TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 301

Three hundred and one

Isabella POV

Wesley was talking about sex.

I’d been around lewd men long enough to recognize that look they get when all they want is sex. It was a far cry from what my wolf felt every second she stood near him.

“There’s something about you that makes me forget every reason I should keep my distance.”

The more he spoke, the more confused and certain I became.

None of this made sense. He wanted me and was admitting it, so why did it feel like we were having two completely different conversations?

And why wasn’t he mentioning the bond?

“That’s too bad,” I said. “No woman deserves to be cheated on.”

A restrained laugh escaped him. “You really think that’s what this is?”

“What else am I supposed to think?”

“You’re looking at me like you’re trying very hard not to give in, yet you worry about how my partner feels.”

I turned away. Tears blurred my vision before I realized they were falling.

“It’s really frustrating, you know. If you don’t want me…” I whispered, “…say it.”

“Say it, and I’ll understand.”

He now seemed baffled. I laughed bitterly through my tears.

“I know I’m nobody compared to her, but…”

“Come here, Isabella.”

Before I could protest, he gently pulled me against him and one hand rubbed slow circles over my back.

“You’re upset, and I don’t think we’re talking about the same thing.”

I buried my face against his shirt.

“That’s exactly the problem.”

My fingers curled into the fabric between us.

“You keep giving me so many different interpretations of what this means.”

I squeezed my eyes shut.

“It’s not fair.”

He leaned in until his lips brushed mine.

A violent shiver raced through my body.

It felt as though a thousand tiny sparks had burst beneath my skin all at once, warm and intoxicating. If he hadn’t been holding me, my knees would have given out beneath me.

He chuckled, then he kissed me again. Another featherlight brush. Then again, and again, as though he were patiently testing how much I could endure before I completely unraveled.

“I shouldn’t be doing this,” he murmured against my lips. “My sister would have my head if she saw this.”

I frowned.

Was he some kind of sadist who actually enjoys watching people lose their minds? Because that was exactly what he was doing to me. It all sounded like the same cruel message.

I want you… but not enough.

He reached for me and gently pulled me into his arms.

“Let me show you how much I want you.”

His mouth claimed mine. This time it wasn’t a fleeting kiss. The moment our lips met, the bond surged through me with such force that my resolve dissolved almost instantly.

I kissed him back.

The kiss deepened until nothing existed except the warmth of his mouth and the ache that had been building between us for weeks.

A small sound escaped me before I could stop it.

His lips curved against mine.

“Good girl.”

The words were barely a whisper before his mouth drifted to my neck.

He scattered slow kisses along my skin, each one sending another wave of heat through me. His teeth hovered close enough to make my wolf ache, and close enough that every instinct screamed for him to

finish what neither of us seemed able to name.

Then his lips found mine again, hungrier this time.

Nothing existed except him.

A throat cleared behind us.

I gasped and stumbled backward. My heart nearly stopped as Grandma Cassidy stood in the doorway, holding a bunch of herbs. Her gaze moved slowly from Wesley to me and then back again.

Beside me, Wesley had gone still. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than for the floor to open beneath me and swallow me whole.