Page 42 of The Wolf Lord's Mate

Nathaniel was making me uneasy.

It wasn't anything in particular that he was doing, but rather what he wasn't doing. He was being surprisingly normal, his usual clinginess having waned with the afternoon.

His eyes had been glued to me in the hot spring, watching every movement with predatory precision. I could not say I did play the part of the prey, my heart beating so fast in my chest that I thought it would burst. That male's attention was going to be the death of me, one way or another.

After we had returned from the hot spring, Nathaniel had left me to my own devices and informed me that he would be out hunting.

"Don't you need a weapon?" I asked him, curled up on the chair in front of the fireplace, "A crossbow, or something?"

I had pilfered through the small collection of books Nathaniel kept at the cabin, and had managed to find one about the native plant life of the region. Not enthralling, but it reminded me of my mother, and her strange little cure-alls that she would make with whatever herbs and plants she could find.

"Why would I need a weapon to go hunting?" Nathaniel asked me, lacing up his boots.

"To kill the animal," I closed the book, my thumb caught on the page I was reading, "Unless you intend to catch it with your bare hands?"

"How else would I catch it?" Nathaniel straightened, peering over at me. His natural scent had grown stronger since washing, all of the smells of the woods falling away and leaving me surrounded by cinnamon and cloves. It goaded me, making me itch for more.

Nathaniel was usually close enough to touch, always placing himself within my reach, but for whatever reason he had placed himself on the opposite side of the room. He had let me dress without following me upstairs, had let me sit by myself, and had not even fussed over me when I went to fix myself a cup of tea.

Nathaniel's gaze had never left me, I could still feel it searing into me, but there was something—different, almost, about the way he was looking at me. That insistent eagerness had changed, settling into something else. What it had settled into, I did not know, but I could not tell whether it was an improvement or not.

I did not trust him, that was for certain, and despite his relaxed air, I could not help but feel as tense as ever.

"I won't be gone long," Nathaniel said, "Do not leave the perimeter of this cabin. You're safe here, but there are beasts deeper in the woods, my darling."

"Yes, yes," I opened my book again with a sigh, "Don't get eaten, I understand. I will try my hardest to stay in one piece until you return," I glanced up at Nathaniel with a tight smile, "It's not like I've survived on my own for who knows how many years."

"I don't doubt your competence, but it would mean very little against a hungry bear," Nathaniel's gaze flicked down my face, tracing over my form with approval, "I won't be long." Nathaniel said, walking towards me casually.

I nodded, looking up at him, half expecting him to hesitate in front of me as he so often did, waiting for me to touch him first.

But Nathaniel did not hesitate. He stopped in front of me, reaching a hand out to cup my face, tracing his thumb over my cheek. I was so shocked that I didn't even think to pull away, and then Nathaniel's lips were on mine.

Nathaniel kissed me, softly and sweetly, sweeping his lips gently across mine. His other hand found where mine had been resting on the arm of the chair, and he tracing his fingers over my palm, shivers dancing across my skin. Tingles erupted everywhere he touched, and a coil of warmth tightened in my belly.

Sudden need overwhelmed me, and I leaned into the kiss, leaned into him, chasing the sensation of his lips against mine, but he was already pulling away. Nathaniel broke the kiss only seconds after he started it, and I caught myself just as a whine started in the back of my throat.

I blinked up at him, breathless and thoroughly confused, but he merely smiled, running his knuckles over my cheek before stepping away.

"Shout for me if something happens," Nathaniel spoke causally, as if nothing had happened, "I'll be able to hear you, even if you can't hear me."

And then he left. Then he sauntered out the door, leaving me sitting in the cabin by myself. I was still bewildered by what had just happened, both at the fact that Nathaniel had simply decided to kiss me for no reason, but also at my reaction. He had erased every thought from my mind with just a kiss, and it had not even occurred to me to push him away.

I squeezed my eyes shut, evening my breath with a slow intake of air. It had been so different to the first time he had kissed me. That day in his study, when he had first claimed me as his mate; that kiss had been hurried and hungry, almost feverish with desire. This had been something else. Something more deliberate, something more controlled.

Nathaniel was opening up a different kind of intimacy between us, and I did not know how to deal with it. It was not the carnal, animalistic kind of intimacy that I knew Wolves craved, but was instead something far more human. Mating I knew how to rebuke, but offers to hold me at night? To stroke my hair and kiss me gently?

No, I did not know what to do with that.