Seth ignored it. That human was hardly worthy of being considered a threat. And the way he’d spoken to Hailey—he was lucky Seth hadn’t ripped his throat out.
“If I stay, there’s something I should warn you about.”
She swallowed. “What?”
“The moon. It’s almost full. Where I live, we had some protection against its power, but here—I feel the pull.”
“The pull for what?”
“I can’t explain it. It’s a wild sort of—yearning. I doubt I would ever hurt you—my response to you is nothing like that. But if I get aggressive, get away from me. I don’t want to hurt you. Ever.”
Holy crap. “The wolf attacks on the island,” she whispered.
“I was not one of them. It was younger wolves. When they transition to adulthood, it can be—tough.”
Her hands were clammy. She ran them down her sides. This had to be some sort of test in a way. For all her talk about how wolves were not to be feared, she couldn’t fall prey to the growing uncertainty within. Sure, the wolves hadn’t been threatening towards humans at Yellowstone, but the ones on his island had attacked people.
She raised her chin. “I’m not afraid, Seth. I know you won’t hurt me.”
***
When Hailey gave Seth a radiant smile, something shifted inside him. Opening up to her, revealing some of his pack’s secrets, was a risk. Yet it seemed natural with her, especially when she put on a brave face, even when he’d scented a twinge of fright.
She overcame it for him.
Seth wasn’t sure why he’d agreed to meet her father after listing all the reasons not to. He had a hunch it had something to do with the hopeful gleam in the eyes of the woman before him and his growing attachment to her.
As if sensing his thoughts, she asked, “What made you change your mind about meeting him?”
“After all you’ve done to help me, I think I can do this wee thing you ask. A conversation with one human shouldn’t be too brutal.” Especially if the human was like Hailey. He winked at her. “I hope.”
“Well, with some of them it can seem like torture, perhaps. Some of the questions I hear from tourists.” A faint smile lingered on her face. “You don’t have to worry about that with my dad, though.”
As they approached her cottage, they turned onto the cobblestones leading to her front door.
“You two are close, aren’t you?”
“Of course,” she replied, as if it were the most natural thing. “After losing my mother, my father, brother, and I had to take care of each other. Otherwise, I don’t know how we would have gotten through it.” Her voice softened as her gaze drifted off.
Although she’d tried to state it calmly, her pain shone through. It affected him in an odd way, striking some chord deep inside that made him want to reach out and soothe her. His wolf whimpered, longing to push forward and get closer. The way she’d spoken about her father with such admiration earlier had made him think she was daddy’s little girl, one who wanted to please him and make him proud. Perhaps that was only a superficial layer covering a deeper wound.
If he took two steps closer, he could cradle her against his chest, stroke her hair…
A lump formed in his throat and he swallowed it, and then he shuffled from one foot to the other.
They reached the door and she opened it. She jerked her head as she entered, as if climbing out of a memory. “You never met your father?”
“No.” He straightened as he followed her into her place, not keen on the change of topic.
Her eyes remained fixed on him, as if waiting for him to elaborate, after he closed the door behind him.
“My mom never revealed who he was, just said he was from a different pack.”
“That must be tough. Wondering about him. And all the questions you must have.”
That statement cut deep. How did she intuitively seem to know certain things about him, things he hated to talk about? If it was anyone else asking such personal questions, he would have growled to push them away. With Hailey’s voice earnest and full of compassion, he softened like a newborn wolf cub. She wasn’t expressing pity, nor uttering empty words, but stating the plain and simple truth.
He cleared his throat. “It was a long time ago. I was raised by my pack.” Moments of his childhood growing up on the isle flickered past with him playing with Raina as a young cub. He looked up to Ian like a father figure, wanting to make him proud. Seth had been so young and hopeful then, before he became filled with an abundance of wolf pride. The pride of an alpha. He took a deep breath—his lungs felt like they lacked oxygen. His abrupt departure from the pack might have been a rash decision.
“I still miss my mother so much, even though years have passed,” she revealed. “Do you miss yours?”
When her voice caught, it tore at his gut. The twinge of longing he’d felt earlier swelled, blooming into a full-blown yearning. His wolf pressed on him to make a move, to take care of this precious female who was in pain. Bloody hell, so was he. Holding himself back, keeping himself from this human was proving to be a challenge he never thought he’d face.
“I don’t remember much about her,” he replied, “but aye. She was my mum.”
When their eyes locked, his gut seemed to clench. Without words, she conveyed so much through those vibrant blue eyes. She got him, right to the core.
He’d thought she was the weaker one—after all, she was human—but now he felt raw and exposed before her. For a wolf shifter who’d always aspired to be alpha, he floundered with uncertainty inside, as vulnerable as a young pup. His wolf didn’t move a centimeter, transfixed by the connection to this woman. Watching. Waiting.
The outside world seemed to dim as he sensed they’d connected on some deeper level. How was that possible? Others knew of the loss of his parents. He and Raina had both lost their mothers, but they’d never shared some sort of understanding, that ache of loss, the way he did with Hailey.
Hailey pulled back. “It’s quiet in here. Let me put on some music.”
She turned to play with her phone and fumbled while connecting it to speakers. He was on the verge of trembling himself.
Music filled the small space. A woman singing about the wild wind.
“I like this,” he said.
“It’s Nina Simone. I think I have all her albums.”
She swayed, lips moving slightly as she mouthed the lyrics.
He stepped closer. “Want to dance?”
She searched his eyes for a long moment in which his heart seemed to stop beating. How could she see right through him with just a look?
“Sure.”
He opened his arms and she stepped in. Wrapping one arm around her waist and taking her hand with the other, the sensation almost leveled him. She filled the air around him with her presence, all feminine and utterly enticing.
Somehow he willed his feet to move and she mirrored his moves as if was the most natural thing.
“You’re a surprisingly good dancer,” she pointed out.
“Because I’m part wolf and part oaf?” He grinned. “Or because I live on an isolated isle?”
She flushed in an adorable way. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I know. Just teasing. Sure, we listen to music on the isle. And dancing along is a natural response.”
The tree witches always had some sort of coven gathering on their part of the island with music and dancing. And the gargoyles. Och, no. Their horrid version of rock ‘n’ roll couldn’t be considered danceable.
Hailey peered at him with fascination. “I’d love to hear more about your life on the isle.”
Why had he brought it up? The last thing he wanted to think about were the bloody gargoyles and tree witches when he had Hailey in his arms. So enticing and so close.
“Some other time,” he said. “I’m enjoying this dance far too much to ruin it.”
He pulled her closer, sensing the energy sizzle between them and the searing heat in all the
places their bodies touched. He savored her scent and how it wrapped around him with an irresistible draw. His wolf swayed as if drunk, blissfully under her spell.
Something about her affected him deep inside, yet he couldn’t describe what it was. He’d never felt this way around anyone, dizzy with a need to get even closer.
Perhaps it was her unwavering devotion to her dreams.
He thought he’d had his own dreams once—to lead the pack with Raina and have many wolf cubs. That vision had crashed. Like the pyrotechnics the night the gargoyles had played their bloody concert, they had burned and faded into nothingness. Now, away from the pack, he realized that’s all it ever could have been with Raina—a dream. Raina had told him he’d know they were a mistake when he found his true mate. Away from her, he started to believe it. He loved Raina, but not with any burning desire. It was more like affection for a family member, or a packmate.
But the way he felt around Hailey…
Shite—it couldn’t be. Not with a human.
He paused and Hailey stepped on his toes.
“Oh, sorry, Seth.”
“My fault.” He resumed leading, trying to sort through the racing thoughts.
He couldn’t be reading the signs correctly. He was a wolf shifter. If he was going to mate with anyone, it would be with another wolf shifter. These stirrings he felt around Hailey were simply a reaction to her passionate nature.
It lit something within him, making him want to take action somehow. Could her ideals be contagious, was that it?
She was rubbing off on him, a dizzying distraction. Being lulled by her ideals wasn’t doing anything to help him figure out his own life and where he could go from here. He should get away from her as soon as possible. Then he’d find clarity without being lulled by that spellbinding effect she’d cast over him.
His wolf growled, protesting the idea.
Seth agreed on some level. He didn’t want to leave Hailey. Not yet, at least. Holding her in his arms seemed so natural. So right. And he only had limited time to spend with her.
“I have a confession,” he admitted.
She pulled her head back a few inches and glanced at him. Those loch-blue eyes gazing into his own did little to help him gain any perspective. In fact, they drew him in deeper.
“One of the reasons I agreed to meet your father was that it gives me an excuse to spend more time with you. An ulterior motive.”
A radiant smile spread across her face. “I quite enjoy hearing that motive.” She relaxed back into his arms. “Since I’ve enjoyed the time we’ve spent together so far.”
For several seconds, neither spoke. The moment was perfection. He pulled her closer, cradling her against his chest. The little time he had with her made it all the more precious. She couldn’t be his mate, but she definitely meant something to him.
“What is it about you?” he whispered. He’d never heard his voice come out in such a wondrous tone.
She searched his eyes and emitted a soft sigh. “I know what you mean.”
Nobody could feel as alive as he felt when in her presence. His wolf moaned, yearning to get closer to her. “How so?”
“I wondered if this—this excitement is because you’re different than what I’m used to.”
Pulling his hand away from her lower back, he traced his fingers over her graceful neck before cupping her cheek. His other hand remained connected with hers as their bodies continued to sway, driven by some innate force that kept them in sync. “Is that all you think it is between us, something new and different?”
He couldn’t believe this vibrant connection, this vitality that threw him off-kilter, was simply curiosity. He caressed her cheek, and the velvet heat of her soft skin sent tingles through his veins.
“No. Deep inside I wonder if it’s something more.”
Seth exhaled. She felt it, too. “Aye. Definitely something more.”
He lowered his hand to rub his index finger over her lower lip. So supple and moist. A desperate need to kiss her rose so quickly, it took all his self-control not to grab her by the back of the neck and claim her.
It had to be the moon affecting him again. Without the veil filtering its full potency, it was too powerful on him. He needed to regroup before he took her in a fierce hold and scared her, like some untamed beast. She was human, after all. Delicate.
He closed his eyes, seeking perspective. When he reopened them, he said, “You know I’m not the right one for you, Hailey. I’ll be gone soon enough. But what do you want tonight?”
Her eyelids lowered, and her irises darkened a shade, flickering with unmistakable desire. “All I want is you.”
Those five words—five simple words did him in, tearing through the last shreds of restraint. He cradled her head and crushed his lips to hers, almost forcefully. She didn’t push him off like he was some wild brute but instead returned the demanding kiss. She opened her mouth, inviting him in, and their tongues clashed. Unlike the gentler exploration in the water, they held nothing back, following the dark, frenzied hunger. Their time together was limited, so why waste it?
She wrapped her arms around him, grabbing at his shoulder blades, his lower back, and then she tugged at the bottom of his shirt. He pulled his lips away only long enough to rip the shirt over his head. She watched him, her gaze full of hunger as it traveled over his body. She panted after that heady kiss. He froze for a moment, captivated by her dark, irresistible desire. Fire pumped through his veins, driving him back into action; he pulled her close and kissed her again.
Somehow they made their way into her bedroom, in between kisses. As she trailed her fingers over his back, a small sigh escaped her—a sound that made him want to howl. He needed more of her. To touch and taste every inch of her, the way he’d longed to do. He reached under her shirt, running his fingers over her skin.
“Your skin is so soft.” It was like gliding over a soft leaf of lamb’s ear, one of his favorite plants on the isle.
He pulled her shirt off over her head. When he reached her bra strap, he groaned as he searched for the damn fastening. No more barriers between them. He fumbled with the hooks, almost tearing the thing off, before centering himself long enough to unhook it. Victorious, he cupped her satin-soft breasts, rubbing her taut nipple between his thumb and forefinger.
She murmured a pleasurable sound against his mouth, and a bolt of excitement shot straight to his groin. He had to taste her, lick, and suck every inch of her skin before he buried himself deep inside her, pounding into her until they were both sated. The need to be inside him left him desperate and on the edge of control. His wolf pushed him to act on the insistent, drumming need.
His gaze traveled the length of her face down, capturing the sensual image to memory. Her lips were swollen from the kiss and parted. The glint in her eyes was full of dark lust that reflected his own desperate need.
After taking a moment to center himself, he whispered, “So beautiful.”
She stood before her bed, a tempting invitation in the same space where she’d tormented him the night before. She’d been so achingly close, yet behind the closed door. Now he was in that space with her and he had no intentions of walking away anytime soon. He bent down and captured one of her nipples in his mouth. She arched her back, inviting him to take more while ruffling her fingers through his hair.
“Oh, Seth,” she murmured.
Her taste was like her scent, that enticing female aroma that made his wolf yearn to howl at the moon as he proclaimed her as his own. Seth pulled away from her breast with reluctance, only because he had to taste the other one. Her chest rose and fell with each heaving breath, moving in perfect rhythm against him as if continuing their dance. He licked the space between her breasts, down to her navel, stopping at her jeans. He fumbled in his haste to remove them from her body, but he was rewarded when he finally removed all the remaining barriers and she stood before him. Naked, breathtaking, and waiting for him.
He moved her onto the be
d and locked his eyes with hers as he tore off the rest of his clothes.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Holy crap, he’s some kind of golden god.
Seth undressed before Hailey as she waited on her bed, captivated by his movement. She’d seen him naked already, but not like this—fully erect and with raw, stark need in his eyes.
Not a god, but not human either. And utterly fascinating.
Seth’s touch had unglued her, his strong hands stoked a brushfire that traveled over her skin. The wet heat of his mouth on her breasts increased the flames, leaving her a hot mess, heady with anticipation. All that untamed, feral power sent a new wave of desire through her, settling right in her core.
His tanned chest was all hard planes and dark shadows. His abs contoured with two tantalizing rows of molded flesh that she wanted to lick and savor. His muscular thighs jutted out as powerful as tree trunks. And his steel-hard erection. Promising was the word. And then some.
Her throat felt parched. She’d never been with a man so well endowed. To have him buried deep inside her… could she even take it?
“All right?” he asked.
She cleared her throat, swallowing the hesitation. “Yes.” It was a gamble she sure as hell was willing to take.
Leaning forward, she traced her fingers in the indentations on his torso, mesmerized as she followed the path down. She leaned forward and kissed his hard flesh while lowering one hand down to trail over his erection. The low growl he emitted sounded more animal than human, sending a wave of new desire between her legs and spurring her to continue. How she wanted to discover all the ways she could excite him. But they only had limited time together…
Well, then, it would have to be unforgettable.
She lowered her head, hesitating as she reached his erection and then licked the bead of salty male liquid from the tip.
“Hailey…” His voice came out low and strangled. “Hailey,” he repeated.
She circled the mushroom head with her tongue before taking it in her mouth. A throaty growl escaped him, thrilling her in an unexpected way. He ran his fingers through her hair as she continued to taste and explore. He pumped his hips in time with her movements.
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