Page 47 of A Beta Protects

Not today.

My clothes thump to the floor as I prowl toward her. A predator staking his prey. A shifter claiming his mate.

Go inside, Kira. Because the second I put my hand on you…

She doesn’t move.

Just stands on that top porch step, eyes hungry as I stalk toward her.

15

KIRA

I’ve always loved lightning.

Something about the violence, the burst of light in the sky, the roar, and the rain slamming into the window eased the wildness in me that only screaming in my garage did.

Which is weird.

Most of the time, I was—and am—jumpy. Afraid. That goes back to Bryce again, because when I was Kira Matheson, I was quiet, a little shy, but not jumpy.

The signed divorce form injected me with this burst of nervous excitement. I’ve lost count of how many times now I’ve checked to make sure it really is Bryce’s signature on it, and that I hadn’t just dreamed it up.

For the first time in the longest time, I’m excited about the future. I don’t know what it looks like, but there was no way I could go to sleep now that I’m free. Bryce isn’t dragging me back to Missouri. He’s letting me go.

Today is a miracle day I never believed would ever come. I intend to savor it for as long as possible.

The lightning drove me downstairs before I could change for bed. I was sitting on the porch steps, watching the light and listening to the rain, when Dom stepped out from the forest.

He told me to go, so why the hell aren’t I moving?

All I can do is stand on the porch as Dom, this naked perfect specimen of a man, stalks toward me with combustible levels of heat in the velvety brown eyes I spent more nights than I should have wishing I could drown in.

But this is no dream.

He’s here.

I’m here.

When Dom stepped out of the forest, all thoughts in my head emptied in a split second. It’s a miracle my legs supported me when I’d shoved myself to my feet.

But I can’t make myself walk away from him.

He stops at the bottom of the porch while I’m near the top, his heated stare holding me in place.

Droplets of rain cling to every inch of his powerful body. He was getting hard when he emerged from the forest. When he stops in front of me, I curl my fingers into a tighter ball, so I’m not tempted to touch him. His clothes are somewhere back there. I’d look, but that would mean I’d have to take my eyes off Dom, and I can’t do that.

He’s breathing hard as he takes the first step up the porch. "Go, Kira... if I touch you." He raises his right hand, and the tips of his fingers almost brush my cheek.

“What were you doing out there?” My whisper is barely audible with the violence of the storm ramping up.

Somehow, he hears me. “Running.”

“Why?” I breathe.

“I can’t get you out of my thoughts.”

Honestly, running naked in the middle of the storm sounds crazy. It has to be freezing cold. A part of me wonders if this is distraction through discomfort, or something he learned in the Marines.

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