Mating Instinct: A Moon Shifter Novel Read Online Free Page A

The words rumbled up from his chest in a low growl that sounded more wolf than human.
    The statement took her so off guard that she dropped her arms from their protective embrace around herself. “
Excuse
me?”
    He leaned in closer until his entire body was a mere inch from hers and his mouth was next to her ear. His hot breath sent a tingle racing through her, searching out every nerve ending until she practically trembled with the need to feel that mouth all over her. “If you go to another male, I will kill him. That human tonight is lucky he’s alive.”
    “You wouldn’t do that,” she whispered, even though she knew the truth. Could hear it in his darkly murmured words. She’d known he still physically wanted her, but this . . . was unexpected. And a little insane. Why should he feel all possessive when he was the one who’d decided she wasn’t good enough for him by lying to her about the bonding process? It had to be his animal side asserting dominance. That was all. Like a dog peeing on a freaking fire hydrant, he was just acting territorial because he could.
    “Do you really want to find out if your
puppy
will bite?” Another low murmur against her skin.
    He wasn’t quite touching her, but she could feel the heat rolling off him and onto her nonetheless. She didn’t answer, partly because she didn’t trust her voice but mainly because she knew the question was rhetorical. Jayce was a deadly warrior, not a puppy dog as she’d said earlier. She knew he was reminding her of that.
    As she stared at the spot where the curve of his neck met his shoulder, she fought the sensation that shimmied through her. The thought of going to bed with Jayce was tempting. Even thinking about it made her feel light-headed.
    He’d said she could find sexual release with him, but that was all it would be to him. Even if he did care about her, he would never give her what she wanted. Not that it mattered anymore. She was so messed up and broken, she had no hope of having anything normal in her life again. And she refused to go to him for any sort of sexual pleasure. Especially since it wouldn’t be about control. With him, she’d lose it, not gain it. She could find control of her life in other places. Like revenge.
    The word rang loudly in her head.
Revenge.
After what that APL bastard had done to her, she was going to make every single one of them pay. And she didn’t need Jayce interfering with those plans.
    Ducking out from under his arms, she put a few feet of distance between them in the blink of an eye. Without his spicy, earthy scent overpowering her, she could breathe again. And think clearly. “Get out of here.”
    Jayce gave her a hard look before fishing her phone out of his pocket. Wordlessly he handed it to her, then opened the front door, but before he closed it, he paused and turned back to her. “Don’t test me,
Katarina
. I don’t think you could live with the knowledge that you got someone killed.”
    As the door shut behind him she pushed out a long breath and grabbed the stair railing to brace herself. Somehow, with him gone, the pain and loneliness eating at her were almost impossible to bear.
    Which was stupid. She’d left him more than nine months ago. Or almost a year, she reminded herself. It sounded better when she rounded up. Why oh why couldn’t she get him out of her system? When she’d first met Jayce she’d been utterly entranced. Not because of his looks—though she loved the dark edge to him—but because of the raw, untamed power that practically rolled off him.
    Since she’d grown up with an arms dealer for a father, she’d never been intimidated by anyone. Until Jayce. Of course she hadn’t let him see it. She’d called him a puppy even then, completely taunting him. He’d been so surprised. She would never forget the shocked look on his face as she’d teased him. He deserved the taunt, of course, after saying something rude to her. She couldn’t remember the exact