I wanted him.
And the way he touched me, I knew he wanted me, too.
I moaned, hands weaving back into his hair to tug as he released my lip with a pop. And in that moment, I was lost. In that moment, I wasn’t Sarah Henderson at all — I was the object of Reese’s desire. I was the lips he kissed, the skin he touched, the woman he wanted.
Desire pooled between my legs as I rolled my hips against him, and he growled, hands moving from where they framed my face to grip my waist, instead. He squeezed tight, holding me in place so I couldn’t roll my hips again.
And with that small motion, with that completely normal reaction — reality snapped back like a rubber band to my face.
Wolfgang’s face flashed through my vision like a bolt of lightning as Reese released my lips, trailing hot kisses down my neck. I gasped, and he sucked the skin between his teeth, but it wasn’t him I felt anymore. It wasn’t him I saw.
Just relax. I’ll get you where you want to be.
Reese’s hands gripped me harder, his thumbs pressing into my hip bones as another cry left my lips, confusion rippling through me.
Shhh, don’t cry. Don’t scream.
“Fuck, Sarah,” Reese growled against my throat before capturing my lips again. He sucked in a breath on that kiss, pulling me closer, like he could meld his body with mine entirely. “You taste so sweet.”
You taste so sweet.
I pressed my hands into Reese’s chest, and he let my lips go free again, bringing my fingertips to his lips before he moved in for my neck again.
You don’t have to fight. It’s okay, you know.
It’s okay to like it.
“Stop.”
The word croaked through me, but I had no voice. It wasn’t even a whisper, just a dead, silent plea on my lips as my wolf’s claws shredded me from the inside.
“Stop,” I said again, and this time it was a whisper. “Stop, stop, STOP!”
I jumped off Reese in the next instant, body shaking uncontrollably from the loss of his heat, from the memory of my wolf. I fell to the floor as soon as I was out of his lap, and my feet peddled me backward until my back hit his entertainment center. I yelped at the shock of it, eyes wide, heart racing. I could only see Wolfgang, could only hear his voice.
I clamped my hands over my ears and screamed. “Stop!”
The shrill of my scream echoed through the house, Rojo frantically climbing on me like she could stop whatever it was that was hurting me. I creaked my eyes open again, letting my hands fall to her fur. And when I lifted my gaze, I nearly blacked out.
Reese sat on the couch, his hands up like he’d been caught stealing, eyes wide with panic. Heavy breaths wracked through his chest, his lips parted as he watched me.
“Sarah…”
“I have to go,” I said, cutting him off. I peeled myself up off the floor, darting for the front door without another look in his direction.
He scrambled from the couch, hitting his foot on the coffee table in his hurried attempt to reach me. “Sarah, wait. Please.”
But I didn’t. I couldn’t. I couldn’t look at him after what I’d just done.
What I’d just ruined.
“Sarah,” he called again as I ripped his door open.
He quickened his pace, reaching for me just as I bolted out into the rain, his hand barely catching my wrist before I yanked it free.
“Sarah!” he called again, the roar of his voice muted by the rain. I was soaked in an instant, lightning striking across the sky with a crack of thunder so loud I jumped, ducking into the safety of my car with my hands still shaking. They trembled still as I locked the door, struggling with the seatbelt before I shoved the key into the ignition.
Reese was already there at the window, beating on it as the rain soaked him, too. “Sarah, please. I’m sorry. I’m—”
The car roared to life, and I threw it in reverse, squealing out of his driveway without meeting his eyes. I couldn’t even look at him once the car was in the street, once he was there, too — fading under the sheet of rain in my rearview as I sped away.
I gasped, sucking in what felt like my first breath, the oxygen burning my deprived lungs. My brain had turned on me, warping the past with reality, and I couldn’t see past the illusion, couldn’t slow my heart or overcome the confusion that paralyzed me. I shivered so violently I could barely drive, but I kept on, the image of Wolfgang on top of me still so fresh in my mind I would have sworn it was happening all over again if I couldn’t feel that steering wheel under my hands. I shook my head against the visions, letting the tears mix with the rain on my face as the pain tore through me.
I’d always wondered, always feared, and now I had my answer.
I’d never be free of my wolf.
Sarah
My eyes were dry as I stared up at the ceiling, counting the specks of glitter that freckled the popcorn ceiling in the guest room. I wondered if Aunt Betty had it sprayed with glitter or if it had been built that way. I also wondered if turning off the ceiling fan that spun above me would help with how dry my eyes were, but the thought of moving, of crawling out of the comforter I’d burrowed into for the last two days seemed nearly impossible. My knees would probably fail under the weight of my body, send me crashing to the floor.
It was my turn to fake sick, to call out of everything in life — including the last two days of lessons with Reese. I hadn’t even been able to be the one to tell him I wasn’t coming, pleading with my uncle to make the calls for me both Monday and Tuesday. I couldn’t face him, not even through the safety of my cell phone screen.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to again.
Everything I’d worked for, everything I had planned out when I came to Pennsylvania was blown away in an instant Sunday night.
And it was my fault.
I groaned as the memory resurfaced again, just as it had over and over and over again since I left his house. Reese was my first real kiss — the first one I’d wanted, silently pleaded for, felt in every inch of my body once his lips were on mine. It was everything I’d ever wanted from a kiss, and it came from a man I knew could do better than me. He could kiss any woman he wanted, be with any woman in Mount Lebanon, and yet it’d been me he’d reached for.
And I ran away.
A gentle knock on my bedroom door made me blink, the memory fading away as Aunt Betty let herself in my room. Her face crumpled when she saw me, still buried under blankets and pillows, but she offered a soft smile as she carried the tray in her hand over.
“I brought more soup,” she said, sitting on the edge of the bed. Her eyes trailed my bedside table, where the last bowl of soup she brought me still sat untouched — along with unopened boxes of cold medicine she’d purchased.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
She watched me as silence fell over us, and I wished I could talk to her, open up to her, tell her something — anything — to make her feel at ease. I knew I was worrying her and my uncle both, that all they wanted was to help. But I was beyond their reach, beyond anyone’s.
I just wanted to be alone.
Aunt Betty exchanged the bowls, placing the cold bowl of soup on her tray and the other on the table for me. Then, she folded her hands on the handles, staring at them a moment before she looked at me again.