Page 33 of Immortal Burden

Her big, blue eyes had the hint of the devil in them as she looked up at me. “I could just blast you back, you know?”

“Yeah? I call bullshit.”

“Excuse me?”

“I saw you a few seconds ago. There was hardly a spark. That winged guy was right. Whatever that black lava substance was, it drained your power. You need to recuperate longer before you can do shit about anything.”

She blew out a breath and sank against the wall with regrettable defeat.

Something about her looking so out of sorts, the fire gone out of her, nagged at me something fierce. I slid my finger under her chin, tilting her head up. “You’re safe doing that here. Nobody’s gonna get to you. I’ve got you, all right?”

Sparks shot through my fingers where I was touching her, rushing up my arm and taking hold of my whole body within moments.

The feeling wasn’t just heating my blood and making my cock hard as steel. It was sending some kind of signal to my brain, firing up my protective instincts, a real intense need to keep her safe from harm, safe from sadness, and anything bad from touching her.

I’d heard of shit like it happening. But that didn’t make any sense because of what she was.

It wasn’t possible.

It wasn’t meant to be this way.

But what other explanation was there?

I had to know either way. “Are you… my mate?”

Something flashed in her eyes, something I didn’t get. “No,” she said, forcing the real obvious lie past her sexy, pouty lips. Jeez.

“Then what’s the weird pull between us? I’m not stupid. I’ve got real strong instincts. You know something.”

“It’s a mistake, nothing more.”

My hand dropped from her chin, her harsh denial cutting at me. “You want it to be a mistake, is that more like it? I’m not one of your fancy-ass magic folk. Not proper and educated enough for you?”

The weird heat between us was screwing with my brain, my good sense.

I shouldn’t want it to be true either.

I couldn’t be taking a non-wolf as my mate. It wasn’t how things were done. It would cause a fuckload of complicated shit to hit the fan.

But I couldn’t seem to stop myself as I pushed harder against her, making her gasp. Leaning down, I growled at her ear, “Or, are you worried you aren’t gonna handle it? The rough touch of a wolf?”

When she didn’t say a word and still offered up nothing, I lost it, snarling, “You’re right to worry, princess. Alphas don’t know soft and easy. We take, dominate and fucking well devour.”

That fierce look in her eyes wavered, her pulse jumping like crazy.

I breathed her in, a fresh coconut scent mixed with some kind of high-end perfume taking a backseat to a potent flood of desire. It hit me straight in the dick. “Damn, woman,” I breathed, brushing my lips over her neck, needing a taste.

Her spiking arousal had skyrocketed mine.

Clenching my fists, I fought to push it down.

But it was worse than trying to hold the wolf back when it was desperate to break free.

I was known for my control, but this woman was doing something to me, the draw to her too powerful. We were like two super-charged magnets, desperate to come together, knowing they’d never get close enough.

I snapped.

I fisted her silky hair, jerking hard to angle her just right, forcing her mouth to mine.

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