Chapter 11 #3
“It’s not ownership.” He buried his fingers in the my hair, pulling the bun loose but dodging the silver in my ears. He tilted my head to the side and lowered his nose to my throat.
My hands went to his shirt of their own volition, gripping the soft fabric.
It wasn’t logical, or smart, but I wanted him closer.
“Then what is it?” I asked.
“Fate.” He inhaled my scent slowly.
“That’s a bullshit answer for this level of possessiveness, Mav.”
“What would a better one be?”
“I don’t think there’s a better one.”
“My inability to stop thinking about you? The fact that I just might agree with fate?” He dragged his tongue lightly over my pulse point, and I imagined him sinking his teeth into my skin again.
For a moment, I wanted it. Wanted him.
“You can’t actually mean that,” I breathed.
The door to my office opened.
“Do you really need a fucking chaperone?” Rhone growled.
Maverick let out a slow breath against my neck and lifted his head to look at his Beta. “I wasn’t going to bite her.”
“Like hell you weren’t.”
“I’m confused,” I said.
“You’re provoking me.” Maverick’s lips brushed the sensitive skin on my throat.
A strangled noise escaped me.
“If he bites you again before the pull ends, his wolf is going to get even more overbearing,” Rhone said flatly. “Even without a sealed mate bond.”
“I don’t think that’s—possible.” The last word came out a squeak as Maverick nipped my throat.
“This is the tip of the iceberg. You have independence right now. A werewolf who’s fully hooked in fate’s claws won’t let their potential mate out of their sight.”
My eyes widened.
That would definitely be a problem.
My throat was going to have to stay securely off of Maverick’s dinner menu, as disappointing as that was for both of us.
I tried to let go of his shirt, but had a hard time getting my hands to cooperate. I wanted him closer. Not further. “I have work to do, Mav.”
“We’re not done talking.”
“This isn’t talking.” I finally forced myself to release him.
“I’ve got it under control. I’m not going to bite her. Thanks, Rhone,” the Alpha said.
His mouth moved to the center of my throat. When he tilted my head back, I couldn’t help but bury my fingers in his hair.
Dammit.
I shouldn’t have been turned on by the way he was manhandling me, but who wouldn’t be? The most attractive man I’d ever seen had his mouth on my skin, and he smelled stupidly good.
The door closed as Rhone left the room.
Maverick’s lips brushed my skin as he spoke.
“We need to get something straight, Bloom. Until we’ve decided what we’re going to do about this thing between us, you will not meet with another male vampire.
You will not look at another male vampire.
You will not think about another male vampire. Do you understand?”
“I don’t know how you expect to prevent me from thinking about them.”
It was the wrong thing to say.
Maverick lifted his head, leaning over me. My gaze flicked to his lips.
God, I wanted him to kiss me.
He was making a show of dominance, but somehow, it just made me want him more.
“You are deliciously infuriating.” Our lips nearly touched as he spoke.
“The feeling’s mutual,” I whispered.
“And you are mine.”
“I don’t have a tattoo with your name on it, or a collar. You don’t have the deed to my body. We haven’t even kissed, Mav.”
“Was that a request?” His voice was rough, but playful, somehow.
It took me a second to get my mind off the intensity of the moment and remember what I’d said.
A tattoo with his name on it.
A collar.
“God, no.”
“Disappointing.”
His lips brushed my ear. “Let me make this clear. The next vampire you meet with will lose his limbs one by one. Followed by his throat. And his head, just for good measure.”
“I thought you were solving murders, not committing them.”
“A man as powerful as me wears many hats.”
The smell of something burning made my nose twitch.
What was that?”
“And for the record, your desire for me smells fucking incredible.”
When Maverick pulled away, my mouth opened slightly.
There were burn marks on his lips. From my earrings.
He licked them slowly, while my gaze was locked on him. My traitorous body’s response was to get even hotter and needier.
“Just kiss me already,” I blurted out.
He brushed his lips over mine. Lightly. Just a soft press of our mouths, almost like a question or a tease.
I was the one who parted his lips with my tongue, taking it to the next level.
He pulled away after a single brush, leaving my mouth full of his taste.
Vanilla.
My love for the flavor had become a straight-up obsession.
He released his grip on my hair and stepped back, dragging his eyes over me slowly. “The next time you sit on a desk like this, you’ll beg me to fuck you.”
“Go to hell,” I breathed.
“Only if you join me.” He winked.
Then walked away.
I let out a harsh breath as soon as the door closed behind him—and held it as he walked into the office across from mine and took a seat that allowed him to stare directly at me.
What. The. Fuck.
I needed help.
Serious, intense help.
Because I wanted that werewolf more than I had any right to.
And he had definitely just seduced me to make a point.
One of us was a badass, and it wasn’t me.