Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 131137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 437(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 437(@300wpm)
His short laugh was bitter. “I hadn’t turned feral, Shay. I knew exactly what I was doing. I didn’t have to kill one of them. I didn’t even have to hurt any of them. They were spooked enough by me shifting that they were ready to make a run for it—they’d clearly been confident that I wouldn’t shift. But I wasn’t satisfied with scaring them off. I killed that human because I wanted to, just like I attacked the two who had tried restraining me because I wanted to. If people hadn’t turned up and intervened, I might have done more than maim them.”
A chill suddenly came over Shaya. But, oddly enough, it wasn’t because of his confession. It was because of how lonely he looked right then. She understood loneliness all too well. Could she really blame him for wanting to hurt people who had intended to rape his little sister? A twelve-year-old girl? Maybe other people would have, but Shaya found that she couldn’t. “Of course you wanted to hurt them. They—”
“I’m not sorry I did it, Shay.” It was better to find out now if she could or couldn’t accept him as he truly was. He knew, however, that if she tried using this to push him even further away, it wouldn’t work. “I never have been. Not even when I was put in that hellhole, not even when I thought I’d die there…I wasn’t sorry. I don’t think I ever will be.”
There was that loneliness in his expression and voice again, that feeling of not having anyone who could understand and accept him. He was wrong. “I think of Taryn as a sister, and I know that if anyone tried to hurt her, I’d be prepared to stab them through the fucking heart.”
Seeing the vigor in her expression, he could believe that. “You’re half human, Shay. Those people I hurt are half yours.”
“But I’m half shifter, too. And they tried to hurt your sister and you. That’s not something I would ever find excusable.” He was hers, whether she wanted him to claim her or not. He was still hers, and the idea of anyone hurting him simply wasn’t something she could ever tolerate or forgive.
The total lack of recrimination was a balm to his wolf’s scarred soul. Nick wanted nothing more than to take her mouth, but he forced himself to resist. Needing some sort of contact, he leaned his forehead against hers and traced her cheekbone with the tip of his finger. “See, you deserve better. But I’m going nowhere. I know that makes me selfish. I know another male shifter might have walked away. But I can’t do that, Shay. I tried it once—it didn’t work. Don’t you get it yet? My life’s worth shit without you in it.”
She did her best to ignore his words, to not let them worm their way inside her—she really, really did—but they crept into that lonely spot she had, warming it. The possessiveness in his eyes melted her wolf. As he rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip, Shaya almost shuddered. Having him invade her personal space like this, touching her, should have annoyed her, but it was instead arousing her. Her nipples were hard, and her clit was tingling. God, she had been one big G-spot since he arrived. The wise thing would have been to pull back, but she sensed that the physical contact was calming him, chasing back the memories. How could she refuse to do that for him? Besides, if she was honest, she didn’t want to pull back anyway.
The lust glimmering in her eyes made Nick groan. He scrunched a hand in her hair, digging deep for restraint and using the feel of her to do it. “You can’t look at me like that, Shay. I’m hard as a rock here, and you’re making it really difficult not to bite this mouth. But you like that you do that to me, don’t you?”
Her blush gave her away. “Asshole.”
“At least I have the comfort of knowing I’m not the only one who’s horny.” When she snorted, he arched a brow at her and said quietly, “Shall I tell you what I’m thinking about right now?”
Flushed, she squeezed her eyes shut. “I really wish you wouldn’t.” The mating urges were becoming harder and harder to deal with, and she didn’t need him making it worse—particularly when she was feeling so restlessly needy. Her wolf, on the other hand, was extremely curious.
“I’m thinking about how gorgeous you would look tied to my bed. Want to know what I’d do to the nipples that are poking through your T-shirt? I’d suckle on them and bite them until you were arching off the bed and begging me to fuck you. But I wouldn’t fuck you. Not yet. First, I’d taste you. You can’t have any idea how badly I want to know how you taste. Only after I’d licked you to orgasm would I bury myself inside you and take what’s mine. There’d be nothing gentle about it, Shay. It would be fast and hard and raw.”