"...yes?" she answered
"Sweetie…" The endearment rolled off his tongue like a caress, as intimate as a touch. He leaned back, stretching out like the wolf he was, barely restrained. "Even dressed like a grandma, I burn for you. All the time, every second. You could wrap yourself in ten blankets and I'd still feel it."
May pressed her lips together tightly, her heart warring with her head. The smart thing to do was to change the subject. She laid her head on the pillow, her face turned away from him, and let silence wrap around her.
The quiet stretched, the only sounds the ticking of the clock on the wall. Her breaths evened out, slower and softer with each passing minute.
Kade, watching her with a gaze that never strayed, knew the exact moment she fell asleep. Her lips parted slightly, her lashes no longer fluttering against her cheeks. His chest rose and fell with a deep, quiet sigh. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms, bury himself inside her and let her warmth anchor him. But instead, he sat there, nursing his whiskey.
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And yet—even in her sleep, she haunted him.
About an hour later, when the whiskey in Kade's glass had gone untouched and the night settled into a suffocating stillness, he noticed that May's peaceful expression shifted. Her brows furrowed, her lips trembled, and a faint whimper slipped past her throat. She seemed to be fighting an unseen enemy, trapped in the invisible chains of her dreams. Then—suddenly—tears streamed down her cheeks, her breaths coming short and shallow. Almost immediately, her body began to thrash against the sheets, caught in a storm only she could see.
Kade shot to his feet. His wolf stirred in panic, the bond tugging at his chest like a cord stretched too tight. He hurried to her side, his large frame folding down beside the sofa as he reached for her. "May!" he barked. He cupped her damp cheeks and tapped gently, trying to call her back. "May, sweetheart, look at me. Come back to me."
Her eyes flew open like shutters thrown wide. She gasped as though breaking the surface after drowning, and the instant they landed on him, recognition flared. Relief flooded her face, and without hesitation she launched herself into his arms. Her small frame pressed against him, clinging desperately as if he were the only thing tethering her to reality. Her chest rose and fell in frantic heaves, the sound of her heartbeat almost frantic against his ribs.
"I'm here," he murmured, his tone softening as his arms closed around her, one hand steady at her back, the other cradling the back of her head. He bent his mouth close to her ear, letting the steady rumble of his voice soothe her. "It's okay, I'm right here. No one is going to hurt you, not while I'm breathing."
"I can't go back there. We can't. He is going to kill you." The tremor in her voice dug under Kade's skin, sparking fury. Her fingers gripped tighter at his shirt.
"He will not," Kade growled, his eyes flashing. "I swear to you, May. He won't touch you. This has to end—this fear, his hold on you. I'll end it." There was no hesitation in his tone, no room for doubt. His vow was iron.
"Mr. Kade…" she breathed, the title clinging to her lips like habit, a fragile barrier she still clung to between them.
He pulled back slightly, just enough to look at her, his thumb brushing a tear track from her cheek. "Just call me Kade, unless I ask you to," he corrected gently.
Her lashes fluttered as she looked down, cheeks hot despite the tears still clinging to them. She nodded quietly, a small surrender, though her arms stayed locked around him as if she couldn't let go. The intimacy of her closeness pulled at every controlled line of restraint in his body.
Kade exhaled slowly, his lips brushing against her temple before he pressed a lingering kiss into her hair. It was meant to comfort her, to steady the storm inside her—but the second his mouth touched her, he felt it. The way her body went rigid, her shoulders locking beneath his embrace. He froze, his wolf bristling at her tension, torn between wanting to retreat and needing to reassure her.
May pulled back, just slightly, enough to tilt her face up and meet his. Her eyes, wide and luminous in the dim light, searched his features with a raw intensity. For a moment, neither spoke. He saw the war in her expression: the fear, the guilt, the desperate longing she tried so hard to smother.
Kade's jaw clenched as he forced himself to remain still, to give her the choice, even when every part of him screamed to close the distance she had just created. His heart hammered, a rhythm he couldn't disguise, and for once, he was grateful she was close enough to hear it.
He caught it before she even leaned forward—the flicker in her eyes, desire blooming against all logic. For one suspended heartbeat, Kade thought she would stop herself. That reason would slip back in and hold her steady. But then she surged forward, lips brushing his, soft and trembling yet threaded with urgency.
Kade's entire body went rigid. He should have pulled back. Every moral bone in him screamed that this was wrong—that she belonged to another man, that he had promised himself he would never push her into betraying her promise to him. But when her lips pressed firmly to his, all reason shattered. The wolf inside him howled for more, clawing at the fragile restraint he had left.
At least he understood what was happening. He knew why the mate-bond burned like fire between them, why her scent unraveled him, why his hands ached to claim. But she—poor human—she didn't. She only felt the storm without a name.
He kissed her back. He told himself it was just for a second, just long enough to taste the forbidden sweetness before pulling away to remind her of the ring on her finger and the man waiting just two buildings away. But the words never formed. They died in his throat as she pulled him down with surprising strength, guiding him until her back hit the sofa cushions with a muffled thud.