There she went, playing a woman’s game again, and suddenly, I was certain I was going to lose, even with the wisdom of hindsight on my side. She was an adult, and I was an adult, and she wanted me, and I wanted her, and was there really anything else that mattered?

I was starving for a taste of her, and a starving man can’t think straight. A starving man is a mindless force driven by impulse and need, and at that point, a starving man would have made me look rational and patient.

You won’t be able to take this back, a voice whispered from deep in my mind as I bent toward her. That voice was right. Abby wasn’t a temporary scratch for a casual itch. Alphas and tabbies do not hook up. They get married, and start families, and run territories.

But Abby was already taken. If I touched her again, I’d be crossing a line I’d sworn never to even approach again.

Yet the moment my mouth met hers, all the warnings and consequences faded into blissful silence. There was no longer room in my head for anything but Abby.

EIGHT

Abby

Jace kissed me, and my entire life seemed to grind to a halt, as if the planet had suddenly stopped rotating. His hands grazed my jaw to cup my head, his fingers sliding gently into my hair. Chills followed in the wake of his warm touch.

He tilted my head to one side and his mouth opened against mine. A satisfied sound slid up my throat, and I stood on my toes, wordlessly asking for more. Then brazenly taking it.

My head spun. All of the rules, and warnings, and consequences blew away like dead leaves in the wind, and what remained was fresh, and new, and green. I could breathe without that claustrophobic feeling in my chest—the wedding is coming, you’re all out of time, the wedding is coming—for the first time in years.

I wanted to touch and be touched, and that had never happened with anyone other than Jace. That was a fucking miracle, all on its own, and I jerked back with surprise at the realization.

Jace’s hands stayed at the back of my jaw, his fingers still curled into my hair. “You okay? Is this okay?”

“Yes. Don’t stop.” I turned to kiss his palm. “Please.”

His heartbeat spiked. “You sure?”

“So sure. I just…” I could feel my face flush. “You’re the only person I’ve ever kissed, and...” I shrugged. “I like it.”

His eyes widened. “Brian never…”

“Just on the cheek.”

“That boy is a fool,” Jace growled. Then he bent toward me and tilted my face up, and that was the kiss that changed my life. The kiss that opened my eyes and woke up my body, and showed me exactly what I’d been missing. That kiss was gentle, but it built with steady intensity toward a frantic climax that left me breathless, and astonished, and eager for more.

I’d never felt so desired in my entire life.

I kissed Jace back, taking my cues from him, and a primal sound of satisfaction rumbled from deep in his throat. His hands trailed over my cotton-clad shoulders, then guided my arms around his neck, where my fingers intertwined out of some instinct I hadn’t known I’d possessed. I only knew I didn’t want to let him go.

His tongue greeted mine, teasing lightly, and when I realized I could tease too, he made that sound again. It was more feline than human—a carnal growl of pleasure and fulfillment. He nibbled my lower lip, and I slid my hands into his hair as he kissed a slow, hot trail over my chin toward my neck, waking me up inch by blissful inch.

“Jace,” I whispered when his tongue reached my collarbone, and when he froze, I realized I’d broken whatever spell had possessed him. He took an abrupt step back, and the sudden loss of him shocked me like a bucket of cold water thrown over my head. “What’s wrong?” I asked, and his expression was carefully, horribly blank. “Am I messing this up?”

“You’re doing this exactly right.” His voice was the barely restrained rumble of a man about to lose control, but he didn’t look mad. He looked ravenous.

A tantalizing heat unfurled within me. He was telling the truth; I wasn’t the problem.

Yet there was a problem.

“You’re perfect. But I can’t do this again, Abby.” He turned away from me, and my heart fell into my stomach with an ice-cold plop. “Things are different now.”

Again? Now?

He was talking about Faythe, and that had ended badly for him. “But I’m not…” Faythe. Taken. In love with someone else.

“I can’t put my needs above the needs of the Pride.”

“You need me?” I whispered, stunned.

Jace turned to me again, and his eyes had shifted. The feline pupils were impossibly dilated—a testament to how desperately he was clinging to what little control he had left. “But it doesn’t matter,” he insisted. “I can’t have you.” Yet he reached for me without seeming to realize what his hands were doing. His fevered gaze trailed down from my face, and his pulse raced so fast, I got dizzy from the head rush. “I can’t even…”

He blinked, and I saw his willpower snap like a cord under too much pressure.

Jace took two steps forward, then his arms were around me. I gasped when he lifted me until my bare legs wrapped around his waist, and suddenly we were eye to eye. He kissed me again, and the angle was different.

Better.

Perfect.

I forgot about whatever pointless objection he’d been making. It couldn’t possibly matter, because nothing that felt this good could ever be wrong. I knew what wrong felt like. I’d had nightmares about wrong for years, and there wasn’t a single thing about Jace that didn’t feel exactly right.

His kisses grew deeper, bolder, and every stroke of his tongue made me want more. I slid my fingers into his hair and his hands cradled my thighs, a supportive touch that promised everything I could ever want, yet demanded nothing.

Jace worked his way down my neck, tasting, teasing. Electrifying me in ways and places I’d never even been aware of before. When his tongue flitted into the hollow between my collarbones, I groaned, and Jace tensed against me as if I’d flipped that regret switch again. He set me down, and the floor was a cold shock beneath my feet.

Conflict raged behind his eyes—a storm of rivaling needs. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, but I can’t let this happen.” Every muscle in his body was taut, and I found that intoxicating. Jace gave orders and kicked asses on a daily basis, and the thought that I’d put that tension in him made me feel powerful. Wanted. Needed.