A whoosh echoed. Then footsteps pounded the asphalt.
“Ely, wait!”
CHAPTER17
“Ely!”
Ely froze at the sound of that voice.
Then she scowled and pivoted, and the wretched organ in her chest leaped at the sight ofhimstriding toward her, his coat flying open in his near sprint.
By the stars!Why couldn’t the Fates give her a break? How could she move past him when the universe persisted in letting their paths cross repeatedly?
If he was here to ask her to patrol another area…her hands clenched.Fine. She could swap with one of the guys…
Nate stopped in front of her, chest heaving, raking back his unbound hair from his too-handsome face, his jaw spotting days-old stubble. His features appeared drawn beneath the moonlight. Lines bracketed his mouth. She tried not to let herself care. “What do you want, Nate?”
Those striking, flamed-hued, topaz eyes skimmed her face, then lowered to her lips, dragging her thoughts back to their raw, sensual kiss in the cabin. And just as fast, her heart shriveled, remembering why it all went to hell. She hardened her expression, tone razor-sharp with coldness. “What do you want, Nate?” she reiterated. “I have work to do—”
“You left this behind.” He retrieved something from his coat pocket. Held it out.
Her obsidian dagger.
Of course. Why else would he seek her out?
About to take it, she stalled. Maybe she was an idiot, but the stars knew he affected her like no other. And not wanting to wonderwhat if, she summoned her mate’s dagger from him again.
The weapon vanished, causing Nate to shake his head as it settled on her palm. “I’m not gonna pounce on you if you come closer,” he drawled.
Ely barely heard him, a sharp stab of pain piercing her heart. He wasn’t her destined.
While females of her genus didn’t carry the bonding gene, she had hoped, considering Gaia had handed her a mate’s dagger, too, just like she’d done with the guys. But she should have known after that first time in the alley when they fought and she’d flung her blade at him.
Well, it was better this way than being unwanted by her fated mate. “Weapon delivered. Thank you. Goodbye.”
“Wait.” He grasped her arm when she turned to leave. “We need to talk.”
“There’s nothing left to say.”
He watched her for an endless second. Then the smile that always made her heart leap—and the one she now hated—flickered like a warming flame.
Damn him, and damn the traitorous lump of muscle in her chest. She glowered.
“Ah,laika…” He reached out and tenderly stroked his knuckles down her cheek.
“Don’t!” She jerked back, her spine hitting the building behind her, and he closed the inches between them. “If you’re worried about running into me, don’t be. You won’t even know I’m—”
His mouth came down on hers in a gentle caress, stopping her words. He didn’t seem to care that she held a deadly weapon against his chest, and then he was kissing her. There was something territorial in how he claimed her mouth, intense…passionate. The urge to cave, to surrender, nearly splintered her fragile control.
“No—” She pushed back, fists to his pecs as pain hammered her heart. “Why are you doing this? You made everything crystal clear the other night. So, leave me alone.” Barely able to swallow past the lump in her throat, she brushed past him and hurried down the narrow alley.
He appeared before her in a skid of sludgy snow, blocking her path, his expression torn. “Ely, wait. Please. At least hear me out.”
“You can’t keep doing this, Nate.” Her eyes dampened. “I would have risked everything to be with you, but you—”
“I am sorry, Ely. Hell, I’m a fucking demon with an unhinged symbiont and enough enemies who’d see me dead. And I should stay away, but I can’t seem to do so.”
But you did.
