Chapter seven
The morning sun spilled across my face, too bright, too soft, like it was mocking me for not sleeping well. I blinked, groaning quietly as my eyes adjusted. Tia’s guest room was warm, the blanket tangled around my legs from all the tossing and turning I’d done.
And yet… there was something off.
The room felt too quiet. Too still. My heart was racing, my breathing uneven, like I’d just been running — or dreaming.
That’s when I saw him.
Hardin.
Leaning against the dresser like he’d been waiting all night for me to wake up, his arms crossed, dark eyes fixed on me.
My breath caught. “What… what are you doing here?”
He didn’t answer right away. He just tilted his head, that infuriatingly slow smirk stretching across his face.
“Little Wolf,” he said softly, and the sound of it made my stomach twist. “You’re running from me now?”
I sat up too fast, clutching the blanket to my chest. “I’m not running. I just… needed space.”
He pushed off the dresser, closing the distance between us with measured steps, his boots barely making a sound on the wooden floor.
“Space,” he repeated, his tone mocking. “You think space is going to fix this? You think it’s going to make the pull go away?”
“I don’t feel anything!” I snapped — too loud, too quick.
He stopped in front of the bed, towering over me, his shadow falling across my face. “You really want to lie to me? Here? Now?”
My chest tightened, the air too thick to breathe. I wanted to look away, but his stare pinned me like a wolf cornering prey.
“You belong to Sebastian,” I whispered, the words weak, useless even to my own ears.
“Exactly.” His jaw tightened, his hand coming up to brace against the wall beside me, caging me in. “Which means I have two options — steal you from him… or make sure he never gets to keep you.”
I gasped softly, my fingers clutching the blanket tighter. “You wouldn’t—”
“Wouldn’t I?” His hand caught my chin, tilting my face up until I was forced to look at him. His thumb brushed over my lower lip, and his voice dropped, rough and intimate. “I’ve wanted you from the moment I knew what wanting meant. Years, Little Wolf. Years. And now you’re here, shaking under me, and you think I’m just going to let you keep pretending you don’t feel this?”
The words hit somewhere deep, someplace I didn’t want to acknowledge.
“Hardin…” My voice broke when he leaned closer, his forehead nearly touching mine.
“Say it,” he whispered. “Say you feel it too.”
I opened my mouth, ready to deny him, to tell him to stop, but then his other hand slid beneath the blanket, warm against my thigh. My breath caught, body jolting at the contact.
“Say it,” he murmured again, his lips brushing my cheek, my jaw, down to the edge of my throat.
“Hardin, we can’t—”
“Yes, we can.”
The blanket fell from my fingers as his hand pushed it aside completely. His fingers trailed higher, slow and deliberate, and my hips arched involuntarily.
“Look at you,” he growled, kissing the spot beneath my ear. “You’re mine, Little Wolf. You’ve always been mine.”
"Ha..rdin.." his name tore from my throat raw and breathless.
He pulled back from my clit, but his fingers never stopped moving, pumping deep inside me as he looked up with a wicked smirk.
“Yes, Little wolf?”
“I… we… oh, fuck!” My voice broke as his fingers pumped faster, relentless, each thrust deeper than the last.
His smirk widened. He knew exactly what he was doing.
“What is it you want, huh?” He pressed a kiss to my slit, then looked back up, eyes dark with lust. “I can make you feel like you’re floating on clouds… all you have to do is say the word.”
My mouth opened, the protest barely forming. "We should…" But the words withered on my tongue.
And as if he knew I couldn’t bring myself to stop him, his free hand pressed against my lower stomach, holding me down as he buried his head between my thighs, mouth closing over my clit in deep, ruthless strokes of his tongue.
A sound tore from my throat, part moan, part protest. I didn’t even know which one was louder.
And then—
“RHIANNA!”
Tia’s voice cut through everything like a blade.
I jerked, my entire body shuddering, and suddenly the room was empty. No Hardin. No shadow. No touch. Just me, tangled in my sheets, breathless, sweating.
Oh, God.
It was a dream.
I shoved my hair back, trying to calm my pounding heart. The door creaked open, and Tia peeked in, grinning.
“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty!” she said brightly, stepping inside.
I grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at her. “Don’t you ‘good morning’ me.”
She caught it, laughing. “Whoa, what’s with the murder look? You look like you just got caught doing something bad.”
Heat crept up my neck, and I turned away quickly. “I wasn’t—”
“Oh, my goddess.” Her gasp was dramatic, fake. “Were you just moaning in your sleep? Don’t tell me you were dreaming about Sebastian.”
“Of course not!” I said too quickly.
Tia’s grin widened. “Then who? Don’t tell me…” She gasped louder, covering her mouth. “It was Hardin, wasn’t it?”
I grabbed another pillow and threw it at her again. “Shut up!”
Tia collapsed on the bed laughing, holding her stomach. “Oh my goddess, it was! You’re blushing so hard right now!”
“I am not!”
“You so are.” She propped herself on her elbows, still grinning. “You fainted last night and your first thought today is Hardin? Girl, you’ve got it bad.”
I groaned, hiding my face in my hands. “I do not have anything. It was just a stupid dream.”
“Mhm. Sure.” She poked my shoulder. “You can keep lying to yourself, but don’t lie to me. That man has been obsessed with you since we were pups, and you… well, you’re not exactly immune to him, are you?”
I glared at her through my fingers. “I am mated to Sebastian.”
“Who is probably out with Brittany again,” she said casually, then winced when I shot her a look. “Sorry, but you know I’m right. The man doesn’t exactly act like a loyal mate.”
My chest ached, but I didn’t answer.
Tia sighed, softer this time, reaching over to squeeze my hand. “Look, I’m not saying go run into Hardin’s arms… but maybe stop torturing yourself pretending you don’t feel anything. It’s okay to want someone to actually choose you.”
I swallowed hard, her words hitting too close to home.
Before I could answer, a sharp knock echoed through the house.
Tia frowned. “Who’s that this early?”
But I knew before I even heard his voice.
“Rhianna.”
Hardin.
The sound of my name on his tongue froze me in place, my heart slamming against my ribs all over again.