Page 11 of Bond & Protect

“Then, by now, you should be able to think it through.”

I shake my head with dismay. “Yeah, you’d think so, wouldn’t you? But I haven’t.”

Since Elias is trying his hardest to be icy, I want to do the same thing. I jut out my chin and roll my shoulders back, making sure he knows he can’t intimidate me.

Unfortunately, my body betrays me without warning when his knee bumps against mine. I spread my legs open, just a fraction, and let out a little whimper of pleasure pain at the smallest bit of contact between us. I already know which way this goes. Elias doesn’t like it when the heat sizzles so he’ll leave, and I’ll be here, frustrated and alone. I try to prepare myself as best I can.

But, much to my surprise, that doesn’t happen. Instead of storming out like he usually does, he leans in closer, whispering in my ear. His words tickle the exposed skin of my throat. “Just tell me what I want to know, and we can do all the things your body is begging me for.”

It’s unbearable. I don’t know how I’m supposed to take this on board. I swallow down, trying not to succumb to the dizziness that I’m sure this bastard wants me to feel.

“Confident, huh?” I retort. “I wouldn’t sleep with you if you were the last man on the planet. Plus, it’s so gross and seedy to offer sex for information. Don’t you know that?”

He scoffs, almost as if he can see that I’m lying. “Yeah, I don’t care how seedy it is. I’m pretty convinced that it’s going to work. Eventually, you will tell me everything…”

“What do you want to know?” I demand as I make a sweeping gesture with my hands. “If I can’t give you information about what happened during the blackout, what can I give you? You want to know who I was before I came here? You want to know that I actually did have a life in the city before I came here? You can speak to my mother. She will let you know that I’m not from some fucking Rift. Maybe we should both go there and I should stay in the city…”

Almost as soon as those words leave my mouth, a painful fear shudders down my spine. Much as this is difficult, I don’t want to go back to the life I had before. The stalker made my existence so horrible and small… I could never want that again. Not wanting to step out the front door, not wanting to go online, not wanting to talk to anyone…

Since I knew the police wouldn’t help me until I ended up dead, I made the right decision coming here. I really don’t want to go back on that now. I think Elias can see as much.

I’m done with this. Elias is always the one storming off from our chats… well, now it’s my turn. I scrape my chair back angrily and shoot him one last angry glare before I head for the stairs. I will stay in the God damn prison for now, but not much longer. I can’t.

I thunder upstairs and throw myself on my bed. The wolf, Amos, makes worried, anxious sounds around me as I cry. I know he knows I am upset, but I can’t bring myself to do anything else but sob into the pillow and stroke his fur. His fur has become a comfort blanket for me. He gets up and leaves the room. Moments later, I feel his weight on the bed again.

Except, this time, I stick my hand out, it’s not fur I stroke, but smooth, hard muscle. Shocked, I gasp. I wasn’t expecting him to be lying beside me in his human form. We haven’t discussed it, but it’s an unspoken agreement that he’s only ever a wolf in my bed.

“Has Elias upset you?” he asks softly as he smiles my way. I know he’s younger than the other guys by a couple of years, but he doesn’t look it right now. “I can take a snap at him if you want.”

I laugh lightly, but the sound is a little strangled because new sensations are surging through me. It feels immoral to be lying in bed with a half-naked gorgeous man like this. This is so different from him being a wolf, and every hair on my body stands to attention.

It’s hard to focus on anything other than his body. Then his sweet smile. Then the way his eyes light up when he lightly touches his fingers to his lip as if he’s imagining me there, with my lips grazing against his, while we’re both drowning in flames…

Oh God, am I really feeling this? I am seriously turned on all the time. Way too much. I can’t even contain myself around Amos now. What does that say about me?

“I don’t think you need to start fighting with him. I don’t want that,” I tell Amos. “I just can’t stand this. I hate being stuck here and feeling like a criminal when I haven’t done anything wrong.”

Whoa. I don’t know what sparks it, but something almost floats to the surface of my memory… but it swims away like it doesn’t want me to find it. Why is my brain doing this to me?

“It’s obvious that you aren’t a criminal.” Amos laughs sweetly. “You’re far too sweet for that. I could tell that the first moment I laid eyes on you. I don’t know why Elias is so obsessed with you being the bad guy here. Maybe because he’s struggling to find The Rift.”

As a heat races through me, I can see a redness burning in his ears too. The effect he has on me is nothing like the way that Elias makes me feel, or Sydney either. It wasn’t even like the way I felt with Liam staring intently at me… there’s a sweet, boyish charm to him which sends sparkles of space dust absolutely careering from the pit of my stomach all the way to my core.

But nothing is boyish about his next move. He leans in and kisses me with a hunger that is truly predatory. And with all of the lust pent up inside me, I kiss him back. I don’t know if this is the wisest decision that I’ve ever made. If anything, it’s probably the opposite, but I can’t stop myself.

Elias has me all riled up all the time, and he never acts on it. Sydney has made it clear that he wants me, but I’m sure he’s afraid of upsetting his alpha. There was a definite moment between me and Liam as well, I think. I was in a bit of a haze there.

But it’s Amos who’s taken the move and grabbed hold of me. Because of that, an involuntary moan of desire comes flying out of my mouth. Amos practically wraps himself around me as soon as he realizes how turned on I am. I lose the ability to think rationally at all. I become a slave to the sensations. I knot my fingers up in his matted dark hair as he cups my cheeks in his hands.

I know Amos hasn’t started to strip me down yet, but I already know that I won’t do anything to stop him when he does. I want him to see me, all of me. I can’t wait to experience his predatory gaze devouring me. I know it’ll make me feel good.

I might have accidentally promised myself to Sydney, but that has gone now. It’s like I’ve never met another man in my life, only Amos. I’m eager to give myself over to him completely…

“I…” But the kissing is interrupted by Elias swinging the door open and entering my bedroom. I didn’t even know that he was still in the cabin, never mind about to come here. He looks like he has an apology on his lips, but that’s died now because he’s caught sight of me and Amos intertwined with one another. No one knows what to say in this mess…

“Elias…” I jump off the bed, not quite pushing Amos to the side, but certainly not reaching out for him anymore, either. “Wait, don’t go. Let me explain a moment.”

My heart races as he vanishes out of sight. Of course I feel absolutely dreadful for leaving Amos behind, but I have to find a way to somehow explain this to Elias. I feel like I owe it to him. I don’t know why because he’s trapped me here and been a bit of an asshole to me, but I want to explain anyway. I want him to know that I didn’t mean to hurt him.

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