking for.”

“Then, we need to find her before anyone else gets hurt.”

I might have said that a little too confidently; my old Moonshadow persona was peeking through my normal girl mask. The confidence in my tone made him raise his brows as he stared at me with a perplexed look in his eyes.

“I’m going to do what I can to find her. But you are to stay in this palace until this whole thing with Bane is over,” he told me.

My frown deepened as I pressed my lips together.

“You can’t keep me prisoner, Gavin,” I said, shaking my head as that furious feeling started to return to me.

“I’m keeping you safe.”

“From what?!” I demanded to know.

“From Bane!” He hissed in return, stepping another inch closer to me.

I flinched, unsure of what he was going to do; I could see the pure anger in his eyes, and I knew what Gavin was capable of. Everybody in the werewolf kingdom knew what he was capable of.

He saw the flinch and the anger started to subside from his eyes; he sighed, staring around my face with an almost uncomfortable look.

“He’s after you, Erin, and I am not sure why. He says you’re incredibly powerful and he wants you for himself in his pack. Maybe he thinks you are part of the Moonshadow too… I don’t know…” his voice dropped to almost a whisper as he said this next part. “I couldn’t live with myself if anything were to happen to you. I couldn’t handle that… I can’t lose you, Erin. You must know that.”

I did.

My heart squeezed tightly and almost painfully at his words.

The look of sorrow replaced the discomfort he was obviously feeling a moment ago. Now there was just pain.

I reached my hand up to his face and traced his jawline with my fingertips; I wanted him to unclench his tightened jaw. My touch alone seemed to have relaxed him as he met my eyes.

We were only inches from each other; our hearts beat as one unit and my breathing slowed in pace to match one another as well.

I wanted to tell him that I was more than capable of caring for myself and protecting myself. He knew what I could do and how strong my abilities were. But the words wouldn’t come to my lips. I stared at his parted and full lips; a little speckle of saliva decorated his bottom lip and it made me lick mine.

Which he noticed.

His eyes were now looking at my lips, hunger forming on his face.

I leaned up, pressing my lips against his. I bit onto his bottom lip, drawing it into my mouth, and a playful smile formed from him.

He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me close to him. His tongue slid into my mouth, exploring me so curiously and affectionately that I couldn’t help but moan. His tongue felt warm and soft against mine. I trembled as his fingers traced my spine, trailing down my back and tugging at the bottom of my blouse.

He didn’t act with eagerness as he often did, but he acted with delicacy. Almost like he was afraid I was going to break.

I pulled away from him and I saw the wanting in his eyes; before he could say anything, I was pulling my shirt over my head.

I wasn’t wearing a bra because I hadn’t gone anywhere all day, so I was completely exposed to him. The excitement grew on his face as his grin widened and he lunged toward me, closing the small gap that stood between us.

He ripped his shirt from his body, tossing it to the ground. I went to protest against him ruining his perfectly good shirt, but his kiss trailed down my neck, nibbling and sucking every dimple and crease he could find, sending warmth through my body and turning my words into a gasp.

He kissed down my shoulders as I worked to undo my pants.

As soon as I was completely undressed, he pushed the papers off his desk, allowing them to land on the ground. I couldn’t help but laugh as he lifted me onto his desk and positioned himself between my legs.

I pressed the palms of my hands on the surface of his desk, trying to leverage myself and keep from falling over. As his tongue started to please me, I threw my head back and moaned his name.

I wrapped my legs around his neck to keep him in that position for a moment longer; which he seemed to like because he caught my eyes and I saw a twinkle of humor and delight in them. It made me laugh, but then his tongue hit a spot that caused me to gasp and throw my head back once again.

At that moment, I knew I was going to climax.

But my body was itching to explode, and I knew he could feel it too because he quickened his pace. His tongue hit every spot perfectly until I finally released myself.

He trailed his kiss up my torso and began to nibble on my tender nipples. His teeth grazed them gently, tugging them and bringing them into his mouth. His tongue was soft and wet, making my nipples harden from the warm contact.

I ran my fingers through his hair, tugging at it gently.

He moaned my name softly as he reached into his desk and pulled out a condom.

Soon, he was inside me. We trusted together, shaking his desk. For a moment, I thought we were about to break it, but his desk held strong as the two of us became one.

…

I returned to my room after making love to Gavin. My entire body felt so relaxed and pleased, though I was still trembling from my recent orgasm. I never wanted it to stop, but I knew it had to.

As I got back to my room, I grabbed my phone.

I froze when I saw I had a text message from Henry.

You can’t trust Gavin. Call me back.