Heart of a Beast

Chapter 23 | Tiberius

Tiberius buried the remains of the pillow under the tree at the far end of the yard and raked his dirty paws over his head.

Dammit, Cris!

What was she thinking baring her neck to him? Was she trying to snap the thin thread of control he had over himself?

He couldn't mark her without taking her and mating her as well. That was the lycan way. Did werewolves mark first and mate later?

Her sudden arousal hinted otherwise.

Goddess, what was she thinking? Her mother had just finished telling her to be careful around him because of the new moon.

He clutched his groin and smacked his head on the trunk of the tree until a few small green acorns tumbled on his skull.

He had to get the dreamy-eyed look Crystal gave him out of his head. It was too much. The scent and touch of her were more than he could bear.

He wanted to bend her over and take her like a wolf.

He smacked his head on the trunk again. Stop thinking about it!

His loins ached. He humped that damn pillow until it was a handful of shredded, sticky fabric with wads of cotton below him and it did nothing to curb his need to mate her. He couldn't get his maleness to slip back into its fold and the more he touched it, the more it stung.

Finally collapsing to the earth, he whimpered in frustration and discomfort.

It had been nearly two weeks since finding Crystal. How in Goddess' name had his parents fought the matebond for months?

You need help, he told himself. You can't keep doing this to yourself and Cris.

But how? He couldn't stop the moon on its course and he couldn't destroy all of Rhonda's pillows, either.

And, dammit, if he couldn't get a handle on his own junk—emotions included.

To take his mind off his mate, he started counting until his discomfort passed and his maleness slipped back into its thick fold.

Dragging himself back into the house, he went to the kitchen sink to wash the dirt from his front paws when Crystal cautiously approached but stayed a few yards back. The scent of her arousal from before still lingered faintly on her but was smothered in embarrassment.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

He huffed as he turned the water off and reached for a hand towel, but she grabbed it first and held it out in both of her hands like she always did. He held his left paw out to her and she carefully dried it between her hands before doing the same with his right.

"Is sealing the matebond part of the cure?" she asked, a note of hesitation in her voice.

He shook his head, no.

"So, neither mating nor marking has any part of it?" Breaking it down now into smaller pieces.

Again, he shook his head no.

She nodded her understanding. "Thank you."

He cocked his head to the side in question, but she said nothing more and hung the towel back on the handle of the stove.

Still turned away, she asked, "Will you mark me someday?"

Just say the words, Beautiful, he wanted to tell her. Three little words that he was dying to hear. Three little words spoken from her heart that would lift the curse and heal them both.