Free Craved by an Alpha by Felicity Heaton Page B

her that way.
    Her concentration was already shot. She couldn’t stop thinking about how Cavanaugh had reacted when she had touched him at the base of the cliff, using her hands on his shoulders to steady herself. Hunger had flashed in his eyes and his low growl had sent a hot shiver bolting through her, filling her with a potent need to skim her hands over his broad shoulders and tempt him into kissing her.
    She had thought that he would when he had pulled her towards him, his eyes filled with desire that she could scent on him. He had released her but she knew he had come close to kissing her, had somehow mastered his desire and stopped himself. Why? She had cursed him for not going through with it. He had fired her up and then backed away, leaving her head filled with thoughts of what might have been and questions about why he would kiss her, why he had stopped, and what the hell was wrong with her. She shouldn’t want him to kiss her. She had to fight her attraction to him. It was for the best.
    Her heart called her a liar.
    It wasn’t for the best. Resisting him and her need of him was driving her crazy.
    He had been on her mind all day, stealing her focus away from the world around her during their trek. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since he had woken her this morning before dawn, rousing her from a wicked dream of him. She had opened her eyes to find him lying beside her, propped up on his elbow, his face above hers. His silver-white hair had been mussed, as if he had been tugging it all night, ploughing his fingers through it. It had tempted her to do the same. His grey eyes had been warm and bright, filled with a strange light that had left her feeling he was happy and it was because she was with him.
    She pushed it all out of her mind and tried to focus on the climb.
    Cavanaugh looked back down at her again, sending another fierce hot shiver through her. He really had to stop looking at her like that.
    She couldn’t concentrate whenever he did and found herself watching him as he climbed instead.
    He was an expert climber, far more agile than any of the other males in their pride. She had forgotten just how skilled and powerful he was. He made climbing the sheer wall of the mountain look easy, the thick muscles of his arms working hard beneath his tight black thermal top.
    Cavanaugh looked down and paused with only his right hand and the tip of his left boot on a hold. Her stomach turned. She trusted him, but she wished he would hold on with both hands and feet. If he fell, she wasn’t sure she could support his weight. She would try, but deep in her heart she knew that the force of the rope that linked them snapping taut would pry her away from the rocks and have her falling with him. They were already close to one hundred metres above the path. If they fell from where they were now, they would definitely break enough bones to leave them vulnerable to the predators that made the mountains their homes.
    He swung back towards the wall and reached for another hold, kicking off on his left foot to propel himself upwards. He snagged the small section of rock jutting from the cliff face and pulled himself up, finding another hold for his right hand and then for his feet. She couldn’t move as he did. She didn’t have the courage or the faith in her abilities.
    He looked back down again and she silently thanked him for keeping all hands and feet on their holds this time, and for checking on her. She had climbed with many from her pride, but none had ever checked on her as he did, watching her with concern in his striking dark grey eyes.
    He smiled before shoving off with his left foot and leaping an insane distance off to his right, catching a hold that seemed invisible to her. Her heart rocketed and she came close to shouting at him, but the grin on his face when he looked back down at her had her falling silent and smiling back at him.
    How long had it been since he had climbed like this? He