The Wolf Lord's Mate

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Nathaniel gave a small nod, and left me in the room to get ready for the day. The moment he left, breath escaped my lips and I sat down on the edge of the bed. My core was throbbing with need, and the slightest touch coated my fingers in slick wetness.        

Who had I become that such a small display of dominance could cause such immediate arousal in me? It was a different side of Nathaniel than I had ever seen before, and as much as his actions infuriated me, I could not deny my body's response to him.

It might have made it easier to handle if I had some way of relieving the desperate need that his presence caused, but as I had already learned, attempting to pleasure myself without him only made the need worse.

It was a small victory to know that he must have the same problem, but the victory soured quickly. An alpha Wolf with that much pent up desire was a dangerous thing, and I feared what might happen when he did lose control. I might not survive being taken by such a male—and it would be a taking, I knew that. Not sex, but mating.

I took another breath, my wandering thoughts doing nothing to stop the ever-growing slickness between my legs.

I changed clothes quickly, not wanting to give him any reason to come back upstairs and find me in a further state of undress.

Something had shifted between us, and whether it was from spending the night in his embrace or giving in to his little display of dominance, I could not say. Perhaps it was both, but it was too late to go back now. The game was changing, and it was getting harder for me to win with every hour that it stretched on.

I did not find Nathaniel in the kitchen when I came downstairs, and the dishes from last night were already cleaned and neatly stacked by the basin. I rolled my eyes into the empty air. I suppose my version of moving quickly was glacial for a Wolf, and he had taken it upon himself to finish for me—or to rob me of my chosen distraction.

I searched the room for any kind of task that might swallow up the time between me having to face him again, but the cabin was kept infuriatingly tidy.

The floor had been swept, the furs folded, the books stacked neatly away. Even his larder was organized, filled with jars of preserved fruits and pickled meats, wax wrapped hunks of cheese that were free of mold, and pre-filled satchels of an assortment of woody, floral smelling tea leaves.

I had started to search for a mug when a thud sounded from outside, something hitting the soil, and then a loud crack, the clink of steel against wood.

I closed the larder, following the sound to the front door, which had been propped open to let in the morning breeze. The air was pleasant and cool that deep in the forest, the wind carrying with it the fresh scent of loam and earth.

The place truly was cut from the pages of a children's storybook, only in this version the Big Bad Wolf and I had somehow ended up in the same bed. It was only a matter of time before I found out whether he would eat me, as his longing glances so often told me he wished to do.

It was outside of the cabin that I found Nathaniel, standing to the side of the dirt path with an axe in his hand. His broad back was turned away from me as he chopped firewood, his muscled arms welding the axe with the strength of ten human men.

I leaned my shoulder against the open door, crossing my arms around my middle, and allowed myself to watch him, to drink in every detail of his form. As infuriating as he could be, Nathaniel truly was the ideal specimen of a male.

Nathaniel swung the axe with ease, splinters of wood flying into the dirt with every practiced movement. The wood split like butter, as if Nathaniel were slicing through water rather than solid oak.

"Enjoying the view?" I startled at Nathaniel's voice, the male never once having to turn around to know that I was there.

"Yes," My voice was curt, "The forest looks quite lovely in the morning."

"The forest is not the only lovely thing that I have placed my eyes upon this morning," Nathaniel turned to look at me, axe slung over his shoulder, "That dress suits you."

"It is far too fine for the forest," I commented, "I'm afraid that I'll ruin it." The dress was far too nice to wear at a cabin, though I do not think I would have felt at home in it even at the Manor. I was not accustomed to wearing such fine fabric, nor cuts that accentuated my figure rather than hid it.

Not that Nathaniel seemed to mind, his gaze roving over the curves of my body, my figure fuller now that I had been able to eat proper meals again. That too he did not seem to mind, his gaze resting appreciatively at the place where my dress hugged the swells of my breasts.

"Then I will buy you another," Nathaniel shrugged, grabbing another log off the pile next to him, "The cost is of no concern to me."

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