Page 11 of Ensnared By the Werewolf

“It’s risky—”

“But it’s the most promising, isn’t it?”

I don’t want to lie to him.“Yes.”

“I think it’s time to try.I don’t want to disrupt your life if—” He cuts himself off with a look of helplessness.Disrupt my life?

“Jack, if I can’t lift the curse, I’ll still want to be—”

“How is it risky?”His question is rushed, as if he’s not ready to hear such a declaration.

He’s not ready to know we’re soul mates.

I straighten my spine.“The method would be me manipulating the magic.I’d carefully untangle the curse strand by strand and hopefully pull it free from you.”

Hope flares in his face at that.

“But if I can’t get a grip on the thread, if I lose it...the curse could become permanent.”I shrug hollowly.

“Belinda, I—” Jack breaks himself off and swallows.The price of this option is too high.It’s why I didn’t want to resort to it without exhausting all other methods.

“But if that’s what happens, if I don’t break your curse, I want you to know—” I start.

I’m cut off by his kiss.The crash of his lips against mine levels and revitalizes me.I moan into his mouth eagerly when his tongue slips into mine and firecrackers of sensation rain down my spine.

I’m panting when we part.

“It’s worth the risk,” Jack says, his eyes full of weight and purpose, as if to say you’re worth the risk.

I pull in oxygen, but when I respond, my voice is still breathless.“It’s your choice to make.”

Which is how I find myself stumbling in the dark of my workroom, trying to make a warding circle.My eyes have mostly adjusted to the low light, but I avert them out of respect for Jack’s privacy even as curiosity eats away my conviction.

I wish he’d trust that his form isn’t going to disgust me.

But trust comes with time.

I stand straight.The ward I’ve made in the dark surrounds the chair that holds Jack’s large form.I take a few deep breaths and run my fingers over the witchy skulls I’d embroidered on the cuffs of my sleeves to center myself.

It takes a minute of brushing against the threaded detail before the tension in my shoulders seeps finally from me and my heart calms.

“Are you ready?”I ask.

“Please,” Jack says.“And then we can go out on a real date.”

His upbeat words don’t hide the naked hunger in his voice.The flavor of it has my heart cracking, and I screw my eyes shut.Warmth envelops my cheek and rough, padded calluses press, cradling my face as if to reassure me.I cup my palm around Jack’s hand, bathing in this rare contact.

“Hey, Bel, please don’t stress.I know that this may not work.If it doesn’t—” I hear him swallow.“If I’m stuck like this, I know you did everything you possibly could.”

The sharp ends of his claws prick my skin as he pulls away.

I sniff and nod.“Well, either way, you owe me dinner after this.”

“Bel—”

I make a cutting gesture with my hand, and he stops.“You owe me this real date you’ve been teasing me about.”

His chuckle is full of disbelief.

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