And I was the complete opposite. Chaotic and spontaneous. It was just like me to go running off into the night, but Sylvik wouldn’t do that sort of thing. No matter how amazing this felt, I had to assume it was because he’d been caught up with the ceremony…a ceremony I didn’t belong in.
“Sylvik!” I gasped, wrenching my mouth away from his, even as my hips continued to rock of their own accord, chasing that delicious pressure from his cock against my clitoris. “I—the boy!”
“Found him,” he growled, mouth moving down my throat, his tongue branding me. “Other side of the fire.”
This didn’t evensoundlike the Sylvik I’d come to know. He sounded muddled, confused, dangerous. My hands rested on his shoulders, and I forced myself to breathe deeply, to tamp down on my desperation to yank down my jeans and panties and let him touch me.
Because I wasn’t the kind of woman guys like Sylvik went for. I knew that—Ethan had taught me that. I was too messy, too chaotic, too spontaneous. The only reason he’d chased me tonighthadto be because of the Mate Hunt.
But we weren’t Mates.
“Sylvik!” I managed to gasp, pushing the heels of my hands against his shoulders. I felt the moment he realized what I was doing because he stiffened.
He inhaled and lifted his head, and Isawthe struggle for control written on his face. “Brooke?” he rasped.
I saw the confusion on his face, and my heart broke, because Iknewwhat it meant; he hadn’t planned on this. Hadn’twantedthis, had just been following his…hisprimal urges.
Swallowing, I pushed against him again, my mortified gaze locked on his chin, and felt him deflate.
“Apologies.” His voice sounded stiff, awkward, as his hand left my breast to drop to my waist, lifting me away from the tree, away from him.
When my feet touched the ground, I swayed, my hands clutching his arms, desire and confusion making me wobble. “This was a mistake,” I gasped, tipping my head back, peering up into his face,begginghim without words to tell me I was wrong. “You were just…caught up in the chase?”
Sylvik yanked his glasses off and scrubbed a hand down his face, then looked away as he slid them back on. “A mistake,” he repeated dully, and my heart sank.
He gestured back toward the bonfire where the others gathered. I could tell how much he wanted to stalk off, but the Sylvik I knew wouldn’t abandon me out here in the darkness. The Sylvik I knew wouldn’t chase me through the night, blood pounding in desperation, body slick with arousal.
Would he?
I glanced down at his hips, where his erection pressed against the front of his trousers, then back up at the mistletoe that dangled above us.
And wondered if ithadbeen a mistake.
Chapter Six
Sylvik
I didn’t sleepthat night, and trust me when I say it wasdefinitelythe longest night of the year. Don’t get me wrong; I’dintendedto sleep. Although it was late when everyone finally left, I spent a while cleaning up, then took an incredibly hot shower and climbed in bed…
And tossed and turned for hours.
Eventually I gave up and began pacing, and even that wasn’t enough to dim the frenzied agitation coursing through my limbs.
Or do a damn thing for my cockstand.
Yeah, the fucking thing wouldnotabate. I could distract myself for a moment or two…and then something would trigger the memory of Brooke’s lips beneath mine, or the sweet scent of her arousal, or the way she gyrated against my hard cock, and I’d groan in frustration.
I think I jerked off four times, until my shower and bedroom smelled of cinnamon orc-cum, andit didn’t help.
What in all the hells was wrong with me?
By the time dawn began to lighten the sky over the ocean, I’d given up sleeping—or managing to focus on anything—and stalked to the front room. My keys were on the credenza beside the potted Christmas tree—the one Brooke helped me decorate, the one currently perfuming my house witheau de ejaculate, and me unwilling to toss out those disgusting little cinnamon ornaments becauseshe made them… My hand hovered over the keys, but I ultimately decided to walk to Garrak’s.
My brother would help me. It was what hedid.
Mywalkto Garrak’s turned into a jog, then a run. I’d always done my best to maintain a neat image in public, especially once Abydos hired me. It was one of the things Garrak teased me about, but sincehewas a mining foreman, it was no wonder he didn’t mind a little grease on his hands or rips in his jeans.
Today? He wouldn’t recognize me.
