Page 109 of Tempted By the Alpha Outlaw

I tip my head. “Reckon I do.”

She shakes her head, but she’s still smiling. “Cocky.”

I wink. “You like it.”

Her mouth presses into a line—not denying it.

I step closer, pressing my hand against the house’s wooden siding, looking up at her. “Come out, Magnolia.”

She hesitates, her fingers curling against the windowsill. I see the battle in her—see the way her chest rises and falls too fast, see the way the moonlight turns her dark eyes fever-bright.

She wants this.

Wants me.

“I shouldn’t,” she murmurs, like she’s trying to convince herself more than me.

I nod. “I know.”

She exhales, the sound shaky. “I should go back to bed.”

I drag my teeth over my bottom lip. “You could.”

Her hands tighten around the sill. “Colt…”

I let the sound of my name settle deep, let it burn slow through my chest.

Then, quietly, honestly?—

“I miss you.”

Magnolia’s fingers tighten on the windowsill, like she’s trying to steady herself against the pull between us. My breath comes slow, steady, even though my whole body is burning. My wolf paces inside me, desperate to close the distance, to touch, to taste, to claim—but I don’t move.

Then she glances at the trellis.

“If you’re going to throw rocks at my window, you may as well lean into it and climb up the trellis too,” she teases.

And then she disappears…leaving the window open.

That’s an invitation.

Hand bracing against the trellis, I test the weight of it before hauling myself up. Magnolia’s scent drifts down to me, thick in the summer air, sending a shudder through my body. The wood is rough beneath my palms, but I barely feel it. My focus is singular—climbing, reaching, getting to her. The window yawns open, the night spilling into her room…and I grip the frame, muscles coiled, and push myself through.

She’s waiting.

Sitting on the bed, knees drawn up beneath her, the moonlight painting her in soft silver. Her nightgown pools around her thighs, the fabric barely clinging to her, slipping off one shoulder. Her hair is a mess of dark curls, her lips parted just slightly, like she’s still catching her breath.

Like she didn’t expect me to actually do it.

I don’t want to rush her. I need to give her time. If my wolf had his way, I would be on her, inside her in seconds, giving her what we both crave.

But no…I want to make this work. Make it last.

Her gaze flickers over me as I straighten to my full height in her room, slow and assessing, like she’s memorizing the moment. Like she’s letting herself want this.

I take a single step forward.

Magnolia’s breath hitches.

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