Page 11 of Bound to the Minotaur (Hillcrest Hollow Shifters #2)

Gregory

Her lips were soft beneath mine, warmer than I expected, parting just enough for me to fall. She didn’t pull away. She leaned in, fingers curling into the fabric of my shirt, sighing—as if this were the thing she hadn’t realized she needed until now.

Something in me stilled. Or maybe it was the opposite, something in me snapped . She tasted like the fear still clinging to her edges, but also fire and something wild, something unbroken. I wanted to taste more of it, all of it. The ache in my chest wasn’t just want anymore. It was need .

For one long, suspended breath, the world made sense.

Then I forced myself to stop. I pulled back slowly, breathing hard.

Her lips were flushed, her eyes wide, pupils blown dark.

I didn’t let go of her waist, not right away.

My thumb brushed over the curve of her hip, like my body hadn’t caught up to my mind’s retreat.

She was standing so close I could feel the heat of her skin, the rising tempo of her pulse.

I pressed my forehead to hers and closed my eyes. “I knew you were in danger,” I said, barely above a whisper. “Even before you called.” The words were out before I could stop them. She stilled, just a beat of silence. I felt her breathing shift.

I should’ve kept my mouth shut, but instead I doubled down. “You’ve come to the right man,” I said, lifting my head to look at her. “I will protect you. A power-hungry mobster doesn’t scare me.”

That was the truth. Her father could bring all the noise he wanted.

I wouldn’t break. And if he did manage something beyond me…

well, there were worse things in the world than me.

Chardum the Destroyer owed me a favor or two, and the dragon loved a good excuse to incinerate scum. But Kess didn’t know that.

She shook her head and stepped back, her expression tightening with something caught between fear and anger.

“No,” she said quietly. “You don’t understand.

If I stay here, he’ll come. He’ll send people.

You could get killed.” Her fear was a tangible thing; I could taste it in the air, simmering between us.

“I’m not going to die,” I said simply. Three centuries hadn’t seen me dead, despite the rise and fall of several wars that had pulled on me.

Sundered some of my brethren with the need to protect, and with it, the agony of failing.

I was still standing, and I would remain standing; no silly mobster would change that.

Especially if he came to my turf, and he would. Kess knew it. I knew it.

“You might. You will . I can’t let anyone else get hurt. I need to go.” Her concern for me was both lovely and mildly offensive to my pride. She didn’t know, though, what I was, what I could do. That I was build to be the ultimate protector, and that I was build to be hers.

“You’re not going anywhere,” I warned her, with a bite to my tone that made it clear I was done talking. That got me a glare. She folded her arms over her chest and looked at me like I was just one more in a long line of men trying to pen her in.

“I’m already running from one controlling man,” she snapped. “I don’t need another.” Fire and fury, all wrapped in a tiny, pale little package. Cozy in her soft, knitted sweater. I wanted to pull her back into my arms, to hold her there until she believed she was safe.

I felt something twist low in my gut, condemnation?

Pleasure? Not sure, but the smirk that pulled at my mouth told me I was amused by that bite of hers.

That I liked it, and I didn’t even feel an ounce of guilt for ordering her to stay.

“You haven’t seen controlling yet,” I said, voice low and dry.

She looked like she might throw something at me.

I turned away before I said something worse. Better to feed her than push my luck.

I pulled the tray from the oven, the scent of garlic and rosemary flooding the kitchen.

The vegetables had crisped up nicely. The mushrooms were bubbling with melted cheese, golden and perfect.

I set to plating everything while she stood there, steam in her hair and rebellion in her eyes.

She was beautiful, and I was far beyond the point of no return now.

Leave? She wasn’t ever leaving now. It was too late for that.

We were both trapped, and if I was going down, then so was she.

“One more time,” I said as I set the plates on the table.

“Don’t go into my backyard. Do not wander into my maze.

” My whole body thrummed at the idea, but my mind still grappled with the truth.

This little human just wandering into my territory, just like that?

Kess, mine? I knew the improbability of that, especially with two soulmated pairs in town.

But I couldn’t deny the pull any longer.

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. You said. Something about being lost forever—” Her tone was flippant now, as if she didn’t believe me.

I looked over my shoulder and met her gaze.

Held it. She ducked her head after a long moment, heat stealing across her face.

That shouldn’t be there; this was serious. That it was there, meant I was right.

“I mean it,” I said, the threat clear and sinister as it filled the air between us. Her mouth opened, then shut. Her face flushed even more, and it was definitely not from fear. There was something in her expression I hadn’t seen before.

Curiosity.

Temptation.

Dangerous.

I turned back to the food, shaking it off. I was treading close to a line I wasn’t sure I could uncross.

We sat down at the table. She folded herself small in the chair, Avis hopping into her lap like the little bastard owned the place. She nibbled at her food, distracted at first—until the flavor sank in. Then, she ate in earnest.

Good.

I watched her from the corner of my eye as I ate. Every fiber of me still buzzed with the taste of her, the feel of her pressed against me, and the unshakable truth that had settled into my bones, like an oath.

She was mine to protect now, even if it killed me.

I tried to focus on the damn dishes, the water running too hot and steam burning my knuckles. It didn’t help. Every time I blinked, I saw her again—curled up on my couch, legs tucked under her, fingers flying across the keys of that little laptop like she was typing her way out of my life.

Looking for another job. Another town. Another escape. My teeth ground together. I rinsed the last plate and set it in the drying rack with more force than necessary. I hadn’t claimed her. Not yet. That didn’t mean she wasn’t mine.

The peach cobbler had sounded like a good idea earlier—something sweet to round out the night, something warm to offer her, maybe coax a smile from her lips that wasn’t shadowed by fear or doubt.

I knew how to bake, dammit. I liked it. That didn’t mean it didn’t feel ridiculous now, elbow-deep in sugar and butter while my thoughts spiraled out of control.

The smell of cinnamon and peaches filled the kitchen before long.

She hadn’t spoken, but I could feel her watching me—not with her eyes (though I was sure she peeked more than once), but with something else.

That tether that had begun the moment she walked into my life.

And every second she spent here, breathing the air that was mine, letting Avis curl around her like she belonged, only made it stronger. It made me ravenous.

I set the cobbler on the table to cool and leaned in the doorframe, arms crossed, just to look at her.

She was hunched over that device, her hair curling and a little messy, reminding me of our kiss earlier.

Her glasses were perched on the tip of her nose; she kept pushing them up with a dainty finger, but they’d slide right back down.

I had to look away. She was too tempting, and offering her the peach cobbler was out of the question now. I’d lose it. Her taste mingling with my favorite dessert? I’d go crazy. I’d forget all about the rules of this world, do things I’d regret, and scare her away forever.

I grunted, grabbed my coat from the hook by the door, and growled under my breath. “Avis, watch her.” The cat didn’t so much as flick an ear. Just stretched luxuriously where he’d draped himself across the back of the couch like a smug little gargoyle.

I stepped outside before I could change my mind. The air bit at my face the moment I left the warmth of the house, the chill slicing through the last of the heat her presence had put under my skin. I let it. I welcomed it. Anything to keep my head clear.

She was safe—for now. He didn’t know exactly where she was. Not yet. Or if he did, he couldn’t reach her in just a few short hours. But he would, and I’d be damned if I let the town get caught in the crosshairs without warning.

I broke into a jog, boots crunching over the frost-hardened dirt of my drive, then pounding the shoulder of the road until I reached the edge of the woods. The darkness there was heavy—the kind that swallowed light and sound alike—but it welcomed me like an old friend.

I didn’t stop.

The shift took me as I ran, my stride changing mid-step, a flush of warmth, a burst of light.

Then, my skin stretched over something larger, older.

My breath fogged the air in great clouds, and the world sharpened into scent, movement, and instinct.

I flicked my ears, shook my head to feel the weight of my horns, then slashed the air behind me with my tail.

The bull in me surged forward, hooves striking hard earth, muscles loose and wild.

The forest opened for me. Branches bent. Wind hissed. The stars blinked in silence above.But even in the thrill of movement, I couldn’t shake it—that twitch between my shoulder blades. Like something watching. Waiting. Breathing with me.

Not her father.

No… something closer.