This Dark Wolf (Soul Bitten Shifter #1) - Everly Frost Page 0,82
of my head and tangling in my hair. Soft growls slip from his lips, but they’re low, ragged, a startling mix of pain and desire.
He said this would be hard for him.
He draws back a few inches before he suddenly dips his mouth to mine, but he pauses without making contact.
My grip on the doorframe falters as I inhale his exhales.
Every breath he takes is filled with the power I sensed in him at the moment we met. The kind that could make me forget that I can’t bond.
He rasps, “Trust.”
I release the doorframe and adjust my balance so I don’t fall backward, my stomach muscles clenching. The anchor of his left hand doesn’t let me fall in the time it takes me to lean forward into his chest again.
Carrying me to his bed, he slowly lowers me onto it, descending with me so that our torsos are never far from each other. My pain levels have eased since we started, but it feels like a reprieve that won’t last.
Staying in contact with me, he eases me across and up the bed until my head rests on one of the pillows before his left hand slips around my body to my front and he turns me so that I’m facing away from him.
He lines up his chest with my back, his hips with mine, the front of his thighs against the backs of mine, even the bend of our knees as best as possible given our different heights.
His left arm slides up my chest between my breasts while he presses in behind me, spooning me.
“Where is your heart?” he asks, his mouth pressed to the back of my neck.
The fingers of his left hand splay as he speaks, curving across my breast. I pull his hand over the top of my breast to the location of my heart, fighting the fierce pleasure that ripples through me at his touch, while embracing the same easing of pain that washes through me.
“Now we need to breathe together,” he says. “Our bodies and our wolves need to fall into the same rhythm. Breathing and heartbeats. We need to be in sync.”
I shiver. His voice catches on nearly every word. His inhalations are more rapid than mine, harsh growls that tell me he’s in pain.
I grip his hand tightly over my heart, press my back against his chest and match my breathing to his. Rapid. Ragged. But just a little bit slower.
His fingers claw a little, fingernails pressing into my skin, and I’m suddenly terrified. I thought that trusting him meant letting him undress me and lie nearly naked with him in his bed.
I was so wrong.
If he shifts—partially or fully—his claws will impale my heart and kill me.
This is worse than fighting him. At least then, I’d have a chance. Lying like this, I’m just waiting for him to kill me if he loses control.
My breathing is suddenly as rapid as his.
“Yellow forest…” I whisper. “Blue treasure… pink ocean… violet sunrise…”
I remind myself of what Helen said to me when I left Hidden House. Remember to guard your heart and protect yourself, Tessa. Be calm. Stay in control.
“Silver flowers… silver vines… silver trees…”
My breathing begins to slow as I breathe out the lists, aware of Tristan’s focus, his quiet behind me, the way his head rests against my shoulder, a heavy weight that tells me my lists are relaxing him too.
I dare to slide my fingers between Tristan’s where he rests his palm against my heart so that our hands are splayed together, my palm over his, pressing his hand even closer to my chest where his claws will drive right through.
If I’m going to die, I’m going to make sure it’s quick.
White wolf… Dark wolf… Cobalt wolf… Tristan.
My breathing is deep now. Calm. I listen carefully, sensing Tristan’s breathing, discovering that it matches up with mine.
He exhales against the back of my neck, a slow release of air that sends shivers down my spine, the tension finally easing out of his arms, torso, and legs.
Concentrating on my breathing has taken my focus away from the clawing pain inside me. Now that we’re breathing in time with each other, the pain eases fully, a release like a tide racing out of my body.
He said we would experience each other’s darkness but all I feel now is calm. Peace. Maybe trusting each other was the hardest part…
My senses suddenly scream at me and I can’t stop myself from tensing up again.