Page 70 of The Wolf Lord's Mate

A quiet settled between us for a brief moment, and it was as if I could hear the gears shifting in Nathaniel's mind. He was unsettled by the idea of not being able to claim me, but that was nothing new.

That was the same need he'd been battling since the beginning, one that I had become more aware of as I became more attuned to his emotions.

The need was different now though, tinged at the edges with an anxious fervor, as if he wanted to grab me off the horse, drag me into the woods, and hide me forever in the trees.

That was what it was—fear. Nathaniel was terrified of losing me, but not just the physical me; the one that others could steal and sully and break.

He was afraid of losing me as I was, as Mira—of losing what little of me that I had given to him. There existed a future in which I never accepted him and he knew it, and it terrified him more than anything else.

"How will it work, then?" Nathaniel asked, a hint of acquiescence in his voice, "In your ideal world."

"I haven't ironed out the details exactly," I shifted in the saddle, "But it would merely be a way to explain our inevitable closeness once we return.

I know that you said that you find yourself out of sorts when you don't spend enough time around me, so it could serve as an excuse for your need to see me. "

All of those afternoons he had spent loitering around the sewing room made much more sense in the context of the bond; all of those moments when he had lingered just a little too near.

Those stolen minutes were probably the only way he had been able to stop himself from claiming me, and I was sure he needed them even more now that we had been physically—intimate, so to speak.

Nathaniel was right that it would be too difficult for him to stay away from me completely, as torn as I was to admit it.

"Very well," Nathaniel sighed, "We will follow your plan, and in the eyes of the manor you will be my mistress.

But rest assured, little one, that behind closed doors you are still my mate," Nathaniel huffed, pushing his strong hips closer against mine, "And no falsehood will ever change that.

Know too that I do not like this—you deserve the respect of the Lady you are, sweet female, and one day I will make sure that all give it to you. "

Nathaniel squeezed my hips hard before flicking the reigns, and the horse picked up its pace, the gentle trot shifting into a gallop as Nathaniel held me tightly against his chest.

It was a few miles before he spoke again, but I could feel him stewing on his words far before they ever left his mouth.

"Inevitable, is it?" Nathaniel said as the mare navigated us over a rocky ravine, the trees thinning as we rode.

"Pardon?" I asked, tilting my head back to glance at him.

"That's the word you used." Nathaniel spoke louder, raising his voice over the wind that buffeted through the dwindling tree line.

"I seriously doubt you'll be able to keep yourself at a distance, you said so yourself." I said, a bit more hautily than I intended.

"Oh, I know what my difficulties will be, but what of yours?" There was a knowing smugness to Nathaniel's tone that I did not care for, especially when there was a real truth behind it that he couldn't possibly know about beyond suspicion.

"What of mine?" I asked, my heart quickening in my chest.

"Do you not think you'll have a difficult time keeping yourself from me?" Nathaniel purred, "What about your urges, little female? Don't you worry about them?"

"No, I don't," I said, "Having a bit of alone time would be welcome actually."

"Alone time is one thing, little mate," Nathaniel leaned down towards my ear, his hot breath sending shivers down my back, "Until you start to get that feeling in your chest; that needy, yearning desire to simply be near me, if not more."

"You think very highly of yourself." I said, breath catching in my throat.

"I know the pull of the mate bond, and I know how your eyes wander when you're not looking.

" Nathaniel's voice was hardly more than a whisper, but the husky growl of it echoed as he nipped at the shell of my ear, "I know how your hands wandered in the night before I claimed you.

Did you think I wouldn't notice? The scent of your unsatisfied desire?

The sounds of your whimpers through the floorboards?

Do you know how difficult it was not to beg you to let me give you the pleasure you so desperately needed? "

Nathaniel's hand moved lower and lower as he spoke, his fingers slowly drawing up the skirt of my dress. I leaned back against him almost unconsciously, and a low chuckle rumbled in my ear.

"My, my, my," Nathaniel soothed, "Now who's the needy one?"