Chapter 62: Chapter 62

~ NYSSA

It was the second time I was kissing him, but the first where we had an audience.

I stood there in shock, eyes fluttering closed against my will as his tongue brushed against my lips, coaxing them open.

My lips parted of their own accord, a small sigh escaping me as he slid his tongue inside my mouth, kissing me deeply.

The rough calluses of his hands stood out on my smooth skin, his scent filtered into my nose, sending a heat of arousal to the center of my thighs.

He stepped closer, kissed me deeper, all thought flying out of my mind.

A loud car horn had me pulling away from him and my cheeks burned bright as I saw Aria watching us through the car, an amused expression on her face.

I looked away from Rowan, unable to keep my eyes fixed on him.

It was bad enough that I’d kissed him in the middle of what was supposed to be a moment of me standing up for myself. He didn’t have to see how badly I was affected by it.

“We have to leave!” Aria yelled. “At least, that’s what you told me.”

Rowan turned to me, a silent question in his eyes.

It occurred to me then that he could have easily taken me against my will. He could have forced me into the car and there was nothing I would do about it.

He was the better option and he knew it, but he was still asking.

Perhaps I’d just been treated like shit so much that the bare minimum felt like the most.

My lips buzzed from the kiss and I wanted nothing more than to kiss him again and feel his hands all over my body.

“You’ll have the chance for that later,” my wolf teased. “For now, go.”

I turned to Rowan, clearing my throat. “I’ll come with you.”

He sighed in relief, tugging me forward.

I turned to call out to Eric but he was leaning against the doorway, an amused smirk on his face.

My cheeks heated at his expression and the way he wagged his brows at me when Rowan wasn’t looking.

He carried my box into the car, the one I’d packed the moment I’d arrived at home.

I was always going to leave, I just had to make sure that leaving with Rowan was the right choice.

Eric helped me into the backseat but slammed the door shut behind me.

“Where are you going?” I asked, brows furrowed in confusion. “Aren’t you coming with us?”

“I’ll be right behind you in your car, I promise,” he assured me with a small smile before dropping his voice to a whisper. “Besides, I’d rather not be stuck with you two and that sexual tension the whole time.”

He winked at me before disappearing down the driveway.

I turned to the front seat where Aria and Rowan sat. The latter wouldn’t meet my gaze but Aria turned, a smile tugging at her lips.

“This is going to be a fun ride,” she drawled, hands crossed over her chest.

Contrary to her thoughts, the ride was anything but fun.

Rowan and I pointedly ignored each other, doing everything possible to look anywhere but at ourselves.

I stared out the window, mulling over everything that happened: the rogue, running away.

It took half an hour into the ride before I realized that I would never be able to return home.

I was considered a traitor.

Aria was asleep.

She closed her eyes shortly after we left once she realized that neither Rowan or I was speaking.

“Did you defend me because I’m your mate or because you think I’m innocent?” I asked softly.

Rowan’s eyes didn’t move from the road, he didn’t even acknowledge my words.

I scoffed, turning away with the assumption that he wouldn’t respond when I heard him speak.

“I know you’re innocent.”

“How?” I asked. “How do you know it and they don’t?”

“Because if you weren’t, you would have never signed that contract. You would have never put up with me unless you truly cared for your pack.”

He shrugged helplessly.

“I have seen guilty people, Nyssa, you are not one of them.”

I wiped the tears that gathered around my eyes. “Thank you.”

It meant a lot to know that at least one person believed in my innocence.

“Is that you asked me to come with you? Because you know I’m innocent.”

“No.”

I waited for him to expand, but he didn’t. His jaw was set, his eyes focused ahead.

“That’s it?” I asked. “That’s all you’re going to say.”

He sighed. “I kissed you, Nyssa.”

“A kiss means nothing. I could kiss Eric—”

A low warning growl rumbled from his chest.

Aria twitched in her sleep, mumbling something incoherent before going silent again.

I raised a brow at him only to find him already watching me through the rearview mirror. “Don’t threaten to kiss other men.”

“I won’t if you’re honest with me. What do you want, Rowan? I don’t know what to expect with you. Do you just want to fuck me? Is this an ego thing? Do you want me as—”

“I don’t know what it is,” he said finally, his voice soft and more vulnerable than I’d ever heard it. “In case you didn’t realize, I’ve never had a mate before. I don’t have all the answers.”

“But—”

“Go to sleep,” he grunted in response. “You’ll need the rest.”

There was still so much I wanted to know, but I was aware of the fact that I’d pushed his buttons enough and probably wouldn’t get any other answers out of him.

Against my better judgment, I obliged him, leaning my head against the window and closing my eyes.

When I came to again, I felt like I was being rocked.

I stirred, trying to find a comfortable position only to be met with a low grunt.

“Go back to sleep.”

I recognized that voice immediately, even through my sleepy haze.

My eyes fluttered open and I was greeted with a hard chest and I realized that rocking motion was actually Rowan carrying me.

“What happened? Have we—”

“Nothing is wrong,” he cut me off. “You’re home.”

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