Page 41 of Fated to the Wolf Prince

It was possible the mate bond was making me not right in the head. Yeah, let’s blame it on the bond, and not the fact that I knew what tanned, broad expanse of muscle was hiding under his tight T-shirt.

“Okay, just let me get changed.”

He grinned and nodded before stepping back just enough for the door to swing shut.

I changedas quickly as I could into my favorite black bikini and a floaty, sheer cover-up. A hint of energy came back to me as I moved through the familiar motions of changing clothes, and anticipation built in my chest at the prospect of being near him again, despite my best efforts to squash it down like a cockroach.

That damn desire must be nuclear-bomb proof, because it wouldn’t quit. Resisting him was going to drive me eleven kinds of crazy, but Ihad to.For him.

Resolve as strong as I could build it, I reopened the door. His eyes lit with heat as they skimmed from my hair twisted into a simple bun, down my neck, lingering on my bikini-clad cleavage, over my bare stomach, and down to the gold links on either hip which held my bottoms in place.

His wolf growled, the sound low and approving in his throat. He cleared it a second later as he skated his eyes back up to mine.

“It should be illegal to be this stunning. May I?” He gestured toward me, and it took my still-tired brain a moment to realize that he wanted to pick me up.

“Kane, it’s not at all necessary to— Ahh!”

He swept me off my feet, leaving my strappy sandals dangling from my toes for dear life as he ignored my objections. My arms went around his neck reflexively, steadying myself against the sudden change in gravity.

His breath was hot against the shell of my ear when he spoke, the low tones of his voice making my nipples pebble tightly against my bikini top, “It’s as necessary as my next breath, holding you. Feeling you against me. I’d like every inch of you spread out underneath me, but we need to take it slow, give you time to come to terms with this bond between us. I refuse to rush you, even though my wolfvery much sowants to rush you.”

He took the stairs easily, as if I weighed nothing, and I found myself relaxing into his strong arms, his solid chest. A feeling of rightness, of safety, washed over me as he jogged into the trees in a direction I’d never been in our short time so far on Pack Blackwater lands.

He ran in contented silence, and I rested my head against his shoulder after a few minutes. The scent of him was intoxicating, but also soothing. If I let myself, I could curl up with my nose to his neck and sleep. He would keep me safe, I knew it to my core.

But thoughts of sleep were fleeting when minutes later, he rounded a large boulder, wove through some tall piles of rocks, and stopped on the edge of a steaming hot spring. The still waters were clear enough that I could see down to a rocky shelf along the edge, and when he set me carefully on my feet, even the reddish-gray stone we stood on was comfortably warm.

“There are bigger hot springs about a hundred miles east of here, but those are public. These are private, known only to our pack. I put the word out that we needed some privacy this evening, so we won’t be disturbed.”

I swallowed hard, images of the two of us tangled together in the water coming to me unbidden, and a raging inferno of lust and need rising in my chest.

No. No, no, no. We can’t. We can’t take this bond any further, no matter how badly I want to feel him sink into me, claim me.

He stripped off his simple black tee, draping it over a stone bench carved right into one of the huge boulders protecting this oasis—someone in his pack was a very talented craftsman. I watched with hungry eyes as he also stripped off the sweatpants, leaving nothing behind but tight black boxer briefs, which showed off the largest erection I’d ever seen. I was swallowing hard again as he stepped to the edge of the hot spring and extended his hand, palm up, waiting for me.

Sucking in a shallow breath, I closed my eyes and stripped off my sheer cover-up, tossing it to float down next to his clothes on the bench. One step, then another, and our palms touched, the kiss of skin on skin more glorious every single time it happened.

My arousal burned even hotter with the small bit of contact, and he didn’t release his grip on me as he stepped down into the steaming water. I dipped one toe in gingerly and moaned in bliss. It was hot, but not too hot, like the world’s best Jacuzzi, only better.

I stepped down onto the shelf, coming chest to chest with him, waist-deep in the water. His straining erection couldn’t be hidden, the rock-hard length pressing greedily against my hip, drawing all my attention.

He didn’t push, though, or grind it into me the way I longed for. True to his word, he didn’t act on his obvious desire, instead sinking down into the water and gesturing for me to do the same.

While the water lapped at his shoulders, it came nearly to my chin once I was seated. Another sigh escaped me as the warm water enveloped every tired, achy muscle, and I couldn’t help but lean into his solid strength next to me.

His shoulder made a much better pillow than the stone, and our fingers twined beneath the water weren’t enough contact.

Maybe I was the greedy one. But I couldn’t be, couldn’t be that selfish. I had to stay strong. That was why we were here, so I could explain. Make him see. Not to feed the burning desire inside me that demanded I climb into his lap, shove off his boxers, and sink down onto his rock-hard shaft.

No, that couldn’t ever be between us.

The ache in my stomach came back with a vengeance, and I gasped, unable to keep it in.

Goddess, this was the worst kind of torture.

“What is it? What’s wrong? Is the water too hot?” His fingers gripped mine tighter, and suddenly, he was hovering in front of me, leaning over me in the water with a worried line etching his forehead.

I didn’t answer, instead reaching up and smoothing it out with my fingertips. The motion sent little trickles of water down his nose, and he wiggled it as if it tickled.

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