Return To The Bear (Bear Valley Shifters #3)(4)

“Leave us,” he said in a deep, firm voice. “Wait,” he said as Blake turned to retreat down the stairs. His gaze still hadn’t strayed from hers. “Bring me Anya.”

Shit. She suddenly would’ve given a femur bone for some clothes, but the best she could do was cover her thighs with her hands and hope her burning blush didn’t offend him more. His eyes raked down her body slowly, then he gestured her closer with a flick of his fingers.

When she stood a few feet away from the foot of his throne, she bit her bottom lip to try and stifle the tremble that had taken her breath. Everyone seemed to enjoy being in heat around here but her. She wasn’t new to it at twenty-four, and when she’d lived with the Blood Den Clan, she’d had men she trusted with relieving the pressure of her cycle. Men she liked, who weren’t possessive. Men who didn’t ask her to give them anything in return, only a night. It was the same here. Casual, but for some reason, over the past year, something in her had changed. Or maybe broken was a better word. She didn’t want to have sex with just anyone anymore. She wanted it to mean something.

“Why,” Nathan said in a deep and commanding voice, “do you run from me?”

He’d hear a lie so what was the point in trying? “Because I don’t want to be here.”

“Do I not take care of you? Do I not give you enough status in the clan? For chrissakes, Joanna. You are one of the highest ranking females, above even my mates. So why the f*ck,” he bellowed, standing, “do you keep trying to escape like you are some prisoner?”

“Because you treat me like one! I’m not here by choice, Nathan. I’m here because you waged war against my people and spared my life.”

“And you waste the gift I gave you?”

“You’ve never lived under someone else’s thumb, so you don’t know how it is. I can’t imagine you’d sit idly by while the man who destroyed your people laid down rule after rule for you to follow.”

He shrugged like her words didn’t matter. “That’s war, Joanna. If you don’t like it, you can join Blood Den in their graves.”

“You’d do that? You’d kill me after everything?” He’d been kind once. The last alpha was the one who’d decreed the Long Claws wage war with Blood Den. Nathan had been second then, and had won the battle for his alpha. And now he was leader and his heart had gone cold. He’d begged his alpha for her life on the edge of that blood-soaked battlefield, and now he would toss her body in the dirt?

Leaning forward, his eyes narrowed like a big cat’s before it tackled its prey. “Don’t test me. I’ve been patient with you and still you deny me. I want you as my mate, it’s no secret. Everyone knows it. I’ve been clear with my intentions from day one—”

“No, you didn’t. You pretended to be my friend. Can’t you see I’m not happy here?” Her voice dipped to a whisper. “Just let me go.”

He’d frozen inches away from her face and emotion slashed across his eyes. She’d almost missed it, but it had been there. Somewhere in him, he still harbored a soul. The wicked twist of his smile, however, dropped her stomach to the floor like she’d just fallen off a cliff.

“Spread your legs,” he murmured.

He wouldn’t touch her. It wasn’t his way to take a woman against her will. His pride was too big to admit a woman didn’t want him. Instead, he’d been patiently hunting her for weeks, driving her to inferno as her heat had grown stronger.

Hormones were her traitorous little enemies. Like a wanton woman, she pulled her hands away from her sex and splayed her legs. Nathan pushed to the edge of his throne until his jutting erection was inches from her entrance.

“Be mine.”

“Nathan,” she pleaded, voice shaking. “I can’t. I want more than what you can give me.”

“I can give you everything,” he said, crouching on the floor. His powerful muscles tensed as he lowered himself in front of her thighs. His warm breath caressed the building moisture there and she shuddered and let her head drop backward. Her eyes rolled closed.

“You’re so ripe, Joanna. I could make you come with my breath if you wished it.”

She was burning. It didn’t matter if it was Nathan, or any other man touching her, she felt reckless to be held. Stupid heat.

“Do you wish it?” he asked, his breath tickling her sensitive skin.

She couldn’t remember how to talk. Forming words was suddenly beyond her abilities and her knees, those double-crossing little bitches, gave. His caressing tongue slid into her and his hands gripped her hips, holding her upright. It was the first time he’d touched her and the pain of his fingers digging into her flesh overpowered the ecstasy of his deep thrusting tongue.

This wasn’t what she wanted. It was what her body wanted, but not her heart.

“Stop,” she whispered half-heartedly.

His touch disappeared immediately. When she opened her eyes, he was standing to his full height, much taller than her. His eyes were so dilated, the green had all but disappeared, replaced by searing blackness.

“Can’t you see what you do to me?” he asked low.

His hands were clenched at his sides and his erection jutted hard as a stone between them. He never let anyone see this kind of emotion. She knew, because she watched for it. But how could she explain monogamy to someone more animal than man?