Page 14 of Pleasure and Mane
"Can you find your way back to your room?" he asked, his voice rough and strained.
Quinn blinked, still dazed from the intensity of their kiss. "I... yes. I think so."
He nodded curtly, already backing away as if she were dangerous. "Goodnight, Quinn."
Then he was gone, striding quickly across the gardens toward a different entrance, leaving Quinn standing alone beside the fountain with her lips still tingling and her heart racing like she'd just run a marathon.
What the hell just happened?she wondered, touching her mouth where she could still feel the phantom pressure of his kiss.
Whatever it was, she suspected her carefully controlled life had just become infinitely more complicated.
SIX
CAIUS
Caius's powerful legs carried him across the moonlit gardens with long, desperate strides. Each step away from Quinn felt like tearing something vital from his chest, but he couldn't stop. Not when his lion was prowling just beneath his skin, demanding he return to claim what belonged to him.
What the hell was I thinking?He pushed through the doors leading to his private wing of the mansion, his hands shaking as he turned the lock behind him. The cool interior air did nothing to calm the fire burning through his veins.
Three hours. He'd known Quinn Marrow for three goddamn hours, and he'd already lost complete control in ways that should have been impossible. Alphas didn't lose control. They certainly didn't kiss human women they barely knew with the desperate hunger of a man who'd been starving his entire life.
But that's exactly what had happened. The moment Quinn had whispered that she didn't want to be safe from whatever was building between them, every carefully constructed wall around his heart had crumbled. His lion had surged forward with primitive recognition, roaring its approval as Caius claimed her mouth like she already belonged to him.
Because she did belong to him. That was the terrifying truth he couldn't escape.
Caius climbed the stairs to his bedroom two at a time, his white henley clinging to his sweat-dampened skin. The scent of lavender and rain still clung to his clothes—Quinn's intoxicating scent that made his beast pace with restless energy.
He'd barely made it through dinner without jumping across the table to claim her. Watching her tell the story about delivering that baby during the blizzard and seeing the passion light up her green eyes as she described her calling—it had been like watching someone speak directly to his soul. She understood duty and sacrifice in ways most people never would. She carried the weight of other people's lives with the same fierce dedication that drove him to protect his pride.
She was everything he'd never known he wanted, and everything he'd probably always needed. A beautiful, strong, compassionate woman who could stand beside him and help shoulder the burdens of leadership.
A human woman,his practical mind reminded him sharply as he reached his bedroom door.A human who has no idea what you truly are, or what claiming her would mean.
Caius pushed into his bedroom and slammed the door behind him, leaning against the cool wood as he tried to catch his breath. The spacious room with its king-sized bed and fireplace had always been his sanctuary—the one place where he could drop the mask of leadership and simply be himself.
Now it felt like a prison.
He yanked the henley over his head and tossed it aside, the soft fabric landing on the leather chair near his fireplace. His jeans followed, leaving him standing in just black boxers as he tried to process what had happened in the garden.
The logical part of his mind—the part trained to put duty above all else—insisted he'd done the right thing by walkingaway. Quinn was here to care for Lavinia, not to be seduced by her patient's brother. She had a job to do, and professional boundaries to maintain.
More importantly, she was human. No Alpha in the history of their pride had ever taken a human mate. The political ramifications alone could destabilize Leon. His people trusted him to lead them, and to make decisions that benefited the whole pride rather than his personal desires.
But as Caius sank onto his bed, running his hands through his thick brown hair, he couldn't ignore the way his body still hummed with unsatisfied need. That one kiss had only made him want her more. The taste of her, the way she'd melted against him with such sweet surrender, and the soft sound she'd made when his tongue had swept across hers—it was branded into his memory like a claim.
His lion disagreed violently with the idea of avoiding their mate. The beast wanted to hunt her down right now, and to finish what they'd started in the garden regardless of consequences. It had taken every ounce of Caius's considerable willpower to tear himself away from Quinn's soft warmth and walk back to the mansion like a civilized man instead of the predator that lived beneath his skin.
Six damn months,he thought grimly, falling back onto the mattress and staring up at the ceiling.How am I supposed to live in the same house as her for six months without losing my damn mind?
The answer was simple, even if it felt like torture. He had to avoid her. No more intimate dinners, no more moonlight walks, and definitely no more moments alone where her scent could drive him past the point of rational thought.
He'd conduct any necessary conversations about the pregnancy losses through Lavinia or Henry. He'd eat his meals in his office or skip them entirely. Whatever it took to maintaindistance between himself and the woman who'd turned his ordered world upside down in less than a day.
His lion snarled in protest at the plan, but Caius forced himself to ignore the beast's demands. He had responsibilities that extended far beyond his personal desires. Quinn deserved better than to be dragged into the complicated politics of lion shifter life, and his pride needed a leader who could think with his head instead of other parts of his anatomy.
But even as he made the resolution, Caius knew it would be the hardest thing he'd ever done. Because walking away from Quinn tonight had felt like walking away from the other half of his soul.
The morning sun blazed through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Caius's bedroom, but he barely noticed the golden light streaming across the hardwood floors. He sat hunched over his laptop at the mahogany desk positioned near the fireplace, his muscular frame tense as he tried to focus on investment reports that normally commanded his full attention.
