Page 64 of Israel

She shook her head. “You have no idea how powerful my family is. Or what they can do to anyone who opposes them.” She snorted. “Or even annoys them.” She shook her head. “They’ve been indulging me. I can’t stand against them if they really make up their minds to make me do something. And no matter how much of a badass Enforcer you are, neither can you.”

He slipped his knuckle under her chin. “There’s more than one way to fight,” he said.

He put her hand on his chest, over his heart.

“I meant what I said to the dragon prick,” he said. “Feel that. Feel my heart beating. Listen to my wolf growling.” The low rumble that was his wolf’s growl was starting in his chest—no more than a vibration.

Ashley stood transfixed. “Wolves are mortal, though,” she said. “They can’t stand against—”

He put his fingers gently over her mouth and followed that with a kiss, an apology for interrupting her.

Then he put his hand over hers. “I don’t care what your fucking people say,” he said. “I meant what I said up on that hilltop. This right here—the heart of a wolf—carries the strongest magic there is. The bond between wolves—and their mates—can do fucking anything, you hear me?”

She was crying now, tears welling up in her eyes.

“My heart is yours, Ashley Silver,” he said. “My wolf is yours. Always and forever. I love you with everything I am and everything I ever will be. I’ve loved you from the first moment I saw you standing over me in your underwear with my gun in your hand.”

She laughed through her tears. “Did not.”

He pulled her into his arms, her hand still on his heart. “I so fucking did. Me and my wolf—it was all over for us before we even said ‘hello.’”

She leaned her forehead on his chest. “The mating bond,” she said.

He nodded. “Wolves believe when you find your true mate, she needs you as much as you need her. That somehow, some way, you’re destined to be together, even if it seems impossible.”

He tightened his arms around her.

“But you still have to give yourself to me. You have to decide. And if you were to bond with me as your alpha, and we claim a territory, the power of that is as strong as any magic, anywhere. All you have to say is ‘yes.’”

She looked up at him, her eyes troubled. “Will you still love me if I’m not ready yet?”

He smoothed her hair back and smiled, even though her words pierced his heart. “Weren’t you listening, Diva?” he teased. “I’ll love you forever, no matter what.”

She closed her eyes, two tears squeezing out of them and rolling down her cheeks. He kissed them away.

Her arms came around him and she kissed him fiercely, as if the intensity of it could block out the pain and fear and uncertainty.

He responded instantly, pulling her toward him and plundering her mouth deeply. He pressed himself against her as if he could pull her inside his skin and make her one with him.

If only he could.

His love for her, his need, was like an ache inside him. Beautiful and exquisite, and painful because he didn’t know if it could ever be completely fulfilled.

And yet at the same time, he wanted to comfort her and soothe all her hurts, and love her with an intensity that would prove to her that he was always hers, and wanted nothing but what was best for her.

He lifted her up and her legs went around his waist, still not breaking the kiss. He took a few steps and put her down on the hood of the rental car, still straddling him. His cock was hard and aching, wanting to take her and claim her, making her understand that every part of him belonged to her.

That he would do anything for her.

He wanted so desperately to know she felt the same.

His cock was standing up, hard and swollen against her jeans. He wanted to take her right then, just rip the zipper open and tear them off and fuck her until she was his, until she screamed his name and came again and again.

Until she acknowledged the bond.

And if she would submit to him for real, make him her alpha…it might be the one thing that gave them the power to withstand her family. Didn’t she understand that her submission would bind him just as tightly? Even more so; his whole life would be about making her happy. Protecting her from harm.

But she had to choose. He couldn’t make it happen.