“You stop moving,” I retorted.
He paused, obviously fighting with himself. “I cannot.”
“Why?”
“I need to touch you. To be sure you are unharmed.”
“Will that calm you down?” I asked.
Bokkan’s answer was a shrug. “I do not know.”
“Then maybe we should both take some space.”
He shook his head. “I know you do not understand, Leda, but I cannot let you out of my sight right now. I am very close to losing control.”
“Control of what?” I asked.
I retreated a bit more, and once again, he followed, gliding smoothly. His movements were predatory, and I wondered if this was how prey felt when it was being stalked.
The wild urge to run away gripped me then. I wasn’t truly frightened of him. In fact, now that my body was settling down, I noticed the way his muscles flexed and bulged as he moved. He seemed broader and bulkier than he had this morning. As though the mating rage made his muscles fuller.
“Control of myself,” he answered. “If you run, I will chase you. When I catch you, I will fuck you hard.”
A wave of heat crashed over me. My heart thumped fast and hard in my ribcage. I thought about everything Guldan had said to me earlier. About how I would feel if I could never see Bokkan again.
Then, I decided what I wanted to do without weighing every single consequence. It was based solely on my gut instinct.
Whirling away from Bokkan, I ran.
Chapter
Thirty-One
Bokkan
The tenuous hold I had on rationality snapped when Leda dashed away from me.
Arousal and heat flooded my veins as her smaller form vanished between the trees. A growl burst out of my chest, and I sprinted after her.
Her scent lingered behind her. There was an edge of desire and fear to her fragrance. I inhaled, drawing her deeper into my lungs. She smelled the way a mate should during a hunt.
I could hear her light footsteps in front of me and picked up speed. I was ready to claim my mate. Instead of remaining behind her and running her down, I skirted to the right. She was fast, but the primal urgency within me pushed me faster.
After I made it past her, I worked my way toward the sound of her rough breaths. I leaped out of brush to land in front of her, crouching low with my arms out so I would not miss her if she tried to evade me.
Leda gasped and tried to shift direction, but she was moving too quickly. Her body crashed into mine and I scooped her off her feet, wrapping one hand around the back of her neck and the other under her ass.
She thrashed in my hold, trying to escape my grip, so I carried her to the nearest tree, pinning her against the wide trunk. I felt the wild thrum of her heart against my bare chest and smelled the sweat and desire on her skin.
The fear was gone, even as she shoved at my shoulders, trying to push me away. There was no real effort behind it. Her nails dug into my skin, leaving long welts behind.
I wrapped her hair around my hand and tugged her head back, tilting her face up.
Her fierce golden eyes stared up at me, the black centers growing wider as the perfume of her arousal increased. Using my hold on her ass, I lifted her higher until I could taste her mouth. Her lips opened to me immediately, her hot tongue caressing mine.
My fangs must have nicked her because the rich, metallic taste of her blood filled my mouth. It was only a drop, but it was enough to send the primal instincts driving me into a frenzy.
I wanted to stretch her out beneath me and taste her with my mouth, nip her flesh with my fangs, and sink my cock as deep inside her as I could. But when I knelt to lower her to the ground and felt the hard earth beneath my knees, a thread of concern for her smaller, more fragile body pierced the mating fog clouding my mind.
