Page 21 of Tomlin

“I told you I was dangerous,” he said hoarsely.

“What are you talking about?” She started to take a step closer and he visibly flinched. “It’s all right,” she said soothingly. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“I did not ask your permission.”

“I asked to kiss you, and in case you missed it, I was responding very enthusiastically. I made my choice by kissing you back.”

He shook his head in denial, although she wasn’t sure if it was in response to her words or his. Then his nostrils flared, and he was back in front of her before she could blink.

“You’re bleeding.”

“No, I’m not.”

“I smell blood,” he insisted, bending closer to examine her breast.

She shivered as his hot breath whispered across her exposed skin.

“There.”

She followed his gaze and saw the faintest scratch on the curve of her breast.

“It’s just a scratch. I don’t even think it’s bleeding.”

“I hurt you.”

His tone was full of self-loathing, and she started to reach for him, but he jerked away from her hand.

“You didn’t hurt me. I wouldn’t even have known you’d scratched me if you hadn’t pointed it out.”

He was still staring at her breast, a complicated mixture of regret and desire on his face. She saw the desire begin to win out, the blue glow in his eyes increasing until they were almost luminescent. As the hunger in his gaze intensified, so did the arousal still humming through her body.

“Perhaps you should kiss it and make it better,” she suggested breathlessly.

He growled again, then licked the faint red line.Oh my. She hadn’t expected it to feel so good. She put her hand on his head, silently urging him to do it again. The analytical part of her mind noticed that his hair didn’t feel exactly like human hair, but the thought disappeared in a haze of pleasure as he licked her again. He worked his way up the small curve of her breast until his mouth closed over her nipple, shockingly hot and wet and exciting.

“More,” she demanded, determined to make him understand that she wanted this.

He obeyed, sucking hungrily on her nipple, and then he was gone. This time he didn’t retreat to the opposite wall, but headed for the door instead.

“Run,” he growled, and then he was gone.

She sighed as the door closed behind him. That hadn’t gone the way she wanted. Not only had he run away again, but he’d left her feeling unsatisfied and she didn’t think that her self-pleasure routine would be sufficient to quench that lingering ache. Instead, she stripped off the tattered remains of her shirt and went to replace it. Time to return to the one thing that never failed to satisfy her - her work.

CHAPTER 11

At first, Tomlin was too focused on running to berate himself. Every step was a constant fight against his Krythian side’s desire to return to his female.

She is not my female, he told himself, but the words rang hollow. He might not be able to claim her, but he had absolutely no doubt that she was his mate.

A fragile human mate. He shuddered. He couldn’t bear the thought of harming her the way his father had harmed his mother. Couldn’t bear the thought of her turning away from him.

His control was too precarious. His claws had actually emerged for the first time in years. Not only emerged but damaged her pale skin.

I should leave, he thought once again, and a growl escaped. It had been a struggle to leave her long enough to return to the farm.

The only thing that had calmed his other half was the knowledge that he would return. Grethel had warned him. She told him thatthe mate bond made a male possessive. And she’d been right, as she so frequently was.

She wasn’t right about everything. She should have told me that she was my grandmother.Should have told him long before she was on her deathbed.

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