18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

J ackson lowered his head to hers and waited to see if she would turn away. She needed to. Something told him there would be no turning back this time.

But if she pushed him off, that could kick some sense into his head. If she reminded him how much her human side wanted to leave him, he wouldn't have to break his word to himself. He wouldn't have to fall into the trap again.

But Layla's breath hitched, and her lips parted. He could see the fire in her eyes as lust poured off her in waves that wiped out any other emotion she had been feeling.

"Do you know what it does to me when you challenge me, my little mate?" he whispered when his lips were a hair's breadth away from hers. "I swore I would stay away from you. Stop me now, Layla, because this won't end well for either of us."

Layla didn't push him away. Her beautiful glowing eyes fluttered closed as she leaned into him and put her mouth on his.

And just like that, the hole in his chest disappeared.

His dead heart started to beat again, even though it was laced with pain and bitterness.

It was what he had been afraid of, but it was too late now.

Layla sank her fingers in his hair as her full lips brushed against his. Her tongue trailed against his lips in a slow, torturous dance. He kept his body rigid, fighting the urge to do what Cain wanted. What he dreamt about most nights.

"Stop me, Layla," he repeated.

But his face was already tightening, and his arms were going around her. Layla didn't respond, but he could see in her eyes that her wolf blood was still in control of her. It was the part of her that had claimed him already; she wouldn't stop.

She kissed him even as his jaws started to stretch and his claws extended. She kissed him even when his clothes felt too tight as his body began to change.

There was no going back now.

In one swift movement, he picked her up and wrapped her legs around him before he slammed her against the wall beside the dressing room door. He didn't care that he knocked the shoes off the shelves beside them as he devoured her lips. His body had been in pain for weeks, and Layla was the balm he needed. She groaned into his mouth and rubbed herself against the bulge at the front of his jeans, setting fire to his body.

Fate should never have made anything like this. No wonder mates died together because how was one supposed to live without the other when their very souls connected every time they touched?

He set her down only to push her trousers down and unzip his jeans, but his lips didn't leave hers for a moment. And Layla didn't stop touching him. Didn't stop whimpering against his lips as they drowned in a sea of overwhelming emotions and sensations. Everything felt different this time. Her lips felt softer. Her scent was stronger. Her skin... He forced his nails to retract so he could mould her ass cheeks as he picked her back up.

Seconds later, he positioned himself against her drenched, tight lips and slipped in. His mind exploded. Even that felt different. Her grip on him was stronger as she took every inch until he was buried to the hilt.

"Layla," he groaned.

He'd dreamt of this. He'd dreamt of this so often since she tried to leave him that his mind couldn't differentiate between reality and his dreams. Layla moaned as she tightened her legs around him like she was welcoming him back home. He'd live there, between her legs, if he could. He'd live there for his remaining days. His vision was foggy, and he felt drunk, but none of that mattered. Cain unfurled himself and took everything in as their mate's urges and needs pressed into them from all directions. There was nothing better than this in the world.

He was lost from the first thrust. Layla arched her back and threw her head back against the wall when the wave captured them both. Layla's throaty moans stopped when he tensed inside her and started to throb and twitch. And then she began to call his name as they both fell from the sudden end.

His little screamer. Fuck, he'd missed that.

As she milked him and rode it out, she pulled his head down to her neck. He knew what she wanted. She had asked for it every single time they'd become lost in each other.

Without thinking, he opened his mouth and sucked on the spot he was desperate to sink his teeth into.

"Jackson," Layla moaned.

His teeth scraped her skin, and she trembled in his arms. In his dreams, he'd marked her a million times over. In his dreams, he lived until he was old and grey with Layla at his side.

‘Do it,' Cain growled.

His vision bled red, and his canines started to lengthen. His. She was his, so he had to mark her. He had to end this insanity. Their bond had already strengthened too much for his death not to affect her. It was too late for both of them.

‘Do it,' Cain pushed again.

Layla's whole body was trembling with the aftershocks, the same as his. She tightened her hold on him as she pushed him down more, and his sharp teeth pressed against her delicate skin.

‘Bite me,' she moaned.

It wasn't her. Her human half would rather die than be tied to him; he knew that. But he had lost the will to fight the moment she had opened her legs for him again.

He had to. He had to.

The sound of a beating heart penetrated his foggy head. Not one, but two.

The fog cleared immediately when he realised what he had almost done. This was the mother of his child. He was supposed to protect her, not end her life.

Cain released his hold on him and retreated, leaving him to face his guilt alone. He put her down so fast that she almost fell, but he caught her and then put as much space as possible between them in the dressing room.

"Jackson?" Layla asked breathlessly.

He tucked himself back into his jeans before he turned around to face her. Layla's face was flushed, and she was breathing as hard as he was. She was holding onto the walk for support. He had almost killed her. Fuck.

All he could hear now was the sound of his heartbeat as that realisation sunk in.

"Clean yourself up and go back to your sister," he growled.

Layla looked down at her naked lower half and then back at him as if she didn't know what had happened. And her eyes weren't glowing anymore.

Had her wolf side already started to overpower her? She had already shown strong red wolf traits when she had hidden her scent from everyone but him when she had been in heat, and then there were the wolves who had miraculously healed, as well as the dead wolves in the woods the night of the attack.

Was she aware of any of it?

"Um... Yes, I..."

Layla stopped talking and grabbed her trousers and panties from the floor. Her body was still trembling, but it was from something other than the effects of her orgasm on her body. She appeared to be in shock.

Fuck!

He felt like the biggest dick for giving in to his desires when she didn't know what was happening. That was the only reason she had followed him into his room in the first place, not to get fucked against the wall.

"Layla," he whispered.

Layla stopped at the doorway with her clothes covering her modesty.

"It was Costas who had come looking for us," he admitted. "He won't be a problem anymore."

She turned, her eyes wide as she took in the information. He sighed and walked towards her. It was no use fighting how he felt about her. Those feelings were only half reciprocated, but she owned every inch of him regardless. And she owned the beast within him that no one else in the world could tame.

Maybe that was enough for a man who had caused nothing but death and destruction until he'd been cursed. Perhaps it was what he deserved.

He lifted his hand to brush fly-away locks of her hair from her face.

"Don't be scared. Spend time with your sister and then come to bed. I'll tell you everything you want to know."

He had to, anyway. His pack wanted to kill them both.