Page 23 of Owning His Mate

I don’t hear whatever she’s not because, using my grip on her neck, I pull her in for a scorching kiss. The moment our lips connect, it is like fireworks exploding inside my brain. Every inch of my body vibrates with desire and need. I feel alive in a way I didn’t know was possible. It is as if I have been sleeping all these years and Apryle has awakened the real me.

I expect her to shove me back and give me a lashing with her words, but her lust swamps our mating bond. For all her protestations, she is as helpless as I am against the pull of her mate.

She lets out a little whimper as her body presses against mine, her hands slipping under my T-shirt to the bare skin of my back. Her touch lights a fire in every cell in my body, and when she grinds against my cock, I can’t stop the growl from erupting from deep in my throat.

My little mate is going to be the death of me. Now that I’ve tasted her, there is no way in hell I’m allowing her to back off again.

I’m forced to break the kiss so I can draw in a breath. My lungs feel starved of oxygen and my chest is tight, as if it is being squeezed in a vise.

I drag in lungfuls of air as I rest my forehead against hers. The bond thrums and vibrates between us, this small act of intimacy adding another brick to the wall we are building around us.

“We shouldn’t be doing this,” she says quietly.

“You’re wrong,” I reply. “This is exactly what we should be doing.”

She closes her eyes, and I feel her mixed emotions. “We are about to go into a war that we might not survive.”

The thought of that is almost enough to send me over the edge. “Nothing is going to happen to you,” I growl out. “I’ll make sure of it.”

“And what if something happens to you? Where does that leave me?” I take it as another victory that she cares what will become of her if I die. “We need to find someone to undo the bond. We need to go back to how things were before.”

I don’t want to go back to that. Before Apryle walked into my life, I had nothing and no one. I was empty, a shell, existing only to feed my vengeance.

Now I have the chance to create something meaningful, and I refuse to walk away from this. I can’t understand why she would want to either.

“We’re going into something dangerous, but you’re safer with me at your side, and while that is the case, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Do I get a say in this?”

“No.”

She rolls her eyes before she tugs out of my grasp. I let her go, sensing she needs the distance and suspecting that if I push it, she’ll only hurt herself trying to get free of me.

“I don’t need an overbearing wolf breathing down my neck at every moment. And I’m not some damsel who needs saving. I don’t want you watching my every move, waiting to save the day as if I can’t handle myself. Do you have any idea how patronizing it is that you think this way?”

I don’t give a fuck about being patronizing. My only concern is to keep her breathing, and I’ll do that however I have to.

I don’t like to be vulnerable, to open my wounds to her, but I need to give Apryle something. “I never thought for a single moment I would find a mate, let alone my fated mate. When I walked into this building, you were there. Suddenly, it was as if everything in my life made sense. I felt peace and calm like never before.” I reach out, skimming my fingers over the point where a claiming mark would sit. Her skin is soft, almost like silk, and I want desperately to press my lips against her pulse, but I resist.She’s not ready for that yet. “I will fight every step of the way for us if that’s what you need, but I won’t walk away, Apryle. I can’t.”

“We don’t have to be together because magic dictates it. We have choices. The fact that bonds are created with magic means they can also be undone by the same power. Let me talk to my coven, maybe even Callum. We can change this. And then you can find someone who will love you and want you the way you deserve. Because that’s not me, Kye. I can’t love anyone.”

I lift my lip into a snarl, disliking the way she is talking. What the fuck has happened to her that she can’t love someone? “Don’t test me and the lengths I will go to in order to keep you.”

Chapter 6

Apryle

His words ring in my head on an endless loop as we drive to the town where the hunters were last spotted. The truck is quiet, everyone deep in their thoughts, preparing for the fight we’re about to have. They’re probably going over strategies, and that’s what I should be doing, but all I can think about is that I can still taste Kye on my lips.

He kissed me. Not just kissed, butkissed. I have never had anyone claim my mouth the way he did. It was brutal and possessive, and I liked it. It was as if every part of me was burning for him.

Denying this bond is going to be impossible if my traitorous body won’t behave itself. The amount of control it took not to hump his leg like a horny terrier was alarming.

Getting close to him is a disaster I have to avoid at all costs.

I ignore his gaze boring into the side of my head as the truck hurtles down the highway. Kye insisting on tagging along and getting into my business annoys me, but there is also a part of me that finds it sweet that he wants to keep me safe.

I don’t like feeling this way because I know I’m better off alone. I’ve always been better when I am the only one I haveto rely on. Joining the coven was a huge step toward trusting others, but that was easier. They don’t want to use or own me, and they are in the same position I am.

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