The pulsing, molten heat of the haze ignited within my core and spread throughout my body like wildfire. My legs tingled and my breasts swelled.
And when Aiden’s scent hit my nose, it was like pouring gasoline on the flames.
I looked at him with crazed desire.
I had to have him.
I longed for him to be inside of me.
The way he was looking at me, those golden-green eyes ablaze with lust, let me know he was wrestling with the same primal urges.
His muscles flexed and strained as he tried to fight it, but with each breath, he took in more and more of my pheromones, becoming drunk with a violent, haze-induced hunger.
“Still want to try one of those magic tricks?” I asked, trying to steady my breathing.
He smirked. “From the looks of it, I don’t need to.”
“Speak for yourself,” I shot back, wrestling with my body’s urge to throw myself against his bulging muscles and start tearing off his clothes.
He closed the distance between us until I could feel his breath against my face. “Ready to come home yet?” he growled.
I ran my fingers through his messy raven locks. “That depends. Are your parents still there?” I grabbed a fistful of his hair and wrenched his head to the side. He clenched his teeth in ecstasy.
“Sorry, did that hurt?” I asked, mockingly. ~Fuck~ he smells delicious, like a woodsy blend of grass and citrus, like ~home~.
He swallowed. “It was just a tickle.”
“What about this?” I said, sliding my hand down to his crotch, and he slammed his fist against the wall behind me.
“Is that all you’ve got?” he ground out.
I knew I had to be careful with how far I took this—the feeling of his rigid member in my hand was almost setting me off as well. It throbbed at my touch, and I imagined it sliding inside me, stretching me.
“Are you really not going to do anything?” I asked, tightening my grip.
“You’re not the…only stubborn one…in this relation…relationship,” he managed to eke out between breaths.
The longer I gazed at him, the more dangerous the game became. I felt myself getting wetter and the air in my lungs heating up. I could barely breathe as my clothes tightened against my body.
But I couldn’t back down now. If this was going to work, he had to be the one who waved the white flag.
“You okay?” Aiden asked, blowing against my neck. “You’re looking kinda hot.”
“I’m perfectly fine,” I replied, my voice quavering.
“Are you sure you don’t need a hand?” He guided his down between my legs and cupped my sex. “Because you feel kinda hot too.”
His touch sent tremors through my body, and my thighs clenched around his hand. I was practically panting as the haze ravaged me.
“Don’t flatter yourself, babe…this is normal for…the first hit of the Season.”
I needed to turn this back on him before I lost all control. I started rubbing him through his pants, and his grip on my crotch loosened as he buckled under the stimulation.
“That’s just my hand. Can you imagine how good my mouth would feel?” I said seductively, licking behind his ear.
I felt his hand start to slide back to my sex, but I wasn’t going to let him fight back. I had him on the ropes; it was time for the knockout.
In one, quick movement, I lifted his shirt and plunged my hand into his pants.
There was no barrier now, and my fingers wrapped around his smooth shaft, gently sliding up and down its length.
The touch of my skin against his sent us both into a frenzy. Aiden grabbed my arm and pushed me up against the wall, but I didn’t let go. He brought his lips in for a kiss, but I turned my head away.
He tried to put his hands on my breasts, my ass, anywhere he might gain the upper hand, but I just stroked faster and faster until I could feel he was on the edge of climaxing.
~Just a few more strokes.~
Aiden was breathing hard, lost in the pleasure of my handiwork. Any fight left in him had gone, and he had given over completely to his haze. He was exactly where I wanted him.
I pulled my hand out of his pants.
Aiden grimaced, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment before opening them again. “Is that the best you’ve got?” he asked, sweat rolling down his face.
“Not even close, babe,” I replied, patting his arm on my way to the door. “I’m just warming up.”
~I need a drink.~
Ever since that car ride with Sienna, my head was a tangled web of thoughts and emotions. I’d tried to meditate, but I couldn’t clear my mind.
So when I got out of that council meeting, I knew it was time to go old school.
Housman’s was my go-to place when I needed to get away. It was an old bar tucked away down a side alley. It didn’t have any of the glitz and glam of the popular bars and clubs, but that was what I loved about it.
I never had to worry about a pack house wolf walking through the door—or anyone else who might recognize me.
When I walked in, the woman behind the bar caught my eye and smiled. Clementine was a sweet old soul who treated me like a daughter, always making sure to grab me by the hands and ask me how I was doing.
She knew I only visited when I had to work something out, and man, did I have stuff to work out.
After my failed flings with Aiden and Josh, I was more impatient than ever to find my mate. Healing was lonely work. I was the one everyone came to, but where was the healer supposed to go when ~she~ had issues?
That was what I was at Housman’s trying to figure out.
I took a seat at the bar and Clementine immediately slid me my usual.
I picked it up and took a sip, and the drink trickled down my throat and spread its fire through my chest. But instead of stopping there, its heat continued down my body, settling between my legs in an unexpected inferno.
~Fuck, the haze is starting.~
As the explosions rippled out from my crotch, I scanned the bar.
None of the men were doing it for me.
The haze may make she-wolves horny, but there still has to be some attraction between lovers.
I swiveled around and surveyed the booths, and my gaze caught on a man and his female lover getting handsy. Butterflies started dancing in my stomach.
~Wait, that can’t be right.~
They weren’t mates, I knew that much, but why was my haze pulling me toward them?
They must have scented how aroused I was getting—or felt my eyes on them—because the woman stopped kissing her partner’s neck and glanced in my direction.
We locked eyes and she whispered into her man’s ear. He gave me a once-over and smiled before offering his response.
The woman got up and walked toward me. She had curly chestnut hair and gorgeous deep-brown skin. Her hips swayed from side to side in a hypnotizing rhythm.
Maybe she was just ordering a drink from the bar.
~Look at your drink. Don’t make eye contact.~
“My partner and I couldn’t help noticing you.”
~Shit.~
My face flushed as I met her eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to stare.”
“Did you like what you saw?” she asked with a playful smile.
But before I could work out a response, my haze flared up, and I had to grab the bar to keep myself upright.
Something about this woman and her man made my body melt. I looked at her partner, a muscular, tall dominant with flowing brown hair and a rugged beard. They were both so gorgeous and sexy.
I had never done anything like this before, but nothing about it felt wrong at all.
I reached out and touched the woman’s hand.
“Yes. I liked it a lot.”