Dawson stops dancing again, as if he’s suddenly gripped by regret for his behavior. Torn between wanting to lash out at him and wanting to understand why he did what he did in the past, I quickly snatch my hands away while he’s taken aback and not gripping too tightly. I spin on my heel and bolt for the darkest corner I can find—some place where the bonfire’s flickering orange flames aren’t shedding light on this flurry of emotions of mine.
Panting once I round the corner behind the pack den’s wooden structure, I press my back and palms against the varnished log, scratching at the smooth surface with my forefinger to find something to ease this irritable feeling.
Sweat beads my forehead—I feel it catching on my brows—but my fingers are too tingly to lift my hands to my face to wipe it away. I try gulping, but my throat is dry, my saliva coarse and brittle as it slides down my windpipes.
What’s happening to me?
As if to answer my question, I’m knocked in the gut by the familiar punch of my heat’s intensity just as Dawson emerges from the corner.
“Yvonne, can we talk?” he asks, his voice lowered as if he’s finally calmed down and levelheaded again.
“No, we can’t…” I struggle through my words, but keep a straight face when I feel my walls coming up again.
How am I able to lash out at him, yet unable to speak amicably when he’s here, offering to talk?
It’s because you don’t want to get hurt again….
It’s like an inner voice of reason speaks to me—the one trying to protect my heart from being hurt again, knowing full well that it’s exactly where I’m headed if I agree to speak to him calmly.
But then there’s another voice, one that controls the parts of my body that react to his presence, throwing caution and logic to the wind as I reach out and place a hand on his arm.
The immediate effects are spectacular, sending frissons of electric sparks through my veins, lighting me up with the onset of my heat that’s going to immobilize me. Before it reaches those frightening heights like those I experienced the other day, I know I need to act now.
Clinging to the physical magnetization between us, I bat my eyelids and stare at Dawson seductively. Though the heated argument we had out there by the bonfire wasn’t unreasonable,being so drawn to him now when logic says I should run away from him is what’s truly unreasonable. Unexplainable. Unwarranted.
Dawson’s expression is stunned as he stares at the point of physical contact, feeling how heightened the awareness and attraction is between us. I decide to run with it.
This is the only way I’m going to avoid speaking about my feelings. If I hang onto the physical attraction, my heat will be cured, my inner wolf will be sated, and I won’t have to worry about getting my heart broken again.
Dawson sees the anguish on my face when he lifts his eyes, and they lose the dark glint of anger, taking on a softer, more concerned sparkle.
He doesn’t say a word as the hand on his arm slides to the top, where I place a flattened palm on his chest, feeling the way his muscles flex beneath my touch.
“Dawson…” I breathe in a sultry tone. “It’s happening again…”
As I take a step forward, I notice the way his Adam’s apple bobs with a gulp as he straightens and turns his attention to my simple act of seducing him into taking my pain away. That pain grips my lower belly, but I push through as I continue tracing my palm down his chest.
“What do you need, Yvonne?” he asks, his voice dropping an octave lower to sound gravelly as he stands unmoving.
“You know what I need,” I husk as I step even closer, my lips parted to breathe hot air on the exposed part of his chest where his button is undone.
Dawson shivers as the fine hairs prickle with attention, and he takes a deep breath before closing the little distancebetween us and grabbing my wrist to stop me from going down to the prominent bulge in the front of his tailored pants. He pushes me against the building and pins my arm above my head.
“Remember, you asked for this…” he rasps as he grabs my other wrist, and then has both my arms pinned above my head.
My breath comes in staggered pants as I part my lips, my heart pounding with anticipation.
Even if I don’t want to get my heart broken by this man, I want my body broken by him to get rid of the frenzied heat that erupts every time I’m near him.
It’s inevitable.
Chapter 18 - Dawson
Yvonne is irresistible, her heat taking over and turning her into a sly vixen of seduction.
I can’t help myself, pushing aside all the anger that was building up over these past few days and throwing caution to the wind to leave me wanton and needy, my inner wolf desiring only her.
I should hate her for keeping the truth from me, but if I’m being entirely honest with myself, I don’t blame her for running away when I rejected her the first time.
