Page 14

Chapter fourteen

Dirus Morales

She was looking at me like I was one of them, and it fucked with everything inside me. She was shocked I would do such a thing, and that little bit of trust I gained with her was right out the fucking window.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” I put my hands up to show her I meant no harm. “Wolves say that to describe someone being impulsive.”

“You said–”

“I meant what I said,” I growled, pissed that I allowed things to get back to here. “I’m not going to do anything you don’t want me to.”

“You’re growling at me.”

“I’m growling at myself, not you.” I took a deep breath and smothered the rumble in my chest the best I could. I’d stop breathing if that undid the damage I did.

“What were you doing?”

A strange blend of a scoff, laugh, and a snarl ripped through me. “I was kissing you.”

Her eyebrows went up and her eyes grew wide. “What?”

“A man’s never kissed you?”

She frowned. “No. It serves no purpose.”

“You kiss the kid, right?”

Her eyebrows tensed at the comparison. “It’s affection for someone I care about. Men don’t kiss.”

Right, because they don’t care about the women. You don’t kiss property.

“I care about you.” More and more by the second. This woman. “Can I show you?”

I waited while the confusion ping-ponged over her face, going back and forth. I didn’t dare move. If I wanted to come out of this communication fumble, I knew not to take one step.

“You are so strange. Why would you care about me?”

“I don’t know,” I said, honestly. “I hate the only other celestial witch I know, and I’m not one to give a shit about someone’s tears.”

The honesty, as blunt as it was, made her shoulders relax. I took a measured step closer, watching for any signs she would grab her baby to disappear into the woods. When I was sure she was steady, I slid closer.

“I think I like that you’re fucked up too,” I admitted when I was less than a step away from her.

This time, I aimed my lips at her forehead. Not letting my cock take the lead again. She jolted, but didn’t bolt. Her fingers grabbed my shirt, like she would push me away.

I was shocked when she relaxed into it, even going so far as to press her forehead deeper into me.

I grabbed the sides of her head to deepen it. Something so strangely intimate about it. Have I ever kissed a woman on the forehead before? I didn’t think that I did. That would be too intense for a man who didn’t commit to anything other than his pack.

It was so innocent, but part of me realized how huge it was for two people who’d never truly connected to someone of the opposite sex.

Her arms wrapped around my waist to hold me close, and a broken place inside me quivered. The feeling terrified me. This tiny woman couldn’t hold shattered pieces of me. She deserved more than an orphaned mutt who spent his life covered in blood.

Still, I tucked her head under my chin.

“This is weird,” she said in a whisper.

“Yeah, it is.” But I didn’t let her go.

Who was I kidding? It was too fucking late.

I’d seen the stars under every sky there was, but they absolutely radiated above her. Like she powered them instead of the other way around.

A soft light that didn’t shy away from the dirty nature of the darkness.

My Starshine.

I was so fucked.