She gasped. “You witnessed it?”
“He slid that knife across her neck so deep she was dead before she hit the ground. There was so much blood. I snapped. I shifted, and I slaughtered that fucking monster.” I let out a dark chuckle. “I guess that makes me a monster too, huh?”
She sat the cup down and grabbed my face in her hands. “No. You’re not a monster. You did what you had to. You avenged her.”
I flinched. “I didn’t avenge her. Not yet. That’s why I’m after Lockhart. He ordered the hit on her. He needs to pay.”
She ran her thumbs over my cheeks. “Okay. I’ll help you.”
“You’ll help?” My heart clogged my throat. How could she want to help me avenge Olivia? Wouldn’t that hurt her?
“Don’t get me wrong. Thinking of you with her shatters me.” A stray tear escaped, trickling down her cheek. “But I also know she was important to you and that you have to do this. I’m going to help you get the closure you need.”
She was a fucking enigma with a heart too big. I couldn’t let her help me. Not only was it something I had to do alone, but I couldn’t let her hurt herself in the process.
“I can’t let you do that.” I grabbed her hands and pulled them down against my chest. “I care about you too much to let you do that.”
The corners of her mouth quirked up. “That’s cute.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s cute that you think you can tell me what to do.” She bent down, her breath mingling with mine. “I’m helping, and that’s final.”
She was enthralling as fuck, but there was no way in hell she would get wrapped up in this. I wasn’t about to let her put herself in danger because of my hang-ups. “You can’t get involved in my mess. I can’t let you get hurt because of me.”
“Who says I’ll get hurt?”
“Who says you won’t?” I pulled her off the table and into my lap, her legs straddling me.
“When do you plan on going after Lockhart?” she asked.
“I can’t let you come with me.”
“The one thing I’m afraid of is abandonment.” Her eyes went blank as if she were being transported back in time. “I’ve been alone for so long, Xav. I can’t handle you leaving me too.”
Pressure built in my chest from forgetting to breathe, and I sucked in a sharp breath. “I’m not going to leave you.”
“What do you expect to happen when you go after Lockhart if I’m not with you?”
Shit. She had a point. I’d have to leave her, even if I planned on coming back.
“Do you know why I came to the forest after my banishment and not the ocean or the desert?” She was silent for a moment. “John Muir said, ‘And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.’ And I lost my mind. I never expected to find my soul, but then I met you.” She blinked before her gaze burned mine.
That was some of the most romantic shit I’d ever fucking heard, and it made my heart beat out of my chest, shattering my rib cage. “Fuck, Harlow. Do you know how much you mean to me?”
She shook her head. “But you can show me.”
I slid my hands up into her hair and pulled her against me as my mouth plundered hers until she gasped little moans that shot bolts of ecstasy down to my groin. Our tongues tangled as her hand twisted in my hair.
My dick throbbed as our desire for each other pulsated through the matebond. Her hands slipped to my chest, and she pushed gently up, breaking the kiss.
“I’m ready to go a little bit further, but not all the way.”
Those words were music to my fucking ears. “You got it.”
She squealed as I grabbed her ass and stood up with her wrapped around me like a spider monkey. I stepped toward the bed and tossed her on it, dropping down on top of her. “Let me know if I do anything you’re uncomfortable with.”
“I trust you, Xav.”
The nickname was an aphrodisiac coming from her swollen lips. I smirked. “I’m going to make you feel things you’ve never felt before.”
“I guarantee it,” she breathed.
My lips were back on hers with every intent to pleasure her. Shadows danced along the walls as I trailed kisses down her neck and stomach toward her core.
We locked eyes for a brief moment as I gained permission before tugging her panties off. My hands caressed her slim hips as I admired her pretty little pussy.
“You’re perfect.”
Her breath hitched. “I’m nervous.”
“Don’t be.” Her back arched as I pressed an open-mouthed kiss to her center, and a soft moan escaped her. My tongue dipped inside her and her honey taste exploded in my mouth. “You taste fucking divine.”
I sat up on my knees, pulling her dress over her head, and started another trail of kisses from her stomach up to her perfect breasts, with my fingers gliding up with me. I took my time as I licked and sucked on her small, pink nipples, and watched her petite body convulse under me.
Electricity coursed through me as she grabbed my face and pulled my lips up to hers. Every kiss had a raw intensity - breaths rapid, heart rates increased, tongues entwined, and then I reached down and pushed a couple of fingers inside of her. She was tight as fuck but wet enough they slid in without any trouble.
She moaned as I worked my fingers, pumping inside of her—wishing with everything they were my dick. I couldn’t seem to get enough of her. She was my everything and the way she molded against me was invigorating. She cried out as she writhed beneath me, and I swore time stood still.
Her breasts heaved as she caught her breath, and her skin flushed. “Xav,” she whimpered. “I’ve never… felt that before.”
“It’s because we’re mates. What
