Page 66 of Forever Touched

She was good at hiding it, but our bond was growing stronger. I could feel her conflicted emotions more. Hear more of her chaotic thoughts. They were everywhere, bobbing and weaving as if in a boxing match. As if the match was betweenus, and she was doing everything in her power to avoid me.

I couldn’t blame her, though. I knew that claiming her had been a huge breach of trust. Our bond was still so fragile, sobreakable, and I’d recklessly put it in jeopardy.

But when I’d bitten her, all I could think about was the countless males who’d tasted her. Who wouldcontinueto taste her. A wild and feral need had coursed through me, one thatdemandedI protect her from them. She wasn’t theirs. They didn’t deserve her.

She was mine.MINE.

Mine to keep safe from the cruel world she lived in.

I still couldn’t regret claiming her. Knowing that my scent was buried deep within her, so deep that any male who came near her would recoil in disgust, had calmed some of my frenzy. But the need to protect her continued to simmer in my veins. Each step we took from the lakehouse was an awful reminder that she waschoosingto go back. To allow males into her bed that weren’tme.

This feeling was new for me. This feeling of wanting someone for myself. Hundreds of females had entered my life over the years, none of them staying long enough for me to care if they left. But none of them had beenher. Even before I’d accepted that Adalyn was my soulmate, I’d wanted her. And now, she wasallI wanted.

Which was why I’d practically begged Loch and Kade to join us on the drive to Faircroft Manor. They were the only two things stopping me from throwing Adalyn over my shoulder and locking her inside the lakehouse. When she chose to sit in the backseat, though, I nearly ordered them both to leave so she would be forced to sit up front with me.

Seeing my agitated state, Loch shot me a warning look from the passenger seat. I peeled my lips back in a silent snarl but eventually wrestled my instincts under control and started the car. No one spoke while I maneuvered down the long private drive, but when I turned onto the main road, I couldn’t help saying, “You can still change your mind, you know.”

I glanced in the rearview mirror in time to see Adalyn smirk, but there was no humor behind the action.

“No, I can’t. I have unfinished business.”

My grip on the steering wheel tightened. “And what’s that? Securing new clients?”

Her gaze shot to mine in the mirror. “Really? You want to havethis conversation rightnowin front of your family?”

“They already know what you do.”

She scoffed. “Thanks for reminding me.”

“We’re kind of used to awkward family conversations,” Kade butted in from his spot directly behind me. “Just pretend we’re not here.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, no problem. I’ll just openly admit to a car full of males I barely know that I have sex with strangers for a living.”

Kade made a choking noise but didn’t respond. Good thing too, or I’d probably bash his teeth in.

“Is it the money?” I pressed, ignoring Loch’s warning look this time. “If you need money, just say so. Do you owe someone a debt?”

A panicked look crossed her face. She quickly wiped her expression clean, but it was too late.

Heat surged through me, a growl threatening to tear from my throat. Barely able to focus on driving, I pushed, “A debt? Is that it? Towhom?”

She clenched her jaw, refusing to say a word.

“Adalyn.”

She jumped at my raised voice.

“Everett,” Loch warned, staring daggers at the side of my face. “You’re scaring her.”

“I don’t care,” I growled back, the heat whipping into a wild frenzy. “Sheneedsto tell me.”

“She doesn’t have to tell youanything.”

“Yes, she—”

“She’s being thralled,” Kade interrupted.

I jerked the car onto the shoulder and slammed on the brakes. Setting it in park, I twisted around to face Adalyn. She was pale, palerthan I’d ever seen her. She stared at Kade in disbelief, like he’d just betrayed her.

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