Page 73 of Fated to the Warrior Wolf

“Need me to crack a window?” The concern in his voice had me closing my eyes, rocking back away from his perfection. Why couldn’t he just keep being that asshole it was so easy to fight with?

But was that really what I wanted? Did I want to fight and push him away yet again?

No, no I didn’t. I wanted to take it all back and beg him to take me to bed. I wanted to start over. I wanted a relationship with the man I’d made a baby with.

I heard the soft squeak of the window opening, and the first cool tendril of air made me shiver. I kept my eyes screwed shut, though, because I couldn’t watch him take care of me right now, or I was going to do something reckless.

“Better?” he asked, stepping up to stand in front of me. I didn’t have to look to know he was close. I could feel him, scent him. Every nerve in my body was attuned to his.

Mine,my wolf growled, surprising me as she paced anxiously in my chest.

A gentle touch to my forehead had my eyes flying open of their own accord. He was frowning, the backs of his knuckles light on my skin as he tested my temperature. “You don’t feel hot, but if you’re sick, I can call Brielle.” He let his fingers trail across my cheek, but as he started to withdraw them, I caught his hand between mine.

Not ready to lose the contact.

Not ready to losehim.

“I’m not sick,” I whispered, locking eyes with him.

“No?” he asked, his voice going even huskier than morning gravel. A lightning bolt of lust had me dripping, and I resisted the urge to run. Goddess, he’d barely said a word and I was a needy, panting mess.

I shook my head, and he crouched down, getting on eye level with me. “Something bothering you, princess?”

I bit my lip, warring inside about whether to fess up.

“We’re just friends,” I blurted. “Right? That’s what we said. We’d take it slow, get to know one another as friends. We have Petal to think about, and, and…”

A delicious half grin twisted his lips, and his eyes seemed toget a shade darker as he leaned in closer to whisper, “We’re more than just friends,mate.” That word should not be sexy, but on his lips, it was pure sin. “You know it, and I know it. But we can go any speed that suits you.”

He used his free hand to brush a blonde lock away from my face, and I shuddered under even that simple touch.

Gael groaned low in his throat, and I knew then that he’d scented my arousal. Scented what wasreallyhappening here. But he didn’t press me back into the bed, didn’t push for what he could’ve taken without a second thought.

No, he lowered his forehead to rest against mine, letting his hands drop to the mattress on either side of me. Not touching, but close enough to feel the heat. My knees were wide, parted enough that he could kneel between them. But still, he kept those last few inches of distance.

“Tell me what you need.”

The words took all the air from my lungs. Could I do that? Could I just tell him, and he would deliver?

“That feels one-sided,” I said, searching his face.

He chuckled, and I groaned because, damn it, even his laugh did it for me.

“If you think this is one-sided, you’re ignoring all the signs.” He moved his lips next to my ear, the feeling of his breath on my sensitive skin driving me to another level of need. Much more and I was going to burst out of my skin. “Tell me what you want, and it’s yours.”

“You. I wantyou.” I breathed the words, barely more than a whisper, but he was in motion the second they left my lips.

Strong hands scooped under my thighs, lifting me off the mattress before I had time to compute what was happening. I grabbed his shoulders for balance as he carried me across the room like I weighed nothing. My breasts were pressed against his hard chest, the friction making me whimper even through my borrowed T-shirt.

He stopped in front of the chair we’d been snoozing in, but stopped and turned his head to the side.

His eyes began to glow, and his lip lifted in a snarl. “Get lost.”

The alpha command surprised me, but the sounds of a kitten ducking for cover made me bury my face in the crook of his neck to smother a laugh.

“Seriously? Scared of a tiny kitten?”

He snorted as he settled onto the chair, surprising me when he put me on his lap, straddling his thick erection. He hadn’t been lying: the feelings weredefinitelymutual. I resisted the urge to grind against him, but only barely.

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