Total pages in book: 188
Estimated words: 185811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 929(@200wpm)___ 743(@250wpm)___ 619(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 185811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 929(@200wpm)___ 743(@250wpm)___ 619(@300wpm)
Her nostrils flared, and a lovely pink slid beneath her cheeks. She put her hands on her hips. “I neither asked for nor need your protection. Don’t think for a second you’re in charge.”
He stilled. Even he could feel the air heat around him, vibrating out. He was trying to be reasonable and gentle, and she was all but taking a bat to his good intentions.
She swallowed but didn’t back down.
He’d be impressed if he wasn’t fighting his temper with both hands. His eyes ached as they no doubt changed from black to his secondary color of deep green. The color that only emerged with great emotion or fury. “Are you sure you want to challenge me?”
She slowly, very much so, tilted her head. “Yeah.”
“Oh, baby.” He couldn’t help the timbre of his already hoarse voice going gritty. She wanted to play? He could play. “What is it about a newly mated female that all but asks for a taming?”
Her gasp was followed by her chin lowering and that pretty pink turning a deep red. “Taming?” She tossed that glorious hair. “Maybe you’ll be the one tamed.”
She was challenging him. Full on, and with complete focus. God, she was spectacular and more than perfect for him. He’d wanted to ease her into his world and help her find herself again. Maybe if he showed her who he really was, she’d know herself as well. “I’m going to give you one chance to walk out of here and get into my truck.”
“Or what?” she whispered.
“Or I’m going to give you what you’re asking for.” All of him, basically. He moved to the side, allowing free passage. “It’s your choice. The truck is waiting.” There was no doubt in his mind that he’d let the beast inside him loose with her someday, and he was fine waiting. Making sure she was ready and had her eyes wide open and willing. But as she challenged him, her chin set in a stubborn line, the animal he kept at bay began to roar.
Then, she started to walk toward him and the exit, one sure step at a time.
A stab of disappointment shot through him and he quelled it. Someday they’d be on the same page. Hunters hunted and predators planned. He was both. If it took hundreds of years for her to be ready, he’d wait, keeping her safe the entire time.
She reached him and stopped, turning to face him, her scent of raspberries wafting over his skin.
What the hell? A whirlwind of heat spun into a tornado inside him, heating every cell in his body. His blood pounded, and the marking on his palm burned with a raw heat. A desperate one.
Her gaze was direct. “Think you can handle me?”
His cock jerked wide awake and ready to play. Oh, she’d gone from a scared mouse to a brave lioness rather quickly, hadn’t she? It appeared she’d found herself again after a brief absence. Maybe he had something to do with that, and maybe he didn’t. Either way, the fierce creature in front of him was more than he could’ve ever hoped for.
He gently traced down the side of her face, and she turned into his touch. Faster than a thought, he spun her to face the wall. Her surprised gasp only spurred him on. He bracketed her there with his stronger body, holding her in place, tuning in to her harsh breathing. No fear. Only need hinted in the air. He leaned in and nipped the shell of her ear. “Yeah. I can handle you.”
Her butt pushed back against his aching cock, and he bit down a groan. His fangs dropped hard and fast, and he struck, going deep in her neck and drinking. Her taste filled him, completed him. Every part of her landed inside him with a wildness only a hybrid could ever feel. Possessiveness caught him around the throat and choked, digging deep to his true being. The beast inside him that now lived solely for her.
She gasped in pleasure, stretching on her toes, turning her head to allow for better access. “I want fangs.”
He retracted and licked her wound clean, instantly healing it. “You can bite me any time you want.” But she’d never have fangs. She started to turn around, and he grabbed both of her hands, pulling them above her head and holding them there. “Oh. The taming has just started,” he rumbled.
His scalding breath at her ear nearly propelled her into an early orgasm. Oh, she was challenging him, no doubt. He was bigger and stronger and more likely meaner. Definitely meaner. She’d never torn the head off an enemy before, and he acted like it was a normal Monday for him. But she felt safe with him on a level she couldn’t explain. Purely instinctively and she trusted it. Trusted herself and even him. She rubbed her ass against his hardened groin again.