Page 11 of Forbidden Wolf

“Have I found the only man with a conscience when it comes to his libido?”

He grinned and bounced his eyebrows suggestively.

“I may not be experienced in relationships, but I do know one thing.” He leaned closer until the tip of his nose touched mine. “All the relationships my older brother has had are nothing but sex. I doubt he could tell me their names. Is it wrong that I want something more than that?”

“No,” I replied, swallowing the lump that had appeared in my throat. “My friends chose their partners based on their exam scores or their abilities. In our army, we’re allocated partners to breed with whether we want it or not. I’m probably the first female vampire in over a hundred years to choose someone based on chemistry.”

Levi pushed himself to his feet, pulling me up with him and settling his hands on my hips. “When do you leave for conscription?”

A sad smile ghosted across my lips swollen from his kisses. “The end of summer.”

I couldn’t fight against the fate decided for me. All that was left was one summer before my life was taken from me and I was destined to accept my role as another mindless soldier fighting a war that none of us believed in.

Levi tipped my face up until our gazes locked.

“One summer.” His lips skimmed over mine and it felt like he was affirming a vow. “This is our summer to enjoy before we both are sent to war. We’ll give ourselves one summer to remember and then return to our real lives.”

My arms wound around his neck, as I stood on my tiptoes.

“I’ll be yours for one summer and you’ll be my first love,” I agreed.

My pulse raced at the thought of him being mine for a whole summer. Normally that time away from school felt like it lasted forever when I was stuck with my family.

We dressed, finding our clothes that were scattered everywhere. I laughed when Levi toppled over while trying to pull on his jeans. When I held out my hand to help him up, he dragged me down on top of him, kissing me until I moaned and wiggled.

The worst and best extremes of being with Levi was how right everything felt. Normally, I had to be careful what I said since politics was at every turn in the facility. With Levi, I could just be myself.

Why did my perfect man have to be my enemy?

His fingers threaded through mine as we wandered through the forest, pointing out different species of plants and animals to each other. We eventually found the pawprints of the big cat. Levi leant into me as we got closer, and once again I fought with the conflicting feelings inside me. Part of me screamed danger since he was lycan, but the rest of me wanted to curl up beside him and purr.

I was a vampire, and he was a lycan. What if I faced Levi in battle? Could I be the vampire I was trained to be and murder him without thought? Nausea churned in my stomach and I wanted to scream in rage and pull at my hair until the image ceased.

It was only when Levi stopped that I realised he’d spotted something. He moved forward, his hand tightening on mine.

“There he is, your black jaguar,” he whispered.

The big cat sat on his ass and stared at us. He was the top of the food chain here and didn’t fear us. He even showed off by licking his paw, his ears twitching as he monitored what was happening around him.

Some men wooed with flowers and chocolates. Instead, Levi found me the one creature I’d wanted to find for years. His black fur was glossy under the light of the moon. Levi smiled down at me and pushed me toward the incline that the jaguar was at the bottom of, watching us with an interested expression.

Was Levi able to communicate with other beasts?

Tentatively, I climbed down toward the big cat, holding a hand up to tell him I intended him no harm. He sniffed the palm of my hand before bumping it with his head.

His fur was soft like velvet, softest at his ears. His head canted to the side to illustrate where he wanted me to tickle him.

“His fur is softer than your wolf’s,” I said to Levi absently.

His brow furrowed and his head tilted to one side. “I’ve never felt mine and I tend not to go around and pet the wildlife that could eat me.”

Levi joined me, sitting to observe me stroking behind the jaguar’s ears. Creatures rarely ran from me when I made a soul connection with them. When I touched them, it formed a bond that allowed me to sense their emotions and communicate with them in a basic non-verbal way.

The jaguar purred, the tip of his tail flipping from side to side. The sound vibrated in the air around us and Levi growled softly as if to put him in his place. The jaguar threw a filthy look in his direction.

Levi laughed. “Hands off, buddy. Tasha’s mine.”

His declaration sent shivers fluttering from my heart deep into my stomach. That last word created a cacophony of emotions to cascade through me. Was I his? It was meant to be a simple fling, an itch scratched by the most divine claws.

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