Page 49 of Monsters and Beauties

“Mmm, you forget I can tell when you’re lying.” His gaze lowered to my lips. “And the scent of your frustration over the fact you’re turned on because of me makes your scent even more addicting.”

Could he hear how hard my heart was beating? It sounded like war drums in my ears.

“You askedwhyI took you, and I told you because I wanted you, but maybe you need to hear it a different way.” He reached out, and I was so frozen in place I let him touch me, let him cup my cheek again and smooth the pad of his thumb over my skin. “When I saw you, I knew you’d be mine. Your body was made to handle the fucking I plan on giving my mate. Your curves and thickness were created to carry my big pups.”

My pussy tingled. The traitorous bitch.

I felt the gentle scrape of a deadly claw move down my temple and I sucked in a sharp breath.

Because it felt good.

“I’ve never wanted anything more than I do you.” I felt his warm breath brushing along my face and neck.

He leaned in again, and I felt a stream of air along the shell of my ear, the wet sensation of his nose moving against my cheek.

I didn’t know why I did it, but I closed my eyes and shivered. It should have disgusted me that Wolf was so close to me, touching me. But when I felt something warm and wet slide along the side of my face, and heard him rumble low, I couldn’t stop the arousal that suddenly claimed me.

I also couldn’t stop the little moan that slipped past my parted lips.

He was licking me, dragging his enormous tongue along my face and tasting me. I felt my pulse beating right between my thighs.

Wolf pressed against my body, his fur thick but soft. The tips of my fingers tingled, urging me to reach up and touch him. I didn’t know what was wrong with me, why I wasn’t screaming and crying and trying to escape right now.

But Lord help me, I didn’t want to move. I didn’t want him to stop.

And so I didn’t move, and instead leaned in closer, lifting my hands, and just as I was about to place them on his chest, curling my fingers into his fur, he took a step back.

It surprised me at how… disappointed I was at that.

When I opened my eyes, he made this sound deep within his chest. Was he… was he laughing at my reaction? My cheeks heated, and I gritted my teeth as I tried to push the embarrassment away.

But when I stared into his face, I saw nothing but that stoniness he wore so well. I noticed his nostrils were flaring and his chest was rising and falling.

He was affected. The same as I was.

I looked at his jaw, neck, and finally his chest. I felt that nausea rise back up in me. How the hell had I forgotten he was covered in blood?

Was I so starved for any kind of attention that common sense and my survival instinct had suddenly taken a back seat?

He held his paw out to me and I stared down at it, but didn’t make a move to give him my hand, which he obviously wanted.

He gave a frustrated growl and was the one to take my hand then, his touch still gentle though. Wolf held my palm in his and the sheer size difference between us… amongst other things, startled me all over again.

Everything about Wolf was magnified.

As a bigger, curvier girl my entire life, I’d never felt “tiny”. Not that I ever wanted to be. This was how I was made, and I embraced the hell out of it. But right now, looking up at this seven-foot beast, I felt minuscule. Breakable.

And why did I feel turned on because of that?

I let him lead me through the forest, the night so thick that it was impossible for me to see anything. So I had to trust him, even if I had no reason to.

We didn’t walk very far from the mouth of the cave before the sound of babbling water broke the silence. Although I felt exhaustion over everything, when we broke through the clearing and I could see a small trickling waterfall that led to a generous pool of water, which then continued downstream, some of my tiredness faded.

My body ached from running and trying—and failing—to get away from Wolf. On top of the fact I’d fallen a few times in the chase and was pretty sure I had some nasty bruises hidden under my clothes, I felt this almost serene sense being out here.

I wasn’t afraid despite the thick darkness surrounding us, and predators nearby. How could I when Wolf stood a foot from me and all I could keep remembering was him telling me he’d destroy anything that thought to hurt me?

There was this ethereal sort of glow being cast along the top of the water, and a cool breeze took that moment to brush over me, moving the tendrils of my hair along my shoulders.

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