Page 46 of To Hunt A Wolf
“I’m not going back, Mac.”
I let my desperation leak into my eyes as I look up at him. “Not even for Kari?”
“Kari’s not safer with me dead,” he says. “And we both know that’s exactly what will happen if you turn me over to Thiago. I’d wager he’ll kill you too when he’s done with me.”
“None of that would happen if Jadick goes with us,” I say.
But Levi shakes his head. “Jadick’s more at risk than either of us. Why do you think he went underground in the first place?”
“I get it. Thiago wants to clear out the competition and place himself on a throne of his own making. But if we all work together—”
“I won’t ask Jadick to give himself up or put himself at risk for me.”
“Kari’s his sister. At least, give him the option to decide for himself.”
He doesn’t answer, and I bite back a slew of curses all aimed at him. There’s something else going on, something he’s not sharing. Otherwise, none of this makes sense.
“I’m asking for your help,” I say, my words sharp.
He arches a brow. “Since when does Mac Quinn need anyone’s help?”
I blow out a breath.
“You’re not some damsel in distress,” he adds. “And I know you too well for you to make me think you are.”
“I’m not a monster either,” I say, accusation dripping from my words. “Kari’s life matters. Even with whatever secret plans you’re cooking up, you can’t just ignore her in all this. She’s innocent.”
He hesitates, and I wonder if he’s actually thinking all this over or just pretending to.
“If I don’t agree, you’ll just keep hunting me, won’t you?”
I smile sweetly. “Never give up on your dreams. You taught me that.”
He could have punched me in the face, and I would have been less shocked than the response he gives me now.
He closes the distance, his mouth covering mine, and every nerve in my body ignites. His kiss is hungry. Like he’s starving and I’m the last meal on Earth. His hands grab me, taking, claiming—like he already knows I’m his. And dammit if I don’t kiss him back like he’s right.
When his tongue brushes mine, I sink into the abyss where all my deepest wants are stored, every one of them named Levi Wild. There’s no sense of logic or even time. Only Levi’s mouth and hands—and the fact that we aren’t naked yet.
A sob breaks loose from my throat, mortifying me the second I hear it. I break the kiss, chest heaving, eyes watering—and I don’t know who I hate more. Him or what he’s done to me. I can’t even enjoy the thing I’ve spent three years dreaming of.
Levi’s ruined me for everyone—even himself.
“I can’t…” I say, my voice cracking. “Not like this. Not when… we’re still on opposite sides.”
Not when you still don’t want me in the way that matters.
Instead of backing off, he leans in. His hand cups the back of my neck, and he presses his forehead to mine so I’m forced to shut my eyes or meet his so closely I can read his thoughts.
“Mac, I’m so sorry for all this. And for what’s to come. I will never—”
“What’s to come?”
I wrench away, staring at him warily. My fingers tingle where they touched his bared throat a moment ago. Every inch of me is still hot, but my brain is struggling to warn me through the fog of my own lust—and it’s screaming now.
At the look in his eyes. At the way he shifts closer. Again.
Like he’s trying awfully hard to distract me.
