“Absolutelynot.”
“Liam—”
“Out of the question,Ness.”
“But—”
Liam shot Lucas a loaded look, probably gave him a silent order, too, because Lucas said, “On her likespandex.”
Gross,and so not fair. I told them so. Not the gross part, but the not-fair one. I even squared my shoulders and gave both men my fiercest look, or what I hoped was a fiercelook.
“What’s not fair?” Liam asked. “Trying to keep you away fromdanger?”
“Isn’t the pack motto to protect the Alpha at all costs?” Iasked.
Liam narrowed his dark eyes. “You would be protecting my sanity by staying safe. If anything happened to you, I’d go feral, Ness. I’d go feral and maul whoever got in my way. Preserve my sanity, please.” He scraped a knuckle against mycheek.
I pouted, angry to be benched. “I hope it’s not because I’m a girl and you think I’m too delicate, because I’mn—”
“It’s because you’remygirl,” hesaid.
“I’ll just wait outside,” Lucasmumbled.
A second later, the door snickedshut.
“Mine,Ness.”
“And how do you think I’ll deal if anything happened toyou?”
“The pack will protectyou.”
My eyes heatedup.
A deep emotion rushed over his face, and he pressed his mouth against my forehead, then against each one of my eyelids, my nose, my jaw, my scar. He didn’t leave a single millimeter on my face untouched. No, that wasn’t true. He hadn’t kissed my mouth yet. But his kiss came, and along with it, waves of intense sensations. They pummeled and filled me like the Pacific Ocean had pounded and foamed against the sandy shores of VeniceBeach.
Our kiss tasted of thunder and lightning andneed.
So muchneed.
A need to keep each other safe, but also a need to hold each other, to fill eachother.
As he deepened the kiss, as his hands coasted down my spine, cupped my ass, my stomach hardened like a fist. I reeled back as though someone had punchedme.
Swollen lips parted and panting, Liam cast me an apologetic look. Did he think I’d detached myself from him because he was going too fast? I forced my fingers into fists to stop them from clutching my still knotted abdomen. I blamed the stupid mating link for the sudden pain. It wasn’tfair.
So much wasn’tfair.
Liam rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, Ness. I didn’t mean to rushyou—”
“Youdidn’t.”
“Then why’d you pull away fromme?”
I couldn’t keep this a secret from him. Not if the knee-jerk reaction happened each time Liam and I made out. I touched two fingers to my stomach. He frowned, and then he didn’t. Then he understood. And the understanding steeped his face inshadows.
“But he’s gone,” Liamsaid.
“No. He’snot.”
