I ignored Ephraim when he came outside a short while later, once again ready to leave for the night. He paused briefly when he saw me. He said nothing but laid a heavy hand on my shoulder. I'm sorry, the gesture said. You'll understand in time. I didn't care; I jerked away from him and retreated to the other side of the porch.

Once he'd driven away and I felt like my temper had cooled to a manageable level, I went back inside. Gabriel was still in his office and kept his head down as I entered, shoulders rounded. He looked tired.

"Gabriel," I said his name softly. "Please, let me do this. I can get the medicine a couple settlements over, we can treat him discreetly. No one has to know."

He rubbed his hands over his face, hard. "I can't just bend our rules Kiera, we have them for a reason. Ephraim already phoned Angus and he agreed. He helped me write most of those rules to begin with."

My stomach turned over. A wave of sadness I hadn't expected washed over me when I imagined Angus, so small in his bed, learning of his diagnosis and agreeing to let it kill him. But selfishly, there was more to my heartache than just Angus's fate. I hesitated for a second before I asked the question that had been playing at the edge of my mind since our earlier argument: "So what are you doing with me, then?"

He stood and stepped around his desk to stand closer to me. His eyes found mine quickly, intense and pleading. "That's different."

"Is it? So you mean to tell me that you don't have any rules against wolves and humans being together?"

"You're not all human." Gabriel's breathing grew harsher as his wolf became agitated. It seemed that the creature was in some ways a mirror of my own emotions: content when I was happy, unsettled when I was not. It certainly wasn't quiet when Gabriel and I argued.

"You sure didn't care when I got here," I bit back.

Rippling beneath his shirt, the muscles across his chest and shoulders tightened. "That had nothing to do with it and you know it."

"Then why couldn't you stand being in a room with me? Why did you call me 'human' instead of using my name?" I was losing steam the longer I stood there in front of him, but I wanted him to at least try to give me better answers.

"I'm not having this conversation with you tonight."

I sighed. "Then I'll go."

Gabriel shifted his weight uncomfortably. Opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again.

"What?" I watched his movements. "Is there something more you want to say?"

He looked down, avoiding my gaze. "I don't want to fight. Please."

I was still frustrated, but the edge of desperation in his voice softened me slightly. He noticed and seized the opportunity to pull me into a tight hug. I remained still in his grip, arms crossed, for several minutes before I gave in and snaked my arms around his waist.

"Will you stay?" He asked quietly. Nervously. I nodded, somewhat taken aback by his tone. He wasn't being entirely vulnerable with me—not yet—but this came close. I felt some of the tension in his body release as we stood still holding each other.

Gabriel pulled back and kissed my forehead. "Come on."

He led me by my hand out of his office, through the house, and up the stairs to his bedroom. Once we got inside, he turned and swept me into a gentle kiss. I could feel the hesitation on his lips, questioning whether or not I was still angry. But the last of it had fallen away as we'd climbed the stairs, and I responded with my body in a way I hoped he would understand. He did. His hand wove into my hair and his tongue found mine, caressing it.

Still locked into the kiss, I fumbled for the hem of his shirt and lifted it. He took the cue and broke contact for just long enough to strip it off over his head. He moved back in, searching for my lips again, but I pulled back. My hands slid over his body, the feeling of his skin on my palms igniting everything inside of me.

My eyes followed my hands, and I couldn't hide my surprise. I remembered seeing a couple simple tattoos when he'd come into the clinic, but now his chest was covered with intricate designs that snaked back over his shoulders and down both biceps.

"These are new," I commented. Something about the way they conformed to the contours of his body, the way they rippled as his muscles shifted beneath his skin, made my heart race.

There was one space left untouched, a long pink scar across the right side of his chest. The ink played around it, the various designs all ending within an inch of the raised skin. I traced my finger over it softly.

"This healed well."

He was staring down at me, watching me examine him. "You did a good job." Gabriel caught my hand and held it in his own over the scar. This level of intimacy wasn't something I expected from him, particularly after spending the evening arguing, but I suspected that I had a lot to learn about the man behind the stern, cold Alpha mask.

His lips on mine again, he walked me backwards to his bed. When I fell onto it beneath him, my breath caught and I pushed him back gently. "I'm not—"

Gabriel brushed my hair back from my face. "I wasn't expecting that. I just want to be close to you."

Goddamn did he have a way with words.

We moved up the bed, kisses deepening, until my head rested on the pillows. For all of our maneuvering, we never broke contact. We never lost our rhythm. It felt as though we were connected in a way, reading each other's bodies and anticipating each breath, each tilt of the head and each sweep of the tongue. Completely in sync.

Both of us quickly shimmied out of our jeans before reattaching, legs winding together. I rocked my hips against his. I wanted more, I desperately wanted more, but I also wanted to take my time with him. This felt like something too powerful to rush.

In the dark, once we both rolled onto our sides to rest under the covers, he wrapped his arms around me tightly. As he held me close, my back pressed against his broad chest, his body heat burned through my thin cotton t-shirt. I rolled forward slightly onto my stomach so I could hitch up one of my legs and he moved with me, almost laying on top of me. The pressure was comforting. I laid my head on his bent elbow and closed my eyes. Gabriel brought his other hand up from my hip to sweep my hair to the side.

"Don't move," he whispered against my neck. His breath, hot against my skin, drew a shiver up my spine. I nodded. His hand moved down underneath the blankets and he gripped the back of my thigh, hitching it up higher. He rubbed his thumb across my skin before sliding his hand around the outside of my leg so his fingertips just grazed the sensitive skin of my inner thigh. I drew in a sharp breath involuntarily.

"Don't move," Gabriel repeated in the same gravelly whisper. I couldn't have even if I wanted to; I was frozen in place. My core ached with the anticipation of his touch and I squeezed my eyes shut tightly. His fingertips danced over my skin with a touch far gentler than I could have imagined him capable of, teasing up and down my inner thigh. By the time he had worked back up to play with the edge of my underwear, my heart was racing. He could hear it, I knew, and it spurred him on.

Softly—so softly I could hardly feel it—he ran a finger down my center. Liquid heat flooded between my legs and I whimpered, desperate to grind my hips against his hand but his weight held me still. I felt Gabriel's lips curl into a smirk against the nape of my neck.

"Shhh," he breathed. He slid his hand under my waistband and finally, finally pressed his thumb against my clit. My nerves immediately caught fire, a sparking electricity spreading from this small point of contact all the way down to my toes, making them curl. I found the edge of the pillow with my hand and gripped it tightly.

"You're so wet for me," Gabriel murmured against the nape of my neck. I bit down hard on my bottom lip. He rubbed his thumb from side to side as the fire in my abdomen became nearly unbearable. I wanted to grab onto him, to press his hand tighter against my core and to sink my teeth into his arm, but I clenched my jaw and kept still, breathing fast and shallow.

"Good girl," he growled into my ear. His fingers moved in unpredictable patterns: fast then slow, short strokes then long. My body reacted with a jolt each time he changed pace. It could have been seconds or minutes or hours; I was lost in the pleasure and desperation for release until finally it was too much, and I reached my peak, shattering under his touch. I buried my face into the pillow to keep from crying out as he stroked me through my climax.

Gabriel pulled his hand out of my underwear and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me tighter against him. I could feel his hard member pressing against me, but he made no move to indicate he wanted me to take care of it, instead keeping me pinned beneath him. As my breathing slowed, my eyelids became heavy. The waves of electricity that coursed through my body eased and ebbed. Gabriel chuckled softly, the sound rumbling deep in his chest and vibrating against my back.

"What?" I asked, nearly half asleep. He nuzzled into my neck, breathing in my scent. His wolf would be satisfied with the smell of my desire for him emanating from every inch of me.

"I like hearing your heart pound. And I like being the one to cause it."