Page 24 of Ignite Me

My body was suddenly all too aware of where he was and what hewasn’tdoing.

Chapter9

GRAYSON

Kinsley was more than a wolf shifter. She had to be. When I’d first seen her image, I’d thought she’d been a temptress, but I’d had no fucking clue what it would be like to be in her presence. To hear she was a virgin and know that when she went into that bedroom, she was touching herself.

I’d had to leave. To get away from her scent that called to me…no,demandedme to satisfy her myself.

Fucking mate bond.

Behind the carnival area with its booths, Ferris wheel, and other things I didn’t care about were the trees I sought solace within, shifting as soon as I got past the tree line. My silver wolf howled and stretched once he was on all four paws. It had been a few days since I’d let him run free, so I wasn’t surprised when he began to sprint.

Green flames started to grow around his light coat, and I could sense he wanted to return to Kinsley, but that wasn’t happening. I was still in charge, even if we were in his body.

Any aggressions or needs we had were going to be taken care of out here. I wasn’t going to go back to that apartment and further complicate things. I couldn’t.

He ran for miles, exerting the extra energy I didn’t think we should still have, considering I couldn’t remember the last time I’d closed my eyes to rest. Maybe Lia’s boost hadn’t been such a bad thing.

When we got to a point in the forest that I couldn’t sense anyone else around, my wolf sat on his haunches and took a deep breath. Then, I let my demon powers seep out.

The green flames that were already present turned to a dark emerald, and my wolf’s body grew from four feet in height to six feet. Without needing to see them for myself, I knew his eyes would be ebony and the previously silver fur would be like burnt charcoal.

I focused on our surroundings, stretching my energy as a way to expunge more of it. My wolf wasn’t the only one who needed to be let out on occasion. If I didn’t use my demon side, then there were often repercussions—like murderous rages—and I avoided those at all costs. So far, I’d been successful.

I wouldn’t be my father. I could control the bleaker side of myself. I was stronger than the demon blood flowing through me.

My darker powers locked on to Kinsley’s sleeping form, even from miles away. They could taste her innocence and the connection we shared. The temptations we both seemed to be feeling and the need to claim her as mine all grew by the second.

I pictured her crimson lips, sun-kissed skin, wide eyes…and those tits that I’d love to bury my face in.

My wolf growled and snapped his jaws, breaking the stupor I’d been falling into a little too deeply.

Fuck.

I needed to figure out what I was going to do with this woman, because ignoring her wasn’t going to work for the long haul.

I knew that after spending less than a day with her.

As I pulled my demon energy back in, my wolf shuddered and let out one more howl into the night sky before we headed back to the apartments.

When I came out of the clearing, D was there with a few of his guards standing close enough to keep eyes on their ringmaster, but not so close as to be overwhelming with their presence.

I shifted back to two feet, soaking in the wolf’s pure energy that brought my human side back, along with the amethyst stone that I kept tied to my wrist. The charm brought back all of the clothes I’d been wearing before.

It was a worthy trade I’d done with a witch after I tracked down her grandson, who’d been messing with dark shit that he’d had no business touching at only sixteen. Plus, fighting without my clothes on if I was forced to shift back to human hadn’t always been ideal.

“How was your run?” D asked casually when I approached, keeping his hands in the pockets of his black slacks.

“Needed,” I clipped. “Is everything okay?”

He raised a brow. “I was hoping you could answer that for me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded. D was someone with whom I shared mutual respect, but we didn’t often get in each other’s business, and I preferred it that way.

“It means you called me, needing somewhere to lie low, but you didn’t tell me you were bringing a unicorn and a new mate with you,” D said with narrowed eyes. “You’re the most cautious man I know besides myself, Grayson. So, tell me how the fuck you ended up in this situation.”

As much as I hated it, he had a point.

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