Page 10 of Fated Wolf's Redemption

I growl, crushing my mouth to hers again, deepening the kiss until we’re out of breath and out of excuses. Damn her. Damn me. Damn, whatever this is between us.

Sophia tastes like fire and storm, wild and untamed, the way the air crackles before a lightning strike. Her body is tightly wedged between me and the rough, unyielding bark; she grips my hair like a lifeline and her warm breath mingles fiercely with mine. Instincts roar for more, obliterating my self-control, but a desperate fragment of sanity claws its way out, dragging me back from the precipice.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not with her. Not with such intensity, but halting seems an insurmountable task. I crash my lips onto hers—one arm braced beneath her, holding her up, while my other hand clutches her hair with fervor. I have her completely ensnared between my body and the tree.

Her nipples, hard like diamond shards, pierce through the fabric of my shirt. I devour her mouth until we are both gasping for air, yet my hunger remains insatiable. The relentless ridge of my erection grinds against the apex of her thighs, brushing her clit and drawing a raw, primal moan from her lips.

I force myself to stop, pulling back just enough to put space between us. My grip on her hips tightens before I set her on her feet, letting go completely and stepping away as if distance alone will erase what just happened.

It doesn’t.

Sophia blinks up at me, still flushed, still breathing hard. Still watching me like she knows exactly what’s running through my head.

"You’re going to act like that didn’t just happen?" she asks, voice husky.

I scrub a hand through my hair, taking another step back. "It shouldn’t have."

She huffs a quiet laugh, shaking her head. "That’s not what I asked."

I grit my teeth, my pulse hammering in my ears. This—whatever the hell this is—was a mistake. She’s a Windrider, a disruption my pack doesn’t need. A distraction I don’t need.

And yet, my damn wolf is still growling and stalking the edges of my control, furious that I stepped away.

Sophia tilts her head, studying me. "Let me guess. You’re going to tell yourself this was just lust. Some base instinct. Nothing important."

"It isn’t," I snap before I can stop myself.

She looks at me skeptically, still standing there completely bare under the moonlight, completely unapologetic. "That’s adorable," she muses. "Really. Keep telling yourself that, Stone."

I narrow my eyes. "Don’t."

"Don’t what?" She steps forward, closing the space I just put between us, and I curse my own stupidity for not looking away.

Sophia isn’t just beautiful. She’s dangerous. She’s the kind of woman who doesn’t just set a fire and walk away. She burns until there’s nothing left.

"I don’t play games," I grind out, jaw tight.

She leans in just enough for her scent to wrap around me again—only this time, it is heavy with arousal. Her lips hover near my jaw. "Neither do I," she murmurs.

My fingers twitch with the urge to grab her again, to pull her back against me and remind us both of how real that kiss was. But real or not, it changes nothing. This isn’t fate. This is a mistake waiting to happen.

I force myself to turn away, to walk, even as my wolf fights me every step of the way.

Sophia doesn’t stop me. She just watches, a knowing little hum of amusement under her breath, as if she already knew I’d run—that only pisses me off more.

I don’t look back. I force my feet to move, my muscles locked with restraint as I push through the trees, away from her, away from the mess I just made.

Every step feels wrong. Every inch of distance a mistake. But I keep going, because if I don’t, I won’t stop.

Sophia McKenna is the kind of problem I won’t survive.

CHAPTER 3

SOPHIA

My feelings are a mixture of amusement and fury. What the fuck was that?

One minute, Lucas Stone is all but devouring me against a tree, his hands and mouth promising things I know neither of us should want, and the next? He’s storming off like he just realized he enjoyed it too much.

---