Page 34 of Wolf's Providence

“Yes,” I admitted. “Doesn’t help when you keep distracting me with that tongue.” I didn’t hide the roughness of my voice. She needed to know how she affected me.

Willow immediately clamped her mouth shut, her lips pressing into a thin line. “Sorry.” She had nothing to apologize for. “With you so close, it’s even stronger. It’s like I can reach out and touch it.”

I nodded because I felt the same. The pull to be near her, to protect her, to just…be with her. The physical need to touch her, claim her, consume her. It was getting deeper, burrowing inside me, taking root.

“It’s the bond,” I explained after a moment, the words heavy. “We both know when I gave you my blood, it strengthened the connection, and I guess…being so close to you only makes it”—it was my turn to wet my lips as my mouth ran dry—“harder.”

Heat pooled in her eyes, and I fought back the groan as her scent permeated the room.

“I don’t think it’s just the blood,” I carried on, focusing on anything but the signals her body was giving me. “We were already attracted to each other.” I motioned between us. “This pull was there before it got more complicated.”

“You’re saying it was always going to happen?”

“I know you were in that car with me,” I murmured, seeing her flush again. “I think the blood just accelerated what we already felt.”

She didn’t say anything, but I could see the questions swirling behind her eyes. I wanted to explain more, to tell her how a bond like this worked and how it would affect us, but the truth was, I had no idea how to explain it. Because I didn’t understand it myself. Not when she was human. The things we were feeling shouldn’t be like this when she wasn’t a shifter. This was more like a mate bond, and I knew we could never be mates.

“Can we stop it?”

Fuck no. My possessiveness shocked me, and it took me a moment to control my reaction, which Willow completely misinterpreted.

“I didn’t mean to offend you,” she spoke quickly. “I just wondered if it was something we’re stuck with.”

Again, the words shouldn’t have hurt, but they did. The idea that she wanted to stop what was happening between us, thatshe didn’t want to be mine, was a blow I wasn’t prepared for. But I kept my expression neutral, not letting her see how deep her words cut.

“The bond is part of us,” I said, my voice steady. “There’s no stopping it.”

Willow frowned, her gaze moving off of mine. “So, what are you saying? We’re tied together. You and me? Like it or not?”

I knew why she would feel like that. I mean, who wanted to be tied to the man who shredded his claws into her? I couldn’t blame her. This wasn’t what she would choose, I understood. She probably felt trapped. I would too if I were in her shoes.

“I know it feels like a lot,” I said, taking a step closer to her. “But it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Our connection, it’s about protection, not about controlling you. It’s something more?—”

“More how?” She looked up at me, her expression a mixture of confusion and something else, something that looked a lot like desire. “What are you saying, Caleb?”

How did I put into words the way I felt about her? The pull, the need, thewant. It was more than the bond, it washer.

It had always been her.

Everything about her called to me in a way I’d never experienced before. But how did Isaythat? Me? The man who punctured her abdomen and almost killed her. I didn’t have the right to lay that at her feet, not now. Probably not ever. Not when she was still trying to figure out her place in her new reality.

“I’m saying…” What the fuck was I saying? “I’m saying I’ll be there no matter what. Bond or no bond, you have my protection.”

Those light green eyes of hers searched mine like she was trying to figure out what I was holding back. But I held her stare, saying nothing, because the last thing I wanted to do was make her feel like this wasn’t her choice.

“You make me sound like a burden,” she said, not bothering to hide her disappointment. “I don’t want you to feel like you’re tied to me because of some bond.”

“You’re not a burden.” Frustration flared within me. Didn’t she see how poorly I was hanging on to my control and not taking all her clothes off and sinking inside her? She wasn’t an obligation, she was a temptation. “I want to be where you are.”

Her breath hitched, and I cursed inwardly at letting that slip. Her eyes were wide with emotions she wasn’t ready to admit and I wasn’t admitting to feeling. At least, not out loud. I closed the distance between us, close enough that I could feel the heat of her body, the smell of her skin, the scent of her arousal that was going to drive me to the edge.

“Caleb?” Her voice was shaking and I felt the vibrations in my blood.

Reaching out, I cupped her face gently. My thumb brushed over her bottom lip, plump and juicy. I wanted to sink my teeth into it. I shouldn’t be touching her, but the need to make contact with her skin was stronger than the logic to step back and not overwhelm her.

“I’m here, not because of a bond, but because Iwant to be. Understand?”

Her gaze dropped to my lips, a look of hunger in her eyes that made my pulse quicken. She was letting me in, letting me see her desire, and it made me want to close the distance, pull her into me, and kiss her until there was no doubt I was here for her.Onlyfor her.

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