Page 8 of Shifting Hearts 1
Before I can, he’s there.
Ranger moves faster than I expect, crouching beside the bed, his hand shooting out to steady me. His palm braces my bare arm, hot against my chilled skin.
The moment his skin touches mine, everything stops.
The bond surges like lightning, slamming into me so hard I gasp. Heat floods through me, sharp and electric, racing along every nerve. My chest tightens, my heart stutters, and for a heartbeat, I feel whole again.
Alive.
Wanted.
I look at him, wide-eyed, and I see it hit him too. His jaw locks, his pupils dilate, and his breath catches as the same current rips through him. For the briefest second, his hand tightens, pulling me closer instead of pushing me away.
My breasts are bared to his gaze, but he doesn’t look down, his gaze locked on my lips. My lips part. The wordyesburnsat the back of my throat though I don’t even know what I’m agreeing to.
Then he jerks back like I’ve burned him.
His hand drops from my arm as though touching me cost him something unbearable. He stumbles to his feet, muscles taut, every line of him rigid with rejection. His jaw clenches hard enough to crack bone as he covers my nudity with the quilt.
“I told you,” he growls, his voice rough and ragged. “I’m not him. I’m not going to force this.”
And then he turns, striding across the cabin. His chair scrapes against the floor as he shoves it back, pacing like a caged animal.
The warmth vanishes the instant his skin leaves mine. The bond recoils, collapsing in on itself, leaving me colder than before.
Unwanted. Again.
Shame crashes through me, heavier than the quilts. I curl back into the mattress, pulling the blanket to my chin, trying to erase the heat still tingling in my arm where he touched me.
For one stolen moment, I felt alive. I felt like maybe I wasn’t broken, like maybe I could still be someone’s choice. And then he looked at me the way Gabriel did. Like I was something to step away from.
Tears sting my eyes, but I bite them back. I won’t cry again. Not in front of him. Not in front of anyone.
The bond hums, restless, mocking me.
He doesn’t want me. Not him. Not Gabriel. Not anyone. I curl tighter under the quilt, closing my eyes, swallowing the ache in my chest. Maybe the Goddess made a mistake twice.
FOUR
Fighting Fire
Ranger
The second my hand touches her bare skin, I’m lost.
Heat slams into me like a wildfire, racing from my palm up my arm, searing through every vein until my heart pounds so hard I think it might split my chest. Her skin is soft, trembling, fragile, and yet the bond flares so violently it nearly drops me to my knees.
She gasps, her storm-grey eyes locking onto mine, and I see it.
She feels it too. The pull. The rightness. The hunger that isn’t just mine, isn’t just hers—it’sours.
For one terrible, glorious heartbeat, I want to give in. To drag her against me, bury my face in her throat, taste the skin that already burns for me. My panther surges under my skin, snarling mine, mine, mine until the word is a roar in my skull.
Her scent wraps around me, sweet and sharp with fear, pain, and something deeper. Something that makes my body tighten, my mouth water, my blood burn. Lust. Arousal.
I want her. Goddess help me, I want her so fucking badly I can barely breathe. But I can’t. Not now. Maybe not ever.
If I give in, I’ll ruin her. I’ll chain her to me, and I don’t know if I’m worth the weight of her. I don’t know if I can be what she needs. And worse, if I let myself take her, I might never let go.
