Read Online Melbourne Heat by Elizabeth Lapthorne - Free Book Online Page A

grip on the conversation again. Something must have shown on his face, because Charles tried to explain again.
    “This isn’t some destiny thing where you have no choice,” Charles said. “If you wanted to you could get up right now and walk out that door and never look back. I admit I lost control last night—I was fucking turned on and my inner beast slipped out for a second there—when I bit you I left something of myself to warn others away. If we had no further contact that would fade in a few weeks or so. I haven’t changed you permanently in any way.”
    Spencer couldn’t even begin to work out how he felt about that. Happy? Disappointed? Confused seemed the only thing he could really grasp.
    “Look, you are special to me,” Charles said firmly. “I like the man sitting here next to me, the one who twists his hair behind his ear when he’s nervous or thinking. I like the man who enjoys taking photos, who lights up when he’s telling a funny story, who has a streak of kink in him and submits so deliciously it damn near makes me lose my mind. He’s who I’m getting to know better, not some fantasy guy whose scent is right.”
    “Let’s leave the whole shifter thing for a minute,” Spencer said. “I think my head will explode if I think too much about that right now. This is a lot to take in.”
    Charles nodded. “I really didn’t want to dump this on you so early on.”
    “So you’re saying that there’s nothing in me, in my DNA, say, that is making me want to be here with you. Otherwise I’d probably want to be with Malcolm just as much. Trust me, I don’t want to be anywhere near that man. Or shifter. Fuck, whatever.”
    “That’s right,” Charles said. “You have a choice. There’s nothing at all stopping you from walking away right now. Well, okay, I don’t think I’d let you leave, not without trying to make you stay. I’d give it my best shot to convince you to give us a chance, but that’s my choice. There’s just something in you, something innate. I’m attracted to it and it signals to me that you’re a damn near perfect fit for me. My baser animal wants that regardless of the consequences. It wants you as its mate, to fuck you in every conceivable position and stay with you.”
    Spencer felt his blood heat at those words. Heaven knew a part of him wanted to bend over here and now and let himself be taken. But there was just as much holding him back right now. Shifters and wolves and scents and lifelong mates and… His head whirled.
    “Are you sure there’s no bloody reality TV show hovering around? ’Cos now would be a good time for them to pop out and film my reaction. I’d be tempted to knock them all down and start throwing punches, but… This is a hell of a lot to take in,” Spencer said as he rubbed his temple. He thought a headache might be forming.
    Charles chuckled.
    Sadly no one yelled ‘Surprise’ or let his world go back to normal.
    Fuck.
    He tried to pinpoint what was bothering him, but that was difficult. Despite Charles’ reassurances, he worried about how there might be something inside him that could be sensed and would label him as some sort of perfect mate. That made him uncomfortable, just like if there was a neon sign flashing above his head saying he was gay, or an accountant, or a lefty or any other personal information.
    Then there was the matter of the hickey, which had turned now from something sexy and cool to… He wasn’t even sure what it was now. A warning beacon? To some degree he could understand and accept that. Charles had looked completely, brutally honest when he apologized and said he’d lost control doing that. And that it would fade in time. But on top of everything else it was one more thing to wrap his head around.
    And the giant elephant in the room—the ‘I can turn into a wolf’ thing. That was just… Spencer shook his head. What was he supposed to do with that? Call Charles out? Make him prove it? Run as far and