Page 41 of Wolf Tamer

She stops short, and I realize we’ve gone farther than I expected. The manor is no longer in sight, and the lay of the land shields our little slice of mountainside from the view of the yard. The clearing opens up in front of us with a rock crag cutting most of the breeze.

“Please don’t take this personally, Reid, but I’m not sure you can help me.” She holds up a hand to keep me from speaking, but I balk at her words. “You’ve got your own troubles, and you’re not beholden to me in any way. Why divide your time and your attention? It’s better for you to focus on what you can control and just leave me to find Carmen on my own.”

“Unless you’ve forgotten, blinded by our little charade, you are still my property. That part of the deal is actually real.” Just like my feelings for her are real, but I keep that to myself.

She’s standing with her hands on her hips in my borrowed pants and her hair slung loose down her back. If the cold bothers her, she gives no indication of it. Raw, natural, and stunning.

Tasha narrows her brows the longer she stares at me. “I am not your property.”

But we both know her argument is moot.

I take a step closer, then another, knowing how she’ll react to me. Knowing she’ll feel no choice but to back away once I enter her little bubble. I keep my posture easy, the opposite of the menacing grimace I use on my own people, and seconds later, her back is pressed flat to the trunk of the nearest tree with my arms blocking her on either side.

Her scent changes, and her body is warm against mine.

“What is it going to take to convince you?” I murmur, running my nose along the side of her neck and breathing her in. Her heart jumps erratically.

“Of what?” she counters.

I grimace. “My intentions. They’re pure, Tash. I want to help you. I want to be there for you, if you’ll let me.”

“You’ve done enough, trust me.” A small chuckle accompanies the statement.

It’s my turn to shake my head. “Not enough. Not what you deserve. I haven’t given you anything that you deserve, or to show you that I’m serious about you.” Do I tell her about her little slip while she’d been close to unconscious? Where she admitted her feelings to me? It seems only right for me to let something slip. “You have to know I’m crazy about you.”

She scoffs, but I notice a small tremor ripping through her body at the admission. Her heartbeat continues to race, and another long inhale brings to me the scent of her desire. Is it any wonder I’m unable to resist the temptation she presents?

“I believe you mean you’re just crazy,” she counters. “And that’s okay. Most men are. I’m not going to hold it against you.” She heaves a sigh so disappointed that I want to crack, but hopefully she accepts the facts.

I’m not holding back any longer. Here, in the concealment of the woods, I lower my mouth to hers, capturing her next inhale.She can easily escape if she wants to. I massage her lips with mine. She can kick me straight between the legs, the way she has before, and bolt.

If she wants.

I’ve left room for her to pursue whatever option she’s comfortable with… but not without a kiss. Not until I’ve kissed her senseless, the way I’ve denied myself since our return.

Only right now, I’m also desperately hoping she wants to stay with me.Here. That she wants to take advantage of this moment where it’s only the two of us. Because her kisses are drugs, and as long as she’ll have me, I plan to be there with her. To go higher with her. To listen, to protect, and to stand up for her. I’ll do whatever it takes to convince her that the safest place for her heart to be is in my hands.

Because she’s taken mine already.

ChapterFourteen

Reid

Apart of me is a little worried that the others will find us here and interrupt the tenuous peace of the moment we’ve managed to carve out. It’s a moment where Tasha arches her chest to press her breasts against me, and I settle into her softness in a natural fit. My erection grinds in perfect alignment with the heat between her legs, and she widens her stance to give me better access.

So fucking hot.

She’s not kicking me, and she’s not pushing me back and drawing a line in the sand.

Screw it. I’m not going to let a little fear of public intimacy hold me back from claiming her at last. Every part of me demands that I make this right, and the first step is taking her clothes off and basking in her body.

“Take off your shirt.” I punctuate the statement with a trail of kisses before stopping at the swell of her breasts. “Now. I have to see you.”

See and feel and taste, in no particular order.

I hold myself back just long enough for her to grab the hem of her shirt and bring it up over her head. She tosses the material away to land who knows where to give me a much-needed look at her creamy skin.

I held myself back in the shower for her benefit because I hadn’t thought her ready for this kind of intimacy. But my wolf is pressing for me to complete the act, knowing it’s been much too long for our liking since the last time we buried between her legs.

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