Untamed (Rejected Mate Academy #1) - E. M. Moore Page 0,58

to elicit some emotion from you.” With that, he wraps his fingers around the nape of my neck and tugs me toward him. He meets me in the middle, our teeth damn near clashing as he probes my mouth open, then swoops his tongue past my lips, delving inside with passion.

I fall forward, my hands resting on his chiseled chest. I’ve been to this same spot at the lake quite a few times with my parents, and in no way had I ever dreamed of making out in a car with Jonah Livestrong.

I moan into his mouth, and he praises me with a small nip on my bottom lip. The pleasurable pain shoots straight to my core. I try to shift closer, but he holds me at bay, keeping his attention on my mouth. We kiss until my lips are swollen, until I can’t think of anything but him. It’s as if he’s branded me with his tongue, teeth, and mouth; never taking it any further than fingers tangled in my hair and down my back.

When he finally breaks away, his smile has returned. “Now that’s feeling.” He lowers his palm to my chest, placing it just above the swell of my breasts. My heart practically sings. “Do you accept my apology, mate?”

My throat closes at his choice of words. “I accept that you didn’t understand, but you need to trust me from now on. Okay? Accept that I might know something you don’t.”

“I can do that for you,” he breathes, clutching my shirt in his fist, my necklace twisting between his fingers. “You’ll have to deal with them, you know?”

I know what he’s saying—if we’re to be mates, I’ll be surrounded by that same group of people my whole life. “You’re right.” I grimace. “Maybe you’re not worth it.” His eyes round, and I shift forward, kissing his despair away. “Kidding.” I bite his lip, pulling it between my teeth before it pops free.

“That was evil.” He settles his grip on my hips. “I mean it though. I’ll always protect you, but I won’t be with you all the time.”

I wrap my arms around his neck. “I’m glad you get it now,” I tell him honestly. That’s the one good thing that came from tonight. I’m not saying I’m blameless in turning my back on the pack, but at least he sees that I had a reason, and that I’m not some anti-social, freak wolf. “I know it doesn’t change anything, and I’ll still have to see them and be cordial even though I want to rip their throats out, but at least you see it now.”

Jonah tugs at my hand until it frees from behind him and places kisses over my knuckles. “You could still change their minds. We should get a preemptive DNA test. We can prove to them that you’re exactly the wolf you should be.”

My chest tightens. “Would that stop them, though?”

He shrugs. “It couldn’t hurt. We wouldn’t even have to tell anyone but at least we’ll have the proof if anyone decides to bring it up. You could just drop it and leave.”

“Like a mic drop? I like the sound of that.”

“It would be a bit more epic than a mic drop, but sure, we’ll go with that.”

I squirm on his lap. There’s something I don’t like about that idea. Getting the test could solve a bunch of problems, but it also means we felt the need to do it. No one else in Lunar has ever had to prove their parentage like they’re some sort of freak. “I’ll think about it.”

“I’m not pushing,” he says. “You can do whatever you want.” He pulls me forward again, sealing our mouths together. My lips are tired at this point, but he makes it all worth it. Unfortunately, he stops us a few minutes later. “I need to get you to the academy before I do something we shouldn’t.”

“Does it involve touching me? Because I really want you to touch me.”

He groans, shifting so our foreheads touch. “It involves that and so much more.”

We breathe in each other’s air before he carefully maneuvers me to the other side of the truck. Reaching around me, he grabs my seatbelt and clicks it into place.

When we have these moments together—when he says things like that—I want to ask him if he’s going to save me from Greystone. I mean, he calls me his mate. He tells me I’ll have to deal with the bitch squad. I know that