~ SASHA ~

His hands were at her hips and shoving her up the stairs, back to Rob's front door. Despite the apparent danger, internally she screamed with thrill—Zev was here! He was HERE. But there was clearly something going on—something very scary. And even though she wanted nothing more than to pull him into her arms—and to curse him to the flames of hell—something in his tone and tension demanded that she listen to him, and run.

As they reached the top of the stairs, a car sped up the street behind them, its tires hissing on the cement. Her fingers shook as she punched the code for Rob's apartment into the little pad. But the little light turned green and it beeped, and before she could even grasp the handle, Zev's hand shot past her, shoved the door open and bundled her inside.

The relief she felt when he scrambled in after her was embarrassing in its intensity. Then they were standing in the same entryway where she'd hugged Rob just a few minutes ago.

Was it really only a few minutes ago?

She blinked in the shadows of the now-dark entryway, gaping at Zev who loomed over her, his eyes hunted and stark, searching the walls around them, scanning the open doorway into the kitchen. Rob was in the next room, but she his feet hit the carpet.

"Is that you, Sash?" Rob asked from around the corner. "I'm so glad you came back."

Oh no. Rob thought she'd come back to him. This was the last thing she needed. Rob didn't seem like the type to get aggressive, but Zev tensed at his voice and the creak of the couch in the living room meant Rob was getting up. If he decided Zev was a problem—

"I just need the bathroom!" she called as brightly as she could. Zev frowned at her, then turned his head and glared towards the kitchen, where Rob's lengthening shadow was trotting towards them in the large rectangle of light on the floor.

She was struck for a moment by the shock of Zev in more light—all heavy brows and square jaw shadowed by a day's growth, his hair splaying out from underneath the black beanie pulled down tight across his forehead, like it was trying to escape.

When she looked at him like someone she didn't know, she wasn't sure whether to weep or call the Police.

Zev at nineteen had been stunning, all lithe, athletic strength and eyes that called you from across a room.

Zev now was… a presence.

As tall as the door he stood in front of, his shoulders almost filled the width of it, his arms and chest plastered in a black leather jacket—the type that opened on an angle and was actually for riding motorcycles. Tight sleeves peeked out from under the jacket at the wrist—which meant he still favored those thin, tight shirts that let her see every ripple in his torso.

Zev's broad chest and shoulders tapered to a trim waist, strong thighs gripped in near-black denim, and long, long legs that ended in thick boots.

He could have graced the cover of a magazine, or headlined a movie. But that wasn't what made Sasha's mouth go dry.

He'd seen Rob coming and his entire body was poised for action. And not the kind that Sasha had been missing for five years.

Standing in front of Zev just then gave Sasha the same feeling she had the day she'd stood on the other side of Plexiglass from one of the huge alpine wolves at the nature reserve. The long, knowing stare and barely hidden fangs… the body rigid and held ready, utterly confident in its own ability to take down prey.

She'd been in the presence of death that day, and her body had known it. It had raised the shorthairs on the back of her neck and made her feel small, and powerless.

As Rob stepped into the other end of the kitchen, Zev scanned the space, grunting and settling his weight on the balls of his feet as if he might need to spar when he found no rooms leading away except the kitchen and the adjoining doorway.

The flash in his eyes gave Sasha that feeling of being in the presence of death again. But colored this time with something else. Something solid.

Zev was deadly—she'd always known it, even back then. Despite his tenderness, he'd always carried an edge. And the few times she'd seen him pushed, she'd been torn between salivating at the raw confidence and strength he displayed when another guy challenged him, and disgust at the thuggish power he was willing to unleash.

The only time they'd really fought was after her eighteenth birthday party, at which he had literally beaten a drunk guy up for calling her slut under his breath when he'd flirted and she'd told him to leave.

He hadn't understood why she thought he shouldn't have gone so far. And she'd been scared in his presence for the first time. Just not for herself.

Which was the tension she felt now. It had been five years. She had no right to the confidence she felt that Zev would only ever use his power to protect her. Yet, there it was. He'd vowed that to her years ago and impossibly, when Rob's shadow shortened and he appeared in the dimly lit kitchen ahead of them, their eyes locked for a brief second, she saw him remembering those times as well… and reassuring her again that he would never hurt her.

She nodded and he opened his hand for hers. But he didn't take her wrist this time, or pull her along. Just left his palm there, waiting for hers.

She wanted to cry.

He was here. He was fucking here. After all these years. And she was so confused. She wanted nothing more than to put her hand in his and let him take her away from… whatever was out there. Away from all these people. Away from this life—as long as he took her with him this time.

And yet—

"What's going on, Sash?" Rob asked, forcing his voice deeper than it naturally went. He caught sight of Zev and flipped a switch so the kitchen was suddenly bathed in fluorescent light and harsh shadows.

Shivering at the glare Zev swept over Rob as he turned to face him, Sasha instinctively stepped past him, out of the dark and into the light to put herself between them, her hands up to stop Rob coming closer.

"I'm not sure, to be honest," she said with a nervous laugh. "There was a creepy guy in a car on the street and I just… I ran into Zev outside so we decided to come in here—"

"Wait… what?" Rob's voice was hard and dark.

Shit.

He started towards them, his face thunderous. "Sasha, what are you—"

She felt Zev put himself at her back. Right at her back, so close her butt brushed his… thighs. It was definitely his thighs.

Coming so close to her had moved him out of the darkened entryway and into the light because Rob's eyes snapped up and his mouth dropped open.

"That's… holy shit… that's… Zev?"

Sasha giggled nervously, then wanted to slap herself.

She could feel the tension in Zev and remembered that they were in the process of fleeing… someone. But her friend didn't know that, and something told her that it would be better for everyone involved if he didn't find out.

So she swallowed hard and half-turned towards Zev. "Zev, this is my friend, Rob."

Zev muttered a hello, but she could feel the tension wafting off of him, and Rob bristled under whatever gaze it was that Zev gave him.

She opened her mouth to say something to distract all the testosterone in the room, but then Rob turned his head to address her directly.

"What the fuck is he doing here?"