And now he understood why. He didn’t want to fuck the pink-haired girl in the enticing black-and-pink getup either. He wanted to make love to her, possess her, keep her safe and by his side forever, cherish her. He started to back away slowly, wanting to flee as he’d done earlier, needing to put some distance between her and him, but Knox called out to him, and he stilled.
“Lorent?” Knox chuckled. “Can you hear me?”
“Sorry, I was daydreaming,” he muttered under his breath, and his whole body tensed as Rose drew nearer, the girl following, until they stopped only a couple of feet in front of him.
“This is Melony.” Rose pointed to the girl he’d been admiring, been lusting after.
“Melony” was a pretty name. A pretty name for a young, innocent girl you have no business tarnishing. He wasn’t good enough to touch the likes of her. But, oh man, did he want to. Her spiky pink hair framed a delicate, angelic face, and thick lashes accentuated the deep chocolate brown of her wide, intelligent eyes. Her nose was small, and tipped up just a little at the end, and her mouth, good God, her mouth was set with some of the lushest pink lips he’d ever seen.
“Melony, this is Lorent.” Rose continued as if the world wasn’t tilting and sliding off its axis.
“Hi, Lorent.” Melony’s voice was like warm silk, with just a hint of huskiness.
“Hi.” He barely got the word around his thick tongue.
He was going to have to make sure to keep lots of distance between them because he was seriously starting to doubt his ability to keep his hands, and other body parts, off her.
“It’s nice to meet you.” She smiled, and his heart skipped a beat.
“I suppose it would be a good time to tell you that you both will be spending some time together,” Knox said as if he didn’t notice Lorent nearly choke. “Melony, Lorent is fairly new around here. He’s completed his official training, but we feel it would be good for him to take on a new charge.”
“Charge? What exactly does that mean?”
Lorent slid a quick glance to Melony. She looked nervous, and Lorent couldn’t blame her. He couldn’t stop staring at her, and she was probably regretting the fact that she was going to have to spend time with him.
Rose squeezed Melony’s shoulders. “We’ve only told you the basics about lycans. Lorent will have the task of giving you the details.”
“Oh. Yes, I’m anxious to learn more,” Melony said before biting down gently on her bottom lip.
She was tiny, petite, nothing but a slip of a thing, but damn, she had some serious curves. Lorent was nearly a foot taller than her, and another fear slithered through him. He could hurt her with ease, without even trying, yet another reason he needed to keep his hands off her. If he let his hormones get out of control, he could harm her. She needed a gentle lover, one who would caress her, hold her, and he doubted he was that man.
Nothing in him wanted to be gentle at the moment.
He wanted to pin her to the ground and take her, claim her until she cried out his name, until she accepted that she belonged to him.
Unfortunately, while he might believe she needed a gentle lover, now that he’d met her, there would be dire circumstances for any other man who dared touch her.
Protective instinct surged in him hard, and in that moment of time, Lorent understood what Knox had been feeling the night he’d tried to take Rose. The clarity was nearly knee buckling, because he didn’t have a clue as to how Knox had kept from killing him.
Lorent would never allow harm to come to Melony. He’d kill anyone who hurt her in any way, and that’s where the true problem lay. He wasn’t supposed to kill unless necessary. He was trained to have restraint, compassion, but he doubted that restraint when it came to Melony and other men.
Reformants were not allowed to be near the women until they’d been trained and proved to be trustworthy. Melony would be his final test. If he screwed this up, if he touched her, it may be the death of him, literally. He eyed Knox and Rose. They were protective of Melony. If he hurt her, they’d have no qualms about ripping shreds from his ass.
Hell, if he hurt her, he’d deserve it. How had this happened? He couldn’t refuse to do as they’d requested. He had to find some way to dig deep into his control and get through this. How long could it take to teach someone about lycans anyway? A couple of days? He might be able to get through that.
“We would also like for you to teach Melony basic self-defense, Lorent.”
Rose smiled.
Shit. So much for keeping his hands off her. He wouldn’t be able to teach her self-defense without touching her at least a little.
“Now that you two have been introduced, you can both meet at the Learning Center tomorrow. We trust that you can talk with Melony and figure out how to proceed with her training in a way suitable for her specific needs. We don’t want her overwhelmed or frightened in any way,” Knox continued on. “Over the next few weeks, she’ll count on you to enlighten her of our ways, to answer any questions she may have, and to show her how to protect herself. You’ll need to have the lessons in the afternoons, as you’ll have your normal duties to carry out in the morning, Lorent.”
Lorent barely heard another word. A few weeks? He’d have to spend every afternoon with her for a few weeks? How would he get through this without claiming her? Should he come clean and tell Knox that she was his?
Rogues were not allowed mates until they’d finished their training, and apparently, he wasn’t done as he’d thought—not until after tutoring Melony.
If he told Knox, Knox would undoubtedly tell Rose, perhaps Anthony, Brent, Raze, and Piers. He didn’t know what would happen after that. At the very least, he’d be watched so closely he’d never have a private moment again. At the most, he might be asked to leave, because if anyone was asked to go, it would be him, not Melony. He didn’t want to leave. Sanctuary was the only true home he’d had. It was the only place he felt safe, had friends.
He had no choice. He had to do this. He’d play Melony’s teacher for the next few weeks, keep his hands to himself, and when it was all over, when he’d finally finished his training . . . well, he didn’t know exactly what would happen after that.
He either had to control his urges with her or leave Sanctuary. He didn’t want to do either, didn’t want to lose either. He took a long, deep breath.
The next few weeks were going to be pure hell.
“Now that we’ve got that out of the way, we’ll introduce you to the rest of the couples and let you enjoy the fire.” Knox smiled at Melony and motioned her to follow him and Rose.
“Do you think it’s a good idea pairing Melony with Lorent?” Rose whispered to Knox as they discreetly watched Melony, who, after being introduced to the others, had made her way over to the fire and now sat next to Lorent.
“We don’t have a choice. The only place he didn’t excel in his training was communication. It’s okay to be laid-back, quiet, keep to oneself, but it’s more than that with him. He won’t hurt her. I wouldn’t put her in danger.”
Knox hugged Rose to him.
“I know,” she sighed. “He just acted strange when we introduced them.”
“Strange how?”
“I don’t know.” Rose shrugged before wrapping her arms around Knox.
“Something I can’t quite pinpoint. I mean, I didn’t get any vibes that I thought he would hurt her. It’s just . . .”
“We’ll keep an eye on them, baby.”
He ran his knuckles over her cheek, and she closed her eyes, letting his caress soak into her skin. She still couldn’t believe she’d fallen in love with a lycan. She’d hunted them, had hated them for over ten years, but Knox had changed all of that. He bent and captured her lips, and she sighed, opening her mouth, allowing his tongue to sweep in.