Page 68 of Bewitching the Wolf

“I try not to dwell on it… it’s been such a long time now. I don’t believe she would have voluntarily left me and Clem. Ever. Which would make me conclude the worst. But I try not to go there.” His jaw works, as though he’s trying to hold back a dam of emotion. “It takes me to a dark place.”

“If you don’t want to talk about this now, we don’t have to.”

“No, it’s okay, it helps to get it off my chest. When they programmed me, there was nothing. Just numbness. I mean, I was like a machine, really, that’s all. Until I saw you one day, and it was like I woke up for a moment, and remembered who I was. I could even kind of… hold on to that, even through the cloud of numbness. But I couldn’t show you. There was like—I don’t know, like the hardest shell around me. I wanted to escape from it, but I didn’t know how. That’s why I kept smoking, why I tried to get hold of drugs—to escape the prison I was in. And then, when Traggar turned me, and I remembered who I was, and so when we met again… Boom! It was like this explosion in my heart and I knew… I knew, Tippy, that you were the one for me. So, ha, cruel twist here, when I found out how anti-wolf you were,” he laughs ruefully, “there was no way I was going to say a fucking word. I mean, I hadn’t shifted, so I had the excuse that I was still human, even though Traggar told me otherwise. No way was I going to mess up the small chance I had of you returning my feelings.”

“But you pushed me away, you hated it when I hugged you, even.”

“I fucking loved when you hugged me. I just didn’t know what to do. And the fear of you rejecting me was too overwhelming. I couldn’t handle that.”

I drop my fork, go over and sit on his lap. The I take his face between my palms and gaze into his eyes. “You’re not going to lose me. Not ever, you hear me Jax?” I say it fiercely.

His green gaze holds mine. “Does that mean you’re my mate?”

Without hesitation I say, “I am your mate, Jax, I think I’ve known it from the start.”

He draws in a ragged breath. “Wow! You’ll even admit that to your folks?”

I take a deep breath. “Yes. Yes, I will. I’m sure Aunt Felicia at least will be happy. Like you noticed, she is not indifferent to a certain wolf herself.”

“I really liked your aunt when I met her,” Jax says thoughtfully. “I sense she knows a lot about life, and about people.”

“She is very wise. She’s taught me so much already.”

“She reminded me of you. How you will be when you’re a beautiful mature wixen.”

“Play your cards right and you might be around to see it.”

“Oh, I intend to be.”

My heart tightens, thinking of what might happen on the mission next week. How cruel it would be to lose what we have just found.

“You will be careful, won’t you, on this mission? You won’t do anything stupid?”

“Like vape, you mean? I haven’t had a craving since…” he smirks, “since you orgasmed that first time.”

“And since then, you’ve given me multiples.” I giggle.

He grins, blushing, chuffed and boyish. “Glad I got something right eventually.”

I cast my gaze up, as if having a brain wave. “Hmm, orgasm therapy,” I muse. “That could pay well.”

“Don’t you dare,” Jax growls. “Those are only for me.”

I tilt my head coquettishly. “I’ll agree, but the price is that you never touch a vape or a cigarette again as long as you live, Jax Summers.”

“Hmmm, tough ask.” He rubs his scruff. “Maybe we should test the efficacy of that proposal, what do you reckon?”

With a wicked smile, I hop up and go to where I’ve hidden his vapes. Bring them out and plonk them on the table.

“You have a choice, vaping or making me come.”

His eyes twinkle. “You’re going to have to work damn hard to ensure I make the right choice, Tippy Honeywell.”

Holding his gaze, I start to undress. I undo the buttons of my shirt one by one. Pull off my top and unhook my skirt, until I’m just in my bra and undies, my tail flicking against the back of my bare thighs. He watches me, mesmerized, his mouth slightly open, as though he’s panting softly.

Taking off my bra, I stroke my nipples, which harden at my touch. I run my hands down my belly until I reach my panties, and shimmy them off.

I’m barely naked when Jax reaches over the table and picks up the vape.