Not prepared for us to be so close, she sucks in a breath and shakes her head, her eyes glazing back over. That suffocating connection we share sucking us right back into our own fucking world of want and need. “I…no…I’m okay,” she whispers on an exhale that I catch against my lips.
That unrestrained desire I’ve been fighting to keep at bay punches through my body, the thirst I feel for this girl is enough to steal my soul.
“What is your name, chosen one?” I ask, leaning forward until we are breathing the same air.
I can’t help it…this girl, she’s everything.
Those green eyes, dazed and half-lidded, suddenly widen when she what I called her breaks through the fog. Snapping out of the trance that’s been placed between us, she stands abruptly, her legs wobbling a second before gaining her balance. Mimicking her action, I slowly rise as she steps around me and walks to the opposite side of the room. The space she’s put between us physically painful.
“This is real,” she mutters, leaning against the wall, sweat beading along her forehead. Tilting my head in confusion, I try to understand what she is saying. “It’s really just hitting me; this is all real.” A laugh escapes her lips as she shakes her head in disbelief. “Not that I ever believed that it wasn’t, I mean I might have had doubts–who wouldn’t have doubts—but with the dreams and the proof and the psychic… and now I’m here, and you’re here. I’ve been dreaming of this, of you since I was a little girl. Oh, if only my Papa could be here, and my uncle…” pushing off the wall, she begins to pace as she speaks, her hands moving with her words. Only able to catch bits and pieces of what she is saying, something other than lust worms its way in my chest. Something real, something rare.
Mate.
Unable to stay away any longer, I stalk toward her, halting her words as well as her pacing, forcing her to backtrack.
One step forward…one step back…one step forward…one step back. My animal prowls inside me as we stalk and corner her against the wall. “What is your name?” I ask again, tilting my chin down, so I’m able to stare deep into her green depths. Her soul, so clean and so pure, sings to me like a siren in the ocean.
“Janey,” she answers, drawn back into the spell that ignites between us.
“Janey…” I repeat back, loving the way it sounds on my tongue. “You asked me in the woods if I dreamed of you too.” I force back the need to feel her against me again and try to focus on the conversation. But the pulse that pounds against her neck calls to me. “I did. And every time it got harder…and harder to wake up.”
With barely any space between us, I feel the suppleness of her breasts with every breath she takes. “Do you remember what I said to you the last time we met in the dark, Janey?”
Placing my right palm on her cheek, my birthmark ignites against her skin sending heat flowing through my veins. Gritting my teeth against the sensation, I can tell she feels it too by the way her chest picks up in shallow intakes of breath. “Mine,” she answers with hooded eyes, repeating what I had told her in our dream.
That’s right, fully fucking, “Mine.”
Unnatural hunger rises within me at the feel of his coarse hand on my cheek. The desire between us is so thick it suffocates my senses. I can’t form a thought. All I can fathom is how I feel safe when I know I should be fearful; apprehensive.
My mind tells me I should slow down, but my heart and body beg for my trust—to trust him; us—we’re not normal. We’re two beings from different worlds brought together by the will of the gods to meet and become one. A saving grace to the people. A thriving force that will bring the peace that they have all longed so long for.
The space between us suddenly disappears as he presses his firm body into mine. The immediate feel of his hard cock against my hip has me seeing stars. Breathing erratically, my head feels light, and my body comes alive. All I can sense his him. His height towering over me, his muscles flexing against my skin, the way his body vibrates with the effort to be gentle.
It’s all too much and yet not near enough.
“I don’t know what’s happening,” he admits, his voice coming out harsh and ragged. “but I can’t stop. There’s something inside me that needs this; you.”
With his hand still on my cheek, his nose traces up my jawline. The desire from it felt all the way to my core. Inhaling deeply, his body jerks against mine, dragging a moan from my lips.
“Don’t stop,” I whisper, when his lips grace my flesh. “I feel it too.” My eyes fall closed, reveling, expecting and needing more than just his gentle touches and grazes.
Never have I been with a man. I’ve never even wanted to try. And now, at this moment, I know why. I’m his. I’ve always been his. Worlds apart, connected only in our sleep, something in me knew it was always meant to be.
Moving his hand down, the heat that comes from it follows growing hotter and hotter, the closer he gets to my chest. Sensing the fire that forms under his palm, he lifts his head as if he knows the sensation is unnatural; overwhelming…everything. Our connection, it’s undeniable. How this is possible, I may never fully understand, but just like all fairytales, maybe I’m not supposed to.
“Do you believe in fate, chosen one?” His hand lands on the base of my throat, and my lips part on a gasp at the submission I feel from it. Lifting his golden eyes to mine, he pauses and waits for me to answer.
Nodding, I lick my dry lips, his eyes following the movement, and answer, “I believe in us.”
A snarl of want tears from his throat and his eyes slant into that of his wolf’s. “I knew it.” I whisper in awe, “You and my wolf are one.” Reaching my hand out to caress his cheek, he shakes his head as if he’s suddenly in pain, halting my outreach. Jerking away from me, he pushes himself off the wall.
“Karzan?” I call, weariness now in my tone.
Grabbing both sides of his head, his fingers rub against his temples.
“What’s wrong?” My voice nothing but a soft mutter that I’m not sure he even hears or cares to. Instead, he begins to pace the floorboards, his balance off as he stumbles, loud exhales leaving his nostrils. “Karzan—”
“You need to get out of here!” He snarls, snapping his neck in my direction. His eyes are suddenly brighter, angrier—scared. But I am frozen in place as fear races down my spine but not of him. No. I fear for him.
A forceful gust of wind suddenly blows through the opened door, sending a wave of green and brown leaves flying all around us, followed by a familiar echoed voice. “It is time, chosen one. Free your prince and claim your mate.”
Karzan’s moans of anguish seep through the declaration, yanking me back to him. Falling to his knees with a thud, his body begins to rock back and forth. Slamming his fists to the ground I watch, helpless, as the bones and muscles along his back start to twinge and move from underneath his tanned skin.
Tears prick the back of my eyes as desperation consumes me.
Throwing his head back, he lets out a painful roar, and I can no longer take it. With the wind and debris still blowing all around us, specks of dirt hitting our skin, I rush to his side and beg, “Please, I don’t know how to free him! Help him!”