Page 144 of His Fated Luna

“I mean, I thought…” I wrung my hands nervously in front of me. Then exhaled. “Never mind what I thought. If you’d rather not then…”

Aiden swung around.

“I don’t want to do anything with you, Rose…” My heart sunk at those words. “Until you’re ready. It’s not about me. It’s about giving you time.”

“We don’t have time,” I replied, side-stepping what I really wanted to say. “Stop trying to be so chivalrous.”

“Stop trying to sacrifice yourself. Can’t you for once do what you want?” Aiden grit out, fists clenched at his sides. “You have a hero complex and I’m not about to be part of your next crusade. You...me…” He gestured wildly between the two of us. “Losing your virginity to me shouldn’t be about ‘what’s good for the pack'! That’s not how... I want…” And then he closed his mouth. I took his silence for rejection. Because it irked me to no end that Lexia was his one and only lover. I may not have been his first but Isure as hell wanted to be his last. I couldn't help but think that if Aiden wasn't willing to take that step with me, it meant he must still have some residual feelings for Lexia.

“You don’t want me,” I breathed out. I held back the tears threatening to well over. “You don’t…” And then I squared my shoulders, trying to compose myself before my next scathing reply. “Well, if the only problem is that I’m a virgin, I guess I’ll just have to find someone to take it,” I snapped. I walked forward to push past him.

A growl tore from Aiden's throat at my comment, and he grabbed me before I could push past his form.

“No one touches you,” Aiden growled. His fingernails began to extend into claws, and canines protruded from his gums. Clearly, he was on edge.

“What, you don’t want me but no one else can want me either?” I challenged, tossing my head back angrily. My curls flew about me wildly, like snakes ready to strike. With the strength born from being the luna, I tore myself away from his grip. My eyes changed to yellow. “You can’t keep pushing me away and expect me to stick around.” My voice was a low growl now.

Aiden's hands came forward. I backed away from him as Aiden attempted to block my path to the door. His claw ripped down the side of my charcoal gray knit skirt in a bid to grab me and the seams gave way. It was the same skirt I'd worn at the dinerfor my date with Jake the first time I’d seen him after his return from England.

I gasped in outrage at the huge tear down one side, my own claws extending as I took a few steps back from him.

“You’re going in the right direction,” Aiden growled.

I turned to see that his bed was right behind me.

“I’m leaving to find someone who actually wants me!” I threatened, again trying to get by.

Aiden gave a mirthless laugh, retracting his claws. He wrapped his arms around my waist as I tried to run past, lifting me from behind so that my back was pushed up flush against his chest. He turned, throwing me onto the bed. My claws reached for him, creating tears across the front of his shirt.

“You're not as smart as I thought you were if you think I don't want you,” Aiden huffed, straddling me and leaning over me, gripping my wrists with one hand so I couldn’t slash away at him. “But I’m not letting external forces dictate decisions about our personal life. Screw the pack. This is about us. I love you too damn much, Rose, and I don’t want to mess up with you.”

Amidst the haze of anger, his words seeped into my brain, and I ceased to struggle against him.

My breath caught, my claws retracted. Aiden let his free hand run up my newly exposed thigh as he spoke evenly. “I’m afraid I’ll lose you…I don’t want to lose you.” His voice broke slightly.

It was so much information. He loved me. He said he loved me. He said he was afraid of losing me.

I swallowed as Aiden's hand inched higher up my thigh.

“You know—” Aiden began evenly, his breathing still harsh and his cheeks still red from anger. There was a possessive edge to his voice brought on from my taunts and I clearly felt it. “These skirts” —he reached the hem of my skirt and began tugging at the rip— “are going to be the death of me.”

“I can’t imagine why,” I said in a small voice, wary of the predatory look in his eyes. He was looking down at me hungrily, possessively too, as if I was the last slice of cake left and he was afraid someone else might take it from him. My mind translated the way he was looking at me and I tried to swallow down the lust raging within me. He was here, on top of me...telling me he loved me.

“I remember the first time I saw you in this.” His fingernails belonging to the hand tugging at my skirt suddenly elongated again, becoming claws, effectively ripping the skirt in two so that it fell away in scraps, revealing my black underwear.

I gasped.

“Been wanting to do that.” Aiden grinned wickedly. Retracting his claws, he leaned down closer to me. “I wondered what it’d feel like to have these…” He squeezed the bare skin on my upper thigh. “…wrapped around my waist.” And then he lifted one of my legs up to his waist, guiding it into the proper position to hook around him. “Like this.”

I felt myself going weak in the knees as I felt him slot his hips securely against mine. I felt his arousal. Aiden cupped my backside, grinding into me while moaning.

“Rose,” he panted as an age-old instinct guided me in locking my other leg around him. His hand released my wrists, fingers tangled in my hair.

“Aiden.” My breathy response bellied my raging desire as electrifying jolts shot through my skin.

“Say my name again,” he groaned, gyrating against me.

“Aiden,” I responded as he moved against me causing a delicious friction between our bodies.