Chapter 18 #2
I nod, even though there’s no denying that Nell and Jabir make perfect sense. It clicks then, why he finds the two of them so off-putting. His parents. Surely, they had a love that was just the same.
Having that settled, I take another bite of food, nudging the conversation in a new direction. “If my behavior embarrassed you last night, I apologize.”
A corner of his mouth lifts. “You're a little show-off when you’re drunk.”
Oh, no.
"You weren’t pissed when you smelled another guy on me?"
His stoic front doesn’t waver. The ease with which he suppresses his reaction makes me wonder just how hard he’s squeezing his fist under the table. I may not have lycan senses, but as an actor, I know a fellow liar when I see one.
“You’re my guest here, in case you’ve forgotten. You don’t answer to me unless you wear the crest of Bleeding Sun.”
“C’mon, that’s not a real answer.”
He rises from his chair and crosses over to the side table to refill his wine glass. In the mirror that hangs above it, I notice his tight jaw and eyes deep in thought.
When Axe turns, every muscle in his upper body is poised to strike.
"You can dance with whoever you want. The prick who drugged you did so because he knew from the second he saw you that he wanted something more from you. What I’m pissed about is that my brother failed to throw his ass out for smuggling in the Ludone.
I’m pissed that I wasn’t there. Because I wouldn’t have simply left it at that.
I have every intention of taking his throat for what he did to you. "
Words tumble out of my mouth before I can consider their implication. "It would've been far more enjoyable had you been the one dancing with me.”
Damn the wine.
Axe raises his glass to his lips. "Is that right?"
Gods, how can a voice sound so lethal, yet so enticing?
Axe watches me swallow the last bite of my food. Washing it down with wine only causes my esophagus to burn.
“What’s it like, living with an animal inside you?” I ask, desperately altering the subject.
“It can be quite frustrating. Difficult to think rationally. Especially in times when there’s a cute brunette in a dangerously short dress."
Cute. I frown at that. "Is that why you tried to steal a kiss from me while I was half unconscious?"
"That’s a brave accusation,” he chuckles. “And not at all accurate.”
Something inside me purrs. I use his own words against him, breathy and sultry. “Oh, is that right?”
"You’ve got it backwards, Moonshine. Would you like me to remind you how it happened?"
I rise from my seat. If he doesn't prefer his mate to submit, then, by all means, I won’t. Collecting my plate and silverware, I smile. "Bet you'd like that, wouldn't you?"
He takes the plate from my hands and clanks it on top of his own.
Axe takes a final step towards me, invading my space.
Our size difference—it’s ludicrous. He hovers well over a foot above my head, eyes tracing the downward slope of my pulsing neck.
It conjures a phantom touch, the memory of a soft caress that left goosebumps in its wake—roaming lips, just days ago.
His lips. I fight the natural inclination to close my eyes as he cranes down, so close to taking the bait.
His voice is husky. "Keep it up and you might just learn how much I enjoy teasing."
My brow knocks upward. "Threaten me and it will cost you, Commander."
Staring me down, he wills that tenacious blue to sear into me. “My, my, Vespera. You sound like a Luna already."
I can't help but go clammy under his gaze. This ice we’re treading is getting dangerously thin, dangerously fast. A heady sensation comes over me as I contemplate how, if I grazed the wrong edge of him, I could get cut.
That he could strike faster than I could react.
Some deranged part of me has always been seduced by sharp things, finding thrill in being on the cusp of pain.
All that dominance rolling off him—I wouldn’t be surprised if he is familiar with walking the fine line between pain and pleasure.
The way he looks at me now, I’m certain he’d be more than willing to take me there.
“Why do you insist on calling me that?”
“Vespera,” he tries it out as a whisper.
My lips part as he says it, like the name of a precious jewel that belongs in the aurora’s shimmering array. I never imagined the three syllables I’ve carried with me all my life could take on such a meaning.
He utters them once more. “It sounds like a prayer one says in their darkest hour. The consolation I’ve been reaching for all my life but never had the name for. Never could grasp. Until I met you.”
Gods, do I want to kiss him. Exhaling a shallow breath, my core heats to a ferocious degree.
Axe recognizes my longing acutely. His tongue darting out to wet his lips all but confirms it.
When I take hold of his arm, his face darkens, locking in on my neck.
Something in his eyes startles me. Like he’s been replaced.
Whatever it is, it’s predatory. And it’s famished.
“Forgive me.” The words come out strangled as he peels away from me.
“What? Axe!” I shout after him.
By the time I dart into the living room, he’s already gone. Galloping across the quad, a shaggy black wolf races towards the forest. And doesn’t look back.