Page 12 of Country and Clove
Aaron’s eyes met hers and her stomach flipped.
“The hell is going on?” That stupid Southern accent had her practically swooning.Focus.This asshole hit it and quit it in the woods.Notsexy.
“That’s what I wanna know. What the hell is going on?” Her voice was steady despite how her insides shook.
“I’m trying to take a piss. You should get out.” He turned away from her.No. No, he was not going to dismiss her that easily. She stormed up to him, and he faced her in surprise. “I just said—”
The slap of her palm striking skin echoed across the tiled walls. Aaron’s startled expression brought a modicum of satisfaction. But those maple eyes became shadowed, as Aaron’s darker side slid forward. He closed the space between them, striding forward so fast Clove had to stumble backward to avoid being run over. Her back slammed against a hand dryer and she winced, sliding to the side until she reached smooth wall. Aaron pressed on, leaving mere inches between them. His smoky essence swarmed her senses. The air was thick and her skin burned.
“That wasn’t very smart, pretty girl.”
Clove fought to clear her mind from his distracting influence. “Why did you leave me in the woods?”
Maple eyes hardened. “I don’t usually take my one-night stands home to meet my mama. Sorry if that was unclear.”
Clove shoved at his chest. “I am not a one-night stand, I know it, you know it, and our wolves know it—”
Aaron’s hand clamped over her lips. “Don’t say another fucking word.” But their wolves had other ideas.
Mine,Clove’s wolf called to him.Mine,Aaron’s wolf replied.
* * *
Green and gold eyes went wide as their wolves claimed one another. How could this have happened? Last night was a mistake. He knew that the second he woke up this morning without an alcohol buffer to sway him otherwise. And when he left her in the woods, he thought it would be the end of this. He never remembered seeing Clove before last night. If he had avoided running into her for so many years before yesterday, he could certainly find a way to avoid her from now on.
Then she appeared at his damn breakfast table, looking as achingly beautiful as the first moment he laid eyes on her.Fuck.
Aaron didn’t want a mate. After everything the pack had gone through these last few years, he swore to never give himself over to his wolf’s call. It made things too complicated. But right here, right now, his animal instincts were driving a need so desperate and primal through his mind, body, and soul that he feared his very being would cease to exist, and that single claiming word would be all that was left of him.Mine.
Clove’s sweet, peachy scent was making his blood burn hotter and his body coil with need. Her breath was warm beneath his hand and her lips slid along his palm with each inhale and exhale.Those fucking lips. He pulled his hand away. Just to look at them. Her mouth was parted. He ran the pad of his thumb down her lips, sighing as the soft skin met his rough hand. The way they looked, felt…just one taste.
He took her face in his hands, dipping low to press his mouth against hers. That single kiss melted something inside him. Every dark moment that had haunted him seemed to evaporate as peaches and honeysuckle filled the empty spaces within him.
He pressed against her, relishing the way she sighed into his mouth. Their bodies all but fell into each other. The kiss took on a life of its own and they moved with a passion that threatened to devour them both. Everything about this, about Clove, felt so perfect. He could fall into her arms, make her his one and only and forget about every bad thing that had ever happened. She was sunlight and air to his dark world.
He drank in the soft moans emptying from her lips. This was how it should be. No more thoughts of the past, no more fears of the future. Only this. Only Clove.Mine.
Her wolf called out to him and this time a bucket of ice water snuffed out the flames consuming his roguish thoughts. Everything he had been against, all the bullshit things he had seen happen with the others and their mates, rose to the surface of his mind. The spell over him grew taut, then snapped. He pulled away so abruptly, Clove fell forward.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice soft and breathy.
“I can’t do this.” The words were sour on his tongue. Clove’s gaze sobered and all the lust that had bloomed between them vanished.
“Can’t do what?”
“I can’t be with you. I’m sorry.” He reached to unlock the bathroom door. Clove snatched his arm.
“What do you mean? We’re mates. Our wolves called to each other. It’s the two of us. Of everyone else in the world, only you and I are meant for each other. It’s fated.” The pain and panic that filled her mismatched-colored eyes sliced through his heart. This part would hurt. It would hurt them both.
“I reject the mate bond.” He regretted the words the moment they came. Something broke inside him, and he saw it reflected in the shattered, heartbroken look Clove gave him.
“No,” she whispered. Tears ran down her golden skin. He yearned to reach out, to brush those tears away and kiss her until all her sadness disappeared.
But instead he left, giving her one final, “I’m sorry,” then closing the door behind him.
In that moment he knew with the deepest, saddest certainty that he had just made the biggest mistake of his life.
CHAPTER7
