“You think you’re so irresistible. You think just because of this stupid mate bond, I’m supposed to fall at your feet and—”
He catches my wrists and pulls me against him in one smooth motion. My protest dies in my throat as his mouth crashes down on mine.
The kiss is hungry and demanding, and I give back as good as I get. I fist my hands in his shirt and yank him closer, then bite his lower lip hard enough to make him groan. He walks me backward until my spine hits the counter, and I wrap one leg around his hip to pull him flush against me.
His hands find my waist and grip hard enough to leave marks. I don’t care. I want marks. I want evidence that this is real, that he’s here, that I didn’t imagine the connection between us.
“You drive me crazy,” he growls against my mouth. “Two weeks of staying away from you, and I almost lost my mind.”
“Then why did you stay away?”
“Because you asked me to.” He nips at my jaw and drags his lips down the column of my throat. “Because I was trying to be a decent man for once in my life.”
I thread my fingers through his hair and tug until he lifts his head to look at me. “I don’t want decent right now.”
Something dark and hungry comes alive in his eyes. He hoists me onto the counter like I weigh nothing at all, and I gasp as the cold surface meets the backs of my thighs. He steps between my legs and pulls me to the edge until there’s no space left between us.
“Tell me what you want,” he demands.
“You. I want you.”
His mouth claims mine again, harder this time. I wrap both legs around his waist and arch into him, chasing the friction I need. His hands slide up my ribs and skim the undersides of my breasts through my shirt, and I whimper against his lips.
I yank at his shirt, trying to pull it over his head, but he catches my wrists and pins them against my stomach. The restraint makes me squirm, makes me want him even more.
“Patience,” he murmurs against my skin.
“I don’t want to be patient.” I roll my hips against him and feel exactly how much he wants this, too. “I’ve been patient for two weeks.”
He laughs, low and rough, and the sound vibrates through my entire body. “Is that so?”
“Yes. Now stop teasing me and—”
His phone rings, and we both freeze. Connor pulls back just enough to glance at the screen, and I watch his face fall.
“It’s Nic.”
“You have to answer it?”
“I have to answer it.” He presses one more kiss to my mouth, quick and apologetic, before stepping away and lifting the phone to his ear. “Yeah?”
I can’t hear what Nic says, but I watch Connor’s posture change. Whatever the Alpha is telling him, it’s important.
“Understood. I’m on my way.” He ends the call and looks at me with genuine regret. “I’m sorry. I have to go.”
“Right now?” I ask, sliding off the counter.
“Afraid so. Pack business.” He cups my face in both hands and presses his forehead to mine. “I’ll come back as soon as I can. We’ll finish this conversation. I promise.”
Then he’s gone, and I’m standing alone in my kitchen with swollen lips and a racing heart and coffee I forgot to pour.
The next hour passes filled with restless energy. I check every lock twice. I test every window latch. I even wedge a chair under the back door handle, the way Connor did the night someone broke in. Paranoid, maybe, but the feeling of being watched hasn’t faded, and without Connor here, I feel exposed in a way I haven’t since I arrived in Silvercreek.
Eventually, exhaustion wins out over anxiety. I change into pajamas, brush my teeth, and crawl into bed with my phone on the pillow beside me. Sleep comes slowly, but it comes.
The crash wakes me at 2:47 a.m.
I bolt upright in bed, heart hammering. For a moment, I convince myself I dreamed it.
