Page 11 of An Unending Claim

I could only imagine how wild my eyes must have looked when our gazes collided. “I don’t—” I choked on the words.

“You’re having an anxiety attack.”

What the fuck?I scrunched up my face, ready to argue that I was fine. Except I couldn’t deny the evidence to the contrary, and I couldn’t speak at the moment, anyway. I hated being out of control. Being vulnerable sucked.

But I stared into Nathan’s eyes as he continued to massage my hand, then switched to the other. I had no doubt that if there were ever someone I could trust with my vulnerability, it would be Nathan. I could trust him almost implicitly.

Almost.

I’d never be able to share the full truth of my secret.About who I really am.He’d never—

“Stop thinking about whatever just entered your mind, Peyton,” Nathan ordered suddenly. I jerked to a stop at the fork in the road that would have taken me down another painful rabbit hole. “Take deep breaths. Focus on taking air in and out, nothing else.”

Nodding, I did as he suggested.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Rather than calming down, my body began to shake, and I gasped for oxygen.

The next thing I knew, Nathan picked me up and took me to the couch. He set me on my side facing the back, then climbed over to slide down in front of me. He tucked my head under his chin and wrapped his big body around mine in a hold that would normally have made me feel uncomfortable and claustrophobic. Any other time I would have been freaking the fuck out from being confined. It stunned me when the overly tight, constricting embrace eased the knot in my chest. I drew in a breath, relieved when it seemed to fill my lungs a little more. The shaking began to subside, and my pulse slowed.

He hugged me even closer, and I struggled less and less with each inhale. Eventually, the sensation of my skin crawling also tapered off and I sighed in relief. For some reason, that had been the worst part because it put me in limbo, unable to decide whether I could outrun it or escape it in a dark, tight space. Turned out the latter was the winner on that front.

“Feeling better?” Nathan’s deep voice brushed over my nerve endings, adding another layer of calm.

I jerked my head up and down, bumping his chin from its resting spot on top. He let up the pressure of his hold enough to rub slow, soothing circles on my back, and we lay there for a few more minutes.

“I’m okay,” I finally said, my voice muffled because my face was still buried in his neck. I’d wallowed for long enough, so I wiggled to indicate I wanted him to let me go and he sighed as he complied.

“You don’t have to be strong all the time, Peyton.” He sat up and yanked the tie from his hair, then shook it out. “There is nothing wrong with leaning on someone and letting them be your anchor.”

I scoffed and threw him a disbelieving glance as I padded over to my chair again. “As if you’d ever let your guard down like that.”

An awkward silence followed, and I plopped into my chair before looking at him again. My panther remained curled up in her spot, still off balance after my episode.

His silver eyes bored into mine, and he ran a hand through his silky locks. “You’re right, I haven’t leaned on anyone since becoming a man. But I’m trying. No one has ever even put the thought in my mind before, and here I am, trying to figure out how to open myself to you completely.” I gaped at him as he stood and returned to his seat on the ottoman in front of me. “You are my mate, baby. If we don’t learn to lay ourselves open to each other, our bond will never be fully complete.”

“And”—I paused, twisting the ring a few times before continuing—“you won’t be happy with anything less than everything.”

The corners of Nathan’s lips curved down and he studied me closely while he answered. “No, Peyton. I want all of you.”

His silver orbs strayed away to inspect my upper arm, then he extended his hand toward it and his fingers fluttered over the paw print. It sizzled beneath his touch, and he smiled as he retracted his hand.

When his gaze returned to my face, it was heavy with unyielding determination. “Iwillhave all of you, Peyton. I don’t care what it takes. You’remine.”

CHAPTERFIVE

PEYTON

My panther perked up at his declaration, but I didn’t want to have this discussion right now. Or ever. Then again, I just might get my wish depending on Lincoln’s results.

So I abruptly changed the subject back to the events of the morning. “Anyway, when we saw Geoff’s injuries, we shifted because I could help much more in human form.”

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