The Wolf Lord's Mate

Chapter Eighteen

Nathaniel's fingers curled around my neck, his hand so large it could almost circle it entirely. I should have been afraid, should have been terrified of a Wolf holding me in such a way, but I wasn't. I leaned in almost instinctively, and his grip tightened around my throat.

"I couldn't tell," I said, and it was true, "I thought you were simply teasing me."

"I was, I suppose," Nathaniel leaned down, only a hairsbreadth away from my lips, "I couldn't help myself. Besides, it kept me from doing what I actually wanted to do to you."

"And what would that have been?" My voice was hardly more than a whisper.

"This." Nathaniel pressed his lips to mine, slowly and sweetly, and the softness of the kiss made me whimper as I leaned into him. As soon as the noise came out of me, he kissed me harder, his tongue sweeping against my bottom lip; not asking for entrance, but demanding it. Nathaniel's grip around my neck tightened, squeezing lightly until I opened my mouth for him, and his tongue battled with mine, easily gaining dominance as I all but melted into his arms.

Nathaniel kissed me until my lips were swollen, my breath ragged and uneven when he finally pulled away from me. He still never let me go, although I was more leaning against him than he was holding me in place, having lost myself so thoroughly in him that I don't think I could have held myself up on my own even if I tried.

A gentle hand smoothed down my hair, and Nathaniel moved me away from the wall, pulling me down onto his lap as he sat down on the chaise. Gathering me into him, he buried his nose into the crook of my neck, practically purring as he held me tightly against him.

I didn't fight, still half-dazed from his kiss, and for the first time, I let him comfort me with his presence. I had not felt this calm in ages—not since before Mother had passed, and I allowed myself a moment of selfishness as I softened into Nathaniel's arms.

I don't know how long we stayed tucked together like that, the minutes slipping away easily. Time didn't seem to exist in Nathanial's arms, the world having gone totally silent. Nothing else existed other than those four walls, and there was no-one else in the world but he and I.

Nathaniel traced his fingers in gently circles around my hip, his other hand moving to shift the hair away from my neck. Pressing a gentle kiss to my collarbone, he moved up the slope of my throat before finding the spot where my neck met my shoulder, and nipped the skin lightly.

I whimpered, and could feel him chuckle lightly into my skin before kissing gently on that same spot.

"So sensitive, aren't you?" Nathaniel mused, "My little female." I almost corrected him at his use of the word little, as I was by no means a waif, and had—even in my times of great hunger—still carried a healthy weight around my hips. Though, I supposed that to him, I was little. His size made me feel almost delicate.

I barely stifled a yawn as Nathaniel stroked his fingers through my hair. As much as his presence confused and disturbed me in the intensity of my feelings, there was something so comforting about being this close to him. I was certain that if I closed my eyes, I would have been able to fall asleep right there in his arms.

"I'll have Isa move your things into my chambers," Nathaniel murmured into my neck, "You'll be much more comfortable sleeping next to me, I can assure you."

His soothing touches were almost enough to distract me from what he was saying, but there was still an ounce of will left in me that had not been melted away by his kiss.

"No," I pulled away, blinking hard as I tried to think about something that wasn't him, "I will be doing no such thing."

"Mira, I already told you that you cannot deny my claim." Nathaniel said, looking down at me as if I were a stubborn child.

"I do not deny it," I said, slipping off of his lap, and Nathaniel let me, the added space between us helping to clear my head, "But that does not mean I accept it."

"We're fated," Nathaniel stood, narrowing his eyes at me, "Our bond is inevitable, Mira, and if you wish to fight it, it will only be a delay. There is no stopping the future."

"And what future is that?" I swallowed hard, "One where I have no choice?"

"One where you have every choice in the world," Nathaniel's voice was a rumble, a seductive chord that shot straight through my body, "And one where you wake up with my head between your thighs every morning."

It took every ounce of remaining will not to run back into his arms, to press myself against him until he ruined me for any other man. But I would not. Fate would not control me, and neither would he.

"If it is an inevitable future," I raised my chin, taking a step forward to press a finger into his firm chest, "Then it will be a very long time before it comes true, if it comes true at all."

I swept around him, hurrying to the door before he could stop me. I pulled open the handle, halfway through the doorway before he appeared behind me, moving so impossibly silently for a male of his stature.

"I already told you, my darling," Nathaniel's arm shot out to catch the door before I could shut it behind me, "I do love a chase."

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