Page 18 of The Wolf's Bullied Pregnant Mate
“Oh,” I said, reaching a hand up to feel for the open zip, but I ended up just awkwardly patting my shoulder. Zephyr cursed under his breath before roughly pushing me around and guiding my hand.
“There,” he growled.
And I swore—it was just the rum, surely, but the way his voice went so rough and deep made me shiver. For once, not with fear.
Get ahold of yourself, I scolded myself. But when I couldn’t see the hatred burning in his eyes, I let myself imagine a world where Zephyr and I cooperated with one another. The sad thing was that I could almost see it.
My fingers brushed the zipper, but I couldn’t figure out how to tug it up. I gave up quickly, sighing, only to find my hand replaced by Zephyr’s. He was tense; I could feel his breathing growing slower, steadier.
Despite every hard, fast line of anger he showed me, the way he zipped up my dress was surprisingly gentle. Gentle in a way that made me crave more of it. A soft noise sounded in my throat. Zephyr’s hand withdrew quickly.
I turned to him, thinking of every awful thing he had ever said, only to find his eyes searching my face. But all I could see was the shifter who had hunted me through the woods.How does it feel to know that your life means so little that it will end at the hands of a wolf? He’d asked. I had pleaded for my life.
I shoved him away, staggering back. “Don’t touch me,” I hissed.
But he was there, his hands on my hips, pushing me into the wall, and I only resisted for a minute until those green eyes bore into me once more.
“Your hatred only stokes me,” he murmured, his voice tight and flat. “Don’t forget, witch, I hate you just as much as you hate me.”
Then his mouth crashed against mine, and I tasted the whisky on his tongue, and I let him kiss me until it wasn’t just the alcohol making me dizzy. I didn’t know I was moving my hands, but suddenly, my palms flattened against the hard line of his shoulders, feeling every tense muscle there. He hated this—he hated that he wanted this.
Even his mouth against mine was a grimace, even as he kissed me.
“I should kill you,” he snarled against my mouth.
“Kill me then,” I told him, feeling suddenly sober.
Zephyr only kissed me again, his mouth on mine with a fervent urgency. Teeth and tongues clashed, and he let out a rough noise as his hands skittered down my sides, snatching at the hem of my black dress that bore far more skin than I remembered. I was made more aware of the cut-outs in the dress by how hot Zephyr’s body burned against me, a stark contrast to the cold metal of his lip piercing against my mouth.
I shuddered, both sickened and overwhelmed with desire, when the edge of his palm brushed my thigh, where my dress ended.
A glass smashed.
We broke apart.
Zephyr’s eyes glared that fury and loathing into me. I shoved him away, but he grasped my wrists.
“Don’t move,” he said quietly, his head whipping to the side to search ahead, in the hallway, where the party was. His face was still tight in a grimace, as if he couldn’t bear the thought of having wanted to kiss me. I was barely stomaching it myself. My mother told me not to make them allies, never mind kissing them.
It was a poor judgment,I assured myself.Don’t think about it too hard.
And I barely had a moment to think about it when a scream rang out. “Demons!”
“Everybody out! Get to safety!” Alex’s own shout ordered. Zephyr bolted, and I wasted no time rushing after him, my hands raised to summon my power and cast. Demons swarmed the party room. The buffet table was overturned, glasses were smashed on the marble floor, and the gifts we had all given Harper and Alex were in disarray, wrapping paper torn everywhere. At least ten of them were banded together, hissing at the room.
“Here,” Zephyr whispered, as the demons zeroed in on Alex as he pushed Harper behind him. They chanted Harper’s name, and I remembered how, this summer gone, they had almost taken her to their realm.
I had no choice but to follow Zephyr as he crept along the outskirts of the room, slipping behind the bar. I crouched behind it next to him.
“Stay down,” he snarled. “If they shift, I’ll shift. You stay—”
“And what? Play at being a defenseless damsel?” I spat.
“You want to risk your life instead?”
“Only as much as you do.”
Zephyr ducked behind the bar as a knife came spinning for us. I dropped to the floor before muttering a spell under my breath. Blasts of power grew in my palms. I dived up to the bar’s height, throwing out orbs of pure power, and slamming demons anywhere I could. But my powers were weaker, weaker than they had been ever since I discovered I was a witch.
