“Nothing,” I said, my voice strained. “Just thirsty.”For more than just coffee.
He tightened his hold on me. “Are you mad?” he suddenly asked, and I felt his lips at my ear, which made me shudder again, goose bumps rising all over my skin.
“Mad?” I squeaked, tense, as I tried to fight my body’s reaction.
“That I got into bed with you without your permission,” he murmured, and his lips suddenly pressed a kiss to my neck. I gasped again and felt my nipples pebble. “I thought that if you saw your wolf, you would find it easier ...”
For a long moment, I couldn’t speak. Especially as his lips trailed faint maddening kisses down my throat toward my shoulder. He called himself my wolf.Mine.
But he wasn’t mine.
If anything, I was his. My soul was his. I washisEteria.
Lucien didn’t belong to me. No matter how much my body wanted him to.
Or my mind.
I knew my place, though. I knew exactly what I was worth, both physically and mentally. I’d been full of confidence once upon a time, thinking I could get anyone I wanted if I just tried hard enough.
That kind of overinflated sense of self-importance had eventually bitten me in the rear.
I was better, smarter, than to fall for someone I had no chance with. I had done that once already—without being magically induced.
But now . . .
“I can’t trust myself around you,” I blurted out, hand tightening on the door handle, turning my knuckles white.
He froze.
Sucking in a deep breath, I closed my eyes and said, “You make mefeelthings, Lucien, and I can’t handle that.”
As if those words were a bucket full of ice, Lucien abruptly let go of me and stepped back, as if I were on fire. “Oh” was all he said, voice dark.
I didn’t turn around. I felt so vulnerable, exposing myself to him with my words, that I wanted to flee the room. But I had to address one last thing before I did, so I forced my feet to stay rooted in place as I gritted out, “You’re not my wolf. I’m your Eteria slave. That’s all there is to it.”
“Slave?” he repeated, and I could imagine his eyes were wide with shock. “Drew—”
But I’d already pulled the door open and gotten out without looking back.
I would be damned if he saw just how desperately I wished my emotions were truly my own.
Chapter 26
Uncontrolled
Lucien was gone.
After I left the room and made coffee, he came out, fully clothed, and said, “The full moon is tonight. I have a lot of work to do in preparation. Anaïs should come here later to give you a full rundown of what to expect.”
He said all this without looking at me and was out the door before I could open my mouth to ask him a question. A moment later, I heard the Rolls-Royce engine come to life, and then he was gone.
And I felt like absolute shit, because in all my self-centeredness, I’d forgotten tonight was the full moon. And after seeing Kate yesterday, I had an idea as to what Lucien had to prepare for, as the Alpha of his pack. He was probably worried sick about having another Wildlight case.
Yet here I was, stuck in my own head and selfishly taking it out on him.
With the day off to such a great start, I wasn’t prepared for Thayer to come out of the guest room he was staying in looking like he’d had the best sleep of his life.
“Good morning, sister,” he said with a small smile when he saw me, before that smile faltered at my irritated expression. “What’s up?”
