Chapter 158 158
Terror iced through her veins so suddenly she forgot how to breathe.
She didn’t dare move.
Her eyes shifted barely toward the right, peering through the corner of her vision.
Gray.
Thick gray fur.
She was sure of it.
A scream clawed up her throat, but no sound came out. Her body wouldn’t obey her. She stood there, paralyzed, heart thundering so violently she thought it might give her away.
So much for a harmless little adventure.
Her conscience mocked her mercilessly.
A twig snapped.
The sharp crack shattered her frozen state, and her soul seemed to slam back into her body.
She spun and ran.
Blindly. Desperately.
The street suddenly felt miles away. Every step dragged. Every breath burned.
Maybe this was it.
R.I.P. Jacqueline.
“Jacq!”
The growled shout came from behind her.
She screamed, panic spiking higher.
Now she was hallucinating. She was so terrified she was hearing Damien’s voice.
She didn’t look back.
A hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.
She shrieked as she was yanked backward, certain she was being dragged toward her death. Her eyes squeezed shut as she collided with something solid hard as a wall.
“God! Save me! Oh God!”
Her frantic prayers were cut off when a large hand clamped over her mouth.
Her eyes flew open.
Olive green met hers.
Furious. Familiar.
She blinked once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then, without thinking, she threw her free arm around his shoulders and clung to him.
The position was almost absurd her pressed to his chest, his hand still over her mouth.
Damien went rigid.
Slowly, he removed his hand. She sucked in a deep breath, stumbling back slightly but he still held her wrist firmly.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he growled, voice dark and dangerous.
She flinched.
But then her gaze dropped.
And she forgot everything.
He was shirtless.
Her eyes traced over his broad chest, the hard lines of muscle, the ridges of his abdomen, the sharp V taper disappearing beneath the low waistband of his sweats.
Her gaze climbed back up over the powerful curve of his shoulders, the rough stubble shadowing his jaw, the messy black hair falling into his forehead. And those olive eyes
Intense. Consuming.
“Wow,” she breathed, openly staring, entirely unashamed.
The gray fur? Forgotten.
He jerked her closer abruptly, temper flaring hotter by the second.
He had warned her. Explicitly. Not to leave the house. It was dangerous.
And here she was wandering through the woods like some fearless little sunbeam.
What if it hadn’t been him?
What if another wolf had been nearby? A rogue. A threat. If she’d witnessed a shift
Too many risks.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he repeated, low and lethal, tightening his grip on her wrist.
She hissed softly at the pressure.
“I could ask you the same thing,” she shot back, breathless but defiant. “What are you doing here?”
For the love of everything, she was testing every last thread of his patience.
His wolf was pacing wildly inside his head, restless and enraged, and he didn’t fully understand why.
“This isn’t a game!” he snapped.
She recoiled slightly, tears stinging her eyes but she refused to let them fall.
“Fine!” she hissed, wrenching her wrist free even though the movement hurt. She turned sharply, intent on leaving.
His wolf clawed violently at his insides.
He lunged forward and caught her again.
She collided with his chest a second time. This time her eyes were glassy under the moonlight, shimmering with unshed tears.
“Jacq”
She shoved at his chest, cutting him off.
“Why?” she demanded, voice breaking. “Why do you hate me so much?”
He went still.
She struggled in his hold like being near him physically hurt her. And damn it, she was fragile far more fragile than she pretended to be.
He guided her backward without thinking.
Her back hit the rough bark of a tree.
His palm slammed against the trunk beside her head, caging her in.
“I don’t hate you,” he growled, gripping her chin and tilting her face up to his.
Her heart pounded violently against her ribs as she met his stare, breaths coming uneven and sharp.
“You don’t have to explain,” she muttered, pushing his hand away.
He stepped closer.
She had nowhere to go but back into the tree.
He loomed over her like a predator, eyes locked onto hers.
Their gazes clashed.
He tried to hold on to control, to logic, to sanity but every second near her made it harder. She was unraveling him.
And his wolf
His wolf had been feral for days, desperate for even a glimpse of her.
The pull between them was raw. Undeniable.
He didn’t want to admit it, but he knew she felt it too.
And that terrified him.
She was light. Warmth. Hope.
He was damage. Darkness. Ruin.
She looked at him like he was something heroic.
He wasn’t.
“That kiss,” he rasped, voice rough and thick, “I didn’t regret it. Not for a second.”
His fist slammed into the bark beside her, the tree shuddering slightly at the force.
“And I don’t fucking hate you.”
He needed her to understand that. Needed her to stop believing he regretted it.
He hadn’t.
He had loved it.
Wanted more of it.
Which was exactly the problem.
His eyes dropped to her lips soft, parted, inviting before lifting back to her eyes.
She couldn’t look away.
She was caught in him completely.
“Kiss me,” she whispered.
He inhaled sharply, jaw tightening.
“You don’t want this.”
“What if I do?” she murmured, her brown eyes glowing under the moonlight.
Damn it.
“I could burn you,” he said roughly, leaning closer despite himself. Her scent filled his lungs, intoxicating.
“Then turn me to ashes,” she breathed.
That was it.
His control snapped.
His mouth crashed down on hers.
And for a split second, the entire world tilted off its axis.