Captivation: Shifters Forever Worlds (Shifters Forever After Book 4) by Elle Thorne Page B

scientific name, but by damn, he knew what it was.
    Anti-Tranq.
    Expensive and difficult to come by. And Doc had some.
    “Bain.” Carina pulled his arm, taking his attention off the medicine. “I asked you a question.”
    Bain studied her face, but found he could not pull his gaze from her full lips. “Carina.” Her name was ripped from his soul, his heart, and his bear. That was all he could say.
    Her lips flattened into a line of disapproval, her eyes narrowed.
    What happened next blew Bain away. She pushed him backward, until his back hit the wall. Carina grabbed his collar with both hands and pulled his face close to hers. “Answer me, dammit!”
    Bain groaned, buried his hands in her hair and pulled her face close to his. Jackhammers erupted in his stomach as his bear expressed his yearning. He captured her mouth, holding her lips captive, his tongue slipping in, searching for hers.
    What the hell? He shouldn’t be doing this.
    But he didn't want to slow down. He couldn't stop. Their tongues danced that dance, their hearts racing, their pulses matching beat for beat.
    He couldn't help what was happening to his body. His cock responded as eagerly as his bear, as eagerly as his heart.
    He lowered his hands to the curb of her back and pulled her against his body. Her eyes grew wide as she felt the desire he was barely able to control.
    Bain heard a roar and realized immediately it was not his bear. Her panther had decided to take control, and Carina's arms rose, her fingers sifting through his hair, her nails scoring his scalp as she latched on to his mouth. She pushed her body against his, soft curves melding into hard muscle.
    The kiss lasted an eternity, and at the same time, it was too short. As she pulled back from him, her breathing came out in spurts.
    “Does that convince you to stay?”
    Forever. And then some.
    Damn it. But he had a job to do first.
    “It convinces me to come back.”
    She shoved at his chest. “Damn you, you’ll risk your life for this, won’t you?”
    “Carina. I have to do this.”
    She wasn’t there to hear the last word. She’d stormed out of the room.
    Though Bain knew he really had nothing to come back to. Not really, not anymore, because Carina needed to be there for Bree. She didn’t need to have him distracting her from raising that sweet little angel.
    But one thing was for damned sure, no one needed the Italian screwing up their lives.
    All his life, Bain felt as if he never measured up, never truly understood his purpose for being. He was certain now he had a purpose, and it was more than that. It was a calling. He had to protect the ones that couldn’t protect themselves.
    His chest swelled with the realization that he could be proud of himself, this was one time when he would be able to look back on something he did and know it mattered, for more than just one person, and for more than just one day.
    He exhaled a deep breath.
    If I’m around to look back on it, that is.
    The grim notion that he could die didn’t escape him. But the calling to do this mission outweighed it.

Chapter 21
    M ikhail’s plane landed , waking Bain.
    Before he’d left, he’d kissed Bree on the forehead, and she’d nuzzled him. Her eyelids fluttered, but did not opened. He thought of how she’d called him daddy earlier.
    Her actions, her innocence, had led to Bain’s decision. It had sealed the plan in his mind as permanently as hot iron branded cattle.
    He hadn’t given Carina the details she wanted in the end, not even that kiss could convince him to do that. If anything, that kiss convinced him he had to persevere. If he died, at least he’d be doing something. Just one damned thing to make up for the shit the Kozlov family seemed to always get mixed up in. It seemed Vey’s legacy would keep the Kozlov family captive forever.
    Unless I can do something about it. And he aimed to.
    At the clinic, he’d called Braden and asked him to keep their conversation private and tell him