Grace of a Wolf by Lenaleia

Chapter 186: Caine: Control (Or Lack Thereof)

CAINE

I shouldn’t be here.

Not like this, ogling my mate when she’s still weak and exhausted.

But I’m weak to the temptation wrapped in her skin, to the overwhelming scent of blueberry muffins in this space, and to the indecent fantasies taking up most of my thoughts.

Jack-Eye said he learned a new trick, Fenris reminds me.

I hadn’t paid much attention at the time, and now I regret it. I’ll have to ask Jack-Eye for more details. The thought of asking him for details of his sex life is... not appealing.

But he’d mentioned one crucial point: it didn’t require touching.

My eyes darken as I curse the me of yesterday, too impatient to deal with Jack-Eye’s perverted ramblings while I worried about bringing my frail mate back to the pack she’d escaped.

Against my better judgment, my hand reaches out. The pathetic square of cloth peels away from its clinging embrace, baring the whole of her breasts to my view.

Satisfaction rumbles in my chest, and her nipples tighten in the humid air.

I barely keep myself from groaning.

She exhales, a shuddering little breath, and it instantly drags out memories of her flushed beneath me, responsive to my every touch.

Focus.

Taxes. Rogue disputes. Jack-Eye’s dissertation on scat identification when we were pups. All topics to cool the fire burning in my loins, and yet—

Nothing works. Not with her standing there, droplets sliding down her skin, wetness darkening the waist of her thin panties.

The attraction of a mate bond is brutal for any wolf, but this—this is torture beyond what I imagined possible. Every day I’ve kept my hands off her deserves a goddamn medal. The longer we go without feeding the bond, the worse it gets, like an addiction crawling beneath my skin.

Control yourself. Fenris’s voice rumbles through my thoughts, unusually serious.

mind assents, but

the energy transfer now?" My voice comes out

thing I should be doing is pressuring her with my own lack

lips, running her tongue over her bottom lip, and blood rushes to places

Fuck.

shrinking, and I remind myself she’s not in control. She’s as much of a victim to this mate bond as I am. Perhaps more, as she’s a

would keep his damn hands at his sides and

not a

learned a little," she

I’m desperate to taste.

take a step back, putting precious inches between us before I do something we’ll

her brow I probably wouldn’t have caught if I weren’t staring at her so intently. But then she shakes her head

My hands twitch.

its own. "Do you need

washing

okay to

to touch her, my blasted wolf reminds

hair over her shoulder and presenting

My mouth goes dry.

deep breath that does absolutely nothing to clear my head. The scent

blood without flinching. I’ve sentenced traitors to death

your soap?" The question comes out through gritted teeth, and I hope she

and I feel like a goddamn heel for not speaking

says softly. "I was just... hot and sweaty. Trying to get a little

Hot. Sweaty. Relief.

confines of my jeans. Every word out of her mouth might as well be foreplay.

not some

this level

Sure you can.

Damn wolf.