Page 14 of Shifting Hearts 1
“Let me go,” I snap, though my body betrays me, leaning into his heat.
His jaw clenches, his grip firm but not painful. “Not a chance. You sneak out here, half-dead and barefoot, like prey begging to be taken, and you expect me to just let you go?”
My throat tightens. Prey. That’s what Gabriel made me. That’s what I feel like now, trembling under Ranger’s touch, torn between shame and the desperate want that coils low in my belly.
“I just needed air,” I whisper, hating how small my voice sounds.
His eyes darken, the fury in them cracking to reveal something deeper. Fear.
“You scared the shit out of me.” The words rip from him raw and unguarded. He shakes his head, pulling me closer until our chests nearly brush, his breath hot against my hair. “If anything happened to you….” He cuts himself off, his jaw locking.
The bond thrums, insistent, hungry, pulling me against him. My thighs squeeze together, the ache between them sharper under his touch. He feels it. I know he does. His nostrils flare, his pupils blown wide, his claws threatening to break skin where he grips me.
For a breathless second, the world narrows to this. His body, my body. The space between us that begs to be closed.
Then, with a strangled curse, he shoves me back against the tree, as though distance will save us both.
“Don’t ever do that again,” he growls. His voice shakes. Not with anger. With the effort it takes to walk away.
He turns, fists clenched, every line of him trembling with restraint. And I stand there, my back pressed to the rough bark, the echo of his heat still burning into my skin, my heart pounding out the truth I don’t want to admit.
I want him. Even if he never wants me back.
EIGHT
Chains in My Blood
Ranger
Islam the cabin door behind us, the sound echoing through the woods, through the hollow in my chest. She flinched when I pushed her against that tree. I can still see it. Still taste the bond sparking between us, screaming at me to take her, to end this torture.
My hands shake as I rake them through my hair, pacing the narrow length of the cabin like a caged animal. The fire pops, and shadows dance, but it’s her scent that fills the space - sweet, sharp, and laced with the salt of her tears.
The bond is merciless tonight. It claws through my veins, dragging my beast to the surface, demanding that I go to her. Demanding that I hold her. Pushing me to bury my face in her throat and sink my teeth into the place fate carved for me.
Mine.
The word roars in my skull, every single breath I take a battle. My chest heaves, my claws pricking at my fingertips, and my body strung tight as a bow ready to snap.
I glance toward the bed.
She’s there, wrapped in quilts, her hair fanned across my pillow, her lashes damp, her lips parted in sleep. So close. Too close.
The beast surges.Take her. Claim her. She wants you. She needs you.
I choke on a curse, slamming my fist into the wall hard enough to rattle the shelves. Pain lances up my arm, grounding me for half a second before the bond howls again.
Not like this. Not when she’s weak, not when she is still healing, and certainly not when she is still carrying the shadow of another man’s rejection. She deserves more than to be claimed out of desperation. She deserves choice. A whole bond, not the shattered half-life I can give her now.
I grip the edge of the table, my knuckles turning white, and my breath ragged. My panther paces inside me, restless, furious, its claws raking along my bones. The urge to shift tears at me, hot and violent, but I hold it back with sheer will.
I’ve lived with this beast my whole life. But this bond? This is worse. Stronger. Every beat of my heart is synced to hers, every inhale of breath tangled in her scent. Even the way she breathes in her sleep makes my cock ache, my body burning to slide between her thighs and never leave.
I squeeze my eyes shut, the war inside me tearing me apart.
I want her. Goddess, I want her so badly I can barely think. But I need her whole.
Because if I claim her now, when she’s still bleeding from Gabriel, still doubting her worth, I’ll steal something from her I can never give back. And I won’t be that man. Not to her.
