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Her eyes widened even further, and she nodded slightly under my hand to show she understood. I shifted my hand back to her neck, not able to resist the lightest swipe with my thumb over her lower lip that had me swallowing another groan.
I stepped back, attempting to get some clear air and control, before I grabbed her hand and turned to go back the way she had arrived. She followed me patiently until we reached the furthest building, before she tugged on my hand and dug her heels in, forcing me to halt.
When I looked over my shoulder at her, raising one eyebrow in question, she pointed in the direction we were going and shook her head. Then pointed back the way we had come.
What in the hell could be so important back there that she refused to leave?Her eyes were begging me to stop, and I couldn’t deny her. I swiveled us into a dark recess, but it barely fit the two of us, and forced our bodies up against each other again.
My nostrils flared as her scent spiked and invaded the small space. I replaced the chant ofminepounding in my head with,not here.
I lowered my head so she could whisper in my ear. “I can’t leave,” she whispered, as she reached up to shift my long hair away from my ear.
The sound of the voice that had been haunting me since I had first heard it days ago, accompanied by her breath feathering across my cheek and her fingers in my hair, almost had me losing all control. I locked my limbs in place to stop myself from touching her more than I had to right now.
No woman had ever affected me this way, and left me with so little control and a raging need that felt like a wild fire surrounded by kindling. My family was native to our area and clung to the old ways. I was no stranger to mysticism and fables, which is what I had believed stories of true mates to be.
This was no fable, though. Without a doubt, this strong, defiant, beautiful woman was my true mate. I felt the mystics of old laughing at me from a great distance. I almost heard them on the breeze, as if they had sent me her way right when she needed me.
I’d been about to cross the firebreak on my way out of town, heading towards the forest, where I felt more at home. I had sensed her a moment before I saw her step out of the trees and into the moonlight.
I knew it was her instantly. It made no sense, though. I’d left her safely at the farm, to go do what I had to do and finish the job I had started. I’d believed her to be in the safe care of Sam and Dio, or I never would have left. Yet here she was. Alone.
It seemed our mate was going to keep us on our toes. The thought brought a smile to my face. I hoped she would shake up Sam’s world and soothe him at the same time. He needed both, or he had before I had made the hardest decision of my life. To leave my brothers, my mates.
The last few years had been dark and lonely. I wasn’t the same man anymore, and the darkness had whispered that I wouldn’t be welcomed back. It made me hesitate even more now. I knew I would do anything for this woman, but the thought that I may have to do it from a distance filled me with a sudden sadness and longing.
Dio had said my home was with them, but did he mean it in the same way I wanted it?
Lexie pulled back slightly and searched my face as if she was trying to see my soul through my eyes, and I was lost. Her fingers were still twined in my hair and I suddenly felt like anything was possible, if she just let me be near her.
“What do you need?” I breathed into the quiet darkness.
She closed her eyes for a moment and I got the feeling it was a question she hadn’t heard a lot. Or at least, not that simply. When she opened them again, she looked determined and spoke rapidly.
“I have a safe house nearby. A woman has taken refuge there and I need to get her out.” The emotion in her hushed voice told me how much this meant to her.
“How far away?” I asked.
“At the back of the apartment conversion, in the old sandstone building next to the pub.”
I cursed inwardly. It was the worst location possible in this town right now.
“How did you get here?” I asked.
“I have a dirt bike stashed just outside of town, in the trees about half a mile past the firebreak,” she whispered.
I could work with that. “I’ll get her and bring her to you. Meet me there. Don’t wait for me, though. If you’re discovered, head straight to the farm. I’ll follow you there.”
“No. No way am I sitting out there waiting like a good little girl, while you go and -”
I pushed into her space and kissed her. Branding her the way she had me. Her lips parted in shock and I couldn’t resist the opportunity to taste her fully. She tasted like sin and sweetness mixed in a way that exploded like candy on my tongue. I pulled back as suddenly as I’d started, leaving us both breathless.
“What the hell was that?” She asked quietly, looking dazed.
“You were mad and your voice was getting loud. You were going to give us away. I quietened you the quickest way I know how,” I whispered into her ear.
“Oh,” was all she said, looking a little crestfallen as her mouth turned down slightly in an adorable pout. I wanted to kiss it off her, but I only had so much willpower.
“Plus, I’ve been wanting to do that since I first laid eyes on you,” I added.
