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It had been fun...until it wasn’t. It had been fun until the chase meant I’d done something wrong. That I’d angered him, and he was going to punish me for it.
“I want someone to pursue me because they desire me,” I finally said. “I want you to want me so badly that when I run away, you can’t do anything but chase after me.”
His eyes were calm and thoughtful as he listened to me. His hand smoothed my thigh in an up-and-down motion that was almost covetous.
“I do want you that badly, Marley,” he said softly. “I want you that badly all the time.”
“You do?” My words were a whisper.
He nodded, his expression still so blissfully calm. “It’s hard to be a shifter at times. There are so many biological drives unique to us that humans often don’t understand. We keep them at bay, learn to adapt, but those primal urges and instincts never really go away. And people like Wyatt don’t care if it harms anyone when they fulfill those desires.”
I nodded. Even though I knew that, I still appreciated the reminder. Especially when I was in such a vulnerable place.
“I don’t really know what primal sex involves. And I don’t really know what a primal kink is,” I admitted. “But when I was considering the possibilities of what being claimed could mean, what it could involve, I can’t deny that I liked the idea of you hunting me down and claiming me as your own.”
I felt a sudden pang of arousal, one that was followed by a sharp nasal inhale from Cole. He raked a hand through his hair as his other hand tightened on my thigh.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I am,” he said. “Sorry. I’m trying to keep my cock in my pants while you’re being so vulnerable with me, but...” He looked a little embarrassed as he rubbed his hand down his face. “I find the idea very appealing.”
“Really?”
“Ha, Marley,” he said before reaching to cup my face in both of his hands. “Yes, you perfect, gorgeous, incredible, sexy woman. Like I said, I keep most of my instincts at bay, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there. It would be the thrill of a lifetime to have to chase you. To know that when I catch you, I’ve won.”
“Not a very hard match to win,” I said a little sheepishly.
“We don’t know that for sure. We could use it as practice after you’ve learned some techniques from River tomorrow.”
I shrugged. “I don’t think those things usually work.”
“I think we’ll be surprised by a lot of what we learn here,” he said, brushing his thumb along the curve of my cheekbone. “That’s part of the thrill of the chase, too, isn’t it? The fight?”
“Do people usually enjoy that?”
“Sure. Primal kinks aren’t just about the chase. They can involve wrestling, biting, scratching—though I’d probably leave those last two to you for obvious reasons.” He winked. “I’m here to do whatever feels right for you, baby. We can try things and stop them, or we can just keep it to a playful chase. I’ll follow your lead.”
I ran my tongue along my teeth. “I think I would like to try it.”
Excitement spiked through that new bond of ours, and Cole was sweet enough to look a little embarrassed. “I’m gonna go check on the bath and get myself back in sorts before we talk more about this. I don’t want to inadvertently pressure you to do something because I’m acting like a schoolboy who just saw a picture of a naked woman for the first time.”
He gently shifted me off his lap and onto the edge of the bed, then rose and stretched his arms over his head as he walked into the bathroom.
I ogled him as he walked. He was so large and solid, I couldn’t imagine being able to fight him off me. Strangely enough, the idea didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. I imagined his rough manhandling as if trying on a coat to see if it fit right.
There was something fundamentally different about the idea of being pursued by Cole—a man who had only ever supported and cared for me—and Wyatt, who represented pure terror for me. I wondered if that’s what Cole had meant when he said it could be a way to reclaim power over my trauma. That I could, in essence, “redo” the frightening things that had happened to me and rewrite them, all with the safe knowledge of being hunted by a man I knew would never try to hurt me.
I stood and wandered to the bathroom, leaning against the doorframe as I looked at Cole. He was kneeling over the tub, testing the temperature of the water. He heard me, of course, and looked over his shoulder.
“Almost done, baby,” he said.
I blew out a shaky breath.
“What’s on your mind?”
“I was wondering if we could try it?”
“Try?” he asked, his brows knitting in confusion. “Try what?”
