Page 18 of Craved By a Wolf

As they entered calmer waters and their pace slowed, she finally spoke, and the sound of her voice altered something fundamental inside him, stirring his soul and warming his blood.

“You’re not fae,” she murmured throatily, a soft but flinty quality to her voice that plunged his thoughts firmly into the gutter. His lass had a voice for the bedroom. “You’re not a nymph either. If I had to guess—” She looked him over, heating his blood now, making him burn for her as she took him in. “Some kind of shifter maybe?”

“Wolf,” he grunted, unable to manage more than that. Something about this female had his tongue tied, his heart thundering, and him trembling like a lad as her soft curves pressed against him.

“What’s a wolf doing in Lucia?” she whispered and then undid him by clutching the front of his Henley, twisting it into her little fist as if she didn’t want to let him go. “Although, I’m not going to complain about the rescue or anything. It’s quite appreciated.”

She didn’t seem inclined to get away from him. Kin wasn’t sure he had ever felt quite as pleased by something as he was by that or how she nestled closer to him. His wolf calmed as she pressed against him, clinging to him, her gaze on his face. His female was in his arms. Safe. Close. He gathered her closer still, unable to stop himself, and wrapped both arms around her, pinning her to him.

Her green eyes sparkled, bewitching him.

Beckoning him.

The cliffs gave way to gentle sloping banks lined with pines and she glanced at them as the river slowed to a crawl. He wanted to deny her even when he knew he couldn’t. They could safely leave the water now. There was no reason for her to remain in his arms. He reluctantly swam towards the bank, stood when the water was shallow enough and carried her onto dry land.

Kin set her down on the soft moss and stepped back, trying not to notice how her wet dress clung to her body, revealing it to his hungry gaze, or how her little nipples beaded before his eyes, as if they ached for his touch. He shifted his right leg forward a little, attempting to alleviate the ache in his cock, as hard as stone for her.

She had to see what she was doing to him.

There was no hiding it in his wet jeans.

She backed off a step and fidgeted, wringing some of the water from her dress. The silver shackles around her wrists glinted in the light, drawing his gaze to them, and he growled at the red marks on her skin where they had rubbed it raw.

She froze and lifted her head a little, enough that she could meet his gaze.

And flash cleavage at him.

He would have growled at that too if it hadn’t been for the wary edge her eyes gained or how cautious she sounded as she asked, “What’s a wolf doing in Lucia?”

“I came for you.”

She stiffened and straightened, her chest rising and falling more rapidly as she stared at him. “Came for me?”

Kin reached for her cuffs and she darted back and tucked her hands against her chest as her eyes widened and she swallowed hard.

“You’re the one who howled.” She blinked at him and the sight of her afraid of him tore at his soul, had him aching with a need to comfort and calm her, and show her that he wasn’t a danger to her. Not like she was thinking. “What do you want with me?”

He lined up some bullshit about seeing her in trouble and playing the white knight, it being just something he was prone to do.

And then blurted, “You’re my fated female.”

He was sure of it as he breathed in her scent, as it calmed his wolf and gave him strength, and drew him to her. His gaze lowered, taking in her curves, and he wanted to growl. Wanted to howl. Throw his head back and let it all out because he couldn’t contain this feeling of sheer joy that swept through him.

After all these years, he had found her.

This lass had been made for him, and he wanted her as he had never wanted a female before her.

The mulish twist to her lips and the amount of distrust that shone in her eyes said she didn’t want him though.

His instincts demanded he seize her and bend her to his will, because she was his and she would surrender to him.

Kin tamped them down and relied on his mind instead, because letting his instincts steal control of him was a sure-fire way of losing her. She had been through a lot, had been taken by force by nymphs and he was sure now that she had chosen to leap from the balcony of the tower to escape them. Everything about this female screamed that she would put him in the dirt if he made a wrong move with her.

So he needed to make the right one.

He needed to earn her trust.

Saving her from the river should have been enough, but she had a wild look about her, one that would have told him she was frightened even if he hadn’t been able to sense it in her. She needed more than a rescue to win her over. She needed to see that he was on her side and not interested in treating her in ways other men had.

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