Page 96 of The Wolf King

I finish my bath quickly.

I’m not sure how to feel about what just happened. It’s the boldest thing I’ve ever done, and if my father ever found out, I’d be severely punished.

Still, Callum’s touch lingers on my skin. I think he was going to kiss me, and what’s more, I wanted him to. He has provoked a restlessness inside me that I have never felt before.

I almost miss the days when I felt nothing at all.

I dry off, and when he hasn’t returned, I dress and head back to my chambers.

I hurry past Isla on my way, trying not to react as she mutters something derogatory about me to her friend.

Mrs. McDonald told me I didn’t have to help in the kitchens today, so I spend my time poring over the medical books in my chambers.

Blake’s words about my mother have taken root in my mind. I cannot get rid of them.

I read until darkness creeps through my window, and I have to strain to read the blurred ink on parchment.

When Callum still hasn’t come, I wonder whether he’s ridden out to some Northlands village to find the king. It angers me that he would go without telling me.

Yet after the events of last night, I am finding it hard to keep my eyes open.

I shut them.

I’m in the forest, lying on my back.

The moonlight seeps through the branches overhead.

Callum’s face hovers above mine. His body pins me to the fresh earth and his body heat sears into me. He is naked, and I feel the hardness of him against my hip.

A growl reverberates through my chest, though I am not sure if it is coming from him or me as his lips move to my jaw, my neck, my collarbone. My legs wrap around his waist.

And I am on fire.

Flames rage inside me, longing for release.

It is suffocating. The heat. The furnace. The weight of him. The pressure building at my core.

I sink my fingernails into his back and he groans as his mouth moves lower, and one of his hands moves higher.

There is an ache between my legs where heat pools. An unbearable ache.

“Callum,” I gasp. “Callum.”

The air is still, crushing, unrelenting.

The leaves rustle.

We are not alone in the forest.

He nips my ear with his teeth and a spark of heat rushes through me. I moan as my back arches.

My gaze locks onto the wolf, standing in the shadows.

It crashes through the undergrowth toward me.

My eyes jolt open.

My pulse is racing and my body is on fire. The ache from my dream is still there. I’m breathing fast and the covers stick to my skin. Liquid heat pools between my legs.

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