Wicked lessons with the rakish wolf

The power to destroy

*Ethan*

I do indeed possess a key. It is no doubt unwise to take her up there, as I want to do things with her that are best done within shadows, and there are shadows aplenty within the balcony, and my passions are on a weak tether. She is not an innocent miss, only recently presented to the queen. She is a widow. She has to know men, has to know that I am with her at this moment because of my desire to know her in the biblical sense. Without guilt, I can give in to my desires.

But she is not quite what she seems. Of that I am fairly certain. I have spent a lifetime avoiding entanglements and relationships. I never look below the surface of a she-wolf, but something about her urges me to explore a little deeper.

She isn't a foreigner as I had first wondered. Her speech is refined, definitely local, deliberate, but now and again I catch the lilt of something else, as though she is putting on a performance and forget for a moment her role in the play.

That little aspect to her intrigues me all the more but is no cause for alarm. I do not want anything permanent with her. I merely want to explore all that lays beneath the red gown. My hands would span her waist. Her breasts would overflow my cupped palms.

I guide her through the crowd that is becoming more populated by the hour. How many blasted invitations have been dispatched ? I doubt I will seek sport here after tonight. The club will no longer be as exclusive as it had once been. But then I have long ago found darker places in which to vent my shame and anger.

We get to the door that opens into the hallways where offices and secluded rooms provide very private entertainment. Removing the key from my waistcoat pocket, I extend it toward her.

She gives me a delighted, wicked smile, filled with mischief and daring. She enjoys doing things she ought not.

I like that about her. Before the night is done, I anticipate that we will do a great many things we ought not.

Inserting the key, she turns it, twists the knob, and opens the door. She hesitates not even a heartbeat before walking through and passing the key back to me. After closing the door, I once again offered my arm.

"Everything here seems older," she says.

I nod. "Tempest didn't bother refurbishing this part, for which I'm glad. There is something comforting about the familiar. It has been this way for decades."

"You don't look old enough to have been visiting it for decades," she says.

"I got started quite young." Although she is right, I have visited for only a little over a decade. "I know its history. It's legendary among those of my acquaintance. The stairs that lead to the balcony are here."

With my hand on the small of her back, I guide her up them and down the short hallway that ends at the balcony.

"As long as you stay behind the draperies, you can't be seen," I say quietly. "The shadows serve as cover."

She eases forward slightly and gazes out over the assembled guests. "Is this where you were when you spotted me?" she asks in almost a whisper.

I come up behind her, only a hairbreadth separating my body from hers. "Yes."

"It's odd, but I felt your gaze on me." She mumbles.

"Perhaps it was someone else's." I suggest.

She shakes her head. "No, I'm rather sure it was yours. You have an intensity about you. Do you often stand up here, gazing out, spying on those below?"

"Tempest did. He liked to watch the money coming in. Jack, the previous owner, did as well." I remove my gloves, stuff them into the pockets of my coat, and skim a bare finger along her nape. Beneath my touch, she shivers. "I was simply striving to determine if it was worth my time to go downstairs tonight."

"What would you have done if you hadn't gone downstairs?" She asks.

"There is a private game in one of the rooms up here. The stakes are high, but those who play cheat." I press my lips to the juncture where her neck and shoulder meet. "You should be aware I employ any means to get what I want."

She lets out a small breath. "You sound ruthless, my Alpha."

"That is putting it kindly. I want you, Rosalind. I have wanted you from the moment you walked through the door. There are rooms here. We can make use of them. Or I can take you to my residence." I mumble seductively.

"I am not quite so easy to obtain." She says.

I quirk a brow. "Are you not?"

She turns to face me. "No."

"I am prepared to convince you otherwise."

*Rosalind*

He claims my mouth as though he already owns it.

I shouldn't have been surprised that he takes advantage of the shadows. I know I have been toying with a man who is far more daring than his civilized veneer lets on.

I am, however, surprised by my reaction to his generous mouth blanketing mind. I welcome it.

Acutely aware of his arms banding around me and pressing me flat against the hard planes of his body, I should have protested. Instead I indulge my curiosity and my own flagrant desires that I have held at bay for so very long. I can’t remember the last time that I have taken something I wanted, that I had done something for myself.

I am certainly indulging now.

Scraping my fingers up into his thick hair, I regret that I am wearing gloves. Tasting the richness of brandy on his tongue, I regret we did not have more to drink. As the pleasure courses through me, I regret that I am not free.

With that thought, guilt spears me. I do not resent that I am not untethered. Freedom comes at a terrible price I am not yet ready to pay.

I force all those thoughts back and concentrate instead on the moment. It is always best to focus on the moment. The sweep of his determined tongue. His large hand caressing my back, my backside, coming up along my hip, dipping in at my waist, and resting just below my breast. I feel the stroke of his thumb along the underside.

I should have been appalled. I should have struck him.

But a she-wolf does not reach my years without yearning for things that elude me. Iam certainly no stranger to kissing, but this man is doing far more than pressing his lips to mine. He is claiming me, branding me. I will forever remember his taste, his strength, his fragrance.

Sandalwood and bergamot. Dark and rich.

I will remember rising up on my toes to welcome his mouth. His deep groan rumbling within the small confines of the balcony. The dizziness. The sensations swirling around me.

He drags his mouth from mine, along my neck to the sensitive spot just below my ear. "We'll never make it to my residence," he rasps. "There is a room only a few steps down the hallway."

"No," I say it too softly. He must not have heard because he begins nibbling my lobe between his teeth. I nearly sink to the floor with the absolute pleasure of it. He can have me here. "No," I state more firmly.

Breathing harshly, he draws back, his piercing eyes pinning me. "Just as you require no chaperone, you have no innocence to protect."

"I am not a she-wolf with no morals. I don't fall into bed with a man simply because he wishes me to do so." I say.

"You wish to do so. Your moans and sighs are proof of that." He points out.

I shake my head. "Unfortunately, life is such that we are not always granted our wishes. I have been absent from the gaiety for too long. I must return to it lest rumors begin."

He curls his hand around my neck, stroking the underside of my jaw. "You do not strike me as a she-wolf who cares about rumors."

"I care about the opportunities that tonight affords me." I could not have spoken truer words. "I am here to meet people, to become part of pack Society. To be accepted and welcomed. It would be reckless of me to risk all that I might gain for one night of pleasure."

"I promise it will be worth your while." He mumbles.

Of that, I have absolutely no doubt, but the price is too high… to my plans, quite possibly to my esteem. To have him walk away afterward. I am always the one who walks away, who decides when it is time to move on. Swallowing hard, I push back the temptation plaguing me. "Good night, my Alpha."

I have taken a mere two steps when he wraps his large hand around my arm, turns me back to him, and again takes my mouth. His is lush and hot and so very skilled at making me forget my responsibilities, my duties.

What would it hurt if just once in my life I did something for myself? If I take something I crave?

Tearing my mouth from his, I shove on his massive shoulders, frustrated when I can’t even make him stagger back a step. “No.”

His eyes are as heated as his mouth. "You've been teasing me all night, Mrs. Shadowveil. You can't possibly think I'm going to let you walk away without doing my damnedest to convince you to stay."

Another kiss would probably do the trick, damn him. "It's been a long time since I've been with a man. I'm not ready for what you're proposing." Reaching up, I comb my fingers through his hair, straightening the strands I have mussed. "Please let me go."

Slowly, agonizingly slowly, he releases his hold. "At least allow me the honor of escorting you home."

"We both know that would be most dangerous. Alone, in a small space, in the dark. I do not believe I would arrive home unscathed. Besides, I have a carriage. So again, good night."

"I won't give up." He says.

I have barely turned when his words freeze me on the spot.

"I will have you," he says, his voice a whispered promise that causes a shiver of foreboding, a quiver of pleasure to ripple through me. "Because you want it as much as I do."

I nearly deny the words, but I fear if I delay, I will find myself back in his arms, this time without the wherewithal to deny him, to deny us both what I think might be a glorious night. I want to flee, to run, but I keep my pace slow and measured as I leave the balcony, surprised my trembling legs manage to carry me down the stairs.

Twisting the knob, I open the door and stride into the main salon. I had planned to continue with the rounds, to be seen, perhaps to make a few other acquaintances, but he has unsettled me. I am not accustomed to being unsettled.

As calmly as possible, I walk to the entrance, acutely aware of his gaze following me the entire way. I have made a mistake tonight, misjudged. I will have to be more careful in the future. The Alpha of Riverdale has the power to destroy me.