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She could’ve done a hundred different things. Leaned into him. Hugged him. Dropped to her knees to investigate the rigid length that tented his sweatpants. Instead, she pushed his hand away. “You. Couch.”
He sighed, but eased away from her. She rushed away like her ass was on fire and disappeared into her bedroom. It took only a moment to grab a spare blanket and pillow and carry them out to the living room. Row stood at the front window, staring out. She took a moment to drool over how sexy he was. He was possibly the most gorgeous guy she’d ever met. That he was in her house, wanting to do naughty things with her, was quite an ego boost, but she’d never allow herself to get so caught up in her wild emotions that she forgot what she looked like under her clothes.
“There’s…food, in the fridge. Can I make you something to eat?”
He turned slowly until he faced her. His whole body was drawn tight, his muscles flexed as if it took a great effort for him to stand still. “No thank you,Adara.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s my people’s term for mate. Females are ‘adara,’ males are ‘adaro’.”
She’d never had a nickname before—not a nice one, anyway. She’d spent a lot of time being called names that weren’t nice at all when she was growing up. Even now there were females who called herfreakunder their breath when she was around. Row’s nickname for her made her stomach flip.
Slipping from the room as quickly as possible, Kammie gathered clothes to sleep in and locked herself in the bathroom. She dropped Adam’s shirt in the clothes hamper and turned on the shower, rolling her neck and exhaling. She was tempted to go out to Row, but caught sight of herself in the mirror and shoved those thoughts promptly away. Row was far too sexy to want to be shackled to her side forever. He might be noble in the darkness, but the light of day would change things.
Turning back to the shower, she stepped under the spray and forced herself to think about anything except the sexy bear in her living room.
It wasn’t easy.
CHAPTERTHREE
Row’s whole body ached, and his bear was slamming around in his skull, anxious to get to the she-wolf who was, for some strange reason, denying him the pleasure of her naked company. He’d never been one for self-denial, and leaving Kammie alone was one of the hardest things he’d ever done.
He wanted to be an honorable male for Kammie, and if she wanted to keep him at arms’ length…well, he’d let her, for now. He wasn’t sure why she pushed him away, but he suspected it had something to do with her scars. Perhaps she thought he’d find them repulsive. He’d have to find a way to show her that he didn’t care about them. Well, he cared because she’d been hurt, and he wanted to violently destroy whoever had caused them. The scars he’d felt on her back had been old, but that didn’t mean he was any less angry about them. But for her to believe that he actually cared about her scars—that he might be disgusted by them—cut him deeply.
His dick had gone hard the moment he’d realized who she was in the woods; he was having a hard time lying on the couch instead of breaking the bathroom door down and finding out what she looked like wet and covered in suds. Ten minutes later, the shower turned off and the door opened. He was aware that she stood in the hallway for a long while, but she never said anything or came into the living room. He wished she would. He wished she’d let go of her insecurities and trust him, but he knew that wasn’t going to happen overnight.
She left the hallway and he heard the click of a lock, presumably to her bedroom door. As if a flimsy lock could hold him or his bear back. Didn’t she realize that it was only because he didn’t want to scare her that he was keeping his butt firmly on the couch?
Exhaling loudly, he ordered his bear to shut up, and closed his eyes. It was going to be a long,longnight.
* * *
Racing through the woods, Row bellowed for Kammie, desperate to find her in the darkness. He couldn’t see past his nose, but he could smell her and feel her fear as if it were part of him. He bellowed again, warning whoever had her that he would not rest until she was safely in his arms.
Something warm touched his shoulder, and a soft voice breached the fevered madness that surrounded him. He gasped as his eyes opened. He felt Kammie near him and grabbed her, covering her body with his to protect her.
“Row!” She tugged on his ear sharply and he blinked, the woods fading as he stared down at her, underneath him on the couch.
He panted for breath, his gaze darting around as the realization that hewasn’ttrying to find Kammie in the woods filled him. She was looking up at him in shock and confusion.
“I dreamed someone had taken you.”
Her mouth fell open. She stopped gripping his ear firmly and rubbed the lobe with her thumb and forefinger. “You did?”
Cracking his neck, he dropped his head to her neck and inhaled her sweet scent. He nodded and kissed her throat, feeling her pulse pounding beneath his lips. “I’m sorry if I scared you.”
Her hands rested on his shoulders tentatively. “It’s okay. I heard you growling, and when I came out here you were thrashing around. I thought you were having a nightmare.”
“I was. The thought of you being taken from me is the very definition of a nightmare.”
She sighed deeply. “Oh, Row. You can’t keep saying things like that.”
He lifted from her throat and stared down at her, tracing the line of her jaw with his fingertip. Her skin was smooth and soft. He followed her jaw to her ear, and then smoothed his finger over her cheek before lightly rubbing the swell of her lower lip. It was dark in the room, but his enhanced eyesight allowed him to see her in spite of the lack of light. She was so beautiful.
“Let me see you, Kammie,” he whispered.
“No.”
