As I took a step toward her, I found myself reaching out, unable to stop as I took a strand of her hair and rubbed it between my fingers, I knew I needed to go slow.
But as I leaned down and brought those locks to my nose, inhaling deeply and closing my eyes, the sweet, powerful aroma of her slammed into me, and there was one thing that was undeniable.
I craved her like no other.
Chapter Four
India
I couldn’t breathe, not as I stood there frozen and watched this man smell my hair. It was such an intimate act, his big body hunched over, his eyes closed as he rubbed those strands underneath his nose. This low rumble left him, a very animalistic growl.
My throat was tight, every muscle in my body tense. I couldn’t understand how I knew him, how seeing him had my fear leaving, had that darkness in me, that black hole slowly starting to fill in. It was as if my body recognized him, as if this very moment had been planned from birth.
He pulled back and straightened, his big body so masculine and powerful. I had to crane my neck back to look into his face. I should be screaming, terrified that he would hurt me.
The medic van had just been ransacked, two drunken men coming in here and destroying the place, looking for money and drugs, anything that they could sell.
I was shaken up, having been shoved against the wall so hard the breath had been knocked out of me. Even now I felt a bruise forming on my arm from when one of them had held me, pushed me back.
But as I stood in front of this shifter all I could feel was … lust.
It wasn’t just any kind of arousal. It was bone-breaking, soul-sucking, heat-inducing desire. It was the kind that took everything from you, that left you a broken mess on the ground unable to breathe.
He had a couple days’ worth of scruff covering his jaw and cheeks, and his hair was on the longer side, tied back in a man bun. He wore a white T-shirt, the material a little bit damp, the scent of salt water covering him. He’d come from the ocean. Maybe he was a surfer?
He had tattoos covering his arms, gray and black designs that meshed together to form intricate patterns. Those designs moved up his neck, and I could see them underneath the light fabric of his shirt. I lowered my gaze to his hands, seeing the dark ink covering those as well.
“What are you?” I whispered those words, feeling my breathing increase, not because of my fear but because of his close proximity.
I felt everything in me come alive. My nipples hardened underneath my scrub top, this tingling moving through my legs and arms. I started to become wet between my thighs, the sudden reaction having my face heating from embarrassment.
Never in my life had I felt arousal, nothing like this, nothing that stole my breath and had my pulse racing. The way he flared his nostrils, the low sound that came from him, as if he could smell me, turned me on even more. And he could smell me, I knew that with certainty.
“I’m yours,” he said in a distorted voice, one that wasn’t human. His eyes flashed yellow again, whatever animal that was inside of him trying to break through.
“Mine?” Saying that word, hearing him say I was his, felt so … right. I licked my lips and pushed away from the wall, my fear leaving me slowly, confusion taking its place. He took a few steps back, and I knew instinctively that he was trying to ease me, not wanting to frighten me further.
I didn’t know how I knew that, but I felt it as if it were my own emotions.
I looked around the ground, medical supplies scattered everywhere, cupboards open, glass jars broken, the contents inside strewn about. Defeat filled me.
“They wanted money, stole things that they could sell for drugs.” I said that out loud, and looked over at the mystery man. His presence, the very size of him, seemed to take up the whole interior.
“I’m sorry,” he said and I heard sincerity in his voice, knew he was genuinely upset for me that this had happened.
I closed my eyes and breathed out roughly, shaking my head at how shitty the situation was. I opened my eyes and looked back at him. There was something inside me that told me this was right, that this was what was supposed to happen, that it was how things were supposed to play out.
Although I wasn’t looking at him anymore, I could feel his gaze on me as I made my way through the van, looking around, trying to figure out where I would start. He kept his distance, which I appreciated given the situation. I should’ve told him to go, that I had enough to deal with without some strange man crowding me, saying he was mine.
But then something in me snapped and I found m
yself sitting down on one of the chairs, the tears coming, my shoulders hunched forward, my whole body shaking from the force of my emotion. I heard him come closer but I held one hand out, the other covering my face as I cried.
“Please,” I said softly, hating that my voice shook. “Please don’t come any closer. This is bad enough.” I needed to get myself under control, needed to focus on keeping my shit together. Life was hard and me breaking down in front of a stranger was only making a bad situation worse.
But it was hard being strong all the time. It was hard trying to be the rock everyone around me constantly saw.
He didn’t come any closer, but after a second, I heard him shuffling around the van.