Page 19 of Come for Me
Caleb scrambles to his feet and dashes toward the royal pack house.
The king looks extremely pissed as his hard chest heaves. His shoulders rise and fall as he stares into my soul.
He moves toward me, eyeing me like a predator stalking his prey, focus unwavering.
I fight back tears at the thought of never seeing my home again, and I immediately resent him for existing.My blood runs cold with the realization that everything will be taken from me with his bite. I swallow hard, and my breathing quickens.
Panic, excitement, and arousal swirl inside me at the thought of him marking me, while I step back until my back presses into the same boulder. The cool stone does little to calm my racing nerves and leaves me with no escape. He will devour me like meek prey and leave only a carcass of who I once was.
“I can’t believe you’re here.”
He speaks as though I am the answer to all his prayers.
As he gets closer, his muscles contract, veins bulging in his arms. The two ragged claw marks slicing from his left eyebrow to his nose shine in the moonlight. Pack-inspired tattoos decorate his right pec, traveling across his shoulder and down his biceps into a full sleeve on his right arm. They dance with each expression of power he displays, like wolves on the prowl. Immense skill is required for such intricacies, and I long to explore and map out these details with my fingers and tongue.
His scent makes it hard for me to think clearly. All I want is to get as far away from him as possible, but my body hums in anticipation of his touch, my feet bolted to the ground.
Stupid wolf, resist him. Run!
As if he can read my mind, King Dax closes the distance between us in the blink of an eye, resting one hand beside my head, grabbing my chin with the other. His fingers dig into my cheeks.
Looking directly into my eyes, he challenges, “You think you can run from me, darling?” Inspecting me, he swivels my head.
I swoon at the way the pet name rolls off his tongue. His voice is rough and taunting, a gravelly growl.
Engorged, hairless pecs rise as he breathes me in and out. As his nostrils flare, his hold on my chin tightens.
Does Caleb’s scent linger on me?
Unable to fight my wolf’s urge to ease my mate’s angst, I rest my hand on his heaving chest, and electrical sparks tickle my palm. The lines between his brows appear, and he blinks slowly.
When he opens his eyes, they’re no longer caramel but a glowing gold with jealousy, lust, and longing hitting me at full force. His eyes flicker with emotion and a hint of danger. The power emulating from him is immense and weakens my knees. Having my mate this close is skewing my priorities. I crave his touch and imagine him overpowering me with his strength.
I squeeze my thighs together as my sex takes notice of him, cursing myself for being turned on by his ferocity. The friction ignites a fire instead of suppressing the sensations. My body desires nothing more than for him to take the intense feelings he’s having out on me.
What’s wrong with me? He just hurt Caleb, and I’m still lusting over this guy I met mere seconds ago?
Come on, Alaina, get it together. You’re better than this!
He looks down at my thighs, trails his eyes back up my body, and smirks. His eyes flash gold, sensing my arousal, before returning to brown. A hand trails sparks from my chin, down the center of my chest, palming my lower back, pulling me into him.
Okay, maybe I’m not better than this.
“Themutt,” he says.
His dangerously calm tone sends chills down my spine. It’s a question posed as a statement. But he’s not asking. He’s demanding. Anger simmers beneath his surface as he stares down at me.
“Caleb?”
He chuckles. “I know who he is, darling.”
Then, why ask?
Removing his hand from my back, he takes his knuckles and nudges my head to the side, exposing my neck. He inspects the spot Caleb was intending to mark. A hint of relief and fury rolls off him.
I swallow the lump in my throat as he emits more waves of anger, and I try my best not to move, not wanting to find out what happens when he loses control.
At least not under these circumstances, my wolf purrs.
