She wasn’t scared of him, which was shocking. It was strange that her deer wasn’t cowering, but then again, she assumed that was one of the gifts of a mate. He showed outward signs of his interest for her, but he still kept this stoic expression in place. He lowered his eyes to her chest and then slowly lifted them back up to her face.
“Because, little deer.” He moved in another inch, and she swore his lips brushed gently against hers for the briefest second. She should move away, feel some kind of terror that this unknown man was in her personal space, that for all she knew he could hide who he was from her, but all she could do was grip the edge of the couch and wait for him to continue. “I never lose a fight. Ever.”
He sounded so sure, so positive that there was no doubt in her mind he told the truth. For a pregnant pause, neither of them spoke or moved, and she found herself closing her eyes and waiting for the inevitable kiss. She waited and waited, but instead of his lips pressing against hers, he said, “You should get some rest, and when you’re feeling better, I want to know what the panther is to you.”
She opened her eyes and got lost in the blue pools.
“And if he is still alive, I’m going to hunt him down and rip his throat out.” He lifted his hand and cupped her cheek. “And do you know why I want to kill him?”
She shook her head, not knowing what he would say, since he knew nothing about her.
“Because he hurt what’s mine, and you’re mine, Kenzie.” He looked down at her mouth, and she licked her lips, which had him groaning deeply. “But you know you’re mine, don’t you, little deer.” He didn’t phrase it as a question. “Yeah, you know it. I can smell your realization as well as I can smell how much you ache for me.”
Oh. God. He was too much for her, saying things she couldn’t handle, and too male. He didn’t mince his words and made no apologies.
He stared into her eyes for several long seconds and then let his hand drop from her cheek. He gently gripped her arms and slowly eased her away from him as he stood. For a moment, all Kenzie could do was stare at his retreating back. Immobilized from her lust and disappointment at their almost kiss, she felt like a puddle of liquid on the ground. Right before he stepped into the hallway, he stopped, keeping his back to her. The light created shadows across the muscular, inked expanse.
“And, Kenzie?”
Blinking past the haze that had overcome her, she slowly stood. He looked over his shoulder at her.
“I’m not letting you run from me. I want you here. I need you here.” He pierced her with his striking blue eyes. “I can keep you safe, and I know you know this, too. You’re mine, Kenzie.” Her chest rose up and down frantically. “You know it, and I know it, and before this is all said and done I’ll have you under me, my cock buried in your sweet little body, and my mark covering your flesh.”
Her hand landed on her throat at his blunt, distorted, and obscene words. At that moment, she was looking at the animal, speaking to his bear, and he was letting her know that she was his. That should have scared the shit out of her, had her running in the opposite direction and reminding her of the horrors she faced at the hands of Rook, but she didn’t move a muscle.
This was nothing like what she felt with the panther, because Bram was nothing like Rook. There was so much truth in his words that her knees threatened to give out.
“Come on, little deer, and let me show you where you’ll be sleeping.”
He turned fully around and held his hand out to her. Kenzie looked at it then back to his face. She took that first step toward him, knew this was wrong on so many levels, but couldn’t stop herself. Her deer was taking the reins, following its instincts and going toward the first person she felt safe with since she turned eighteen.
What in the hell was she doing, and would she come out of this unscathed?
12
Bram watched the change of emotions on Kenzie’s face. He should have been gentler with her, not so demanding and possessive, and should have bitten his tongue, but dammit he wasn’t going to let her run from him or her past, and he had seen she was going to do just that.
He didn’t know what that motherfucker had done to her, but his instincts told him she had been harmed beyond words.
Yeah, he may have been too coarse, but he didn’t know any other way to be. Bram had never had a mate, had never wanted to care for another person as much as he wanted to take care of her. He didn’t know how scarred she really was or what unspeakable things that fucking panther had done to her, but he would find out, and then he would hunt him down and kill the motherfucker.
The shifting emotions in her could have brought Bram to his knees. What he needed to do was go slow with her, ease her into the fact that they were mates. She might know they were meant to be together, and that his bear wouldn’t let her go, but he didn’t think she truly knew the lengths he would go to keep her safe and to make sure she never felt pain again in her life.
This was fast, intense, and like nothing he had ever experienced, but that was the way of mating, and he wasn’t going to let it pass him by. For the first time in his fucked-up life, Bram was slowing down and embracing what was right in front of him.
Hell, he had lived a
