Page 36 of The Alpha's Silent Mate

I shake my head no. “Your tongue.”

He shifts against me, and I feel him throb against my belly. “What happens then?”

“I feel…” It’s impossible to explain. “I never want you to stop.”

“And do I?”

I swallow hard. “I don’t know. That’s when I wake up.”

“Always?”

“Yes.”

“And your breasts,” he murmurs, as his hand slides down the side of my face. “Would I ever touch you there?”

I try to think back, but I can’t. Not when he’s gazing down at me with eyes that burn. His hand gently closes around one breast, the pad of his thumb brushing my nipple. “Yes,” I gasp.

“Like this?”

My eyes go to his and I know what he’s thinking. I know what will happen if I don’t stop this. With my panic rising every second, I grip his wrist and pull. “I can’t do this.”

Instantly he moves his hand and lowers his face so we’re sharing the same air. “Tell me, baby.”

“It’s too much.” I force my breath out. The sound is overly loud in the quiet room. “You make me feel too much.”

“Breathe,” he murmurs, his lips against my brow. “Just breathe.”

I drag air deep into my lungs and repeat it over and over. Bit by bit, my ragged breaths slow until I don’t feel like I’m choking anymore.

When my breathing is once again normal, he lifts his head. His eyes search mine. “And is that a bad thing? To feel?”

I think of all the death I left behind. Deaths that were my fault. “Yes.”

If I open the door to pleasure, pain and guilt will follow. And they will drown me.

“Lexa…?”

I push at his chest. “I don’t want to do this. Please move.”

“You want to run away.”

“I don’t—” His eyes dare me to lie. “I need to use the bathroom.”

It’s another lie, but a smaller one. He knows it as well as I do, but he doesn’t challenge me on it. His hands fall away, and I scramble to the edge of the bed before pushing myself to my feet.

His voice stops me when I’m halfway to the tiny bathroom in the corner of the room. “About your dreams...”

“What about them?”

When the bed sheets rustle, I turn back to find him sitting up, his eyes locked on me. “I dreamt something similar.”

My mouth is dry, so I lick them. His eyes darken as they track the motion. “Similar how?”

He lifts his head. “I would touch you, and I would kiss you,” he murmurs.

“And then?”

“I would never stop. That’s the difference.”

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