Page 57 of Wolf Bonded (Rejected Moons 2)

He could have killed me just now. He could have slit my throat while I was sleeping. I would never have seen it coming. My life would have just—ended.

Although, actually, he could still slit my throat. He could do it right now.

I hug the tree a little closer, though the cold bark isn’t much comfort. At least the fear cuts through my constant maddening arousal and wakes me up a little bit.

“You’re fucking indecent,” Victor growls. “You stink of sex. I could smell you all the way across the campsite. Can’t you control yourself?”

“I didn’t ask to be mated to you,” I say. “You think I don’t wish it hadn’t happened?”

“Being mated to you is the biggest humiliation of my life,” he says. “No matter what happens now, I'll never be able to live it down. I’ll always be the person who was mated to a Moon Caster, even after I’ve killed you.”

A chill runs down my spine.

So he is planning to kill me.

Not that it’s any great surprise. I knew he was.

“Is that why you’re here?” If this is the end of my life, I won’t give him the satisfaction of seeing that I’m afraid. “Are you going to kill me now?”

“I could,” he says.

I nod. “That’s what I’d do if I were you,” I say. “I’d do it while no one’s watching.”

“And just what the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“You’ve already blown it a few times, haven’t you?” I shouldn’t be provoking him—it’s beyond crazy—but if he’s really made up his mind to kill me, what do I really have to lose? “You tried to kill me the night I found out what I was, and you fucked it up—”

“Because you put some kind of spell on Bruce.”

“You had your people take me captive, but I got away. And then you and I fought…I thought you died that day in that earthquake.”

“Earthquake,” he spits. “I know you caused that quake.”

I don’t bother responding to that accusation. Who knows whether it’s what he really thinks? He might just be trying to provoke me.

Instead, I continue trying to provokehim. “If I were you,” I say, “I’d do what you’re doing. I’d come here in the middle of the night, when no one’s watching, and try to kill me.” I really emphasizetry. “That way, if you fuck it up again, no one will know what happened, and you can spin any story you want.”

He stares at me.

Looking at him now, I remember what it was like to be this close to him before we were mated to each other. Before the urge tofucktook over all my interactions with him. When I was just attracted to him in the normal, human way.

He really isstaggeringlygood looking, with his close-cropped hair, dark tan, pale eyes…

I feel like my whole body is pulsing with desire.

I swear, I don’t give a damn what comes of it.The thought invades me like a virus.Let’s just fuck. Let’s just give into this and deal with everything else when we’re done. There’s no need to suffer like this.

I’m about to open my mouth to suggest it. The way he’s looking at me, I’msurehe’d say yes.

Then his hand lashes out and slaps me hard across the face, leaving me gasping.

It’s nothing compared to the kind of violence I was expecting. But it’s enough, once again, to snap me out of my all-consuming arousal.

I would thank him for it, except for the fact that I don’t want to verbalize just how under his sway I really was.

There’s a moment where I can’t breathe, where I’m absolutely sure that I’m experiencing the final seconds of my life. He’s going to shift. He’s going to sink his teeth into my throat. I’m afraid of the pain, but more than that, I’m afraid of the knowledge that I’ll never see my true mates again. I’ll never be able to tell them what they mean to me.

“Tomorrow,” Victor says.

---