The Wolf Lord's Mate

Chapter Seventeen

Nathaniel studied me carefully, as if he could peer straight into my mind and see every thought running through my head.

"I know you feel it too, Mira," Nathaniel said, "I can smell just how much you feel it."

"Arousal is not the same thing as a mate bond." I squirmed in his grip, but he wasn't letting me go anywhere. I was trapped in the tight embrace of his arms.

"So you admit that I'm making you aroused, " Nathaniel spoke nonchalantly, a wry smile pulling at his lips, "That's a good start.

"I'm not admitting anything, I know that you can—," I paused, my cheeks flushing, "—smell it already."

"Yes, but I like hearing you say it," Nathaniel eyes darkened, "One of the things I admire most about you is your confidence. Your quiet bravery and surety. That's why it is all the more satisfying to make you weak for me. You can force yourself to be strong for the rest of the world, but you don't need to do that with me. From now on, every worry of yours is mine, every fear you face will be mine to deal with for you. Any whim or wish you desire, I will fulfill for you. I want to take care of you, to spoil you like angel you are. All you have to do is admit that you are mine."

It was an intoxicating fantasy, to never have to worry again. To be his. But that's all it was—a fantasy. "And what if I don't?" I dared to challenge him. "What if I don't accept the bond?

"Then I will have to find other ways to convince you." Nathaniel leaned down to whisper in my ear, his voice a low rumble, "And I can be very convincing."

"But you won't let me go?" My anxiety surged again, my heart fluttering like a bird caught in a cage. "You won't let me leave here?"

"I would not suggest running, Mira," Nathaniel's voice took on an edge, "I am a Wolf, and I do love a chase. There is nowhere you could go where I would not find you."

"You're a Lord," I shook my head, the reality of my situation crashing down on me, "You could have anyone else. Wouldn't you rather someone else?"

"You are my mate, there is no changing that, and I would not change it even if I had the power to do so." Nathaniel raked his eyes over my body hungrily, "I was blessed by the Gods to be mated to the most beautiful woman I've ever had the honor of laying eyes upon. And your scent—fuck. I could eat you."

"I don't feel the same," I said haughtily, and Nathaniel practically rolled his eyes at me, "I don't—arousal means nothing, not really."

"No, I agree," Nathaniel smirked, "What we have goes far beyond base desires."

"We have nothing."

"That's a lie, Mira," Nathaniel tone sharpened again as I glanced away, refusing to look him in the eye, "Our souls are bound, you just need the time to learn to accept it."

"You can't force me to feel something I don't feel." I spoke through gritted teeth.

"You do feel it." Nathaniel squeezed my waist, but I would not look at him.

"I don't."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Tell me," Nathaniel gripped my chin between his fingers, forcing me to look up at him, "Tell me you feel nothing when I touch you. Tell me that there is not some part of you that aches for me," I tried to pull away, but Nathaniel held me still, "Because I am not afraid to admit how I ache for you, my sweet. From the moment I set eyes on you in the Alleys, I knew you were mine. I knew that nothing else in the world mattered as much as you, and I would have—" Nathaniel shook his head, his emerald irises swirling with emotion, "—I would have torn down half the town to get to you. All I wanted to do was keep you in my arms, keep you safe away from where anyone could hurt you."

"If it is true," I said softly, so close to Nathaniel that I could feel his breath against my lips, "Then why didn't you? Why didn't you claim me? It's your right, isn't it?" Not a right that I had ever agreed with or approved of, mind you, the idea that a Wolf could pluck a human out of their life simply by the rule of birthright. But if Nathaniel was telling the truth, if the torture I'd felt the past few days was even an inkling of what a Wolf felt under the full extent of the bond, I had no clue how he hadn't snapped. Most Wolves were unable to be away from their mates for long after they bonded, but at the beginning? I'd heard of Wolves not even letting their mates leave their bed for a week after they first met.

The image of myself trapped beneath Nathaniel in his bed shot a pulse straight between my legs, and his pupils dilated immediately.

"It hasn't been easy," Nathaniel slid his fingers from my chin down the slope of my neck, "Especially when you smell like that. Your desire is quite potent." His words were humiliating, but the idea of him being able smell how aroused he made me only made me even more turned on. "But why, then?" I said, trying to regain some measure of control over myself, "Why not claim me, if it was so difficult."

"I wanted to keep you safe." Nathaniel's touch was featherlight against my skin, soothing tingles dancing up my neck as he traced my collarbone. "There are those who would use you against me, or would try to hurt you in order to hurt me, and I cannot let that happen."

"Walton?" I asked.

"Among others, yes," Nathaniel sighed, "He has allies in the town, Leo's been trying to track them down for weeks now. I was hoping that if I could bring you here, keep you sheltered and safe while we identified them, then I would be able to claim you once the time was right. That, however, has proved to be a more difficult task than I had previously thought."

"Finding Walton's men?" It was getting increasingly more difficult to focus on what Nathaniel was saying, his touch equal parts soothing and enticing.

"Keeping myself away from you," A playful smirk danced on Nathaniel's lips, "You have proved to be my greatest challenge of all. I have always been a Wolf in full control of every aspect of my faculties, but you drive me absolutely mad, Mira."

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