Wandering Off the Path by Willa Edwards Page A

under control. He combed his fingers through his hair as he fought for restraint. Desire flooded Abigail’s eyes, turning them from amber to the deep russet of a wild forest creature. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn’t surrender to the open invitation within them. Abigail deserved better.
    “Yes, you do. You deserve a man who can be soft. Who can hold your hand and kiss you without throwing you over his shoulder, tying you to the bed and fucking you senseless. A man your grandmother would accept. Who would be an addition to your life, instead of forcing you to sever ties.”
    Abigail opened her mouth but he continued, needing to complete his speech before it ripped his heart to shreds.
    “Do you have any idea how much I’d like to make you mine? To tie you to me forever so you wouldn’t have the option to run once you discovered the true depth of the darkness within me. But I can’t do that to you. I can’t trap you. In time you’d learn to hate me for all I can’t be. You’d come to resent me for all I withheld from you.” He’d been there before and he wasn’t about to do it again. Not with Abigail.

    “I love your darkness,” Abigail screamed when Wolf paused to breathe, loud enough so that he couldn’t ignore her, interrupting before he could invent more reasons to push her away. The attempt was useless. There was nothing he could say that would persuade her otherwise. She’d accepted Hunter’s departure—she didn’t need him. But Wolf was different. She couldn’t allow Wolf to walk away.
    He clenched his teeth tight, as if he wanted to argue with her, but he didn’t say a word. His eyes bore into her, as if begging her to find some truth he hadn’t considered, some argument he’d yet to realise, that could allow him all he desired. A responding need bubbled inside her.
    She needed Wolf. She craved his claiming glare, his strong, possessive hold that hurt her only enough to melt her insides. She revelled in every moment she’d captured with him, and would spend the rest of her life mourning his touch after he had left.
    It had never occurred to her that he might be as interested in staying as she was in holding on to him. Knowing he wanted her unleashed an inner boldness within her. Whatever it took, Abigail was determined to keep him in her life.
    “I want that part of you. I need it. You’re the only one who sees the real me. The side of me hidden so deep even I couldn’t locate it. You’re the only one who can fulfil me.”
    Wolf evaded her honest gaze. She caressed the warm skin of his cheek, redirecting his eyes to hers. A groan escaped Wolf at the touch. He nuzzled into her hand, his thick whiskers tracing across her palm. Her knees trembled and her insides clenched with delicious friction until her mind hazed with the lust she’d worried would forever go unrequited.
    “That you’re concerned for me, that you worry I might someday hold such pleasure against you, shows more to me than any soft words or gentle touch could.” She looked up at him, hoping he’d understand.
    His eyes remained stern, but she pushed herself forward, forcing herself past her cowardice. Fear might’ve prevented her from reaching for Wolf before, but she wouldn’t allow herself to give in to panic again. Not since she’d learnt how much such denial prevented. “There’s more to you than darkness. There’s sweetness, beauty and love. It simply needs to be compelled to the surface.”
    Wolf’s head fell forward, as if he suddenly found it too heavy to keep aloft. His brow braced against the crown of her head, shielding his expressions from her sight. His warm breath spread across her cheek as he released a slow, calming exhale. “I do care for you,” he whispered into her hair.
    It wasn’t as deep as she wanted, but she accepted his words. She bit back the desire to declare her own feelings. The sentiment he’d given her would have to be enough, she wouldn’t push him by offering up