The Werewolf Bodyguard (Moonbound Book 2) by Krystal Shannan, Camryn Rhys

Aria froze, her hand a few inches from his body. “I can’t. I’ll lose control.”
    His magick pulsed around her, sporadic and definitely out of control.
    “Trust me,” Aria whispered. “You asked for my trust. Now I’m asking for yours.” She moved over the armrest, but before she could slide across his lap he’d opened the car door and jumped out. The sudden movement threw her off and she landed sideways in the seat with a grunt.
    “Dammit, Marco. What the hell?”
    “I don’t have sex.”
    She gazed up at him through the open car door, dumbfounded. “You what?”
    “I don’t… I’ll shift.”
    Oh shit. “Did that…” She didn’t finish the sentence.
    “Almost.”
    No wonder the man was acting like a cat being threatened with a bath. Aria righted herself in the car and crawled back to her side. They both needed this, but if he was dealing with baggage like that, she was going to have to take this much more slowly. She slipped into her clothes, depressed that once again she’d have to soldier on, unfulfilled and needy.
    “Get in the car, Marco.”
    He sat down and she tugged her boots on. “I think I should go look for my mother alone.”
    “Oh hell no,” Aria growled. “And let you lead us on a merry chase through the city? We are doing this together or I’m going to call for Rain to join us. Your choice.” She zipped up her boots and started the car. “And don’t think I’ve given up on having sex with you, either. It’s like Carl said, we are connected. We are supposed to be together.”
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    M arco found himself wishing he’d taken Aria up on her sex request. Even just head—something to distract them from the search they were about to undertake. He knew the search would have to be unproductive. He couldn’t let Aria find his mother, and if he led her on a wild enough goose chase, maybe she would let Mary alone and pretend she never found any more unbonded wolves.
    They reached an empty street corner where Aria decided to park. She ground her hands into the steering wheel. “I don’t feel anything.” She glanced up at him. “Do you feel anything?”
    “Not here. Let’s keep driving.”
    “This is the place Teresa said she met your mother.” Aria moved from the car with hunched shoulders. It was after two a.m. and the streets were dark, except for low lighting from high streetlamps and the residual glow of the strip off to the south.
    Marco hadn’t been this far from home in years.
    He followed Aria out into the night, reluctant to commit. Staying near the car, he watched her do a short circle of the street corner.
    “I think it would be best for us to stay together,” she said. “You should be able to sense her, as we get closer.”
    “Fine.” Marco reached out, tentative, his eyes closed. He wasn’t sure how to do this thing, but he imagined sending his wolf out in front of him, looking for companion energy. He turned in a circle. When there was a hint of something, he kept turning, and opened his eyes when he was facing away from it. He wasn’t certain it was his mother, but if it was, they needed to be going in the opposite direction.
    “That way,” he said, raising an arm.
    “Great.” Aria grabbed his hand and whipped around in the opposite direction. “We’ll go this way.”
    “What?” Marco sputtered as she dragged him toward his mother’s energy. “I told you, it’s the other direction.”
    “I assumed you lied.” She had an iron grip on his hand and he couldn’t pry himself away. The binding sensation around his lungs intensified.
    “Why would you—”
    “Oh, come on. I can tell you don’t want to find her.” She yanked him along, down a dark sidewalk where there were two streetlights out. The street seemed lopsided, and no houses were lit, other than a random porch light. They were trespassing.
    He kept following, feeling the light, energetic sensation grow with each step. The presence of his mother, closing in.
    “It’s not that I