Page 30 of The Wolf's Kidnapped Mate

And if it was, why the hell did it irritate me to see her so serene about it?

“That’s true,” I agreed. “I’m sorry it has to be like this, Kylie.”

Her head snapped around, eyes smoldering with fury as she spat, “You sure have a lot of explaining to do, mister.”

She was right about that. I sure did.

I guessed I’d better start talking now.

Chapter 10 - Kylie

There was absolutely no reason for the removal of that magical tape to feel as sensual as it did. Even as I felt my agitation rise up again, pouring out of my gaze and from every pore of my body, that passionate and mesmerizing gesture had me stunned. My thighs ached as my slit reminded me that no one had dared touch me with such tenderness in many years.

I had spent so much time investing in my skills as a makeup artist and a soldier that I hadn’t bothered with tending to the other things I needed. Like getting laid or having a good time. Those things weren’t important in the middle of war zones or behind abandoned buildings that weren’t so abandoned.

Never did I have a reason to think of it—until Fred peeled that tape off the back of my neck.

Rippling cold waves roamed my body as I sipped the tea. I smiled weakly at the surface of the milky liquid. “Brown sugar and—” I licked my lips. “Coconut milk?”

“It’s what we had.”

“Lucky me.”

Fred huffed slightly, a kind of resolved sound, like he was amused by my unsurprising reaction. It was a known fact that I loved brown sugar. Anybody who knew me decently could state that confidently.

Really, it did feel lucky to have a comfort item in this limbo-like space. I finally got a good look around, confirming my previous impression of a sparsely decorated cabin as correct.

I looked at the dark window to my right. “Where are we?”

“It’s a cabin just outside of Beaufort Creek land.”

“What’s going on?”

Fred took a crackling breath. That sound was enough to grab my attention, turning me around in my chair as he settled back into his. The legs wheezed under his weight, then fell silent as he turned into a frigid glacier.

“Your brother is on a mission in Canada,” he explained in a low voice. “He called me before I joined your pack about a mission I needed to complete here.”

I stared blankly at him.

He rubbed his chin, avoiding my gaze, those ardent emerald eyes glancing at the flames behind me instead. Reflected in those orbs were dancing spires of carroty-red light. “The mission was simple—I was tasked to protect you from any harmful side effects of what we needed to accomplish.”

I wasn’t a fan of his tone.

Every syllable carried with it a hesitance that reminded me of when parents skirted around important subjects with their children. Before my parents were taken from this world, they had done the same thing. They’d tried to lie to us about the severity of the wolf-vampire wars.

We had been at risk the whole time, but they hadn’t once allowed us to know that information. I’d made peace a year ago with the fact that they had simply been trying to give us a childhood free of looming danger.

Not that it helped much in the end when they were slain.

But they had tried. They had done their best.

The mug shivered in my hand. I set it on the table to my left and folded my fingers together in my lap.

“Fred, you’ve never been vague,” I stated blandly. “Spit it out. Please.”

He met my gaze then, such a terrifying fervidness that made me think about how close he had been, bowing over me while he removed that tape. Care. Caution. Concern.

Was that a hint of desire that burned in his eyes—or was that just the flames in the fireplace?

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