Although it did have her scent deepening with arousal, so maybe not the worst idea either.
I don’t stop walking until we’re deep in the forest. When I’m far enough that no one from training is going to stumble onto us, Idrop her feet onto the ground in front of a large tree and cage her in by placing both my arms on either side of her head.
“Why have you been avoiding me?”
She rolls her eyes and looks pointedly over my shoulder rather than at my face. My jaw ticks. Fuck. Ineedher to look at me. I catch her chin and tilt her face towards mine. Fireworks erupt in my hand where our skin connects. Her breath hitches. She feels it too. Of course she does; it’s undeniable.
“Answer me, Princess.”
“Don’t call me that,” she grits out.
“I’ve always called you that.”
“Yeah, and it was cute when I was six. You might not have noticed, but I’ve grown up,” she snaps, sass dripping off every word. She slaps my hand away from her and crosses her arms under her chest.
“Oh, I’ve definitely noticed,” I say, my voice coming out rough as I deliberately drop my attention to her magnificent tits. “Tell me why you’ve been avoiding me.”
“Okay, I’m going to say this slowly, so hopefully you might understand. I. Do. Not. Like. You. And when a girl doesn’t like a boy, and he's too damn stupid to notice, sometimes avoidance is the best option.” She glares at me, and my wolf whines at the idea of our mate not wanting us.
“You told Ryan you would give us a chance. You need to actually spend time with me to do that.”
I trail a finger along the outside of her arm and revel in the way she shivers. How her nipples harden under her clothes. How theheavenly scent of her arousal calls to me. I love how even when she’s fighting this with everything she has, her body still responds to me like it knows we belong together.
“So what? Your idea of us spending time together is fucking in the woods?” Her eyebrow rises in a challenge, and her tone is all sass, but the intoxicating scent of her arousal betrays that she isn’t completely opposed to the idea.
I’m taking that as a win. My wolf perks up and pushes me forward, begging me to claim her. I reach for her hips and pull her pelvis towards me. Letting her know exactly how much I want her, even if I am about to potentially cockblock myself. I drop kisses along her neck and crowd her against the tree.
“Your first time is not going to be a quick fuck in the woods. I have every intention of taking my time with you. Worshipping you the way you deserve.”
I want her to trust me first. I know physically we could be amazing, even now while she despises me. But I need to win her over first. The look of unfiltered fire in her stare has me questioning myself for saying no, but then she schools her features, rolls her eyes, and smirks at me.
“You’re a few years too late to have any say in my first time, you presumptuous asshole.”
The words are gasoline. Rage roars through me. Another male. Another man touching her, tasting her, experiencing her muscles contract around him, seeing her fall apart. My wolf is feral, clawing to tear someone apart. I want his name. I want to rip him limbfrom limb. But even that won’t satisfy my jealousy. Nothing will until I become the one to claim her, mark her, make her mine.
“Never again,” I snarl. “I will tear apart any male who tries to touch you again.” I drop my hands to her waist, pulling her hips against me again. “I’ll slice off his tongue if he tries to taste you,” I mutter as I lick along the column of her neck. “I’ll gouge out his eyes if you let anyone even see what’s mine, because make no mistake, Princess; you. Are. Mine.”
My eyes burn silver, my wolf close to the surface. She doesn’t flinch. Of course, she doesn’t. Because my mate is fierce and knows she has nothing to fear from me. Instead, she cocks her head, all fire and defiance. “Oh yeah? And what about females?”
“I don’t want anyone else. As soon as I found out you were mine, I ended things with Rachel. That was never serious in the first place. I don’t want anyone but you.”
She blows out an exasperated breath. “You can do whatever and whomever the hell you want. No skin off my snout. I meant, what about me and females?” I stare at her in confusion for a moment, wondering what she’s talking about. “What about if I want to touch and taste females? What then? You going to tear them apart, too?”
“Seriously? No, obviously, I wouldn’t allow anyone near you regardless of gender. But could you be more of a brat? Are you seriously going to tell me you would go eat pussy to piss me off?”
“No. Not everything is about you, you self-absorbed asshat. If I want to go ‘eat pussy’—as you so eloquently putit—again,I’ll do it because I’m bisexual. Because Iwantto, not because ofanythingto do with you.”
Her words hit like a freight train. My mouth opens, but nothing comes out, and in the moment of trying to process the bomb Sofia dropped on my lap, it allows her to slip away from me, bolting into the woods. The slight lingering salty scent left behind tells me I definitely didn’t handle that well.
I stand here, fists clenched, heart pounding.
Fuck.
I’ll kill any man who touches her. That I’m certain of. But what if it’s not a male she wants? What if she needs something I can’t give?
What if I’m not enough?
Chapter Fourteen
