Chapter 216

• The words had barely escaped my lips when my world spun sharply. I was thrown back against a rough tree, the bark scraping painfully against my skin before that discomfort vanished, overtaken by a wave of heat and the powerful scent of Leonardo. His presence
• consumed me—earthy pine and an unmistakably masculine warmth wrapped around me as his face hovered mere inches from mine. His hand covered my mouth, silencing any protest. For the first time, I was close enough to lose myself in the icy depths of his gaze, shades of silvery grey and frost, like the pure, unbroken surface of winter ice.
• “Don’t say those words, kitten,” he murmured, voice thick with warning, his gaze locking into mine. His broad chest rose and fell against me, his breath stirring the air between us as the mate-bond pulsed, alive and unyielding. For a moment, I was drawn to him, to the warmth he offered, until anger burst to life within me, sending fire racing along my veins. I wouldn’t just surrender; he didn’t get to use this bond as a bandage for everything he put me through.