“Adrian—”
“Tell me to stop, kitten.” His voice was barely recognizable, rough with need and the lunar pull he’d been fighting all week. His face hovered inches from hers, their breath mingling. “Tell me this is a mistake, that you don’t want?—”
“Shut up.”
Her hands fisted in his shirt, yanking him forward, and then her mouth was on his.
The kiss started desperate—clashing teeth and frustrated groans and days of suppressed tension finally finding an outlet. She tasted like cold coffee and determination, her lips soft despite their aggression, her fingers tangling in his hair as she pulled him closer.
He growled against her mouth, the sound vibrating through both of them. His hands spanned her waist, feeling her delicate bones beneath the thin fabric of her shirt, and something primal roared in satisfaction at the contrast. Small. Fierce. His.
He deepened the kiss, tilting her head back to change the angle, to taste her more thoroughly. She made a sound—half whimper, half demand—and her legs wrapped around his hips, drawing him into the cradle of her thighs. She was wearing another of those damn short skirts and he could feel her heat through the thin silk of her panties.
Claim her,his wolf demanded.Mark her. Make her understand she belongs?—
He wrenched himself back. His chest heaved, breath coming in ragged gasps. She stared up at him with glazed eyes and kiss-swollen lips, her hair wild, her cheeks flushed, looking thoroughly wrecked and impossibly beautiful.
“Why did you stop?” Her voice was hoarse.
“Because if I don’t stop now, I won’t stop at all.” He ran a shaking hand through his hair, trying to force his wolf back under control. “And that’s not… I won’t take advantage of you when you’re exhausted and I’m half-feral from the moon.”
“Maybe I want to be taken advantage of.”
Goddess, this woman.
“Kitten,” he warned. “I’m hanging on to my control by a thread. Don’t test me.”
“I’m not testing you. I’m telling you what I want. I’ve never, never, felt like this before. Like my whole body is alive. Because of you.” She leaned back, letting him see the slickness on her thighs. “I want you. You clearly want me. We’re both adults capable of making decisions. Why complicate it?”
“Because it’s already complicated.” He forced himself to take a step back, then another, putting distance between them before his resolve crumbled entirely. “You’re here temporarily. I have a pack to lead. I don’t do casual, and I won’t ask you to?—”
“What makes you think I do casual?”
He stopped moving.
Her expression had shifted into something more vulnerable, more open than he’d ever seen from her. The defiance was still there—that fire he’d come to crave—but beneath it lay something soft and vulnerable.
“I’ve never fit anywhere,” she said quietly. “Not in foster homes, not in schools, not in jobs. I learned early that connections are temporary, that people leave, that the safest thing is to notneed anyone.” She drew a breath. “But ever since I met you, something feels different. Like maybe fitting in somewhere isn’t impossible. Like maybe needing someone isn’t the disaster I always thought it would be.”
Mate,his wolf whispered.She feels it too. The bond. The pull. She’s ours.
“Harper…” He didn’t know what to say. Words felt inadequate for the magnitude of what she’d just revealed—what they were both revealing, standing in his office at two in the morning with kiss-bruised lips and racing hearts.
“I’m not saying I have answers.” She slid off the desk, standing on her own two feet even though her legs seemed slightly unsteady. “I’m just saying… don’t make decisions for both of us. If this is complicated, we can figure it out together. But don’t push me away because you’re scared.”
“I’m not scared.”
“Liar.”
Despite everything, he felt his lips twitch. “You’re a very frustrating woman, kitten.”
“So I’ve been told.” She stepped closer, tilting her head up to meet his gaze. “Is that going to be a problem?”
Yes,some part of him answered.You’re going to frustrate me and challenge me and make me crazy for the rest of your life.And Goddess help him, he wanted that more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life.
“I think,” he said slowly, “that we should continue this conversation tomorrow. When we’re both thinking more clearly.”
“You’re deflecting.”
