Page 32 of Tempting Her Grumpy Protector (Kindred Tales Spicy Shorts #7)

GREER

Her words hit him like a punch to the gut.

I hate being bitten. Absolutely hate it.

Greer kept walking, his jaw tight, ignoring the questioning glance from a passing Thropp’ian male. He didn’t stop until he’d rounded another corner, out of sight, out of earshot. Only then did he let himself breathe—though the breath came out ragged, as if something had lodged deep in his chest.

So that was it. All this time he’d been telling himself there were a hundred reasons why Sunny could never be his—why she shouldn’t be his—and now he had the biggest one of all.

She hated being bitten.

And he was a Pitch Blood Kindred . His bite wasn’t just part of his nature—it was the only way he could truly claim a mate. The only way to Bond for life. Without it, he had nothing to give her but half-measures and frustration.

Well, that settles it, he told himself grimly, lengthening his stride toward the hut. She might want me now, in the heat of a moment, but there’s no future in it. I can’t change what I am. And I’ll be damned before I ever sink my fangs into a female who doesn’t want it.

The image of her on her hands and knees the night before, panting, moaning, begging for more as he fucked her with the toy, rose unbidden in his mind. He crushed it ruthlessly. That wasn’t the same. Lust made people reckless…desperate. Lust didn’t mean she wanted what he had to give.

She was never going to want it—never going to want him.

Greer raked a hand through his hair and clenched his teeth.

He would protect her, guard her, and keep her safe until this mission was over—which it nearly was.

Then he’d go back to the Elite Corps , and she’d go back to her research, and that would be the end of it. They would never see each other again.

Better for her. Better for him.

So why did the thought feel like a blade twisting in his chest?