Chapter 22 #3
He kissed me as if he wanted to set my heart on fire, but even sex couldn’t thaw the icy walls I’d built there. I liked Hayden, respected him, and was grateful to him for saving my life.
I returned his kiss by deepening it and poured everything I could give him into it, but I couldn’t match his enthusiasm and devotion. After a moment, we were breathless, and Hayden collapsed next to me, pulling my body into his. I rested my head on his bicep to look into his half-hooded eyes.
I only found adoration and admiration in his gaze.
With the delicious soreness between my thighs, guilt and something else settled in my chest, tightening it.
But I couldn’t fully understand why. Partially, I felt bad I couldn’t give Hayden more of me, but other emotions snaked around my heart that I couldn’t decipher.
Hayden watched me as if searching for some answer in my eyes. He spoke in a low, lulling voice, smiling at me as my eyelids fluttered between open and closed. I heard him say something about relishing our connection, but my body was spent and tired and pleasured.
I wanted to tell him I enjoyed being held, but nothing came out of my mouth as my eyes shut.
“Breanna. My obsession. My Queen.”
A pang of worry cut through my chest, but exhaustion took a toll on me, further pulling me into slumber.
The next time I opened my eyes, I was still tired but fully sober. A pulsing headache formed behind my eyes, and I groaned. The side of my neck felt sore—I must have slept funny.
Remembering the night before, I blinked and woke up slowly. I lay on Hayden’s chest with my head tucked under his chin, and I adjusted my body and moved my head to the pillow, still facing Hayden. His eyebrows furrowed as he studied my every move.
How long had he been watching me?
An unsettling feeling formed in the depths of my stomach, and a disturbing thought nudged and didn’t want to let go. I was no expert on how things worked between mates, and I didn’t know much about the mating process—mostly just the basics.
But whenever my dad shamelessly showed his affection for Mom at the dinner table, their wolves’ yellow eyes would flash. Whenever werewolves felt aroused, their wolves came to the surface, wanting to experience, participate, and protect.
Hayden’s sky-blue eyes had never changed color last night, and that fact, along with the absence of pack markings, made my gut tighten uncomfortably.
“Do you regret it, sweetheart?” Hayden asked.
“Of course not. I wanted you, Hayden. I just can’t give you more.” I didn’t want to mislead him. “I need time.”
“I can wait. But next time I see you, I’ll ask you again,” he said, a knowing smile on his handsome face. “You didn’t think I was just going to have a one-night stand with you, did you?” He kissed my lips. “I want to wake up kissing you for the rest of my life.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to stifle a gasp. My lungs constricted, and my chest tightened with more worry.
“Anna… Anna?” Torin’s growly voice jolted me out of my daydream, and I swallowed hard as I found myself trapped between bookshelves.
I shook my head to get rid of the flashes of memories that had invaded my mind. Torin wanted an answer about my relationship with Hayden so he’d get one and be one angry Alpha.
I looked him straight in his eyes and said, “Hayden and I were intimate three years ago. He was my first and only one.”
My words came out as intended—poisonous and with a hiss.
Torin pulled away from me, and his back hit the bookshelf, books rattling. At first, his eyes widened. Then his crimson eyes aimed at me while his talons grew and tore through his leather gloves. His mouth fell open, and his fangs protruded.
But my fear of the vampire Alpha only merged into anger and resentment.
Torin shifted into his vampire beast and let out a loud growl that shook the shelves on the tenth floor.
“Run,” he shouted at me.
I still had self-preservation instincts, so I did.
I dashed to the end of the row of shelves, leaving the exits and my office behind. I stopped at a window and hid between two shelves, catching my breath.
What was I doing hiding from a predator who could find me at any moment? It was pointless to hide or run from the vampire Alpha.
A deafening screeching sound echoed near me. I imagined Torin scraping his sharp talon against the metal part of the bookshelves, taunting me. A shadow passed behind the rows of books, and my heart flipped behind my chest.
“I’ll always catch you, no matter where you are.” Torin’s inhumane voice rang among the stacks of books.
Fully transformed into his vampire, silver-haired Torin appeared at the other end of the narrow space. He wore his devilish grin with elongated fangs. His nostrils flared, and he licked his lips.
He was putting on a show, and everything in me revolted.
I straightened up my shoulders and waited for the vampire Alpha to reach me.
The extra adrenaline fueling my veins wasn’t from fear. It was pure rage, clouding my mind of any rationality. I didn’t think of the consequences after admitting the truth to the vampire.
And why should I?
Who the heck did he think he was invading my life?