Wolf Bite (The Blue Mountain Wolf Pack #5) - Emma Dean Page 0,25

mention anyone could walk in right now.”

“Maybe you should find somewhere more private to explain it to me,” she murmured, grabbing him over the fabric of his pants. Fuck, he felt enormous. Had she ever had someone so…well-endowed before?

“Zoe…” Liam’s eyes closed like he was in physical pain.

“Am I hurting you?” she asked, keeping her voice soft and soothing as she started stroking him slowly.

When Liam opened his eyes to look down at her they glowed silver and her hand slowed as she stared at them in awe. She’d known he was a werewolf. She’d seen him shift from one form to the other, but she hadn’t known how beautiful he could be.

“What does this mean?” she asked, releasing him so she could trace the skin around his eyes.

“It means I’m losing control.” His voice was deep and gravelly with a strange vibration in it that made him sound more animal than human. “You have to stop, Zoe, please.”

Now she wanted him even more, but she wasn’t going to do anything he didn’t want her to. That was the whole point after all. Zoe wanted him to give her everything she asked for willingly. It tasted so much sweeter that way.

“I’m done eating, are you?” she asked, taking a deep breath and stepping away from him.

That strange ache in her chest intensified and she rubbed it absently as she watched Liam closely.

His eyes were penetrating and full of that silver mercury. Liam didn’t answer her question and she worried for a moment that she was pushing too far.

“Is this still too much?” she asked, taking another step back to give him the space he seemed to need. “I wasn’t joking when I said I wanted you to explain it to me, and it seems like a private conversation. I won’t touch you unless you ask me too.”

The silver in his eyes flashed and his chest rose and fell as his breathing sped up instead of slowing down. “You know exactly what to say and do, don’t you?”

“Liam.” Zoe dropped her hand from her chest and forced herself to hold his gaze. “I’m not trying to hurt you.”

His hands clenched into fists and then he forcibly released them. Liam took a deep breath and swallowed roughly. “Follow me.” He turned and headed for the stairs.

Zoe worried that she’d somehow misread the situation. Had she messed up? Shit, she’d never pushed anyone, and she wouldn’t do that to Liam either, but he was on the defensive. Her shoulders dropped when she realized he didn’t trust her.

Not that he should. She’d have to prove herself first, and there was a flicker of fear when she wondered what that might entail. The mate bond seemed a lot more complicated than how Noah had made it sound.

Liam opened a random door and she followed him inside. It wasn’t all that fancy, but it was larger than she was expecting. Zoe found herself relaxing when she smelled how thick and permeating that scent of lavender, pine, and cedarwood was in this room.

“You live here?” she asked, careful not to touch anything.

“It’s my room. Noah and I have our own houses elsewhere on the property. Until we started finding our mates, all of us lived here in the main house. It was easier.” He ran his hand through his hair and sighed, but the silver in his eyes didn’t disappear.

“I won’t touch you,” she murmured, studying how tense he was.

Zoe wanted to be annoyed, but she pushed it down.

Kissing him had changed everything and she needed to figure out what the hell was going on. She’d thought getting physical with him would help with that, but then he’d rejected her, which was his right.

Fine, but they were supposed to be mates. So, what the fuck was going on?

“Do you want to reject the mate bond?” she asked, trying to figure out what his issue was and why he’d shut down so hard. Rejecting the bond seemed like the most obvious reason.

But the way he whipped around to glare at her meant she was wrong. Again.

Zoe gently shut the door behind her and leaned against it. “I seem to be making a lot of mistakes. It would help if you answered some of my questions and explained things to me. I’m not trying to upset you or violate your boundaries. You kissed me first.”

“I did.” Liam ran a hand over his face and then took a deep breath. “I don’t want to reject the mate bond. I don’t