Touch of Temptation by Rhyannon Byrd Page B

give her my wrist.”
    And as an awakening Merrick female, Chloe was going to need a hell of a lot more than that.
    Tears coursed down her cheeks as she stared back at him, her breath shuddering from her lips as she quietly said, “Give…give me your wrist, then, and I’ll do the rest myself. You won’t even have to look at me or come inside my cell.”
    Aw, hell , he thought, her soft words echoing painfully through his head as he swiftly moved to his feet.
    Without a doubt, Kellan knew this woman was going to drive him out of his ever-loving mind.
    And the danger was only getting deeper by the second.

CHAPTER FOUR
    W ITH ONE HAND SHOVED deep in his pocket, Kellan shakily scraped his other hand through his hair and struggled to remember his mission.
    Find the witch.
    Protect the witch.
    Save the witch.
    Unfortunately, nailing the witch’s beautiful little ass to the wall wasn’t anywhere on the agenda, no matter how sweetly she begged him. Didn’t matter how tempting she was. How desperate he was to touch her. It wasn’t gonna happen, because even without his wolf screwing dangerously with his control, Kellan hadn’t been lying when he’d said he wasn’t good enough for her. Shit, he wasn’t fit for her to wipe her friggin’ shoes on, much less trust with her body. She was a stunning, white-hot goddess with a sassy mouth and endearing blushes, and he was…well, he sure as hell wasn’t a god. Christ, at the moment he was even more animal than man. And he didn’t trust the animal to control itself with her. One accidental swipe of his claws or bite from his fangs, and she could be seriously hurt…if not killed.
    Which meant that he had to keep his filthy paws to himself…and off the delectable, intoxicating little Merrick.
    But it wasn’t going to be easy. She was too pale, thebruise-colored smudges under her tear-filled eyes growing darker, and his insides twisted with guilt. Damn it, she needed blood, badly, but it was too dangerous, his beast fighting harder to bust its way through with each second that passed by.
    And it wasn’t as if blood alone was going to ease her suffering. As an awakening Merrick female, she needed fresh blood… and an earth-shattering orgasm.
    “This is wrong,” he groaned, wincing at the raw, gritty sound of his voice. It held too much of the wolf in it, the animal seething with primitive lust, urging him to forget what was right and wrong and just follow his baser instincts. “You don’t wanna do this, Chloe. Trust me.”
    “Please, Kellan.” A vivid blush burned beneath her smooth complexion, and he could tell how much it was costing her to ask him for something so intimate. “I’m starving. ”
    A tremor shuddered through his coiled muscles, a fresh sheen of sweat breaking out over the surface of his skin, despite the freezing temperatures in the cellblock. Knowing that if he gave in he could be putting her in serious danger, he tried again to make her understand why it couldn’t happen. “I didn’t come here to take advantage of your situation, damn it. I came here to keep you safe.”
    “You want to do something selfless?” she threw back at him, sliding her slender legs over the side of the cot. “Be the hero? Then give me what I need!”
    “It’s not that simple!”
    She made a choked sound, wiping the tears from her cheeks with her fingers. “If you’re waiting for an easier solution, Kellan, there isn’t one.”
    Sounding ragged and on edge and desperate, he carefully said, “A little more time, Chloe, and I’ll have you out of here.”
    “Aren’t you listening?” she cried. “I don’t have any more time!”
    “Damn it, don’t say that!”
    Sharp, panting breaths slipped past her lips, followed by a stream of soft, unsteady words. “I meant what I said before, Kellan. If you don’t help me, I’m afraid of what I’ll do.” She flicked her tongue against the shiny swell of her lower lip, the brief glimpse he caught of her fangs—the only