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

his, there was no room for anything but her. Everything else simply faded away, until all that was left was how badly he wanted her, and how much he needed to safeguard her.
    She made a small noise of pleasure in the back of her throat, a sensual purr that awoke his wolf. It roared to life, howling through him as it greedily absorbed every essence of her. His wolf wasn't violent this time, however. It was pure male, driven by a primal instinct to connect with her as a woman.
    Driven by the call of his wolf, Jace tightened his grip on her and deepened the kiss, claiming her on every level of her being, taking over the kiss. His moral code that demanded he keep his distance from her vanished, swept away by the sheer intensity of his need for her, and his lupine instinct to claim her. She didn't resist, melting into him, accepting his need, welcoming his demands. She was utterly open to him, trusting him, offering him whatever he wanted.
    Her refusal to protect herself from him incited his need to shield her. The softer she was around him, the fiercer his need to ensure her safety became. He didn't want her to lose that softness, to shun it in favor of the hard shields he lived by. She was too entrancing the way she was, too perfect, too real. She touched a part of him that he'd shut down long ago, a part that wanted to live and breathe so badly he couldn't suppress it now that she'd awakened it.
    Her hands moved to his side, and her fingers bumped the gun in his pocket. When the cold steel pressed against his side, reality pierced the bubble she'd woven around him. He was so dangerous he'd had a gun trained on his own ribs, and now he was pouring himself into a kiss with the woman whose life he had destroyed?
    Swearing, he broke the kiss, pushing her back from him. "I can't do this," he gasped, his voice raw, his entire body burning with the need to drag her back into his arms. "Don't you understand what I am?" Her cheeks were flushed, her expression so completely kissable that he swore again. "Hell, Abby, I'm not the good guy. I can't be honorable when you look at me like that."
    She moved closer to him, and he stiffened, forcing his hands behind his head so he couldn't reach for her. He locked his fingers together, trapping himself as she rested her fingers on his bare chest.
    She looked up at him. "I've seen evil," she said. "I've tasted it. You're not it."
    "I know I'm not evil," he said, trying to catch his breath as she traced designs on his chest. "But I'm a killer. I'm weak, unable to control my wolf. You're not safe with me."
    "I am." She framed his face with her hands, forcing him to look at her. "The song caught you off guard before. You didn't have time to prepare, and you had no emotional connection with my sister. That's why it was able to incite you like that." She smiled, a smile so tender that something twisted inside Jace. "But you know about it now, and you have a connection to me. You won't kill me."
    Jace wanted to be the guy she believed in. He'd once thought he was. But he knew better now. He released his hands and clasped hers, pressing a kiss to her fingertips. "Since I was born, I've known my reason for existence was to protect those who needed it."
    She nodded. "I can see that."
    "I created my own pack of outsiders, because I knew no one else could help them. I was the guy who could save them." He pressed her hand to his heart, as if that would help her understand exactly how deeply he lived his words. "My entire being is focused on protecting others. Every living creature that crosses my path automatically falls under that protection. My connection to them is instant. That's what has enabled me to kill the few wolves that I've had to destroy, because they were predators who could not be cured of their bloodlust, and my job is protection." He'd never tried to explain himself before, but with Abby, he wanted to. He needed to. He needed someone to understand what drove him, so that his legacy would not