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In that moment, she knew it.
But knowing and admitting were two different things. Two different worlds.
Kodiak changed his grip to hold her hand. He lifted it to his lips and kissed the scar above her wrist. “And I promise to keep you safe.”
Tamaska trembled as Kodiak kissed a gentle path up her arm, trailing along the knotted skin.
“I…I don’t need protection.”
“You do. But not,” he said, kissing another scar, “from me. Or the past.”
“I’m not looking for saving from the past.”
“You’re not?” He looked at her, raising a brow. “Isn’t that what you do when you hide?”
Hot tears pressed at her eyes, but she blinked them away. “I don’t hide.”
“You do. Behind a wall of perceived strength when I know you’re stronger than you could ever imagine, without all your walls and traps.” He let her go, and she drew her arm in against her.
She rubbed those tingling places he’d touched with his lips.
He cupped her face, thumbs smoothing over her cheeks. She looked into his eyes and saw a warmth there that touched her soul.
“I could never hurt you,” he whispered. His lips met hers in a soft, sweet kiss. “Not physically or emotionally. Especially now that we’ve bonded.”
His words should shock her, scare her, shake her to her core. But there was something in them that soothed her when they should sound like words from a madman. And what did he mean by bond?
“Do you mean fallen in love?” she asked, voice shaking.
“Sort of.” He brushed his lips over hers once more. “You also know my secret.”
This was madness. Love? Bonding? They’d just met. Sure there was a deep pull to him inside her that she didn’t understand. And she’d let him in to places inside her no one else had ever seen. But bonding? Love?
Tamaska wanted to laugh.
She couldn’t.
Because it felt real.
“As if anyone would believe me.” She tried to scoff, but it didn’t come out.
“Maybe, but that’s my vulnerability. You could hurt me.” He met her gaze, holding it.
The artifice fell away.
“I don’t want to do that.” She reached up and kissed him. “Ever.”
“It’s what humans do, hunt us wolves. It’s why we don’t trust them.”
Tamaska placed her arms over his shoulders, pulling close to his naked body. “Dogs hurt humans, which is why I don’t trust them.”
“Yet here we both are, doing things with someone we don’t trust.”
“Odd, right?”
“Or deep down we do really trust each other, and we know we need each other to get through this.”
“I think you’re right.” She nuzzled his neck as his arms wrapped around her.
