The Wolf Within (Purgatory 1)

Holly’s arms wrapped round Duncan. “Please.”

His whole body vibrated, but he hesitated, barely managing to hold back from taking the other wolf’s life.

That hesitation was all that Saul needed. He staggered away from Duncan and ran for the big, bedroom window. The glass shattered as he jumped right through it, leaping out and falling to the street below.

Duncan jerked away from Holly and ran to the window. He stared below, snarling, as he watched the white wolf streak away.

“I don’t have any close neighbors,” Holly said quietly from behind him, “so I don’t have to explain to anyone why a wolf just jumped out of my second story window.”

He glanced back at her. The rage still burned within him, and he wanted to follow Saul but—

Can’t leave her.

It wasn’t just the wolf’s instinct to protect. It was the man’s, too.

Only she wouldn’t be seeing him as a man then. Just as a beast. He turned toward the window once more.

“Don’t leave me,” she whispered.

His muscles trembled. Didn’t she understand? If he stayed—

“Please.”

She broke him.

He whirled toward her. Fought to pull the man back to the forefront and shed the body of the beast. He wondered if the pain of the shift would become easier to bear, or if it would always feel like he was being ripped apart.

But the pain, it didn’t last. In moments, he was one the floor, body trembling, hands and knees pressing against the hard wood of her bedroom.

“Duncan?”

His head lifted as the floor creaked beneath her footsteps. She’d grabbed some kind of robe and wrapped around her body. Her blood had stained the side of the robe.

He still wanted to rip Saul apart.

“It’s okay.” She kept talking softly and held out her hand, as if to a wild beast.

Oh, yeah, right. That’d be me.

“Are you…in control?” Holly asked quietly.

He was still on the floor. He should be on his feet, helping her. She was wounded. She needed care and attention.

But he didn’t move because he wasn’t sure of himself. He gave her the truth, simply saying, “No.” Rumbling. Deep.

Her eyes widened.

He’d told her to run before. Why hadn’t she listened to him? Saul hadn’t been the only threat to her.

“I’m okay,” she told him. Still in that whole let’s-tame-the-beast voice. Only she didn’t seem to get that the beast wasn’t in the mood to be tamed.

Then she lifted her robe, revealing the curve of her thigh, the dip of her stomach. “See…all healed.”

There were no wounds on her, nothing to blemish that smooth skin. How the hell was that even possible?

But…screw the hows…her legs were long and perfect. He could see the curve of her breast. She was trying to pull the robe back but—

Want to see.

In an instant, he was on his feet. His hands were on her, reaching for that robe.

“Duncan?”

“I told you…run…” She could still get away. He was as much of a monster as Saul and—

Holly shook her head. Her eyes seemed to see into him. “I don’t want to run from you.”

His breath was coming too hard. His heart racing too fast. His c**k aching too much. He stood before her, naked because his clothes had shredded with the shift, and there was no hiding his arousal.

She wasn’t pulling away. Wasn’t pushing against him.

She was reaching up. Standing on her tip toes. Kissing him.

The woman had just sealed her fate.

You should have run. Now there won’t be any escape.

She tried to make the kiss soft and gentle. Not happening. He was on fire for her. Needed her more than air. So his hold was too rough, his hands almost shaking as he lifted her up against him and plundered her mouth. His tongue thrust past her lips. He tasted.

Yes. She tasted as sweet as she smelled. His mouth pressed harder against hers, and he stumbled forward with her.

They fell onto the bed.

His hands pushed between them. He didn’t take his mouth from hers. Couldn’t. He kept kissing her. And he ripped her robe. It tore beneath his claws.

Claws.

He still had claws. Hell, no, he couldn’t hurt her. He yanked his mouth from hers. Tried to pull away from her.

“You can’t leave me now,” she said and pulled him back.

Duncan shook his head. His control was razor thin, and she didn’t understand how dangerous he was. “I’ll…hurt…”

It was all he could manage. He kissed her again. Drove his tongue past her lips.

No. Pull away. Get away.

Her hands curled around his shoulders. She arched against him. Her br**sts were tight peaks. They rubbed over his chest, and his c**k jerked in eagerness.

But he couldn’t touch her. He had claws. He’d slice open her skin. Can’t.

Her hands were sliding over his back. Soft, a silken touch. Helplessly, Duncan stretched into her touch.

Her legs were parted, with his much more powerful thighs between hers. They’d fallen this way when they tumbled onto the bed.

She was…aroused. He could smell the rich, heady scent.

He kissed a path down her neck. Licked her flesh. His hands were flat on the bed, on either side of her. He wouldn’t touch her with his hands.

Only his mouth.

She shivered beneath him. “You won’t hurt me.”

How was she so confident? He wasn’t. He just knew that it was too late to pull back now. The beast wouldn’t let him.

The man wasn’t strong enough to leave her.

His mouth lingered on the curve of her shoulder. He had the strongest urge to bite her there. To…mark her.

His teeth nipped her.

She moaned.

The thunder of his heartbeat drummed ever faster in his ear.

The nightmare that had become his life, the agency, Saul—none of that mattered then.

Only Holly.

Her ni**les were a light pink. He put his mouth on one tight peak. Kissed. Sucked. Licked.

“Duncan!”

He loved the way she said his name. His fingers fisted on the bed covers. She was positioned so perfectly beneath him. All it would take was one deep thrust. He could already feel the wet heat of her arousal on the head of his cock.

One hard thrust.

He licked her nipple once more and then started to kiss his way down the curve of her stomach.

But her hands locked around his shoulders. “I need—”

His head snapped up. His eyes locked on hers. Whatever she needed, he’d give her.