Page 17 of Rejected Sold Mate (Crystal Creek Wolves #4)

But no. When I considered it, the memory of my father’s face resurfaced, the sickening, drowning sensation that I’d experienced the very last time I’d seen him, and any curiosity or desire to join the witches fled.

It made my stomach roll and my mouth go dry.

For me, magic was a curse. I was lucky that it had never manifested.

Or at least that was what I kept telling myself.

So, I sat quietly, smiling when it was appropriate, and laughing along with everyone else when a spell misfired. I forced myself to be numb to the thought of sharing such a power. My life had changed enough already; I didn’t need anything else.

Even if I had magic, I told myself firmly, keeping a smile plastered on, it wouldn’t be like there's. It would be wrong. Twisted.

It was a mantra I had to keep repeating, and if I was lucky, one day, I might believe it.

***

I got back later than I intended, and when I unlocked the front door, the house was quiet.

Jayce must have been gone, handling some pack business or working on a vehicle for someone.

I’d noticed how hands-on he was with his pack, and when I brought it up, he explained that it helped keep everyone calm to have the Alpha around and visible after such a big territory move.

It was another point in his favor, as far as I was concerned.

When his pack had joined the alliance, there had been so many rumors about the strange Blacktide pack and their mysterious Alpha.

As it turned out, Jayce was a good Alpha, mysterious or not.

It had been a long, emotional, if still enjoyable day, and I wanted to relax.

One of the things I missed the most about my old place was the slightly cramped bathtub that I’d relax in with a glass of wine when the days got too stressful.

As nice as Jayce’s house was, the guest bathroom had a shower stall and nothing more.

It was a nice shower, of course, but no shower could ever live up to a long soak in the tub.

That morning, I passed by Jayce’s room and happened to look into his en-suite bathroom.

There, right in my line of sight, was a large jacuzzi tub, and I’d been hit with a wave of jealousy.

Which was silly, in hindsight. It was his house, after all, and I was sure if I asked, he’d have let me use it.

But we both tended to avoid any conversations that could somehow lead back to the night we’d hooked up, and me being naked in his bathroom was definitely territory I wanted to avoid.

But if Jayce wasn’t home…and he tended to get back from pack meetings pretty late…Maybe I could enjoy the tub without him ever knowing I was in his space.

I’ll be quick, I told myself, feeling almost as giddy about the secret plan as I was about the bath itself. He’ll never know.

I grabbed my robe and shampoo from the guest shower and hustled to Jayce’s room, grinning the entire time. Maybe someday soon I’d be brave enough to just ask to use the jacuzzi, but for the moment, it felt like a reward for all the trials I’d been through since sleeping with Jayce.

His bedroom door was shut, but it opened silently when I turned the knob. The bathroom door was slightly ajar, and I pushed it wider, humming happily to myself as I did so. I paused when steam curled out, humid and warm, but the significance of it didn’t hit me right away.

But Jayce did.

As soon as I pushed the bathroom door open, Jayce was there, and I all but walked into him.

We were both barefoot, and I lost my balance first, instinctively grabbing for his shoulders so I didn’t fall.

I barely had time to look at him—hair wet and slicked back, towel slung low over his hips, and all the planes of his muscles on full display—before I tried to jump back and caused us both to fall.

He caught me around the waist before we could both hit the ground hard, taking most of the impact on one hand so my head didn’t hit the tile. I yelped, shocked.

“Jayce!”

“Rhie,” he responded, but his tone wasn’t surprised. Inside, it was low and rumbling, practically dripping with heat. The world started to filter back in, and each little detail made me breathe harder and harder.

I could feel the cool tile under my back, a sharp contrast to Jayce’s burning hot body all around me.

Every inch of him seemed to be pressed against me, his palm under my head, his other hand on my waist, and his thick thigh wedged between my legs.

He was wearing basically nothing, and when he moved even a little bit, the towel shifted dangerously.

I froze, afraid of making it worse, because if that towel had moved any more, we’d both be in huge trouble. My brain was screaming at me to say something, anything, but I couldn’t conjure up a single word. All I could feel was my racing heart and Jayce.

He looked deep into my eyes, and I looked back.

He wasn’t annoyed that I burst in on him, or angry that I’d caused us to fall.

Instead, there was a burning intensity in his gaze that had me shivering from the tips of my toes to the top of my head.

Jayce’s eyes went lower, lingering on my lips, and in that moment, I was so aware of how close his mouth was to mine…

and how long the two of us had gone without speaking, tangled up in each other like the roots of a tree.

If I closed my eyes, maybe raised my face towards him just a little bit…

“Rhie,” Jayce repeated, and I could feel the rumble of his words where his chest was pressed against mine.

It would be so easy to just give in…but no. We’d come so far, and I couldn’t let it all be undone just because of some primal desires. “You…you should probably get off of me, Jayce.”

“Yeah,” he replied, swallowing hard before he shifted his leg, where his thigh was between mine, and the pressure change made me gasp. “But what if I don’t want to?”