Untamed Fate (Magic Side: Wolf Bound Book 2)

Savannah

The wine was fruity and tart and better than anything I’d ever had. Impossible flavors curled around my tongue—it tasted like tart cherries and the summer wind. It smelled of sunlight and filled me with a sensation like the world waking in spring.

Licking my lips, I moaned softly as the alcohol warmed my stomach. A man with a chiseled physique pirouetted across the grass, shaking an instrument with bells.

I laughed and took another sip of wine, then frowned when I noticed that my cup was empty. Looking up, I met Jaxson’s intense gaze. He was watching me closely, and though his body was as stoic as a statue, his eyes were awash in emotions—desire, longing, and lust.

Warmth spread through me like the sun breaking through clouds, and it felt like my insides were alive with sparkling bubbles. An immense joy buffeted my spirits, and I raised my hands toward the sky and twirled. Somehow it was dark now, and thousands of stars twinkled from the heavens above like the lights hung around the garden, casting a warm glow over us.

“Let’s dance, Jaxson!” I dropped my cup and took his hand, trying to tow him into the crowd of revelers, but he was as immobile as a rock.

I frowned and was about to remark on his sour mood when a woman with flowers in her hair took my wrist, and suddenly, she and I were bounding into the frenzy of laughing people.

The thrum of the drums reverberated through my body, and I closed my eyes, letting my hips move with the tempo of the music. I felt free and alive, not a care in my mind.

Hours or seconds or minutes passed as I spun around the garden until an invisible force slowed me to a stumbling halt. I opened my eyes, and my gaze locked onto Jaxson’s.

He stood at the edge of the crowd, his attention entirely focused on me, like a predator stalking its prey. His stare was so intense that I felt it vibrate the air between us.

Shivers inched down my spine, and a tightness spread through my chest, narrowing to a point above my heart. And then, like a thread wrapped around me, it tugged me toward the man with the honey-gold eyes. Jaxson Laurent. My alpha.

I moved nearer until our bodies were inches apart. Tilting my head, I looked up into his steely eyes. He wore a tortured expression, and now that I was close enough to touch him, I saw that every one of his muscles was tensed.

“Do you want to dance with me?” I asked.

“I don’t dance.” His voice was gruff and grouchy, and I couldn’t help but laugh. I had a hard time imagining it, to be fair.

But we were in the most beautiful place. It was such a tragedy. How could this man be in such a foul mood?

How do I make a wolf come out of its den?

But I already knew.

I let the thread draw me to within an inch of him—so close I could almost feel his heartbeat. I gave him a demure look. “Chase me, Jaxson.”

I took three steps back, not letting my eyes break from his. Then I turned and bolted across the garden, heading for the line of trees ahead that were completely different than the trees of the jungle outside. As I slipped into the forest, I glanced over my shoulder, catching the livid expression on Jaxson’s face as he raced after me.

Though I wound deeper into the strange woods, those beautiful lights still floated in the branches, casting a warm glow over the space.

Movement behind me caught my attention, and stifling a giggle, I slipped behind a large tree, pressing my back to it. Jaxson was close. His woodsy pine signature permeated the area, and the pulse of his alpha magic pressed into me, searching.

Exhilaration coursing through me, I steadied my breath and carefully peered around the trunk. Where was he?

“Found you.” His silvery voice skated over my spine, and I shrieked.

Clutching my heart, I spun and met his amused gaze. Thank goodness, his icy demeanor was finally thawing.

He took a step forward and planted his palms beside my temples, caging me against the tree. “You’re terrible at hide and seek.”

“Maybe I wanted to be found,” I whispered, my chest rising and falling with each urgent breath.

Jaxson’s eyes flicked down, deepening their honey tone as his desire flooded my senses. I studied his lips. I’d tasted them before, but damn, I wanted to run my tongue over them and taste them again.

He growled deep and low in my ear, and I shivered, feeling the rumble of his voice in every inch of my body. “Do you remember what I told you earlier?”

“No,” I fibbed. I remembered everything he’d said to me before we drank the wine, but my body had other plans, and as far as I was concerned, nothing was going to stop me from getting what I wanted.

“Liar.” His canines slipped free, and he lowered his face to my neck, lightly dragging his teeth over my skin. “Do you know what’ll happen if you let me have my way with you?”

I swallowed and nodded, mindful of how close his incisors were to my throat. “You’ll ruin me forever? No man will ever measure up?”

And though I knew it was the painful truth, I’d trade my future sex life for one night with Jaxson.

A throaty laugh rumbled from his throat, and he gazed down at me with a sinfully delicious look. “Oh, baby, you have no idea.”

His whiskey voice lit up every nerve ending in my already sensitive body, but I was pinned to the tree, locked in place by his presence.

“And if another man were to touch you,” he continued, lowering his head again and brushing his lips across mine, “I’d rip his heart out.”

Old Savannah would have kicked Jaxson in the balls, but current Savannah was eating up his domineering possessiveness.

As I leaned forward and pressed my mouth to his, he released me and took a step back. “We should get back to the revel before things get out of hand.”

His voice was strained, and his fists clenched, but I could sense his desire as strongly as my own. Why was he fighting this?

“Then go back. I’m going for a swim.” I pushed off the tree and began marching toward the body of water that I could somehow smell. These wolf senses were more useful than I’d imagined.

“What are you talking about?” Jaxson demanded as he stalked through the dark woods behind me.

“My wolf wants to swim.”

Liar, she said. I hate swimming.

I wound through the trees, following the crisp, fresh scent, until it grew so strong, I could almost taste it. I pushed through a bush and smiled. A large pool of water was set among the forest, surrounded by a neatly manicured lawn.

“Why must you always fight me?” Jaxson asked, his voice thick with pent-up irritation.

“I’m not fighting you. I told you, I want a swim.” Kicking away my shoes, I peeled my shirt off and tossed it on the grass, catching the distressed expression that cut Jaxson’s face. “You’re free to go back to the revel, if that’s what you want.”

I slowly unbuttoned my shorts and slid them down my hips, bending a little further forward than I needed to slip my feet out of them. You little hussy, my wolf said.

“Fuck,” Jaxson choked. “You’re killing me, Savannah.”

I turned to face him, wearing only my black lacy bra and panties. His body rippled with tension, and though he looked like he wanted to rage, his eyes drank in every inch of my body. I felt sexy and wanted.

Slowly, I moved toward him, locking him with my gaze so he knew my intentions.

“Stop before this goes too far,” he growled.

I drew my hands up his chest, reveling in how hard and rigid it felt under my fingertips. “You want me, Jaxson, and I want you. We’re both adults, so what’s the problem?”

Gently, I began unbuttoning his torn shirt until his chest was fully exposed. I could practically taste the dried sweat and blood on his skin, and it sent a pulsing heat through me that settled low in my belly. This man was a god among mortals, and I wanted to claim him.

Mine.

I slipped his torn shirt over his shoulders and let it drop to the ground. He shivered as I traced my fingers down his chest, following the sexy trail of hair that continued from his navel downward, disappearing beneath his jeans.

A rumble escaped his throat, and his hands gripped my waist, locking me in place. “Once I start, there’ll be no turning back. You’ll be mine. Neither of us is ready for that.”

His words only stoked the flames that were building inside me.

“You can have me tonight. No strings attached.” I undid the button of his jeans with a wink, but his hands caught mine.

“You don’t understand, Savy,” he said gruffly. “My wolf is possessive. Once I bed you, there will be no escaping him.”

Anger and hurt blossomed in my chest. Why was it that every time we got close, Jaxson pushed me back, making me feel like I was the one who’d led him to the edge?

Bastard. I pulled away from his grasp and turned, striding toward the pool.

Though the water was dark, I saw the glint of rocks ten feet below. I dove in, letting the cool water extinguish the rage that had risen in my heart from being rejected yet again. I swam until my lungs burned, and then I surfaced.

I turned to tell Jaxson what an asshole he was, but when I looked up, he was gone. Ripples lapped at my face as I treaded water, searching the area around the pool.

He left me here. The bastard actually—

I yelped in shock as a powerful force plunged me beneath the water. Then Jaxson’s strong arms wrapped around me and lifted me back to the surface.

I kicked furiously to stay up. I wanted to punch him in the face, but I launched into a coughing fit.

His arm looped around my waist, and he swam toward the shallows as I sucked in air. Once I’d recovered enough to say something, he swung me around and pressed his mouth to mine.

His tongue parted my lips forcefully, and I obliged, meeting his urgent kiss like this might be our one chance together. Our movements were frantic, driven by a need to close the distance between us. Heat pooled between my legs as I dug my fingers into his back and pulled myself as near to him as I could. Never had I been so turned on.

I moaned as his hand grasped my tangled locks, tilting my head at just the angle he needed to drink me in. My skin felt raw from the friction of his stubble, but I didn’t care. I reached up and gripped his hair, holding him in place as I worked my mouth against his.

Everything about this felt right, like this was meant to happen. If Jaxson ruined all future sex for me, so be it. Right now, I needed him more than I needed breath itself.

But just as quickly as his lips had claimed mine, he pulled away, his hand still holding the back of my head. I drew in a ragged breath, thankful for the momentary reprieve but pissed that his mouth wasn’t on mine.

“There’s nothing I want more than to have you, Savannah. But trust me when I tell you that this can’t happen tonight.” He dragged his thumb over my lower lip, his honey eyes intense and full of lust. “And when I finally do claim you, it won’t be when we’re drunk on fairy wine.”

Damn it all to hell.