Chapter 11

11

KILLIAN

A t long last, I have my hands on my flighty mate, but this isn't exactly how I imagined it going.

Twice, she's run from me, and if I didn't have my fingers buried in her long dark hair, she'd be gone once more.

With her head tipped back, her face tilted upward and her weight only supported by where her shoulders rest back against my chest, she's in a vulnerable position, uncomfortable for a trained guard like her. I'm not stupid enough to think she couldn't get out of my grip if she wanted. She's allowing me to hold her like this, and yet, she's not submitting. Her emerald-green eyes flash in the darkness as she looks up at me, and her furious growl mixes with my own.

"I could ask you the very same thing," she snarls. "Except wait , I know why, because I had to watch you let my sister pet you like a dog. At least I had the courtesy to wait until you weren't around to let another man touch me."

I can't tell if she's fucking with me or not, but it doesn't matter, her words send my wolf over the edge, my entire body, trembling with rage. My vision darkens, spots appearing in front of my eyes as I struggle to control myself. Instead of fighting against my hold as the sound of my fury fills the room, and my chest vibrates against her back, Charlotte leans into me.

"You better be messing with me, Charlotte, or Theo's a dead man walking." I recognised the scent of one of my most senior guards immediately. He was posted outside my room earlier. I like Theo, but I won't have any choice but to make him pay if he's touched what's mine.

My wolf is even more dominant than most. He won't stand for any disrespect.

Charlotte merely hums, neither confirming nor denying. My little mate is a stubborn one.

I lean down and sniff her side. His scent is literally everywhere, and it's making me see red, possessiveness rising up inside me.

"Why did you run from me, mate?" It's the question I've been dying to get an answer to since the moment I saw her sprinting across the grass.

She might have been trying to get away from me, but everyone knows you don't run from a predator. All she's done is made catching her all the sweeter. Even if I can't enjoy the spoils of the hunt.

"You don't get to call me that. Not after that performance ." Charlotte spits out the words, her tone dripping with scorn, but her eyes glisten, giving away her true feelings. And knowing that I've caused her pain is tearing me up inside.

We might not be able to be together, but I'd never want to be needlessly cruel.

"What about our performance? Is it going to be harder to be my girlfriend, or not to be my mate?" Or at least, I'm guessing that's what Zane told me upstairs when I was daydreaming about the woman currently acting like she wants to claw my eyes out.

"I can't believe you agreed to be with another woman, for show or otherwise. You couldn't at least wait until we sorted this out?"

Ouch. Her words hit their mark, and I loosen my grip, letting her turn to face me. I don't let go of her long dark hair completely, instead letting the silky strands slide through my fingers. Tipping her chin up, I want her to see me when I say this.

"I never agreed to it. Or at least, I didn't know that's what I was agreeing to."

Charlotte blinks up at me and scoffs. Those green eyes blaze, her hair sticks up wildly from my hold, and her cheeks flush with anger. But I can feel her rapid heartbeat and her unsteady breathing.

She might be furious now, but I made her upset, and I'll never forgive myself for it.

Reaching out to hold her hands, I cringe when she flinches away from my touch.

"Talk to Zane. Get my sister to do it instead, since you two seem to have hit it off so well."

"Charlotte, I don't want your sister."

I want you . That's what I want to say, but can't, because I'm not planning on sticking around.

Dad made me promise to keep the Walkers safe if they ever got involved in the shifter world, which they have. But once that's done, I'm leaving.

As hard as it will be to deny this attraction, it will be impossible if we get in too deep. If I get a taste of her, it'll kill me to give her up. Looking at Charlotte in her combat boots and tactical belt, I doubt she trained her entire life to follow me home and live on a rural farm in the back arse of beyond in Mayo.

Charlotte scowls and folds her arms, pushing her breasts higher and drawing my attention away from her stunning face to her strong, toned body.

Unable to resist her, I stroke the back of my knuckle across her collarbone and then lower down the tempting valley between her breasts. The urge to bite the soft flesh, to cup her and feel the weight in my hands, is primal, and almost impossible to ignore.

"You think I'd prefer your sister, even when the fates have gifted me the perfect woman?"

Quirking an eyebrow when she stays quiet, I realise that's exactly what she thinks. I can't have that. Glowering down at her, I walk forward, forcing her to walk backward until her back hits the wall with a thud.

Her palms flatten against the wall at her back.

I lean forward, resting both forearms on the wall beside her head.

Her eyes widen, and her breath comes in tiny pants as I cage her in.

" Answer me. You feel the same thing I feel. Do you really think I could desire another?" It's a challenge, because rationally, after feeling the strength of this attraction, she can't possibly think I'd want anyone else.

The notion that I'd pick her sister comes from somewhere else. And I need her to know it's absurd.

"Everyone else does. She's been preparing for this her entire life."

I can see that. And she is a beautiful woman. But even if I wasn't leaving, she's not what I want. I don't want someone who'll be the doting, submissive partner. Charlotte is brave, poised and strong, and if I ever wanted a mate, she's who I'd choose, every single time.

"I don't care what anyone else thinks. There is nobody else I could want more than you. There is nobody else I want to kiss, to taste, to touch." To bite. "To fuck."

Charlotte's eyes fall closed, her dark eyelashes resting on her tanned skin, as I brush my lips across hers in a delicate caress. This is a bad idea. A fucking terrible one. I'm supposed to be stopping this before it even begins, but I can't help myself.

I need her to know she's the only one for me.

When her hands come up to my chest, and she doesn't push me back, I feel triumphant. And I know she's already under my skin. Far more than I planned to allow.

"You can't go back there covered in my scent," she whispers. "They're probably looking for you already."

My wolf surges forward, unhappy that anyone would dare question our actions, especially in regard to our mate. But much as I hate it, she's right.

Instead of touching her silky skin or taking her full pillowy lips in a bruising kiss, I let my breath ghost across her skin as I lean in and suck in a deep lungful of her scent. Enough to get me through the next few torturous hours.

She wriggles in my grip, expecting me to pull away, but instead of releasing her, my hold tightens.

I'm not finished with her yet.

"You still haven't told me why you ran." I'm pushing my luck, I know that, but I need to know. If she really wanted to, she could get away from me now. But she's letting me be in charge, for now, and that knowledge is doing something to me.

I'm dying to know if she'd relinquish control in the bedroom, too. Fuck, that would be so fucking hot, to have this firecracker turn to putty in my hands. Deep down, she trusts me. Her wolf trusts mine not to harm her.

"For the same reason you allowed my sister to touch what should be mine. Because this is never going to happen." Steeling herself, she straightens and looks me dead in the eye. "I'll go along with Zane's little ploy, for now, because it will keep my wolf happy until we break the bond. But as soon as we know you're safe, that's it."

Our gazes lock, my heart skipping a beat, when I see how deathly serious she is.

She doesn't want me as a mate. It makes me a complete hypocrite when I'm planning on leaving her to return to Ireland, but it still stings. More than stings. It's a crushing blow to my ego.

"Why?" I demand.

My wolf needs to understand why this perfect woman, the one made just for me, thinks we shouldn't be together.

"I'm not what you need," she says simply, and the rumble in my chest gives away my displeasure. "Stop that. You've no intention of claiming me, either. Otherwise, you'd have your teeth buried in my neck right now."

My gaze falls to the delicate spot on her shoulder where my mark would go. I can't argue with her logic, or I shouldn't, if I had sense, but I'm not in full control of my faculties right now.

Rocking my hips forward so she can feel just how much I really do want her, I let my imagination conjure images of me, balls deep inside her, my teeth marking her pretty skin. Slamming my fist against the wall, I curse. This is so fucking unfair. It's nearly enough to make me come on the spot.

Charlotte whimpers, her lips parting, and her eyes falling shut.

"Do you feel that, Charlotte?" I whisper, dragging my lips every so lightly across hers, sucking in her breath as it leaves her body in a needy whimper.

This is as much of a struggle for her as it is for me.

"I want to. More than anything. I want to fuck you right here, bury myself in your tight cunt, until you scream my name. I'd sink my teeth into your neck and mark you as mine forever." Why am I torturing the two of us like this?

Charlotte tilts her pelvis, so my rock-hard length rubs her in just the right spot.

"But by admitting you're my fated mate, I'd be painting a giant target on your back. And I won't put you at risk any more than is necessary."

Charlotte moans, grinding against me once more, as she uses me to take her pleasure.

"Fuck," I curse, nuzzling her hair and taking in as much of her scent as I can. It's like a drug, and I'm officially hooked.

"Then we both agree. This can't happen." Her voice is soft and gentle, despite the harsh words.

When I don't answer, unable to say out loud that I can't make her mine forever, Charlotte looks up at me from under heavy lids. Her arousal clouds the air, making my head spin.

If she rubs against me one more time, I'm going to explode in my trousers like a fucking teenager.

"Agreed?" she asks, her voice husky, as she touches my arm, snapping me out of my lust-filled daze.

I can't stop the images of her beneath me, coming, writhing on my cock, for long enough to form a coherent sentence. My mouth will never agree out loud that she can't be mine. Instead, I nod.

And even though she's the one who said it first, the light in her eyes dim.

"Good." Her tone is clipped as she finally puts some pressure through her arms and pushes me back. She's fit and strong, and not easily breakable. Perfect for me.

Every fibre of my being resists giving her space as she smooths down her clothes and glances toward the door to the main house, planning her escape once more.

I want to take it back, to promise her forever, but I can't. The truth is, I don't plan to stay here, so admitting she's mine will put her at risk when I won't be around to protect her.

No. My wolf is rabid, snarling and snapping inside me at the idea that I'd even countenance breaking the bond. But what choice do we have?

"Can you handle pretending we're together?" I'm trying to make this easier on both of us, but she doesn't see it that way, and she levels me with a withering glare.

"If you can handle it, so can I," she challenges.

We glare at each other, both horny, hurting, and too fucking stubborn to be the one to admit this is going to be hell.

"Fine then," I mutter, my wounded pride needing to be the one who doesn't fall apart.

"Fine, Your Majesty ." With a mocking bow, Charlotte turns to leave, sending my blood pressure through the roof. She's dismissing me, but nobody dismisses royalty. I get that she's pissed off. Well, I am too.

I snatch her wrist and spin her back around to face me. "Until we can sort this out, how about you tell Theo to keep his hands to himself, unless you want to be to blame when he loses them."

Charlotte sneers. "I'll try to resist all the men sleeping in the bunkhouse next to me, if you stop letting my sister feel you up in my presence." With that, she walks off, head held high.

I don't move for a full minute, because I can't. Not with the deafening rush of blood echoing through my ears, and the blind rage causing a veil of red mist to cloud my eyes.

Breathe, Killian. Breathe.

Because if you don't get a handle on this, you're going to do something you'll both regret for the rest of your lives.