Chapter 6

• Aislinn stared at him. She wanted him to do more. She couldn't believe how badly she wanted him to do more. She cursed herself for not being able to keep control. He was a complete stranger. An incredible, sexy, kind, complete stranger. As she stared into his eyes they changed again. It was like staring into molten gold. There were dark fleck swimming in this iridescent amber around his pupils. Aislinn felt herself being pulled in, as though she could be happily lost in those eyes.
• Cullen felt his wolf taking too much control. He forced himself to pull his hand away from her and step back. It wasn't until he wrenched himself back into the moment that he realized his eyes had shifted. She was just standing there staring. He could smell her arousal, hear her breathing, he could almost feel her heart beat thudding in time with his own. When he felt the stirring in his pants he knew that things had gone way too far. His brain was screaming, You don't even know what she is! But his heart, soul, and wolf were insisting, Take her.
• Cullen closed his eyes, breathing heavily, willing himself to get control of himself. Aislinn watched as he seemed to be trying to gain a measure of composure. She couldn't help herself. She really didn't want him to stop. She stepped toward him and placed her hand on his chest. "Are you all right?" she said breathlessly. This is insane, Aislinn thought, Derrick tries to rape me and now I'm encouraging my would be protector to do who knows what. This just didn't make sense. It was as though her body had taken over and it wanted this man, badly.
• When her hand touched his chest Cullen thought he might lose it. He needed to leave or rip her clothes off. He settled for something in the middle. Leaning into her he pressed his lips to hers. The entire room seemed to spin and it wasn't from the alcohol. The kiss was long and lingering. Neither of them wanted to stop. Aislinn felt her heart in her throat, goose bumps ran down her body, and she could feel the heat between her legs intensify.
• The kiss became more and more inflamed. Cullen gently bit at her upper lip and she parted her lips to allow him to taste her. He snaked his tongue into her mouth and brushed against her tongue. Their breathing became increasingly ragged and Cullen's hands managed to find their way along her waist, move under her shirt, and then drift deftly upward as he began to explore her body. When he reached her breasts Aislinn let out a soft encouraging moan that soaked into Cullen's mind and called his wolf up full force. He wasn't going to be able to stop it if this continued. His mind was trying desperately to regain control of the situation while knowing that the fight had already been lost.
• When the tentative knock came on the door Cullen turned suddenly toward it as if he had been startled and growled menacingly at the unknown intruder. For a brief moment he was in guardian mode and would have attacked anyone who came through that door. At the second knock reality grabbed hold of him and Cullen was able to reassert his mind over his wolf.
• Aislinn watched Cullen's reaction and heard the growl issue from his chest. It was like some kind of weird guard dog sound. She remembered the sound in the street when Derrick had attacked her and knew it must have been Cullen as well. Oddly she wasn't bothered by it. She didn't really know why it didn't bother her. A third knock on her door and she moved to see who could possibly be knocking. The only thing that kept her from locking the door instead of opening it was the fact that Cullen had proven himself more than able of handling the situation should something terrible be on the other side of the door.
• Aislinn took a deep breath and willed her heart to stop racing in her chest. She looked back at Cullen before she opened the door. He was staring at it readily, as though he expected something bad on the other side. But his eyes had returned to normal brown and he stopped growling. So she opened the door.
• Aislinn recognized the guy who had been knocking as Cullen's friend who had come to get him. She realized that he must have been waiting for Cullen all this time. She really wasn't sure how long they had been standing there kissing. But if Keith hadn't come knocking she was fairly certain that it would have gone much farther.
• Cullen eyed Keith standing there and then let his head roll over his shoulders and sighed heavily. He knew logically that it was a good thing Keith had shown up. The last thing Cullen should have been doing was having sex with some girl he'd met tending bar. No matter how intriguing she was. No matter how much he wanted to take her. For a brief instant Cullen's wolf reared its head again and Cullen considered telling Keith to get lost. But instead he headed toward the door.
• "Like I said," Cullen looked at Aislinn with a long suffering stare telling her he wished things were different, "take that note to Liam. He'll take care of the rest. It was…good to have met you."
• Aislinn felt as though she wanted to cry. None of this made sense. Why should it hurt so bad that this complete stranger was leaving instead of staying to have sex with her? If she didn't know better she would have thought that her heart was mistaking Cullen for someone she had been in love with all her life. "Yhea, thanks," was all she could muster.
• Cullen almost changed his mind about leaving when he saw the glassy look in her eyes. But it just wasn't something he could do. He was supposed to be mated to Jenna. The arrangements were made. He shouldn't be having sex with some random girl. This was probably just his subconscious trying to get him in trouble and out of the arrangement. He nodded at Aislinn, pushed passed Keith and headed down the stairs at nearly a run. When he reached the street he let out a yell and punched a nearby signpost hard enough to bend it in half.
• Keith was completely baffled by the situation. He followed Cullen in silence to the SUV. They both got in and Keith started driving before he finally got up the nerve to ask, "What was that?"
• "I've found myself saying 'I don't know' to similar questions repeatedly tonight. Just drop it."
• The tone in Cullen's voice was dangerous and Keith didn't really know what, if anything, he could or should say. So they drove back to the den in silence.