One Wild Vegas Night by SJ Thomas Read Free Book Online Page B

her, but with a look of fear she scrambled away from him. Sol stopped, a heavy pain settling inside him at her reaction. In his animal form, all he could sense was his mate in distress and he wanted to go to her, to lie down next to her and protect her. But he held back.
    The harsh ringing of the phone made them both jump. Hannah looked from the phone to him and then slowly stood, moving over to pick it up. “Hello?” A pause while she listened. “Oh, the noise, yes I’m sorry. Our children were watching a movie and turned up the volume really loud. I’m sorry if it disturbed anyone. We’ll keep it down now.”
    Sol was surprised she lied so easily, was surprised she covered for him. Hannah put the phone down, her hand shaking, and turned to face him, eyeing him with a curious expression. He needed to change back, needed to talk to her.
    Forcing his muscles to relax, willing himself to turn, he felt the energy ripple through him once more. His form blurred as his muscles and joints realigned, and then he was back in his human form. Panting a little from the change, he stood and stepped slowly toward Hannah. She looked wary but she didn’t move away.
    “Thank you for doing that.”
    “Well, I’m implicated in this.” Her eyes moved to Richard. “Is he dead?”
    “No, just knocked out.” He looked down at the floor and then back up at her. “I’m sorry you had to see me change like that, see me attack him.”
    Hannah’s head whipped around to face him, her eyes flashing with something hard. “Don’t be sorry for defending yourself. Richard had a knife.”
    Sol’s breath caught at her reaction. “Yes, but I still wish you hadn’t seen me like that. I didn’t want the first time you saw my other side to be so violent.”
    She didn’t answer, just moved to Richard’s prone body and nudged him gingerly with her foot. She looked down at him for several seconds and then turned to face Sol.
    “If you hadn’t changed, he would have killed you. You did what you had to do.”
    Sol released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “He was strong for a human.”
    Her mouth set into a bitter line. “He was insane, which probably helped. What do we do with him?”
    “I can take care of him.”
    “What does that mean?” Her voice was sharp.
    “I can fix this so he never bothers us again.” Sol moved to the phone.
    “What? Wait, who are you calling?”
    “The cleaners. They specialize in covering up things like this.”
    “So, what, does your kind attack humans regularly?”
    The condemnation in Hannah’s tone turned his stomach. With a heavy sigh he turned to face her. “No, we don’t. None of us condone attacking anyone, but you have to understand our nature. We are powerful creatures heavily ruled by our animal instincts. If we are challenged, or a mate or family member is threatened, we will attack and sometimes humans get hurt, even killed.”
    Her skin flushed at his words and she dropped her gaze from his. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t judge you. Richard attacked first and you stopped when I asked.”
    Sol nodded. “And you have no idea how hard that was for me.”
    Hannah’s head jerked up at his tone, her eyes going wide, but she didn’t answer him. Sol ran his hands through his hair. “Look, why don’t you go and wait in the bedroom until this is all cleared up?”
    Hannah swallowed and nodded, casting one last look at Richard before heading to the bedroom. Sol watched her go with a sense of dread. He’d kept her safe, but had he just driven her away for good?

C HAPTER S IX
    Hannah moved to the bedroom in a daze, sinking to the mattress, her eyes staring blankly at the wall. Her mind was on the edge of shutting down, unable to process everything that had happened since she’d walked into the bar last night. Was it only yesterday? It seems like a lifetime ago.
    Low murmurs from next door told her Sol was on the phone to the cleaners. She shuddered. They had people who