Page 99 of Wolf's Bane
The thread between them? Silent.
Hastily, she reached for a robe. By this time, she had been nude before Alek several times, and he never made her feel anything less than desirable. Now she felt vulnerable and exposed. Naked in an entirely unwelcome manner.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, tying the belt.
“Do not concern yourself.”
“Blast it, Aleksandar.” Frustrated, she threw a towel at him. He caught it with ease. “I know something is wrong, so tell me.”
His eyes were cold. “It will upset you. Too many things happened today. Things you should not have seen. After today—”
“You’re leaving without me,” she said, ready to fall over at the words. All day she swung from nervousness, anticipation, then fear, then determination. Every moment fueled by adrenaline. There had to be a breaking point where her body couldn’t keep up, no matter how her spirit drove her forward.
Her knees threatened to give out, and her stomach wanted to empty itself. She stumbled back against the wall. “You self-sacrificing bastard. You do not get to leave in some ridiculous notion to protect me! If you try, I’ll stab you in the eye with a butter knife.”
He surged out of the water, pressing his wet and very hard form against hers. “Solenne, be quiet a moment.”
“So help me, I’ll find the dullest and rustiest butter knife.”
He kissed her, fierce and all-consuming. The connection flared back to life and she could feel his pulse thrumming. It whispered that he was here, here, here. She belonged to him and she couldn’t make him leave with the rustiest butter knife in the world.
“Oh,” she said.
His fingers dug into her wet hair, pulling to force her gaze to his. His eyes glowed with an intense violet light.
“I want nothing more in this life than to keep you safe,” he said. “And you damn Marechals are so determined to throw yourself in front of every ravening beast you find. I thought I would lose you and it frightened me more than anything.”
“Oh,” she said. Anything else seemed unnecessary.
“So yes, I closed myself to the bond. I didn’t want my fear frightening you. He had you, Solenne, in his paws, and I was too far away to do anything.” He closed his eyes, as if reliving that moment. “I failed to protect you.”
“You saved Miles and Papa. That’s hardly a failure.”
He opened his eyes and searched her face for what she did not know. Whatever he found, he nodded as if satisfied. “I will never leave you. Never. I will be your shadow because I can’t trust you to not run headfirst into the maw of a beast.”
“I hardly did that,” she protested. Well, she did do that. Technically.
“And on Boxon Hill? And the night of the full moon? Every time, I arrived too late to prevent you from some foolhardy act of heroism. Since I can’t trust you to have enough common sense to save yourself, I’ll do it for you.” Another crushing kiss, this one erasing her protests.
He growled, low in his throat, and her core clenched in response. “Now, wife, get in bed.”
“I’m not sleepy.”
“We will not sleep.”
The beast would have his mate.
She was happy to oblige.
Chapter 26
Aleksandar
Boxon Hill
Marechal House - Mr. and Mrs. Hardwick’s Bedroom
The door slammed shutwith a resounding thud.
