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“And what’s right in front of me?” she whispered.
“The Otherworld.”
Her throat moved up and down as she swallowed. “Otherworld?” She tasted the word on her tongue, played it back in her head, no doubt. “Your eyes,” she murmured, and I knew it was to herself, as if she was realizing something that she’d otherwise dismissed. She started shaking her head again.
“What’s yer name?” I asked softly, bringing her back to center point, hoping a change in direction would calm her.
She blinked over at me, and I wondered if shock had kicked in. I also didn’t expect her to answer, so when she whispered, “Darragh,” I felt a surge from my wolf as pleasure coursed through me.
Darragh. Even her heritage was laced in her very Scottish name.
“Ye can lie tae me all you want. Ye can even lie tae yourself.” I inhaled deeply, scenting her mounting confusion, but also the solidifying fact that she wasn’t dismissing or pushing away what I said with finality.
She looked me in the eyes, her expression sobering. The strength in her was powerful, an aphrodisiac that inflamed me. And although she was a half-breed, there was no doubt in my mind that her wolf was strong enough that with the right push, maybe even the right circumstances, her inner animal would burst forth and be dominant.
And at that very thought, the image of running free with my mate in the woods had this low, rough sound of pleasure leaving me.
But I wanted her any way I could get her. Hybrid. Human. Able to fully shift. It didn’t matter. As long as she was by my side, I’d be so fucking grateful.
“I don’t know what exactly you’re trying to say aside from something that seems like fantasy, but if I were to play along”—she took a steadying breath and met my gaze head-on—“what are you?”
I wasn’t sure if she was trying to call my bluff, thinking I was lying, that I was crazy. All were normal responses to what I’d just dropped in her lap. I felt my wolf rise, knew my eyes flashed that eerie glow my kind possessed.
“W-What are you?” she asked again, whispering, a tinge of uncertainty and… fear in her tone.
Her voice was steady enough, her emotions too wild for me to fully sift through and find the truth on how she felt about this. Her confusion was too thick and strong right now. But I wouldn’t hide anything from her. Never. As much as this wasn’t the route I wanted to take, and didn’t want to immerse her into the Otherworld as quickly as it was happening, I wouldn’t hide who or what I was from my mate.
I won’t hide who she really is and what she means to me.
I stood, the chair scraping back on the scarred, wooden floor. I gripped the bottom of my T-shirt and pulled it up and over my head, letting the material drop to the floor. Her mouth parted slightly, her gaze on my chest, her eyes wide. I removed the talisman, knowing it was risky not wearing it because we could be found. But this was yet another risk I had to take, but it was for the greater good.
I went for the button and zipper of my jeans, and she held her hand out, stopping me.
“W-What the hell are you doing?” The words stuttered out of her. “If you come anywhere near me, I’ll kick your ass.” Although it was clear she was even more confused by my actions, thinking I’d hurt her, be a bastard, and take from her what she didn’t freely give me, when I inhaled deeply, I caught a scent of her tantalizing, addictive arousal.
“I will no’ touch ye until ye ask me for it, sweet Darragh.” The words were distorted and low, and I hadn’t meant to say them aloud. Damn it.
And then I smelled her again, the sweetest, most addicting scent I’d ever encountered, her arousal blooming even more now. Her focus was on my bare chest, her pupils dilating.
I bit back my groan. Now was not the time for me to take this situation there… no matter how much I wanted to.
And I knew she’d welcome me, accept my body in every and all ways, because no matter how dormant her Lycan half was, it was strong within her, and she recognized me on that primal level.
“Ye wanted tae know what I was.”
She didn’t respond, just let her hand drop, her body unmoving, her gaze unflinching.
Gods, my female is spectacularly fierce.
“Well, mate, I’m about tae show ye exactly what I am.”
20
Darragh
I’d come to a few possibilities of what was happening during my short time speaking with Caelan. And I wasn’t going to dive too deep about apparently being on a first-name basis with my kidnapper.
One, I was either dead or I was dreaming.
