Page 93 of Savage Claim

“You are. That’s us, and that actually happened.”

He scoffed. “I just made it up. Stop looking for things that aren’t there.”

I took a deep breath and focused on pushing my wolf aside and returning to my human form. Tingles radiated over my body, and after a few moments, I stood on my two legs in front of the painting. And totally naked.

Even though Fane had seen me in the buff a few times since Kaspin’s spell, I still tried to cover myself. “Can I get that blanket or something?” I squeaked, pointing to the throw on the tan leather couch a few feet away.

Heat spilled into Fane’s eyes as he slowly perused my flesh, the air sparking and filling with tension. And arousal. He wanted me so much he could barely stand it.

Fane’s jaw snapped, his teeth clicking together, and he finally tore his gaze away. “Maybe you shouldn’t wander around the house in your wolf form if you’re not prepared to be naked.” Instead of giving me the blanket, he shucked his shirt and tossed it to me.

I snatched it out of the air and shoved it over my head, choking back the moan I wanted to release at being wrapped in his scent. His warmth still clung to the material. “You’re getting your memories back.” My hope to break the spell had died when Kaspin did, but maybe Venna and Mykel had been lying. Could the enchantment still be broken without the ancient witch? “Just admit it.”

A low growl built in Fane’s chest, and he stormed toward me, forcing me to stumble back. “Stop trying to make me into someone I’m not. I don’t remember that guy, and I don’t remember what we had. I’ll never be that guy.”

I shoved him as a wave of hurt pummeled my insides. “Too bad because you are him, Maverick. Maybe once you accept it, you’ll be able to remember more.”

“I don’t want to remember!” He closed the distance between us, the tips of his boots touching my toes as he towered over me. “I don’t want all of those memories of me saving my brother’s killer, of falling for her.”

The room blurred from my unshed tears. “Too bad. Those memories might surface no matter how much you pretend to hate me. And I’m not going anywhere. You’re the one who’s determined to protect me, and we both know it’s not so you can be the one to kill me. You’ve already admitted that you don’t want that.”

“You’re suffocating me,” he yelled. “Every time you look at me, I can see you searching for the person I used to be. Do you have any idea of how much pressure that puts on me? I’m not him. I can’t be him for you.”

His words were daggers to my heart, tearing gashes in the delicate flesh. I wasn’t trying to pressure him. Part of me knew he wanted to push me away because he refused to deal with his feelings.

“I’m not searching for anyone when I look at you, Fane.” I brushed away a stray tear that had escaped. “I don’t need to. You’re him, memories or not. Even when you shut me out, even when you say things to hurt me, underneath all that anger, you’re still him.”

“Or maybe you’re just pretending the guy you see is the one you lost.”

He was so damn stubborn.

“We weren’t perfect together. We fought and bickered.” A bitter laugh slipped out. “Sometimes we let our fears turn us against each other, and sometimes our differences became too much. But in the end, none of that mattered because we couldn’t change what was in here.” My hand rested against the center of his bare chest, his heart beating wildly. “That won’t ever go away.”

I pivoted and marched toward the door, needing to get out before I had a complete breakdown. Fane probably already felt my emotions. He knew his words had cut deeply even while I pretended to be as tough as steel.

As I pulled the door open, a hand slammed it shut, a fiery body brushing against mine.

Chapter

Thirty-Three

Fane’s presence burned at my back as he trapped me in his art studio. “You’re never going to leave me alone, are you?” His gruff words vibrated in my ear, his warm breath spreading goose bumps down my nape.

“I could ask you the same question.” I turned, pressing my back against the door as I stared into those tumultuous eyes, one demon blue and the other shifter gold. “You’re the one preventing me from leaving the room.”

“Maybe I’m a masochist.” His voice had dropped several octaves and gained a husky, gravelly edge. “Maybe I enjoy the torture a little bit.”

“We have that in common.”

Once again, desire pulsated between us, and my skin grew hot and sticky. Fane’s nostrils flared, his teeth bared, and a growl clawed up his throat. I thought he’d back away and tell me to leave.

Instead, his lips fell on mine in a heated kiss that stole every drop of air from my lungs and sanity from my mind. I swayed into him, unable to stop the craving for his touch from overpowering everything else. Electricity zigzagged over me. Fane’s fingers sank into the hair at the base of my neck, and he pulled on the strands to tilt my head, the burning in my scalp making me moan as much as the feel of his tongue licking and tasting mine.

The savage way he claimed my mouth had my legs shaking and moisture pooling between them. He snarled, knowing how much I was turned on.

Fane skimmed his hand down my side and then beneath his shirt, forcing my thighs to part. They easily drifted open for him as if I were a puppet and he was my master. His gruff moan mirrored mine as he dragged a finger across my entrance.

“Already wet for me, fiera mika.” Without warning, he plunged that finger inside all the way to his knuckle, and I gasped. “Did you plan this? Did you seek out my art studio and wait for me to return to shift in your human form, tempting me with your body?”

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