Page 113 of The Lure of Wolves and Whispers

Without the leather jacket, I can see every muscle tense down the broad lines of his shoulders beneath his shirt. Conflict tears across his expression just as his hand reaches out for mine at the edge of the worktable, only to pull back.

We’re so close, I can see the battle escalating into a full-blown war as his eyes drop to my lips… and linger.

My voice drops to a whisper—a challenge. “What are you so afraid of, Wolf?”

“I’m not afraid.” The words sound raked over embers, but there’s a flicker of hesitation tightening the edges of his eyes even as Wolf lets one hand brush the curve along the small of my back. Like he thinks he can prove something to himself—to me.

I don’t believe him. And I’m not going to stand here and listen to excuses about why my ideas are too risky, or too dangerous, to work. Survival requires sacrifice. I was wrong, before I came here. I thought staying alive meant staying safe—staying small—and never taking any risks. But letting bad things happen is just as dangerous as acting to stop them.

Tyrants always need a new enemy.

And they will come for all of us, eventually, unless we tear them down.

Dividing the nobles is the best chance we have to weaken this court so Cashel can take the throne and the Whisperers can seize the High Queen with as little organized opposition as possible. And planting magic on one of the noble daughters?

Iknowthis plan can work. But if he’s not willing to take that risk with me…

“I should go,” I whisper, ignoring the way his eyes flare as I pull back just an inch.

His breath snares in his throat.

His hand flexes, digging into my hip, and Wolf pulls me in close, a rush of heat filling the inches between us as his lips claim mine.

TWENTY-SEVEN

The kiss is reckless and wild andhard—

And I can’t get enough.

Wolf pulls me in roughly against his hips, and our bodies connect, heat flushing through me where his warm chest presses against my exposed skin.

His lips are insistent on mine, and I kiss him back, eager.

My bandaged hands knot in the thin linen of his shirt, pulling him in closer to me. The nerves tingle, but the antidote keeps the pain at bay in my palms. Wolf’s fingers find the back of my neck and tilt my head just enough…

My mouth opens under his. Wolf deepens the kiss, coaxing a gasp where his teeth nip at the sensitive skin of my bottom lip. I feel myself melt against him, and he only pulls me in closer.

This is madness. It has to be, right? But I can’t stop.

I don’twantto stop.

His touch brings heat rushing to the surface of my skin everywhere his fingers trail. Tracing down the back of my neck. Along the curve of my bare shoulders.

Each movement is careful, avoiding the cut down my side he’s bandaged so carefully.

Wolf’s mouth finds mine, again and again, and I let the pressof his body back me up onto the ledge of the table again. His hips press into mine, and I arch against him.

The rough sound his breath makes catching in his throat at the friction between us sets my blood on fire.

Maybe wanting him like this is a mistake. No—Iknowthis is a mistake.

But I don’t care anymore.

He kisses me like I’m something lost, then found again, and none of it makes the slightest bit of sense, but fuck, I feel it too. For the first time since I got here, I don’t feel alone.

Wolf’s mouth skims along my jaw, and the gasp he coaxes from me…

More,I almost beg.Please.