“Then why?”
“Because… because…” She shook her head.
He began to turn, to walk away. Her hand landed on his. Selene guided one hand around her waist and his other into her upturned grip. Jason didn’t fight her as she pulled him into her chest.
“Selene, what are you doing?”
Without answering, she began to sway. It took a moment for him to take the lead, for her movement to stop battling his stillness, but soon their bodies moved as one. He rocked back and forth, turning her as they crossed the floor, and never breaking eye contact. He tried not to think about the fact she was an acolyte and his spiritual advisor or that everything that was happening fell well within the bounds of “inappropriate.” He was greedy, and the tiny slice of happiness Selene was offering was not something he was willing to turn away.
He held her closer, his face a breath away from hers, and then, without warning, spun her away from his chest, across the kitchen, and back into his arms, dipping her in front of the stove. She giggled, her laugh ringing through him like a bell and lifting two tons of weight from his heart.
“You’re stunning,” he whispered in her ear as if it were a secret. “Do you know you could have any man you ever wanted with a wink of your eye?”
“Don’t be silly,” she said breathlessly. “I’ve never been beautiful.”
“Oh, Selene, you’re wrong about that, and if you were mine, I’d never let you forget it.”
She met his eyes, her lip tucking between her teeth in a gesture that made her look younger than she was. He stood her on her own two feet, realizing his wolf’s interest in her had grown to unsafe levels for both of them. As much as he wanted her, as much as he longed to have her goodness in his life permanently, he needed to accept that she was here in a professional capacity only. She might remain friendly with him when all was said and done, but she’d never be his. Not really.
But then why wasn’t she moving away from his open arms?
* * *
A chill cameover Selene’s body as Jason set her on her feet and opened his arms, the absence of his touch like the loss of heat after the setting sun. His green eyes darkened, a storm gathering in his thoughts, the irises tinged with amber. In that moment, she was not an acolyte or a spiritual therapist. She was just a woman whose entire being wanted to be back in those arms, wanted to feelpreciousagain, wanted a taste of something she’d never had before, never would have again.
She stepped into his space and rose up on her tiptoes, her arms snaking around his neck. His breath quickened with his pulse, his hands spreading wider as if he were afraid to touch her, and his face, oh goddess, his face was a mask of torment. Ignoring the alarms going off in her head, she planted a kiss on his lips. She’d never kissed a man like this. Sure she’d had a mouth forced upon hers. She’d been kissed. But she’d never done the kissing. And certainly a kiss had never felt like this one. Soft, warm, gentle, searching. Her mind blanked, wrapped up in all the emotions and raw feelings that came with her wanton exploration.
But the kiss was one-sided, his body stiff, his lips accepting but tentative. Until, quite suddenly, the wall she’d been pressing against, the invisible thing holding him back, shattered. His arms wrapped around her ribs and swept her away, the storm she’d seen gathering in his eyes swirling around her. The full force of his masculinity beat against her lips, blew across her skin, and doused her body in a deluge of heat. His hands were in her hair, on her waist.
And he was inside her mouth, stroking her tongue with his own in a way that set her on fire. His body pressed against hers, ushering her toward the sofa. When she bumped into its rounded back, he lifted her, hoisting her dress so he could slide between her knees.
Was this really happening? His body held a coiled tension she instinctively knew she could release. If she didn’t know better, she’d say it was magic, this force driving them toward each other. She wrapped her arms tighter around his neck, drawing him closer until she could feel the hard length of him pressed against her.
Jason pulled back, panting and groaning as if he were in pain. “No. No, we can’t.”
Selene shook her head. “This is right. It’s all right.” Something in the back of her mind knew she was wrong, but she didn’t want to think about it. Not now. Not yet. She wanted to stay in the storm, feel the rain drench her face, get swept away by the wind and the lightning without a thought to the consequences.
“You’d regret it. It would mean the end of your acolyte status. And as much as I want you, and oh, by the goddess, I want you, I can’t do that to you. I can’t take your virtue when I know you’d never do this if I hadn’t been such a shit to you and drawn you into my web.”
“Drew me in? I wasn’t drawn in. I have feelings for you—”
“You’re sweet and naive. You don’t see it. I’m a predator. I have a power over women. It’s not your fault. Without even realizing it, I seduced you. You’d never do this if I hadn’t. You’d never risk your future.” He backed away, his hands coming to rest on his knees, the physical hardship of holding back the desires of his wolf evident on his face.
Selene’s eyes widened, and she looked out the glass doors to the balcony, to the moon that hung in the night sky. “I’m so sorry, Jason. I’m a fool.”
“It’s not you.”
“No. The shift is tomorrow night. I’ve tempted you at your most vulnerable.”
He took a step back, still hunched over, and clutched his middle.
“Are you in pain?”
“Go into your room and lock the door,” he said.
“What? Jason, no. Let’s talk about this.”
He raised his eyes to hers, and all she saw was the animal, the intense need turning his eyes from green to the amber of his wolf’s. She hopped down from the back of the couch.
