Page 52 of The Wolf Lord's Mate

Warm hands wound around my waist, heat surrounding my back as Nathaniel folded himself around me. I didn't even have time to startle, the alpha male having moved so quickly and silently I hadn't even realized that he was there.

"No more of this," Nathaniel's thumb swept across my cheek, wiping away my still spilling tears, "You will break my heart in two, little one," Hot breath fanned across my neck as Nathaniel sighed, "I will not and can not tell you how to feel, but I will not allow you to wallow in it."

"I am not wallowing," My tone was harsher than I intended it to be, "I am simply—I am—oh just, go away."

I tried to shake him, tried to pry his arm from around my waist, but he wouldn't budge. Nathaniel was still as a statue, a lump of hard muscle and arrogant determination that wouldn't move no matter how much I pushed and pulled and tried to pry him off of me. If anything, his hold grew tighter, pulling me flush against him.

"Are you done?" Nathaniel whispered in my ear, a shiver running down my spine despite myself, his gravely tone low and coaxing.

"Are you?" I shot back, and for a moment Nathaniel loosened his grip on me, and I thought he might give me a moments peace. I should have known better, and Nathaniel removed himself from me only so long as to reach down and sweep a hand under my knees, gathering me up into his arms like I weighed little more than a bundle of sticks.

"What are you doing?" I shifted in his arms, but his grip was tight, "Nathaniel, truly, I just need space."

"You had space," Nathaniel nuzzled his nose into my hair, taking a deep inhale, "I let you sleep for a time."

"I was unconscious," I said, "That doesn't count."

"I disagree."

"Imagine that." Nathaniel deposited me on the chair that I had claimed as my own since our first day at the cabin, setting me down gently into the soft cushion. The idea that it was my seat now made me itch, like my skin was too tight around my bones. The whole cabin was suddenly too small, the walls too near and the air too still.

Tears threatened to spill out again, but Nathaniel scent still lingered on my body, and it soothed my traitorous heart far more than I would have liked to admit. I sank back into the chair, resting my head against the back cushion and glancing sideways at Nathaniel.

"Can I get you a blanket?" Nathaniel asked casually, as if he had not dragged me over to join him.

"You could give me a few hours, the rest of the night—I don't know," I took a deep, steadying breath, "Just give me a bit of time to think."

"I don't believe that's a good idea," Nathaniel crossed his arms over his chest, his muscles flexing through the thin linen of his shirt, "A few hours ago you were asking for the opposite. You wanted me to help you stop thinking, just for a little while, that's what you said."

"Clearly I was not it my right mind," I muttered, "Or else I would not have asked it of you."

There is a brief flash of hurt that crosses Nathaniel's expression, but it is gone by the time I realize it's even there. I hadn't meant that I regretted what we had done, only that it had complicated things. And yes, in many ways I wished that I hadn't asked, only so that another boundary would still be remaining between us. But the truth was that even if I could go back a few hours, I would still make the same choice. It will always be impossible to resist him.

Guilt gnawed at me, but I couldn't bring myself to tell him what I had meant. So instead I said nothing, watching as Nathaniel glanced around the cabin.

"Alright," Nathaniel rubbed at his jaw with a sigh, "We're going to play a game."

"A game?" That sounded like the last thing I wanted to do.

"What's your poison?" Nathaniel asked, "Cards?"

"I don't want to play a game with you." I didn't want to do anything at all, to be honest. I just wanted to crawl back into the bed upstairs and sleep for the rest of the day. Perhaps even the next day as well, collecting as many hours of unconsciousness as I could, although who was to say what dreams would plague me there.

There was nowhere I could escape this, not really. Nowhere I could escape him.

"Why?" Nathaniel crossed his arms, "Afraid you'll lose?"

"I am not in the mood."

"Very well, but if you don't accept my challenge, then technically you're forfeiting," Nathaniel shrugged, "Which I suppose means that I automatically win."

"That's not how that works," I mumbled, pressing my cheek into the back cushion of the chair, "You have to start a game for it to be forfeited."

"Point taken." Nathaniel conceded with a wry smile, sparing no time before rifling through the various odds and ends at the bottom of the bookshelf.

Humming to himself, he pulled out a small wooden box, the lid inlaid with gold etched vines and hyacinths. Nathaniel took his seat on the couch next to my chair, settling onto the edge of the cushion as he slid the lid off the box and withdrew a worn deck of playing cards.