< Chapter 17
+25 Points
Chapter 17
Kiana
“W-What the hell is wrong with you?” I whispered.
“You’re wearing another man’s clothes.”
“Yes. I am. They’re Finns. That was the plan? Remember?” My scoff was indignant.
“You need to take them off.” His voice had gone eerily calm.
“Um, no. I don’t. I’m freezing. What the hell is wrong…” he made a low keening noise, and my eyes
widened.
No way. No fucking way. “Oh, c’mon Troy. You don’t even like me, and you’re going to be jealous that I’m wearing some stranger’s clothes?”
“Finn is of mating age. He’s only a year or two older than you.”
“Unbelievable.”
“I can’t control it, Kiana! Take the fucking clothes off or my wolf is going to come out, and I’m going
to hunt Finn down. I like Finn. I do not want to have to kill him.”
“You’re a grown-ass man, the alpha of a whole goddamn pack, and you can’t keep your damn hormones in check?!” I snapped.
Troy took a step forward, eyes darkening, voice rough. “We’re not exactly in a safe place. I don’t feel secure about our mating bond, and that makes everything harder to control.”
For a second, I honestly thought he might tear the clothes off my body. Instead, he spun around,
jaw clenched.
“I’ll sleep outside.”
“Wait-damn it!” I hissed. “We don’t even know for sure if we’re out of rogue territory. If we aren’t, there could be more spell traps. You’ll get caught and bleed out before sundown.”
Cursing under my breath, I turned and yanked the clothes off, shivering.
Naked, I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at the wall. Perfect. Just what I needed.
Freeze to death while my own damn clothes dried.
“I can still smell him on you,” Troy said hoarsely.
“Well, I’m probably going to get frostbite, so I guess we’re both going to suffer.”
00
20
OOM
IMG
|||
୮
1/4
<Chapter 17
Silence.
Then I felt his hands at my waist, steady and hot as he pulled me back against his body.
“Troy…”
+25 Points?
“You think I want this?” he growled low in my ear. “You think I want to lose my mind over your scent? Or care if you’re cold, uncomfortable… or hurting? Every time Thornston looked at you, I wanted to rip his fucking throat out.”
His breath was fire on my skin. I didn’t dare move.
“I fucking hate this, but more than anything, I hate knowing that if I slip my hands between your thighs, I’m going to find you warm and wet for me.”
I swallowed hard. “Y-You wouldn’t.”
“Liar.” His dark laugh curled through the air as his hands slid up my sides and flattened against his abdomen. His clothes were still damp, clinging to the heat of his body-but I could feel it. The
tension. The hardness.
The thick press of his c**k against the small of my back.
Yeah. I was a liar.
Every brush of his skin made my toes curl. Every breath I took flooded my p***y with molten heat.
“You’ve ignored it this long,” I whispered, eyes shutting tight.
“That was before I touched you. Before I put my lips on you,” he groaned, voice low and ragged. He didn’t wander. He didn’t push. But he sure as hell didn’t let me go.
“Before I realized how goddamn jealous I could get from someone just looking at you.”
His voice dropped to something darker.
“When I found out Danny touched you, I tore him apart. Limbs. Tendons. Bone. He died screaming, and I didn’t stop until there was nothing left to recognize.”
Well, shit.
“Maybe if he’d known…”
“He knew,” Troy growled. His grip tightened around my waist, almost trembling with restraint.” They all know. Nobody puts a fucking hand on my mate. Nobody but me.”
His mouth brushed my shoulder. Teeth grazed my neck, and I flinched-not from fear, but from the shiver that chased straight through me.
2/4
WED
20
O IM G
O
<
< Chapter 17
+25 Points
Goddess, I was burning up. I was bare and trembling and too aware of how close he was. How badly I wanted him closer.
But then there it was, lodged in my chest like a sharp little thorn. That tight, fragile kernel of fear.
Not because I thought he’d hurt me. That fear was long gone.
No, this was worse. This one went deeper.
This fear whispered that if I let him all the way in…
If I gave in to this heat and let myself feel-I’d never be able to leave.
But that was absurd.
This hunger, this pulsing, maddening lust, was nothing more than a cruel trick of the bond. A stupid, primal connection neither of us had asked for.
Giving in didn’t mean we wanted more. It didn’t mean we could be more.
But it did mean we wouldn’t be able to stop.
And more than anything, I needed to believe that we still could. That we weren’t slaves to it. That we could walk away with our dignity intact and our hearts untouched.
“Are you going to let your wolf decide how you act tonight?” I threw the words like a challenge,
sharp and daring.
Troy only chuckled behind me, dark and low.
“Sweetheart, my c**k isn’t thinking about my fucking wolf right now.”
His hands slid higher, slow and deliberate, fingers skimming the undersides of my breasts. I braced myself, for the recoil, the self-loathing, the old, festering disgust from the times I’d been groped and manhandled like nothing more than a tool for pleasure.
But nothing came.
No panic. No shame.
Just heat.
Because goddess, help me, I wanted him.
I wanted those hands on my skin. Brushing, caressing… even bruising. Just for tonight, I wanted to
feel alive. Raw. Touched. Claimed.
“Turn around,” he rasped, voice thick with restraint. “Push me away, Kiana. Tell me to fuck off. Tell me you don’t want this, even though you’re rubbing up against me like a needy little thing.”
20
IMG
|||
3/4
<
< Chapter 17
Shit.
+25 Points
I was rubbing against him, unconsciously, shamelessly. Like my body already knew what it wanted,
even if my mind was still fighting it.
I held my breath, heart pounding, and turned.
This was it. One shove. One word. And this madness would be over.
I reached up, palms shaking, and pressed my hands to his chest.
H
98
Comments
G
LUCK DRAW >
