A tightness coiled deep inside her, more than pleasure, building to an ecstasy that felt like it would change everything. “Oh, God, Jace, I’m going to come.” Her words were back to being sobs.
He ground into her even harder, thrusting and angling just right. “Come for me, baby.” His voice was ragged, looser than before. It made her heart lurch. There was something wrong. Something terribly wrong with that sound… but his groans, and his mouth clamping on her neck, with the hard points of his fangs sheathed by his lips, held back, not claiming her but still teasing her with their sharpness… it pushed her right over the edge.
She screamed his name and came so hard she bucked them both away from the door again and again as he held her tight.
He growled, and she thought he had reached his release, too… but instead, he suddenly wrenched away from her and staggered back, leaving her panting and hollow against the door. His erection stood tall in the waning sunlight spilling through his window, and his fangs were bared, claws out, with a wild look in his eyes.
“Get out!” he yelled.
His words sliced through her heart.
Then he turned his back on her.
Holy fuck, what was he doing?
Jace struggled with his beast, wrestled with it, cursed and shouted and summoned every ounce of will he had to shove it back deep inside him. He watched as his claws receded, felt his fangs tuck back into his mouth, and his heaving breath mixed with sighs of relief. What was he thinking? That he could take Piper like that, the way he wanted to—the way his wolf wanted to—and not risk his beast bursting forth? He knew she needed to hear those words, to feel his body, to know what he felt for her was more than just lust… but he’d gotten too lost in it.
And almost lost control.
Her words from before haunted him—I ruin everything. He wanted to kill the man who told this little girl she didn’t matter in the world. Because she was starting to be everything to him—someone who needed him; someone he could care for; someone he could rescue to make up for all the lives he had destroyed. And he’d almost let his wolf loose on her. A shudder ran through him, but his beast was quiet again, even though his hard-on was still raging.
He turned back to Piper. She was naked and horrified, laid bare physically and emotionally against his door. Her expression speared through him. She had to wonder, had to know, there was something terribly wrong with him, but he couldn’t let her go for one second more thinking it had anything to do with her—because he could see it all over her face.
He’d told her to get out.
Fuck.
He lumbered back toward her. “Piper, I’m sorry.”
“I can… I can… leave now…” She was hysterical, looking everywhere in the room but at him. “I’ll just… get my clothes…” She bent to pick up the scraps he’d torn from her body.
God, he had messed this up so badly. His body was still coursing heat from their lovemaking, and his hard-on stuck out from his body like an awkward additional limb, but he didn’t let any of that stop him from pulling her up from where she crouched on the floor and gathering her into his arms. She was trembling again. Because of him. And not in a good way.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he said, his voice less ragged, now that his beast was under control. “Come with me to the bed.”
She was blinking and shaking. “I don’t… I don’t understand.”
“I know. Let me explain,” he said softly, slipping his hands down her body. Damn, she was so soft and delicious… his hard-on wasn’t going anywhere at this rate. But he eased her toward the bed with him, holding her around the waist because her legs didn’t seem so steady. When they reached it, he drew her down into his lap as he sat on the edge. His erection made its presence known, but he ignored that, pushing a wild lock of her gorgeous black hair behind her ear. She was so goddamn beautiful—and so open and vulnerable to him right now. He felt like he was holding a kitten. A very sexy kitten… but a fragile, beautiful thing, nonetheless.
“I have a secret to tell you.” His chest clenched because she might run from him. She might decide he was too dangerous to be around or just plain evil. But he obviously couldn’t risk making love to her—his beast was too easily drawn to the surface by her—and she deserved to know why.
Her dark eyes were wide, her body still flushed from their lovemaking. Her nipples were tight, and he couldn’t help running his hands up the gentle curve of her waist to lightly trace the flesh hardened with pleasure. He could spend the rest of the night just playing with her gorgeous breasts.