Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 112500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 563(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 563(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
“It will no’. Our leaders are mated.”
She shook her head hard. “Ditch is playing with Thane. My mentor died because of her. A good and decent witch is just gone.” Lazara would be aghast that Meera had let a relationship with a Lykae get to this breaking point. “And you think Ditch will simply roll over?” Her voice cracked. “We can never have a real future. You will meet your mate eventually.”
“Maybe no’ for a millennium. We could have a thousand years of happiness. And who knows? We might both die in the next Accession!”
“You were born for someone else. Your family is waiting for you, but it begins with your mate.”
“So you’re fine with never seeing me again?” he rasped. “I thought…gods, I thought your feelings mirrored mine.”
“It doesn’t matter.” She squared her shoulders. “I’m needed here. That’s all that can matter.”
He stared at her, wounded and furious. “No. I refuse this.” His voice dropped. “I think I’m in love with you. And I think you love me too.”
I do! “I don’t.”
“Lies,” he said softly. “They spill from your beautiful lips, but your watchful eyes are begging me to fight for you. To find a way. So I will. You might be ready to give up a future with me, but you’re no’ ready to give up the pleasure on offer right now.”
Hecate help me, he’s right.
“I’ll take advantage of that over and over until you surrender. I can scent your arousal, know you’ve been needing me for all these nights. You want me to tear off your clothes, take you to your bed, and work off this bite of anger. Not sex—I ken your boundaries—but you do love a good come.”
“That’s not what I want.” I want it more than anything! “I never want to see you again.”
“You like my mouth pressed between your thighs.” He undid the top button of his shirt. Then the next. “You tighten so sweetly around my fingers as I tongue you. I’ve a mind to do that while I fit my cock between your lips at the same time.”
Heat punched through her. He was walking temptation—everything she hadn’t known she needed until she’d had him. And he knew it. “Stop. I told you I didn’t want a male fated to another.”
“Then I’ll make it so good you have to give me more.” The sexy wolf dripped lust. He stripped off his shirt, muscles flexing, confidence radiating.
Her magic flared like a torch, arcing between them. She felt weightless; he was the only solid thing in the room. “How good?” she whispered in defeat, already knowing the answer.
His hand cupped her nape, thumb warm at her pulse, a quiet claim that guided her close. His other hand found her breast and kneaded, slow and thorough, as if his palm had been made to grip her. “You’re about to find out.”
And then they were kissing, mouths reckless, teeth grazing, his canines scraping just enough to warn, the sharp scent of him flooding her senses…
And then they were coming with muffled yells, her nails biting into his muscles, his roars breaking against her flesh…
And then they were riding the aftershock. Skin slick, hearts loud, the world narrowed to heat and pulse.
And she realized it was the last time.
The sweetness of him—the connection, the illusion of future—only made the loss sharper. Grief slammed into her like a fist, harder than pleasure. Fate can’t be fought. She tried to blink back tears, but one escaped. Then another. More salt against the delectable taste of him.
“Gods, Meera,” he breathed, voice raw. “Please doona cry, lass.”
She sobbed, “It’s n-no good.” She couldn’t look at him. Couldn’t stand the tenderness in his eyes. “It never will be. We can’t win this fight. We never could.”
“Fuck,” he rasped, shaken for the first time. “Mayhap I am enchanted. But what I feel for you—what we have—’tis pure. Has to be. It canna have been fouled by magic.”
And with those words, she understood: the divide between them was a chasm no amount of pleasure could bridge.
“Goodbye, Lowell.” Heart turned to stone, tears drying, Meera rose and walked away—knowing she would not survive the memory of him intact.
Chapter 43
Thane
Twelve days till the Hunter’s Moon
Jastorgh arrived in Thane’s office in all his cavalier glory, wings half spread as if he expected applause.
“You have a lot of nerve showing up here,” Thane grated.
“I do. So much!” Jastorgh preened. “It fair oozes from me.”
“You fucked me over and put my mate in jeopardy.” The mate that had refused to see Thane since. But he’d continued to work toward the future, digging in the Skein for leverage.
The rogue witches showed the most promise. They were no friends to Ditch’s coven but seemed to know a lot about it. How to use them without tipping into outright war?
Jastorgh scoffed. “Your mate told me she could handle herself. And unlike you, I took her at her word. Does everyone keep forgetting she’s the high bitchess of some very serious bitches?”