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Submitting to her male.

So I took what she offered, and I kept on taking.

Only when we were desperate for breath did I lift my head. She was panting, her gaze heavy, lips full and swollen, glistening from my kiss.

I growled, hovering on the edge of sanity, ruled by need, by the dizzying drive to claim her. “You did this.” I pressed my forehead to hers, struggling to catch my breath. “You pushed me to my breaking point. What the fuck were you doing in there? I told you…I told you to be careful, not to put yourself at risk. And you kept on doing stupid shit. You have a fucking death wish. Do you know what could’ve happened to you in that alley?”

Her throat worked. “I miscalculated, okay? And I didn’t ask you to come to my rescue. I mean… I appreciate it, I do. But I didn’t ask for it, for any of this…whatever it is that’s happening right now.”

“Why won’t you just stay the fuck at home?” I bit out. Every time she put herself in jeopardy, my protective instincts shot higher, and my drive to claim her increased.

Her gaze narrowed, and she studied me harder. “Why are you here, Draven? You’re following me again, aren’t you?”

I didn’t answer, because she was right, and we both knew it. I stalked her day and night. I hadn’t been eating, barely sleeping. The only thing in my damned head was her and the urge to be close to her, to have her.

“What’s your deal? I don’t… I don’t know what you want from me.” She blew out a shaky breath. “I won’t lie, I feel this thing, an electricity between us, but it’s just lust. Ignore it and eventually it’ll go away. We’ve kissed, so hopefully you got it out of your system. Now you need to forget I exist because this”—she motioned between us—“can’t happen. It would be a monumental mistake. You don’t want me, not really. You don’t even like me. You want Selene. You hate what she did to you, but you cared about her once, and it’s messing with you. You see her face”—she pointed at her own—“and you forget everything else. That’s what this whole twisted lust-hate situation going on between us is all about.”

I shook my head and couldn’t stop myself from breathing in her scent again. “I don’t want Selene. I despise her. She fucked with my life, my pack, and left me to rot. I never kissed her like I just kissed you, and I never wanted her this way. You’re right, though, I don’t want it. But I also can’t stay away from you. Believe me, I’ve tried. Every night I tell myself to stay the fuck where I am, but every night I leave the keep and hunt you down…” I drew in a ragged breath. “Because you are mine, little witch, whether you or I want it is irrelevant.”

Her eyes widened. “I don’t belong to anyone.” A tremor moved through her. “The last guy I got involved with did this…” She touched the cold black skin on her cheek. “I’ve had this kind of twisted. I’ve had someone who wanted me and hated me all at the same time. I’ve been there, I’ve done that, and I sure as fuck won’t be doing it again with you.” She pressed her hands against my chest and pushed. “Now, back up and let me go.”

I didn’t want to. Letting her go, letting her walk away from me, felt impossible. I wanted to pick her up, throw her over my shoulder, take her to my keep and never let her leave. Instead, I ignored the clawing, growling desperation of my wolf and stepped back. “We are not done, Iris. It doesn’t matter what you say, or what I say, this is happening.”

She stared up at me in disbelief and shook her head. “Just…you need to stay the hell away from me.”

I bit back my growl of denial. My concern over her safety was overwhelming, and I was talking again before I could think better of it. “You’re not a warrior, little witch. This task you are on will get you killed. Despite the blood running through your veins, I know you’re different than Selene. And I find that I don’t want to see you hurt. If you need me to help you …”

“Pass. You turned me down and that was the right move. I have someone else who can help in the future, and I’ll make sure to use them next time. I don’t need you.”

“The hound,” I growled.

“It’s none of your concern.”

A mournful meow came from beside us.

I looked down at a scrawny alley cat rubbing against Iris’s leg. She shoved away from me, fished something from her pocket, and crouched down. “Here you go, pretty girl.” She gave the cat a treat and patted its matted fur. “I know.” She petted her again. “You won’t be lonely anymore.” Then she scooped up the cat and walked off.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

Iris didn’t answer, she just strode off with the damned cat.

I stared after her, confused and frustrated. A state the female had me in every time I was near her. She’d been communicating with the cat, hadn’t she? Just like Charity used to. A knot formed in my gut.

I shook my head, like I could shake that witch loose from my damn mind.

I focused back on Iris, and even after what she’d just said, I was helpless against the urge to follow. Only now, when she got in her car and sped off, I stayed back so she wouldn’t see me following in my truck. But every protective, possessive instinct inside me prevented me from walking away from her. Not yet. So I followed her like the crazed stalker she thought I was.

I pulled over a little down the street from her when she stopped at a house on her way home, despite the hour. There was a sign out front in the shape of a cat. The Cat Sanctuary. Iris got out, opened the passenger side, scooped up the cat, and carried it to the front door. An old woman in her dressing gown answered, smiled when she saw Iris, took the cat, as well as the cash that Iris handed her, and after giving the cat one more pat and saying something to the pitiful creature, Iris left.

It was obvious this wasn’t the first time she’d done this, rescued a stray. Jesus, I didn’t know what to make of her.

She drove off, and I followed her all the way back to her house, unable to return to my keep until I watched her walk through the front door and the light in her bedroom upstairs turned on.

Did she truly think that kiss would be enough for me? She couldn’t be more wrong. I’d tasted my mate, I had her scent branded on me, and the feel of her warmth, her soft curves, imprinted against my body.

That one taste had only deepened my craving for her even more.

Iris