17. VANYA

My lips still tingled from his kiss, and my skin still burned where his fingers had gripped me. Desire hummed through my veins, leaving me twitching. I wanted to do so much more than kiss him, but I couldn’t, because Ezra had run away.

When Charlene had mentioned the fact that the women in town had been spreading rumours about Ezra being hung, I never expected it to be true.

Shaking my head, I tried to focus on the current dilemma I was in; stranded on a rock near a massive waterfall, and I was sure that nobody would hear me calling for help.

Have I done something wrong? Is that why he had shifted and then took off?

I shouldn’t have kissed him, but I couldn’t resist. There was just something about knowing that no other woman had ever kissed him before.

But why had he run off? What if he was saving his first kiss for someone special and I had ruined it?

I sighed and lowered my head to stare at the small rocks below my feet. After another second’s hesitation, I slowly started to slip down the rock, but I had once again misjudged the depth because when Ezra was near, the water looked shallower.

I slipped right underneath the water the moment I was off the rock. Panic hit, but I forced it aside. You can swim, idiot!

I kicked toward the surface and reached it before my air ran out. Halfway to the edge of the pool, the depth changed again, making it possible for me to walk the rest of the way.

I had just stepped onto dry land when I heard a loud bang that startled the birds in the trees. I stood frozen, staring up at the sky as they flew away before I snapped into action.

Two steps later, a movement from the corner of my eyes caught my attention. I didn’t wait to see who or what it was; I instantly started running in the direction of the house. But wearing wet clothes made it hard. It slowed me down and made it easier for whoever was chasing me to catch up.

A heavy weight slammed into my back, sending me falling forward. My head slammed into something, knocking me out.

***

“Is she dead?”

“No.”

“I killed her, didn’t I?”

“Stop talking.”

“But I—”

A vicious snarl instantly silenced whoever was speaking. “One more word and I’ll cut your tongue off.”

The haze slowly cleared from my mind, making me aware of a few things. One was the fact that we were moving, and two was the fact that there was a thick arm around my back and one under my knees, and my right side was pressed against a warm, but naked chest.

“I’m really sorry. I—”

“Shut it, kid.”

I recognized the raspy voice as Obsidian’s. Where is he taking me? Who is the kid? And why is he talking to the kid like that?

Obsidian shifted me in his arms, making a moan fall from my lips as pain flashed through my skull.

His steps faltered, but he kept on walking.

“Am I going to get punished, Alpha?” the kid asked.

Obsidian growled and came to a stop. He turned, probably to glare down at the kid. His chest expanded as he sucked in a breath.

“I’m not your Alpha. I—”

“You should be,” the kid interrupted him. “You’re mean and scary. We need a leader like you. It’s not that Devrim isn’t a good leader, he’s just—”

“Enough!”

A shiver of fear raced down my spine. There was a thud and a whimper, followed by a few seconds of silence. 

“Shake it off, kid.”

“I’m fine.”

“Good. Now get the fuck out of here and stay within your limits. If I find you here again, I’ll lock you in the basement for a week.”

The kid wanted to say more, but his words were cut off by the scary sound Obsidian made.

“Three seconds, kid. That’s all I’m giving you.”

There was a short lapse of silence and then the sound of branches snapping. Obsidian blew out a breath that stirred the strands of hair on my head.

“I know you’re awake.”

I hesitated, but then slowly opened my eyes and tilted my head back against his shoulder to look up at him.

“How do you know I’m awake?” I questioned.

His dark eyes darted over my face, but lingered on my forehead a bit longer. “Your heartbeat and breathing changed.”

“Oh.” I frowned at him. “You can hear that?”

Obsidian looked away from me and started walking again. He answered my question after a few minutes of silence, “We have very keen hearing.”

My eyes trailed over him.

I noticed that his hair was hanging loose and brushing the top of his shoulders as he moved, and his skin was covered in a layer of sweat.

Being so close to him, I had a clear view of the dark ink that covered almost every inch of his skin.

I reached up and pressed shaky fingers against a tattoo on his right shoulder. Obsidian tensed and sucked in a sharp breath. I ignored his reaction and traced the outline of a petal. The flower was one I hadn’t seen before, but like so many things these days, it somehow seemed familiar.

“Stop touching me,” he growled.

Instead of listening, I continued to trace his ink. On some parts of his skin, beneath the tattoos, I could feel the still raised skin of old scars. Obsidian, I realized, had a lot of scars. It was probably why he was covered in so much ink.

“Vanya,” he rasped. “Stop touching me.”

“Why?” I asked. “I like touching you.”

My hand slid over his shoulder and up the side of his thick neck and into his hair.

“I’m warning you.”

I tugged on the strands that curled around my fingers, earning a low grunt from him. Shifting, I wrapped my other arm around his neck to use as leverage to pull myself up so I could press my lips to the skin right behind his ear.

A shudder shook his big body. Obsidian muttered something under his breath when he stumbled.

I smiled and kissed the same spot again, but this time, I tasted his skin with the tip of my tongue.

It made him snap.