Free AlphainHiding by Lea Barrymire

lovely. Now he
had her blushing.
    “Why do you fight it so hard? I mean, I know I want you. You
obviously want me. Am I so unappealing that you don’t want me touching you?”
    “No, Seth. No. It’s nothing like that.” She rubbed her
forehead and tried to deal with the surreal conversation they were going to
have. “Do you know how mates are created in the shifter world?”
    “Not really. I know my parents were mated.”
    “Okay. True mates—not just married couples—are created by a
ritual during sex. Each party has to bite the other at the time of orgasm and
if they are meant to be mated a bond is formed. A really strong, unbreakable
bond. Supposedly it has something to do with genetics and antibodies, or
something like that. I haven’t really paid too much attention to the
discussions about it.” She watched him closely, looking for understanding to
flicker in his eyes. “It’s permanent and completely binding. No one can break
it. Well, no one alive can. The only way to sever the bond is through death.
The connection is intimate and psychic. You know when I was in your head
yesterday? Picture that all the time. Some can learn to shut it off for a
while, but it’s a mental connection with your mate that you have for your
entire life.”
    “Okay, but that doesn’t explain the Alpha push to keep me
from kissing you.”
    “Well, maybe you don’t feel it. My wolf, and to some extent
myself, have feelings for you that go way beyond a casual fuck. She wants to
mark you, to leave our bite mark on your skin. That’s not a casual thought to a
wolf. She’s ready to make you our mate. I’m not interested in a mate—don’t want
one and definitely don’t need one.” The venom coating those last words hung
between them.
    His dark eyes were so intent on her face that she had to
look away. Would he see her fears of a future with a male who didn’t love her
for her but only for her power? Would he push her to really stop him this time?
She dreaded using her powers on him but she couldn’t let them get naked
together. She only had so much self-control.
    “What are you really scared of?” His question was whispered
so low that she wasn’t sure he’d actually said anything until he lifted her
face with a finger under her chin. She wanted to fall into his eyes, drown in
them. He asked again. “Emily, what are you really afraid of?”
    “I’m strong both mentally and physically. I can’t be with
someone weaker than I am—I just can’t. My wolf demands that my mate be stronger
than I am, or able to overpower me. If we ended up mated we’d both be unhappy
every day of our lives. I can’t do that to you, or to me.”
    “So if I keep from biting you and you keep you from biting
me, we can do a little kissing?”
    “Is that all you really want to do? Kiss? Because let me
tell you it’s taking every bit of self-control I have to keep my hands from
ripping your clothes off. I want you bad, Seth. I don’t think I can keep it to
just kissing.”
    A silly smile spread across his lips. “You wanna get me
nekkid?”
    She laughed. Leave it to him to lighten the mood. “Yes. I
want to get you nekkid. Then, if I had my way, I’d lick every inch of your
skin, or maybe kiss it all. I’d definitely be doing something sinful to all of
you, anyway.”
    He closed his eyes and groaned. “Jeezus. Really? You have to
tell me about the licking and the kissing after you tell me I can’t be near
you? Are you trying to kill me?”
    “No more than I’m trying to kill myself. Look, maybe we need
to expend our energy in safer ways. Want to go for a run? I could work some
hand-to-hand training with you out in the yard?” She desperately needed to get
out of the living room and away from him and his sexy smile.
    “No more running. I’ve run more in two days than I have in
years,” he complained. “Why don’t we tussle in the yard while you tell me all
the ways you want to violate me?”
    She smirked. “You’ll be too