Chapter 25
reston’s cold glare cut through the dim room as he stared down at Georgia curled beneath the quilt. His face was carved
from ice.
Damn her, he thought bitterly. She’s deliberately avoiding me.
He noticed her slight tremble.
Our mate is fragile. Instead of scaring her, you should be holding her close, Luca’s voice whispered in his mind.
“I didn’t scare her,” Preston snapped at the wolf’s gentle rebuke.
Georgia regretted hiding almost immediately. If Preston meant to punish her, no quilt or corner of the earth would keep her
safe.
Preston yanked the quilt away. His voice dropped, sharp and chilling. “You hid from me.”
“No!” Georgia protested quickly. “I didn’t, Mr. Hill.”
Lie, Preston thought.
She’s avoiding me.
But then, he caught sight of something–her throat.
“What happened to your throat?” he asked, puzzled.
“I was sick. It hurts,” Georgia whispered, eyes cast downward.
“Are you afraid of me?”
She said nothing.
Preston’s mood darkened inexplicably. He leaned forward, his arm braced on the mattress as he closed the distance, his presence looming over her.
He stretched out a hand, and Georgia instinctively recoiled.
“Don’t move,” he ordered, voice flat.
His fingers traced the scar on her forehead.
Cold seeped from his touch.
Preston rubbed the jagged mark softly. His lips pressed into a thin line. “What happened?”
Georgia looked up at him, a word flashing through her mind: hypocrite
How could he not know how she got the scar?
She swallowed the truth and said, “I tripped and hit my head.”
Thanks to you, she thought bitterly.
His hand drifted downward, fingers brushing her lips.
Georgia held still, lifting her chin with stiff defiance.
Preston’s thumb brushed over her lips, stirring a strange ache within him. They weren’t soft, but something about them ignited a desire he hadn’t expected.
His gaze shifted, darkening.
Without hesitation, he crushed his mouth to hers.
His kiss was harsh, demanding, all–consuming.
Georgia lacked the strength to resist, overwhelmed by the force of it.
Chapter 25
Three years earlier, she had rejected him. The bond between them hadn’t vanished, but with her wolf dormant, it was faint, fragile.
Yet Preston’s wolf howled awake at the kiss, restless and claiming. The sensation unsettled Preston deeply.
Caught in the fierce kiss, a sudden question sliced through his mind.
“Who do you prefer to kiss–me or Dominic?”
Georgia’s pale cheeks flushed. Before she could answer, Preston’s voice cut cold.
“What?”
He narrowed his eyes. “I’m asking you, damn it. Me, or Dominic, that bastard?”
Silence.
Her refusal to answer only stoked his frustration.
Why does she hesitate so long?
Does she still crave Dominic’s kiss?
Confused, Georgia groaned softly as Preston pressed her back against the bed.
His lips found hers again, warm and urgent.
A decision settled in Preston’s chest.
I’ll make her hurt.
He couldn’t explain the storm raging inside him–the possessiveness, the anger, the fierce jealousy.
Even knowing Georgia had caused Giselle’s death, even hating her for it…
He wouldn’t let another man take what was his.
Not Dominic. Not anyone.
Preston refused to admit why he clung so desperately to Georgia
He believed it was hatred, but deep down, regret gnawed at him–regret for all he’d done to her, past and present.
A cough echoed outside the door.
Georgia jolted and pushed Preston away.
Unyielding, he pinned her down again, one arm bracing her.
Grabbing half her face, he kissed her willfully, uncaring of the third person in the room..
Georgia’s cheeks burned crimson as the sound of their kiss filled the ward.
Preston’s eyes flicked toward the door, watching for the interruption.
“What are you doing here?” he asked lazily.
Simon’s face twisted in irritation. He was
s on the vero
verge of a curse.
Preston, who had summoned Simon for food delivery, now questioned his presence.
Simon placed the lunchbox on the bedside cabinet.
“Don’t do that kind of thing in front of others,” Simon growled.
Preston remained composed as Georgia’s blush deepened.
She lowered her head, wishing she could vanish into the floor.
So much had happened in these moments–her mind spun wildly.
<Chapter 25
Preston kissed her. Why?
For a fleeting moment, the part of her heart long dead flickered to life.
Simon pulled Preston out of the ward, leaving Georgia alone with her tangled thoughts.
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