Page 88 of His Fated Luna

“Don’t talk about things you can’t handle, Rose,” he warned me sharply.

My anger rose. He talked like it would be too much for me to understand.

“I know what I’m talking about,” I insisted, cheeks flaming.

“How, exactly, do you think we could be more convincing?” he asked, voice hard as steel. He did not sound surprised at all over my revelation.

“You already knew this wasn’t working.” The realization hit me like a cold wave. My anger grew, hot and sharp. “When were you going to tell me?”

“They’ll think we’re still getting to know each other. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Not that big of a deal?” I echoed, disbelief lacing my voice. “You think it’s not a big deal that people are wondering why we’re not physically intimate yet? With the mate pull, we should at least be doing...something!” My voice rose, but I didn’t care. He always did this—decided what I could or couldn’t know. “You were never going to tell me any of this, were you?” I asked, my voice quieter now. “You weren’t going to tell me that—”

A loud thud cut me off. Aiden had punched the wall next to him. Hard. The tension crackled between us, his control slipping.

“And what would you have done if I’d told you?” he ground out. “I already had my doubts when you insisted on coming with me. Dammit, I knew no one here would buy into the story that we were together. You wanted this. You wanted to come. So I let you.And I didn’t want to worry you. It’s not like you can do anything about it except feel guilty and gnaw on your full lips.”

His tone stung. Like a slap to the face. Patronizing. Condescending. I wasn’t going to take that. I walked up to him, heels clicking on the floor, determination stiffening my spine. Ireached up and ran my fingers through his hair—so soft, just like I’d imagined. His whole body jolted like I’d shocked him.

He jerked back, startled.But I wasn’t done. I kept my fingers in his hair, holding him there. His hands stayed clenched at his sides, like he was using every ounce of willpower to stay still. I took a breath, rose up on my tiptoes, and kissed the side of his neck. Then I bit down softly, sucking at the pulse point I felt beneath my lips.

He gasped. His heart thundered against my ears—or maybe it was mine. I couldn’t tell. I was shaking, bracing myself for him to push me away in disgust. But he didn’t. He just stood there, completely still, while I leftmymark on him. Why did this feel so good?

Finally I stepped back, hands on my hips. “Was that really so bad?” I asked, letting a sneer curve my lips.

Aiden looked completely wrecked—his breathing ragged, eyes dazed. A choked noise escaped his lips in reply to my question. I rolled my eyes, sighing.

You’d think he was the virgin, with how he flinched every time I touched him.

Aiden's POV

It was after dinner, and the couples had moved on to drinks and dancing. I was standing against the far wall, chatting with one of the older alphas from my alliance. He was still single, still waiting for his mate, and we talked like old friends over our drinks. But then I felt it—Rose’s eyes on me. I turned, and thereshe was, her gaze steady. She nodded toward the dance floor, where other alphas were slow dancing with their lunas.

I excused myself politely and walked over to her. Dancing wasn’t really my thing, but if Rose wanted to, I’d go along with it.

“You want to dance?” I asked, offering her my hand.

She took it, and for a second, I let myself notice how small her hand felt in mine, how right it felt.

When we reached the dance floor, I kept it friendly—arms around her waist, hands loosely resting at her back. Nothing too close. But apparently that wasn’t enough for her. She let her hands slide up my chest, her palms flat against me, searching, before settling behind my neck. I stiffened. Her touch made my skin hum. Then she started playing with the hair at the nape of my neck, and my mind started screaming at me to kiss her. She bit her bottom lip again, and goddess it turned me on more than anything else ever had.

Then she rose on her toes, leaning in for a quick kiss. I panicked. If I let myself kiss her back, I’d lose control. So I turned my head at the last second, and she ended up kissing my chin. Still, a jolt of pleasure shot through me like lightning.

“What are you doing?” I hissed.

“Relax,” she muttered, trying not to lose patience. “You could at least pretend.”

I gave a bitter laugh that didn’t even touch my eyes. Pretend? I didn’t need to pretend.

“I can’t,” I said.

“Try,” she urged. “Mr. Evans has been watching us all night, and we haven’t danced once. I know…I’m probably the least attractive person to you.”

I nearly groaned aloud.Any more attractive and I’d already have you pinned to the bed, I thought bitterly, horrified that I almost said it out loud. I had to get out of here.

“Stop…stop…I’m not doing this. We aren’t having this conversation.” I pulled my hands from her waist and started walking away, fast.

“Wait!” she called out behind me. I heard her even through the music. I turned, and she caught up.