Page 99 of Wolf Caged
He swept his hand around to the front of my neck and pushed my chin up with his thumb, keeping my eyes on his as I tried to look at anything but him, shame, embarrassment and need spiralling together within me to create a maelstrom of emotions I wasn’t sure I could survive.
He lowered his mouth closer to mine, his breath bathing my lips as he murmured, “If I had fucked you, it would have beenas hard as your heat demanded. I would not have been gentle. I would not have been able to. I was too worked up by you—the way you moved, your little body slicked with sweat, the scent of you maddening me—and this regret you feel would have been a thousand times worse. So I took care of you… and then I went somewhere private and I thought of you as I stroked myself off.”
I shivered, wicked images flooding my mind, rousing heat in my veins and a need to tiptoe and press my mouth to his to goad him into touching me again.
“You are not ready for me,” he whispered close to my lips, “for the things I want to do to you.”
Another shiver wracked me, this one hot and needy. As hot and needy as that look in his eyes.
“When you are ready though,” he lowered his hand from my throat and grazed the front of my hips, making me jump and tense as a flash of pleasure bolted through me from just that muted touch, and growled, “I am going to fill you up and fuck you so hard—so thoroughly—that you will only ever want me. Are you prepared for that?”
I trembled at the thought of him branding me like that, making me crave only him. My wolf side wanted it, had me on the verge of pressing closer to him as I angled my head back, aching more than ever for him to kiss me—something he hadn’t done yet.
I wasn’t prepared for any of it. He was right about that, but I didn’t want to admit it. What he was talking about was more than satisfying a mating heat or scratching an itch.
It was possession.
Pure possession.
Something flickered in his eyes.
Something that made him look vulnerable for a heartbeat before he covered it so masterfully, slipping his mask back into place. I knew that feeling he was hiding so well, hadn’t wantedto admit it to myself either, and had been just as horrified when I had realised it existed within me. He felt he was on dangerous ground with me, and that flicker of vulnerability stemmed from the thought I might actually want him—that I desired him as he desired me—and he was unwilling to let himself believe that.
I had shut it down out of fear of rejection.
What had made him pull away?
I didn’t get a chance to discover the answer to that question, because while I shut things down by withdrawing and pulling up my barriers, he did it in a way that punched my fear button hard enough to leave a bruise.
“What we did was only natural, and it was nothing to be ashamed of, little lamb. It meant nothing. I felt obligated to service your needs. Not that I did not enjoy it. Any time you need me to scratch your itches for you, you only have to ask.”
I glared at him for saying that, turning what we had done into nothing and plunging that blade through my chest.
“You’re such an asshole,” I barked.
And turned on my heel and stormed away from him, anger shortening my breaths and lengthening my strides. I couldn’t get away from him fast enough, but while I could escape his physical presence, I couldn’t banish him from my mind. His taunts echoed in it, conjuring images of him taking me hard, over and over again, a different position each time.
I wasn’t sure whether there was something wrong with me for still wanting the bastard, or with him for turning what we had shared into something cold and clinical in order to protect himself from whatever this thing was growing between us.
But I knew one thing.
The heat he had awakened inside of me wasn’t done.
Chapter 24
SAPHIRA
Eight days had passed since I had called Kaeleron an asshole and I hadn’t seen him once. I wandered the gardens, not really paying attention to the pretty blooms and dazzling birds today, my thoughts firmly stuck on the annoying fae king who was giving me the cold shoulder. It certainly felt as if he was anyway. That first night, I had been content to entertain myself, watching the lights in the town below and listening to the chatter of the people coming and going. Even late in the night, the streets had people moving around them, and when they had all eventually retired, I had too.
The next morning, I had eaten breakfast, bathed and decided to walk the garden, following my usual route. No sign of my guards. Either Kaeleron was beginning to trust me or he no longer cared whether I made a break for it. I had settled on it being the former when I had walked too close to the gates to the city and had been scowled at by guards who had crossed long spears over the exit. Hint taken. No leaving the castle grounds.
I had thought Kaeleron would summon me that evening, brushing off our argument and taking his doll out to play. But he hadn’t.
He hadn’t summoned me the following night, or the one after that and the one after that, or last night either.
Every night I waited.
And every night I went ignored.
