The way Kyle was looking at her made Hollie feel light-headed and weak-kneed. No one had ever looked at her this way before. Like she was the most beautiful, precious thing in the world.
There was desire in his eyes, but also tenderness and love.
Something stirred in her, something powerful and undeniable. Maybe it was her instinct, or inner voice. But this voice demanded to be heard.
Mine!
Hollie gasped. She had heard this voice when she was in the woods. The voice that told her that Kyle was hers sounded so much like her own. But it was so strong and loud it was almost a roar in her head.
She swallowed and tried not to hyperventilate. The need to touch Kyle was overwhelming. She wanted to grab him and run her hands all over his muscular body. She wanted to bite him and mark him to warn other females away from him.
Hollie whimpered. Why was she so horny all of a sudden? And why was she so possessive and territorial?
Unable to stop herself, she pressed her hands against his chest and felt his powerful heartbeats against her palm. Kyle ran his hand down her back, caressing her and sending small tremors through her body.
Hollie had never been treated with love and respect in the pack. No one had ever appreciated her. She was a talented cook, but the other cooks looked at her with jealousy and disdain. They took credit for her creations and blamed her for their mistakes in the kitchen. The other members of the pack made fun of her full figure, and mocked her inability to shift. She was just a slave, a scapegoat.
Hollie wrapped her arms around Kyle’s neck and lifted her face to him. How would it feel to have someone love her? To have someone touch her with tenderness, love and respect?
Kyle saw her as a person, a real person with her own fears, insecurities, talents and gifts. She wasn’t perfect. But she wasn’t a worthless piece of garbage either.
She was a half-breed, but she wasn’t a half-person. The wolves in the Black Blade pack had made her feel inferior and ashamed just because she wasn’t a full shifter.
She didn’t deserve their disdain just because she couldn’t shift. Kyle had made her see that she had so many good qualities. He even told her that she had saved herself.
She finally saw the truth in his statement. She was strong and worthy, and she deserved to be free and happy.
Hollie didn’t flinch when Kyle leaned in to kiss her. She had lost her virginity to one of the wolves in the pack when she was seventeen. They fumbled their way through it, and it was over in a few minutes. The boy was just a year older than her, and he had seemed like a nice guy at first. But after that encounter, he avoided her altogether and never spoke to her again.
Hollie put that pimply teenage werewolf out of her mind. Kyle was no teenager. He was a man.
A real man who wasn’t afraid to do what was right. To fight for what was his.
Kyle stared into her eyes as his lips hovered just inches from hers. Hollie knew that he wanted to make sure that she was okay with it. He wasn’t going to force himself on her, or do anything that she wasn’t entirely comfortable with.
Hollie lifted herself up on her toes and pressed her mouth to his.