Page 55 of Wild Card

I scoff. “Hardly, but I do love it. It’s so relaxing. It’s difficult to explain.”

“I can see that. Being on the ice used to give me zen-like concentration.” Rush tucks my hair behind my ear and runs his fingers into the hair at the base of my skull. “We made breakfast. I’m going to start making plates.” He bends down and presses a kiss on my cheek. “Come find me once you’re done talking to Thorne.”

“I will,” I whisper. It’s very thoughtful of him to understand my need to talk to Thorne one-on-one.

Rush winks and walks toward the doorway that leads to the dining room and kitchen.

Thorne steps into my line of sight with his tattooed hands in his jeans pockets. It’s strange to see him in normal clothes. Avan Barrett was always ridiculously picky about what his guys could wear. It’s even weirder to see his bare feet as he rocks on his heels.

I open my mouth to thank him for the silks, but no words seem to come out.

“I need to ask you a question, and it’s important that you’re honest with me,” Thorne says. “Will you be?”

My chest rises and falls rapidly.

Thorne has a way of making a person feel like the most important thing in the world.

He made me feel so safe and wanted…until he didn’t.

I flinch at the memory of how empty I felt without him and take a step back, like I can physically distance myself from that pain.

It’s so complicated, and it’s made worse by the fact my instincts want me to melt into his chest to soak up as much of his scent as my nose can huff. It’s like my skin aches with the urge to touch him.

“Lennox, please?” Hearing him call me by name instead of kitten has my eyes flying up to meet his.

“I-I’ll try.”

“Tell me what I smell like to you,” he says, studying my face so intently, his brow furrows.

I lick my lips, trying to conjure the right words. A big part of me doesn’t know if I even want to. It’s hard to be vulnerable with someone who never extends the same courtesy back.

“Bear and I bonded,” I blurt out, holding my wrist up, facing his direction. “I didn’t bond him to hurt you. He’s a good man, and he makes me feel safe. It’s fast, but I know he’s supposed to be mine.”

Thorne’s jaw flexes as his nostrils flare. “And my scent?”

I pull my hand down, squinting because I’m really confused. “I’ve told you before. You don’t smell like leather and tobacco to me.”

“And your scent only comes across as oranges and vanilla to me when you’re extremely aroused,” he says, staring straight into my eyes. “You smell electric, like the weather before a lightning storm. When you’re close enough to touch, I feel a pull to brush my skin against yours like magnets separate us.”

I nod. “M-Me too.”

“There’s a legend about that scent. It used to be a hell of a lot more popular than it is nowadays, but there’s a theory about why that is too.” He steps closer, and despite feeling hunted, I don’t step back. “That electric smell is reserved for soul matches. It’s one step up from a scent match. It’s incredibly rare now, probably because packs became the norm. No one knows exactly why, but my grandma gave me a book from the early nineteen hundreds. It talks about the soul match bond.”

I have no idea if what he’s saying is true. And yet, something inside me has no trouble accepting his words as reality. No one would listen when I tried to explain the pull between me and Thorne.

Brooklyn, friends, even coworkers warned me how silly I would be to get attached to a man like him.

He’s here now.

Why would he bother unless he loves you?

“I have the book.” Thorne clears his throat. “I thought maybe we could snuggle up in front of the fire one night, and I’ll read it to you.”

He knows I struggle to enjoy reading because of how much time it takes me. My heart beats so fast that I can hear it in my ears.

Did he just say…

“You told your family about me?” I plant a hand on my hip to fake a nonchalance I don’t feel.

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