Page 6 of Wolf Caged
“Shame.” He refilled my glass. “Countless men would part with good money just to have a beautiful female blush for them like that.”
I scoffed. “Did you start drinking before I arrived? I’m not that pretty, nor that innocent.”
That last part tasted like ash on my tongue, a pitiful attempt to pretend I wasn’t as innocent as all my blushing and unconcealed eagerness declared I was.
His eyebrows lifted. “Really? Tell me, Saphira, who have you been not-so-innocent with?”
“Morden,” I blurted.
Lucas barked out a laugh, as if that was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. “Morden Snow?”
Morden scowled over at us from his seat at Chase and Everlee’s table near the door.
Lucas suddenly stopped laughing when Morden’s grey gaze moved from him to me. His arm tightened around me, pinning me to his side, his fingers pressing in hard enough to hurt.
“You lie.” His voice pitched low, laced with a growl.
“I do not.” I dragged my focus from Morden and settled it back on Lucas, a smile curling the corners of my lips as my wolf rumbled in approval of the jealous look on Lucas’s face. I wanted more of that look, of that possessive hold he had on me, so I confessed, “He’s seen me naked.”
Lucas looked as if he might laugh again as he relaxed a notch, his grip loosening. “We’re shifters. We see each other naked all the time.”
I frowned at him. No, we didn’t. Males often stripped before a shift, not caring who was looking, and some even walkedaround nude afterwards, but pack females didn’t tend to do the same. At least, females at my pack didn’t. My gaze darted around the room, singling out all the females of the Hunt pack. How many of these females had Lucas seen naked?
How many had seen him naked?
Now I was the jealous one.
So, I snapped, “It wasn’t during a shift. We went skinny dipping at the lake.”
Lucas’s face darkened.
Claws pressed into my arm, threatening to break my skin.
“It was just once,” I stammered, my heart pounding as fear rose within me. I had taken this silly game of making each other jealous too far, pushing him too hard.
Fated males didn’t like others looking at their mate, especially before their bond was completed.
I wanted to blame the buzz of the wine, opened my mouth to do just that, but then the darkness in his eyes faded, melting away as a breathtaking smile curved his lips, a charming mask falling into place but not convincing me his anger was gone.
“And never again.” Lucas swept his fingers down my cheek and took hold of my chin again, keeping my gaze on his. “You’re mine now.”
My breath hitched, lodging in my throat, and I nodded, my voice lost to me as I stared into his eyes and their wicked promise of things to come.
He brought his mouth to my ear again, his lips brushing it as he said, “Skinny dipping sounds good. Let’s do that.”
“Now?” My eyes widened. “It’s freezing out there and we’re in the middle of a celebration for us… which means we should probably be here.”
He shrugged. “We’ll shift and run to the lake. It’ll warm us up. And believe me, no one will care if we slip away. They’re probably all expecting it.”
My heart pounded, accelerating at the thought of Lucas chasing me through the dark forest in his wolf form. Instinct howled at me to agree, to make him chase me and fight to catch me. To make him work to win me.
Make him hunt me.
I nodded, and before I had come to my senses, still lost in that fantasy of running with him, he had me on my feet and was pulling me away with him.
The two packs jeered as they spotted us making a beeline for the exit. I glanced back at my parents, my gut twisting at the thought of leaving without saying goodbye to them, but I caught sight of their smiling faces. They waved me on, and I smiled shakily back at them before Lucas tugged me out into the crisp night.
I needed to say my farewells to Everlee, and Chase and Morden.
