Chasing a Wolf: Moonbound Series, Book Four by Krystal Shannan, Camryn Rhys Page B

becoming his favorite. She genuinely didn’t understand him, and it was adorable.
    He took her face between his hands and stared into her eyes. Into the same eyes that he’d seen on Marco for the thirteen years he’d been going to the Vegas strip to check in on him.
    Tomás had been only eighteen himself when he’d seen the unbonded wolf for the first time. Marco’s mother had notified Tomás’ father—as the Vegas pack alpha—that her son had begun to shift, and Tomás had been the one tasked with watching him.
    He hadn’t actually met Marco until a month ago, when they’d first discovered the connection between him and another unbonded wolf in New Orleans. But he had been watching Marco for years.
    How could he have missed the similarities?
    Tomás ran a thumb over Lani’s cheekbone. “I don’t think I can explain it to you.”
    “But your emotions are strong.” She gazed at him, earnestly. “Does this mean you want sex again?”
    He forced a breath out between tight lips. Whatever village women had taught her to watch for signs of men wanting sex…they’d really done a number on Lani. Then again, having a mother who’d been raised as a prostitute obviously had also created something in her he didn’t understand.
    “I don’t need sex right now, Lani.” Tomás continued to slide his fingers along her face. “I just want to stand like this.”
    “But you are aroused.” She put her hand on top of his. “I can feel it now, you remember.”
    A small smile took his lips and he wound his fingers through hers. “I can be aroused, and not need to have sex with you.”
    Inside her, he could feel the tiniest coil of desire begin to unwind. She liked touching him, too, it seemed. But he needed to show her the emotional side of their relationship was just as important as the physical. Especially now that he was learning more about her and where she’d learned her patterns. Why she was who she was.
    He pressed his lips to the soft underside of her wrist, just where the bonded tattoos were.
    She sucked in a breath and the desire in her grew more powerful.
    But he didn’t indulge it.
    “Why would you want to be aroused and not have sex?” Her voice was breathy, and he would’ve known she was turned on, even if he couldn’t feel her.
    He liked knowing he could make her feel desire. Even if it was small. Unfamiliar.
    He wanted her to want him more.
    Tomás dropped his tone and pinned her eyes with his. “I will always be aroused around you.”
    Her lips parted and her breath came more quickly. “You will?”
    “I will.” Tomás took her hand and placed it over his heart, holding it there while his pulse pounded. “You are beautiful and sexy. And…you’re mine now. That will always turn me on.”
    Tomás had to breathe for a moment while his desire grew. He didn’t want to make this about sex, and he didn’t want to jump-start whatever process made her take over and climb on him. He wanted her to feel her emotions. And his. “But that doesn’t mean I need sex.” He let his breath calm and touched her cheek again. “Otherwise, we would be having sex all the time.”
    “And you don’t want that?”
    He had to chuckle at the thought. If someone had asked him, a month ago, whether he would ever turn down sex with someone as hot as Lani, he would’ve told them to go straight to hell. But there was something about her.
    “I want you to want it, too,” he found himself saying. There was something frightening about being that honest, but between the mate bond and Lani’s beauty, he wasn’t thinking straight any longer.
    Crashing steps behind them made Tomás pull Lani into his side. He steeled himself for another fight with Zolin. But he’d made up his mind. They were going to Choaca, and they needed to get back on the road.
    The big warrior was at least human this time, and hadn’t opted to track them down as his wolf. Although, he’d known where they were going. It shouldn’t require much in