Episode 03
1027 Words
ELYNDRA
My back was pressed hard against the glass, and my lungs were taking short, shaky breaths. He heard what I said. He had smelt me, which was worse.
The other people had left, and their footsteps were fading. But not him. His presence still filled the room like smoke.
"We can do this another day." "Change the date."
That voice was deep, steady, and smooth as sin. It cut through the air, and my stomach tightened. My wolf woke up inside me, alive and restless.
The men agreed in low voices, and the door closed behind them. No sound.
I shut my eyes. I shouldn't move. He might leave too.
But then—
"Why don't you come out of hiding?"
My blood froze. There is no way out. He knew exactly where I was.
I stood up slowly, my hands shaking as I got up from behind the bar. My heart raced, but when I turned to look at him, everything inside me stopped.
He was made of command itself—he was tall, broad-shouldered, and every muscle was tense under the black shirt that was stretched across his chest. Tattoos covered his arms and crept up his throat like shadows. He slowly took off his sunglasses, and his ice-blue eyes stared at me. Eyes that didn't blink, didn't get softer, and wouldn't let me look away.
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
His eyes moved over me, sharp and unreadable.
He said under his breath, "Who would have thought I'd get a human?"
"I'm not a person." My voice came out cold and low.
His eyes shot up, and there was a spark of interest hidden in that frozen blue.
"Then come have a drink with me."
It wasn't a suggestion.
I should have left. I should have run, but instead I nodded. It could have been curiosity. It could have been fate. Maybe it was that damn bond, already tugging at me like chains I could not break.
He walked over to the bar and put his jacket down without looking at it. He had an air of authority about him that made people listen without him having to raise his voice.
"Strong or light?" he asked.
"Strong." I don't think anything you have will work, though.
His lips barely turned up. "Don't be so sure."
I saw him pour a green liquid into two glasses and slide one towards me.
"What is it?"
"Absinthe." He smiled again. He lifted his glass. I tapped mine against his, careful and curious.
"Isn't that against the law here?"
"Being in this room without permission is also a crime. Four bottles of whisky didn't help you. This will.
My face got hot right away. "Did you see me?"
"You got my attention. Many women don't.
The way he said it made my heart race, as if I had already been measured and marked.
I took a sip from the glass. The burn hit right away, stronger than I thought it would, twisting my insides. But oh, it felt wonderful.
"I think you'd be happy if I ran," I said, my voice now softer. "I'm the kind of nightmare that no man wants to have."
He leant in closer and squinted his eyes. "Funny. You don't look like a nightmare at all. But I know more than anyone else... Not everything that looks like a dream is one.
My throat got tight, but I didn't move my face. His words cut deep and were too close to me.
He drank his glass in one gulp. The sight made my chest feel tight. I looked down at his throat and the way his jaw moved. Dangerous. There was danger in everything about him.
"You didn't want to find your mate," he said out of the blue.
My stomach dropped. He was aware.
I said, "No."
"Good." I didn't either.
"Then why didn't you just leave?"
"Because I wanted to know what the Goddess thought I deserved."
"And?" The word slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it.
His eyes slowly and carefully moved over me. As they dipped lower, they turned steel blue and flickered with heat, which made my heart race.
"If we're only looking at looks..." He moved closer, and the space between us got smaller until I could feel his warmth on my skin. "Better than I thought."
I stopped breathing. His knuckles brushed my lips, and the sparks that flew through me were so strong that I almost gasped. The mate bond shot through me like a fire, lighting up every nerve in my body. I kissed his fingers before I knew I had moved.
His eyes were locked on mine, burning and hungry.
He leant in, and his voice was so low that it made my spine tingle. "Listen up, good girls get fucked." "Bad girls?" His hand slid into my hair and pulled just enough to make my heart race. "Punishment for bad girls." Which one are you?
I felt heat rush through me, raw and out of control. I held his gaze even though my voice shook. "Then you'll have to punish me, Alpha."
His lips hit mine hard.
The kiss took my breath away. It was rough and all-consuming, with nothing soft about it. Sparks shot through me in waves. My body was pressed against his, and every inch of him was hard, unyielding, and burning. My glass fell out of my hand and broke on the floor, but we didn't notice.
His tongue, which was pierced, slid against mine, and the feeling made me moan into his mouth. He held my waist and hair tightly, as if he could make me one with him.
My body let me down; the heat was pooling low, and the ache was getting worse quickly. I had never wanted someone like this before. Not this way.
He pulled back, breathing hard, and his eyes were a storm of steel-blue fire.
"Let's get the hell out of here."
The order went through me, deep and final.
I nodded, my body shaking and my heart racing between fear and a desperate need.
- Writer
