Bastian held out his hand, hoping Jane would come with him. It made no sense that a woman he'd met only a few days ago seemed suddenly so important. But a stirring deep inside the core of him whispered.
Take her. Protect her. Mine.
After all the women he'd been with, to not merely crave Jane, but want to possess her on some elemental, primal level confounded him. He needed her almost as much as he needed air to breathe. Every rational thought reminded him to keep away, that staying distant would protect her, but it was harder and harder to fight that.
After his father died, he'd believed little else mattered beyond finishing what his father had started. Stormclyffe's restoration was to be a tribute to him and all of the Carlisles who'd come before, haunted by years of tragedy and super
