Free Dark Wolf Unbound (Heart of the Shifter #2) by Stephanie Rowe Page A

trust.
    Abby got out of the SUV.
    Jace tensed when he heard her door slam. Instinctively, he reached for the gun he'd shoved in the pocket of his jacket. He turned it toward his chest without removing it from his pocket. If she started to sing to him, he was ending it right there. Right then. Without hesitation. His duty to keep her alive had to trump his duty to help her find her nephew. There was no way he was endangering her.
    Abby walked around the vehicle, her footsteps almost silent in the deep moss. He turned his head to watch her approach, every muscle in his body taut. She looked right at him, her green eyes steady on his face as she neared him. He caught his breath, his heart thudding almost painfully. She was so beautiful… No, she was so much more than beautiful. She was light, she was love, she was courage, and she was peace...peace he didn't deserve.
    She came to a stop in front of him, searching his face.
    His fingers tightened on the gun, pressing the muzzle into his ribs, angling it toward his heart. "Don't sing," he warned her. "Don't do it."
    She said nothing. She just stood there, studying him. He felt as though she were peeling aside all his layers and exposing the coarse ugliness of his core. He didn't want her to see it. Despite what she'd been through, there was a beauty and purity to her soul that still glittered with life. He didn't want to be the one to finally wipe it out by tainting her with his rotten core. "I think," he said, forcing out the words, "that it would be best if I went on without you. I'll find Seth and bring him back. You go to my place and hole up. It's safe. I'll meet you there."
    "Shut up." She grasped the waistband of his jeans, twisting her fingers in the denim. "Just for one second, shut up."
    He ignored her. "You're not safe with me. I have to do what's right and that's—"
    She grabbed his shoulders, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him.

Chapter 7
    J ace froze . Her lips were warm and soft, tasting faintly like honey or vanilla, or something sweet. Her mouth was inviting, a sensual temptation that tore through all his safeguards and plunged right to his gut.
    He wanted to shove her away from him. He knew that was the only responsible choice. He wanted to be a man he could respect.
    But he was so starved for what she gave him that there was no way for him to resist it. He released the gun, and immediately wrapped his arms around her and dragged her against him. Her body was like heavenly sin when she melted against him. With his shirt tied around his ankle as a makeshift splint, the only thing between them was her thin top. He tunneled his hand through her hair, glorifying in the sensation of the silken strands sliding across his fingers.
    She slid her arms behind his neck, holding tight, pulling him toward her, still kissing him, coaxing him to respond, to give her what she wanted from him.
    He was completely unable to deny her when his need was pouring through him just as strongly. He angled his head and kissed her back, deeply, intensely, offering her what little value there still was in his soul. He couldn't believe how incredible she tasted, how soft her lips were, and how much heat burned through him from her kiss.
    He wanted more. He wanted every part of her. He needed to claim her for his own, to protect and cherish her for all eternity. He'd never held anything so innocent and beautiful in his arms before, and he didn't want to ever release her. She was the light he'd been searching for his entire life, a confirmation that he'd been right to stay alive all these years. He palmed her hips, sliding his hands over the curves of her ass, his cock going rock hard at the feel of her body beneath his hands.
    He'd been with women before, but he'd been only partially present, always looking over his shoulder for a threat, or thinking about how to better serve his pack. But in this moment, with Abby in his arms, with her scent wrapped around him, with her body entangled with