His glassy eyes rose to mine—detached and filled with disbelief. “What?”
“No one subjected to that level of torture wants to survive. You gave up; what makes you think they hadn’t already given up? What those men did to you was unforgivable, cruel, and karma will come back and slap them on the ass someday. Don’t let them win, Wheeler. Your chains are gone, but now you’ve become your own tormentor.” I brushed his tangled hair back and ran my finger over his thick eyebrow. “You’re not a killer. You were their angel of mercy.”
“I was their angel of death,” he said despondently, sitting back on his legs.
“You’ve turned trust into a sinister word because someone trusting you meant their death.”
He sprang to his feet and headed toward the door. “You’re right.”
I leapt up and hurried after him. “Don’t you dare turn your back on me,” I hissed.
Wheeler placed both hands on the door and leaned forward, lowering his head out of sight. “The carnage I left behind, the screams in my head, the blood in my mouth, the looks on those faces—those things are etched in my mind forever.”
I touched the dragon on his back. “Your wolf’s mind, not yours. You had no control over your animal.”
Wheeler spun around and shouted, “I killed them in human form!” His voice tightened. “Not all, but in the end. It wasn’t fair to make my wolf do all the dirty work; I had to carry my share of the blame. I’d finally embraced the monster I’d become.”
“Please, don’t go.” I slipped my hands around his sides and kissed his chest. “I trust you, Wheeler. I trust you won’t hurt me. Please…”
In a swift motion, he lifted me by my waist and spun me around, placing my back to the door as he laved my breasts. His body hummed with desire, whiskers scratching my neck until his lips met with mine. A low growl settled in his chest, and I held on tightly as he pressed himself against me.
Wheeler unleashed his repressed desires, and our kiss became frenzied. My legs wrapped around his waist.
My God… this man possessed so much passion that he consumed me with it.
Chapter 16
I’d never had a man crave me the way Wheeler did. Every movement of his body against mine was insatiable and animalistic. I’d only been with men for superficial reasons, and sex was sex. But the emotional connection threading between us amplified everything. Wheeler confiding in me acted like an accelerant that ignited a spark into a roaring inferno. The deeper and darker his secrets, the more connected we became.
My thoughts scattered as I kissed him hurriedly, as if we only had moments to consume each other before the world ended.
A rip sounded between our kisses.
“What was that?” he asked out of breath, kissing my neck.
“April’s baggy jeans. I think I’ve outgrown them. Are you sure you can handle all this?”
To answer my question, he reached behind my jeans, found the hole, and ripped it wide. A rush of tingles surged through me and I kissed him deeply. Wheeler held my waist and walked me toward the bed where he threw me down like a sack of laundry.
I bounced and looked up at his predatory eyes. “Now I know how poor little Red Riding Hood felt when the Big Bad Wolf looked at her. Are you like this with all your prey?”
“No,” he said with a throaty growl, devouring me with his eyes.
Wheeler was probably a man who contained his passion in the bedroom, and seeing how combustible he was with me sent a shiver up my spine.
“What?” I asked, noticing his hesitation.
“Just wondering if you’re going to punish me for ripping your pants.”
I got on my knees and crawled toward him like a panther. When I reached around his jeans, I felt the butterfly knife in his back pocket. I pulled it out and stroked the cold metal down his stomach. “Show me a trick.”
He took the knife, and I lay on my back beneath him with my legs slung over the edge.
“Move out of the way,” he said. “I might drop it on you.”
I reached out and stroked the hard outline pressing against his jeans. Wheeler sucked in a sharp breath. “I trust you,” I whispered. Then I put my arms up and lay beneath him. “Show me your teeth, Mr. Wolf. I’m not afraid of you.”
We both knew that I could shift and heal, but still I saw fear glittering in his eyes. He gently swung it in a simple maneuver and then closed it.
“I’ve seen you use that thing, Wheeler. Show me what you can really do.”
When he spun it again, I arched my back. I thought his willpower might break, but it fueled him. He did tricks with that knife that were blindingly fast.
I’d never seen anything more erotic in all my life—watching his hands deftly spinning that blade around and the intense look on his face as he kept his eyes centered on mine. He suddenly locked the case with the knife out and tossed it across the room at the wall, where it stuck.