Page 58 of Wolf It Down, Knot Me Up

Protected. Wanted.

Roman refuses to let me go, his forehead resting against mine as he scatters soft kisses over my face.

“Wolf, maybe you should get up and leave them alone,” Grayson mutters, reaching over to tug at Wolf’s leg. “Stop crashing their bonding.”

Wolf only chuckles. “I’m sleeping here.”

Roman laughs, and to me, their voices begin to blur together, dropping into soft, familiar rumbles that wrap around me. Every ounce of pain has drained away, leaving only warmth, contentment, and a happiness so unfamiliar it almost hurts.

Roman’s fingers drift lazily through my hair, his touch impossibly gentle. “Sleep, gorgeous,” he whispers. “I’ve got you.”

I don’t hear the rest of the argument, as I’m already slipping under.

And for the first time in years… I’m not alone.

14

LUCY

Irush through the woods, my red cape dragging through the dead leaves.

The path bends, and movement catches my eye. I freeze on the spot. Someone steps out from between the trees not far ahead, the shadows clinging to him, then he takes another step, and relief washes through me. It’s Roman.

He’s dressed all in black, standing in the middle of the path as though he’s been waiting for me all along. I smile and hurry toward him because I know that as long as Roman’s here, nothing in these woods can touch me.

But he doesn’t smile back, and panic slides through me.

Something isn’t right.

When I finally reach him and tip my face up, his eyes catch the thin silver light filtering through the branches, and my stomach drops.

They’re wrong. Not the soft hazel brown I’ve fallen into before. They’re pale now, yellow, flat and gleaming, as if something wild is staring back at me through Roman’s face. A low growl rolls out of his chest, so deep I feel it vibrating through the ground beneath my feet.

His lip curls, exposing teeth that seem sharper than they should be.

Every sensible instinct in me whispers to run. Instead, I find myself leaning closer, unable to stop. “Roman?” My voice barely rises above a whisper. “Are you okay?”

He grins, showing just a little too much of his teeth, then folds me into his arms. The growl doesn’t stop. It vibrates through his chest and into mine, a strange, constant rumble beneath my cheek.

“I’m fine now that I found you,” he murmurs into my hair, tightening his arms around me. “Thought I’d lost you.”

I pull back enough to look at him. “You couldn’t lose me.”

His gaze narrows. “Couldn’t I?” His hand closes around the back of my neck, and his mouth comes down hard on mine. I stumble into him, fingers gripping his shirt as he kisses me with fire. He takes my mouth as though he’s been starving for it.

His teeth catch my bottom lip, and pain flashes bright and sudden.

I gasp at the sharp sting, blood blooming across my tongue, but Roman doesn’t let me retreat. His hand tightens at the nape of my neck and pulls me straight back into him, his mouth claiming mine again before I can even catch my breath. I grip his shoulders as he kisses me deeper, deeper, and whatever strange thing has gotten into him only seems to make me want him closer.

A wolf howls somewhere in the darkness, but Roman doesn’t even pause. His fingers slide into my hair, holding me exactly where he wants me as another howl answers, much closer this time. The sound raises every hair on my arms, yet I’m still kissing him, still caught between the warning screaming through the woods and the man who seems determined to make me forget it.

Suddenly, I jerk away from him, my heart instantly hammering, and turn toward the trees. Another howl answers from farther along the path behind us.

“Roman, we need to move.” I grab his hand and pull, desperate to get us both out of here. “The wolves are down from the mountains. They’re not supposed to come this close to the lodge.”

Except he doesn’t move. I turn back, expecting him to be watching the woods, but he’s staring at me instead. A slow grin spreads across his face, and that strange look is there again.

Those yellow eyes, and I’m certain now they aren’t his.