Frozen on the spot, Juliette watched as Kendall grabbed her by her waist and pressed his body against hers, bending her backward before he kissed her. He was forceful and considerate at the same time, pushing for her to grant him access, but splaying his large hand against her back to safely keep her upright so that the angle wouldn’t hurt her.

“Juliette,” he growled low against her mouth before his tongue plunged inside.

She didn’t know what possessed her, but instead of kicking him between his legs for taking such liberties, she moaned in response, her treacherous body melting in his arms. His hardness pressed against her stomach, promising pleasure and fulfillment the likes of which she had never experienced. How she could know any of it was a mystery to her, but Juliette knew deep inside that to be true.

His hands roamed in a feverish dance all over her body, cupping, teasing, stoking the fire of her desire to impossible heights. His fingers found her nipples, and he played with the hard peaks, sending Juliette into a frenzy where only his touch could extinguish the flames burning her from the inside out.

“Kendall,” she whispered, pushing at his chest with both hands.

Caught by surprise, eyes widened and chest heaving, he ended up on the ground, and she jumped on top of him, positioning their bodies to her advantage.

From somewhere close, her cell phone rang. The sound resonated loud in the quiet of the forest, breaking the hazy sensual spell keeping Juliette entranced. Releasing her hold on his hardness, she abruptly stood.

“What the fuck are we doing?” she asked.

“We were attempting to do precisely that,” Kendall answered, panting. He pointedly looked down between his legs. “We should really finish what we started.”

Juliette’s wolf barked her assent in her head. “No, absolutely not.”

He shut his eyes. “Why?”

“Because we need to understand what’s going on.” The sight of his perfectly sculpted body made it difficult for her to keep her resolve, but she forced her thoughts toward safer shores. “We can’t just get naked and roll on the ground. We are civilized wolves.”

“Are we really?” A low growl accompanied his grimace. “The only thing I can think now is how to convince you to let me sink into you.” When she didn’t answer, he added, “I’ll let you ride me.”

“First things first, I’m on top, always. You don’t allow anything.” Juliette pinched the bridge of her nose with two fingers, then shook her head in frustration. “Why are we even talking about this?”

Kendall gave another glance at his neither regions. “Because I’m still as hard as a rock and I’m going to have a severe case of blue—”

“Shut up.” His member looked painfully engorged, but he wasn’t the only one in pain. Juliette was on the brink of spontaneous combustion. Men always thought they were the only ones experiencing sexual frustration, but it applied to women too. “It’s beside the point. We need to understand what’s happening here. I don’t usually jump on willing males to scratch my itch.”

At her words, Kendall shot on his feet, rising to his full height that was considerable. She had to tilt her chin to meet his eyes. Smoldering navy-blue pools ringed by silver speckles locked with hers. “You are mine,” he snarled. “You don’t jump on anyone but me from now on.”

“You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

“I’m your mate.”

“We’ll see about that.” But as she said it, her heart tore in two.

“You feel it as much as I do in here.” He splayed one hand against his chest and the other on hers.

The warmth of his touch spread tingles of awareness to the rest of her body, and her breath hitched as her heart skipped a beat when his fingers slowly caressed her breast.

“Thought so,” he said, canting his head.

Juliette would have loved nothing better than to erase the smug smile on his face, but her body seemed to have an agenda of its own, reacting to his every touch and making her moan. “This means nothing,” she said, slapping his hand away.

“This means everything, my mate.” He stepped back, his hungry gaze studying her. “It’s the Hunger,” he said. “I never really thought it was real—” The last part sounded more like an internal thought he had inadvertently let out.

“What about it?” Juliette raked her brain for the answer. The way he said the word “hunger” triggered a distant memory to come forward. “You are not talking about the Hunger?” She laughed but it was a nervous reaction. “You can’t possibly be talking about that.” She shook her head. “No, of course not. It’s just old folklore.” Her grandma told her stories of Hunger soulmates who would become rogues if they didn’t find each other.

Her cell phone rang again. This time, Ariana Grande kept singing.

“It’ll go to voicemail,” Kendall said, frustration written all over his face.

“It’s my beta. I must take her call.” In truth, Juliette was thankful for the interruption. She needed a moment to collect her thoughts and douse the flames burning her.

The ringtone stopped.

Kendall stepped toward her. She maintained her ground and raised one hand. “There won’t be any funny business until we’ve talked about this—” she gestured toward his body, then to hers “—us.”

He raised his hands in the air before storming toward the shore. A moment later, he plunged into the crystalline sea. Juliette could have searched for her cell phone, but his powerful backside commanded her full attention, making her feel warm and tingly all over again. She was doing her best to ignore the big elephant in the room. He was right, they were mated, but she couldn’t wrap her head around the notion yet. She could barely think a coherent thought around him.

Kendall reemerged several seconds later. Like a dream come true, he shook his surfer-blond mane before striding toward her, water cascading down his perfect body, his eyes staring into hers as if she were his beacon.

Juliette was in so much trouble it wasn’t even funny. Although she usually made the first move and never relinquished control, she wanted this man to ravish her until she couldn’t walk any longer.