Redemption by Eleri Stone

grinning. Closer , he urged mentally. Keep coming. He hadn’t planned to attack but if one fell right into his lap…
    The footsteps paused only a dozen feet away and then kept on. A few seconds later, a gray muzzled face poked through the underbrush. A wolf, large for his species. Adriano didn’t move, not even a muscle, despite the adrenaline flooding his system but something made the wolf pause. His head came up and sharp yellow eyes fixed on his position. Adriano leaped, spanning the seven feet that separated them in a second. But damn, the wolf was fast. His reflexes were incredible. He managed to jerk himself back and turn in the tight space. Only Adriano’s claw catching his left hind leg slowed him down enough for Adriano to hurl himself onto the wolf’s back. The wolf might be faster but Adriano knew he was stronger. His jaw was built to split skulls and he had the weight advantage. If it came down to an honest fight in a locked space, he would win.
    But the wolf rolled, slamming them both into the trunk of a tree and Adriano lost his grip momentarily. While Adriano rolled to his feet, the wolf ran down the path the way he’d come, fleet-footed and bounding over any obstacle that blocked the trail. Adriano knew he couldn’t keep up. He was made to stalk, attack from the shadows, lunge silently on his prey and kill them instantly. He wasn’t built for the chase. He snarled as step by step he fell further and further behind until, finally, he was forced to give up.
    At least, he was certain now that it was a wolf. He spat the blood from his mouth. For all the good that knowledge would do him.
     
    Sophie knew Adriano stood behind her just like she’d been almost painfully aware of his presence all day. She couldn’t get him out of her system and didn’t know why. It had never been this way before. Sex usually cleared her head, not muddled it. She hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to him about the night before but maybe that was a blessing. She didn’t know what she would say. Maybe he was right. Maybe she should just accept the pleasure and not try to slot their relationship into a stupid category. Sex. Just good…okay, great sex, mind-blowing and addictive. The best she’d ever had.
    Today had been torture. He would pass by, she’d catch his scent and her nipples would peak. She’d look up to catch him watching her from across the room and knew by the glint in his eyes that he was thinking about being inside of her. Almost like he was already there. Lodged deep, impossible for her to shake.
    Her body clenched when she felt his warmth at her back and his breath brushed her cheek. “I’m heading out to make the final rounds. I’ll meet you back at your tent.”
    She watched him go, avoiding Mia’s worried look which she didn’t understand. Mia had practically pushed her into Adriano’s arms. She couldn’t focus that last half hour and when Sean announced it was time to call it quits, she’d tossed down her gloves and left.
    But now standing here staring at her tent, she started to have second thoughts. He was already inside. The lantern’s dim glow cast his silhouette through the nylon. He sat on her cot, his back to her. He wouldn’t be able to stand upright, even though it was a large tent, without bending his head.
    She thought about turning around. What the hell was she doing getting involved with someone now? She could tell herself this was only temporary but a part of her knew better than that. Already they were bound together in some inexplicable way that felt as constrictive as a steel cable. Her mother would tell her to come home, back where it was safe. Delia…What would her sister say? Delia, who had never been afraid of anything in her too-short life. She should be the one here with someone as exotic and alive as Adriano. She should have been the one to survive.
    Adriano turned his head as if he’d heard her standing there in the still night. Impossible, she knew, but she took a step