Nightwolf

by Karina Halle

“My angel. You are so beautiful and funny and smart and you always say what’s on your mind. You will find the perfect person out there for you, I promise you that. I just want you to be open to the fact that it won’t be Wolf.” I lick my lips, avoiding her eyes. Ouch.

But please make the conscious choice to start to move on. Save your heart for someone else, someone that can appreciate it.”

Vampires are a possessive bunch and I have always felt possessive over Amethyst. Not in that I own her, but I want to own her. I want her to belong to me, and I’d honestly take whatever I can get.

“I don’t…” But there’s no use in denying that I want her. And I want her to want me. “It can never be, and you know it.”

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about her. What I do know is that as much as I feel like she’s mine, as I want her to be mine, she’s not supposed to be.”

That vulnerability is coming through strong, and the more it does, the more I want to step in, get closer to her. Shield her from anything that would make her feel so small and fragile. It makes me feel like maybe she might need me after all.

“I’m sure you will be fine,” Wolf says, holding me in a level gaze. “But someone does need to watch over you and keep an eye on you.” “It was just a bad dream,” I say with a shrug, taking a sip of the hot espresso. My mother made it extra strong today. “Is this a possessive vampire thing?” “Maybe it is,” he says, raising his strong chin. “Do you have a problem with that?” A chill slowly runs down my spine. The good kind. I manage to shake my head. “No.”

He observes me for a moment, his golden gaze skipping over my eyes, my nose, my lips. Oh, they burn when they look at my lips.

I gulp. This is going to be a huge mistake isn’t it? Going up there with him alone. This is going to be the opposite of moving on. This is going to be diving right in, headfirst. Ah, fuck it.

“I don’t see you in the sunshine all that often,” I comment, noting how nice his skin looks in it, the way his hair gleams bronze. I want to run my fingers through it. “Could say the same about you,” he says, adjusting his hands on the wheel. My god, his hands are a masterpiece.

Calm your tits, Amethyst, I tell myself. You can’t start lusting after him in this car, he’s going to notice, and it’s a long-ass drive.

I reach out and I put my hand on his thigh, his muscles taut beneath my fingers. My god, he has big thighs.

“Are you worried I’m going to try and eat you?” “Honestly, I wouldn’t mind if you did.”

“Okay, so what looks good to you?” You do, I think. But I know he knows what I’m thinking already.

Yeah, there’s something happening between us. I don’t think we can stop it, even if we wanted to. God, I hope he doesn’t try to stop it.

“But Wolf, you can’t just go around taking your clothes off like that without any warning. You could kill a woman dead, on the spot.”

“Since when have you ever been bashful?” “Since you took off your clothes! I can’t be almost naked next to you, a vampire, whose body has been blessed by some dark god. I’m just so terribly human.”

“I used to think you looked at me like an older brother.” I wince internally, because I definitely don’t see him as that, and never have. “But not anymore?” “No. Not anymore.”

“You mean you’ve never thought about it?” I ask, my tone both playful and serious. “About biting me, feeding on me.” Fucking me…

Fuck, he’s so beautiful. And he’s staring at me like I’m some goddess from above.

Fuck. I’ll be anything she wants me to be.

She stares at my hands, then finishes her drink, the ice cubes rattling as she puts the glass down, and puts her hands in mine. They’re so small, delicate, warm, that it turns on the protective switch inside me. The lengths I would go to for this woman.

“You don’t have to make something of yourself,” I say, my voice coming out ragged. “You already are something. Frankly, you’re everything.” “To the world?” she whispers, meeting my eyes. “To me,” I tell her. “You’re everything to me. Fuck the world. They don’t matter. I do.”

Her gaze hardens for a moment, like she’s burying something. “What can I do to make you want me?”

He’s kissing me. Wolf is actually kissing me.

Last night I wondered if my body spoke to him in a language I couldn’t hear, but now I know that his body speaks it too. No words are needed, not here, not with us, not with this kiss.

“Please,” I whisper. He leans in, just enough to brush his lips over mine. “Please what?” he asks roughly. “Kiss me,” I say, my eyes closing, taking in his scent, the cool feel of his fingers, my pulse skipping against my skin. “Fuck me.” I pause, my eyes opening to meet his. “Claim me.”

“You’re…” he begins, then clears his throat. Licks his lips. “You’re unlike anyone I’ve ever known.” I’m beaming at the compliment, considering how long he’s been on the planet. “You didn’t think it would be like this with me?” He gives a shake of his head. “Dreams could never compare.”

I’ve tussled with Solon before and won, because I’m bigger and I’m stronger, but he, for lack of a better word, is scarier.

“We are not Lenore and Solon.” “Yeah, no shit, you’re much easier to deal with.”

He’s so magnetic, so beautiful and strong, that the last five days without him suddenly feel like a century in the desert with no water in sight.

“I missed you,” he says, even softer now, and I’m practically melting, holding onto the doorframe.

“I want to go back to last week. I want to go back to Shelter Cove, with you. Before any of this happened. I want to go back so badly, so I can just be with you and so that mom is still okay and everything is okay and I just…I just…”

God, I love you, I think. The words freeze in my heart, making me pause. But then I hold them tight because they’re true. I love you, Wolf. I fucking love you.