Page 78 of The Wolf and the Chimera
“I know,” I whispered and kissed her jaw. “I know.”
I trailed kisses down her neck, marking the path to where my bite would go.
“You’re stronger than me,” she whispered. “I’m not going to last even one night with these instincts wreaking havoc on my senses.”
Even my wolf hesitated.
“It’s hitting you that hard?” I asked.
“Yes,” she whispered breathlessly, “so why have you stopped?”
Curses circled in my mind, and I buried my face against her neck and groaned.
“What?” my mate asked. “What is it?”
I enjoyed a few more inhales of her scent and struggled for words.
“I’ve had a lifetime to navigate sharing my mind with an animal,” I said and lifted my head. Lust still shined in Elle’s eyes, but I forced myself to continue. “You’ve never been able to be one with yours. You’ve had no experience figuring out whatyouwant versus what the animal part of you desires.”
Confusion mingled with Elle’s lust, and I rolled off her. The absence of her skin pressed against mine was a wash of cold.
I stared at the bed’s linen canopy. “We can’t do this.”
Beside me, Elle stiffened. “Ryder, I…I want to.”
Gods give me strength.
Every ounce of my concentration went intonotleaping on my mate. The silence between us stretched. When I was certain I was under control, I looked at her, but Elle jolted upright.
“I’m going to take a shower,” she said, facing the wall. “I never should’ve gotten in the bed—I’m sure there’s still sandon my clothes.”
I opened my mouth to interject, but hurrying away from me, Elle prattled on.
“I wonder if the sheets will magically clean themselves. Anyway—”
She opened a door I hadn’t even noticed when we entered the room. The bathroom door opened and shut, and my mate was gone.
As I sat alone in the lingering perfume of her scent, I wondered if I had done the right thing or made the biggest mistake of my life.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Elle
The shower’s water scalded my skin, but I was grateful for the burn. It masked the mortification that still heated my face.
I couldn’t believe how I had thrown myself at Ryder, but after the way he had looked at me in the arena—with pride, not worry—something in me had craved him in a way I had never wanted anything.
Was Ryder right?
Was this craving the result of my animal form and my human form finally being one?
I rubbed my tired face and groaned.
Tomorrow,I decided.I’ll figure it out tomorrow.
Now, I only had to stay in the shower long enough until I was certain Ryder had fallen asleep.
His rejection wasn't what drove me to hide. I had felt and seen and smelled exactly how much he wanted me, and my desire had matched his own. I truly wasn't sure how he had stopped.
