Page 36 of The Wolf's Captive
“Since when is foaming at the mouth a good thing?”
Rolling my eyes, I turned away from the alpha and went back to my desk. The smoke of the incense wafted around my head, inviting me back to the life I had known before Malone.
“I still think you owe me an explanation for the whole castrating thing,” Malone said, narrowing his gaze on me when I glanced over my shoulder. “Considering I was your mate, did you really feel like you could do something like that?”
My eyes drifted closed, shutting out the intensity of his gaze. The darkness under my eyelids moved to create the scene where Malone towered over me, threatening to end my life if I didn’t leave Brighton. We’d come so far, and yet, the energy between us was tense.
A rush of fiery anger made my skin hot as I spun and faced him. “What’s the matter with you? I said I was sorry for what I did, but you don’t seem to have completely forgiven me.”
His own fury flashed in his eyes, causing the amber to bleed into the dark chocolate colour. Clenching his fists at his sides, he stared at me, his throat bobbing in a swallow. “You hugged that warlock a little too tightly. I’m sure he was the one you had a crush on, didn’t you?”
Laughter burst from me as I shook my head. Was he seriously upset because I had comforted Frederick? Even though he knew that we had both been through a traumatic event that he could never understand.
“I’m sorry,” I said when the corner of his lip lifted in a snarl. “But I thought we had got over the jealousy when it came to Frederick. Manual even persuaded you to forget about it. Why are you questioning it now?”
His shoulders dropped and his gaze slid to the stone beneath our feet. The squares were slightly dusty from months of neglect. My heart thudded as I watched my strong powerful man almost sink into the floor.
Stepping closer, I bit my lip as I reached out and ran my hands up his muscly arms. “Please,” I pleaded, “tell me how we can bridge this gap.”
“Marry me,” he ground through his teeth as he lifted his gaze. “In the ceremony. That’s the only way for either of us to be secure. I… hate knowing that that bastard has a part of you that belongs to me. Maybe the ceremony will break it off.”
“I… really don’t know how to take that. I thought you said we would be okay.”
“We are,” he said emphatically, taking my arms and stroking me with his thumbs. “It’s just something we haven’t dared try.”
Gazing at him, I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth.
A growl rumbled low in his throat as he lifted his hand and gently pulled my lip free. He bent slightly and looked into my eyes, imploring me to give myself over to him. His attitude had been a rollercoaster ever since I’d returned from Paris. And yet, I could feel the agony that my wall had created.
Although he had struggled initially, I had been the one to put the distance between us. I had been the one who wouldn’t allow him inside. I was still fighting to be free from Kieran, a man who had joined with me against my will. So, would allowing myself to bind to Malone’s wolf spirit heal me from the inside?
“Yes,” I breathed, staring back into his gorgeous eyes. “I want to be entwined with you, I just…”
He cupped my cheek and lowered his mouth onto mine. “I know.” Pulling away, he tugged me to his chest and wrapped his arms around me. “You need to be free from Kieran before you can give yourself over to me.”
Tears exploded into my eyes, and I clung to him, holding on in case he decided to give up on me. “What if it doesn’t work?” I cried. “What if we bound together and he was still connected? He could then channel your power, too.”
Malone jerked, clearly not having thought of that. I had daydreamed about my ceremony day with the alpha many times. But, ever since I’d had a familiar not of my choosing, I hadn’t been able to imagine what our day would look like. If Malone gave himself to me completely, there was a chance he could feel Kieran even stronger. And I didn’t even need to get started on the heir situation.
“It’s okay,” he murmured, “I promise, I’ll do all I can to support you through this. It’s just been…”
“Fucking hard,” I finished for him.
We sighed, clinging to each other as the direness of our situation mixed with the sadness that had kept us at a distance.
Malone rubbed his hands over my back, soothing me. His long fingers stroked along my sides and teased down, igniting a warm glow in the pit of my stomach.
Untucking my head from his chest, I looked up at him. Our gazes clashed and no words needed to be uttered. His lips descended onto mine, pressing and teasing in slow open mouth kisses. When his tongue slipped around mine, my body flooded with a heat so intense, my knees almost gave way.
I gasped as Malone grabbed me under my butt and lifted me, grinding into my core.
Ripping his mouth away from me, he looked around. Unfortunately, there was nowhere comfortable to get down and dirty.
“My place?” I squeaked, tracing my fingers down his jaw.
We were heading there next, so why wait?
Malone nodded, his desire-glazed eyes piercing mine.