Before I could flinch or bolt or breathe, he tugged me forward—slow but unyielding—until I toppled against his chest. My palms landed on warm skin, and my breath caught against the flat plane of him.
“You’re too young,” he said, voice rough as gravel. “Too untouched.”
The words hit like a slap.
“I’m not?—”
“You are.” His hand slid to the back of my neck…not squeezing, just holding. “You’re a virgin. I can smell it on you. And I don’t do virgins.”
It stung more than I expected.
I tried to pull back.
But he didn’t let me.
“If you’re not going to touch me,” I whispered, embarrassed…defensive, “then why am I in your bed? Why are you holding me like?—”
“Because you tempt me.” … “Because you’re perfect and it hurts.” His jaw flexed. “Because every alpha instinct I’ve got wants to put you under me and I’m trying like hell not to.”
My body trembled.
And I leaned closer without my permission.
“Then why fight it?” I asked softly. “We both feel it.”
For a second—one long, breathless second—I felt him break.
Everything in him.
His restraint. His control. His distance.
It cracked.
His grip tightened at my waist.
His gaze dropped to my mouth.
And the world shifted.
I felt every place we were touching. His chest under my hands. His thigh pressed against my hip. His fingers at the back of my neck, warm and steady and just this side of rough.
“You don’t know what you’re asking for,” he said quietly.
“I’m not a kid,” I shot back, the words coming out more breath than voice. “I’m twenty-two, not twelve.”
One corner of his mouth twitched like that almost amused him. Almost.
“That’s not the problem,” he said. “You’re innocent. There’s a difference.”
Heat flooded my face. “You don’t even know me.”
“I know enough.” His thumb brushed the side of my throat, slow and maddening. “I know your body’s never had anyone on it. I know you still flinch when someone moves too fast. I know you fell asleep in my arms last night. Like you trusted me.”
“You were,” I said before I could stop myself.
His hand tightened.
That flicker of something pained crossed his face, fast and sharp.
