Текст книги "Alphas burden"

Автор книги: Luna lark

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27AVERY

When we return to my tiny cabin, his gaze tracks me once we both shift back. It doesn’t leave me for a moment, the hot press skating over my body while he grabs a pair of pants he draped over the chair inside. I don’t turn my back as we get dressed, enjoying the way it makes his eyes burn.

My sisters aren’t here. They’ve been spending time with Callie and she invited them to stay in the lodge with her this weekend. We have this place to ourselves.

I want to go to him. Wind my arms around his neck. Kiss him until our bodies meld together. Would the ancient kitchen table withstand it if he fucked me on it, or would we go crashing to the floor? My stomach dips and a husky breath rushes past my lips. I can’t decide which fantasy appeals more.

Spinning to cool myself off, I spot the new appliances in place of the rusted old hand pump that brought in well water and the wood stove. The old table is gone. Lightbulbs that didn’t exist before line the rafters. My heartbeat stutters.

I find a switch and flick it on. The lights illuminate the small space, underlining how tiny the cottage is. I don’t care. After years of living by candlelight, it’s amazing. I inspect the sink next, grinning at the simple convenience of hot water at my fingertips.

With electricity, I won’t have to do everything by hand. I could get better equipment to aid me in grinding dried ingredients and mixing pastes. The greenhouse already planted the idea in my head to try more things. The first batch of oils I made this week are much better than my previous rudimentary trials. With the right tools, I’d be able to make higher quality extractions to infuse with salves and other concoctions.

This cottage could become an herbalist workshop.

“I have running water. And lights.” An elated laugh escapes me. “You did all this for us?”

His broad shoulders stiffen and he folds his massive arms with a foreboding expression. “I did. It’s why I was coming to look for you so I could show you.”

I bite my lip, turning off the tap. “Oh.”

“We need to talk about this,” he says gruffly. “It’s not a day for a trip to Ashbury.”

I hold back a sigh, knowing he won’t drop it. “Those happen too infrequently.”

His head jerks. “For good reason. It’s dangerous.”

“Uh, no. I wasn’t in any danger. There’s nothing wrong with town. You just don’t trust the humans because you don’t like them. But you’re wrong.” I get the bag from the bakery and offer him a croissant. “The humans there are nice and helpful.”

His fist pounds a beam in the wall. It creaks beneath his power. Both of us freeze. I survey the roof, hoping the rafters don’t collapse on us after he put so much work into repairing the cottage.

“Shit,” he grumbles, hand hovering over the wood. “I’m trying really hard to keep myself in check because I know you’re safe now. I still need an explanation. You snuck off the packlands without telling me or anyone else where you were going. Why the fuck were you in town?”

I swallow a feisty remark about stretching my legs, sensing how close he is to blowing up. It’s a marked sign of how he’s changing if he’s asking for a reason instead of the way he would’ve reacted before catching anyone breaking his rules. Especially me.

“I told you in town. I wanted to visit the bakery.”

“My wolf scented you everywhere. You’ve been there before. Many fucking times.”

I’m not hiding the full truth from him. “Yes. You know why? Because when our food allotment was shorted, I needed to find another way to eat. Because when something broke, I needed tools to fix it. I go there to trade with the townspeople. They know me. They helped me when the pack wouldn’t.”

“They know you?” He stops to reel himself in, breathing heavily. “We have those things here. You didn’t have to go. At least without asking me.”

“We’ve been down this path already. You rule the pack with a strict hand. Would you have granted permission and an escort for me if I put in a request to go to town?” I challenge sharply. “You believed I was a traitor to the pack. Your enemy. I had to do whatever it took to survive.”

He scrubs his face with both hands, muscles bulging with his wolf. Blowing out a breath, he levels me with a strained expression wavering between impatience and apprehension. He’s trying to give me the chance to explain myself. I don’t need the bond to see it written across his face.

“Okay. I understand,” he pushes out. “I don’t like it, but I see why you did it before. But why now? Things are different.”

“I was fine,” I say in exasperation. “Better than when I thought I was Wolfless.”

A tetchy noise tears from him. “That doesn’t matter. You went alone. No one to watch your back. What were you thinking?”

“I was trading! I wanted to hand out samples of the new oils I was able to make thanks to the greenhouse you built for me.” I sigh, getting the last of the vials from my satchel to show him. “I wanted to see how they went over before I brought the idea to you. Money never did me any good, so I stuck with bartering for what I needed to get by. If the pack sells shifter-made herbal wares, it could bring money in. I could teach others how to forage and make things.”

The crease in his forehead deepens and he draws me into his arms. “When I realized where your scent trail led, I thought I’d lost you. My mother went missing in that town. Witches stole her because she was on her own.”

I tense. “I remember she went missing. I never knew it was from town. Are you certain it was witches? You never told me this before.”

There could be other covens in the area besides Jade’s traveling coven. I know it couldn’t be them. They had no quarrel with our pack.

“I’ve never told anyone my suspicions. It just feels—off. Here.” He brings my hand to his chest, clutching it. “I won’t lose you the same way.”

“You didn’t.” I search his troubled gaze. “You won’t. I’m right here with you. If you promise to be open to less restrictions on going off packlands, I promise to tell you next time I want to go somewhere.”

His rumble makes the air thicken around us. I press up to meet his mouth descending to capture mine. His fingers bury in my hair as my arms slip around his shoulders. He switches our positions without breaking the kiss, pinning my back to the wall.

A fist bangs on the door. Caden growls, wrenching his mouth away.

“Alpha,” Liam shouts. “It’s me.”

Caden rakes a hand through his hair, making my knees buckle with the longing his gaze sears me with. “I’m sorry.”

“Go. He wouldn’t track you down to report if it wasn’t important.”

He surprises me by calling his beta inside instead, including me in pack matters.

“Report,” Caden says.

Liam stands at attention. “Trouble again with another group. This time it’s from masonry. Weston came to get me and Hodge when he ran into them shirking duties on his patrol route shadowing Marissa and Tobin.”

Caden releases a heavy sigh. “Let’s go.” He kisses me. “I’ll come back after I take care of this.”

“I’d like that.”

He cups my cheek with a soul-stirring smile, then follows Liam out the door to handle the situation.

After he leaves, I stop by the lodge to drop off pastries for our sisters. It brings a smile to my face to see the three of them together. Callie’s plaited Bea and Lena’s hair, and they’ve made a pile of blankets and pillows on Callie’s floor where they tell me Lena’s been reading her book to them. My heart lifts with joy to see my sisters in such high spirits.

When I’m done, I go to the healer cabin with the rest of my samples. If I’m going to turn my cottage into a shop for my remedies, I have a lot to assess before getting started. Selling to humans won’t be a problem. They get excited about anything made by supernaturals. If we could get other packs interested, they might trade with us.

Eugene’s out when I arrive. He’s made himself scarce since Caden made me a healer, leaving Alisha to handle most of the packmates who come by. She’s engrossed in a meeting with a pregnant female in one of the consultation rooms.

I rifle through the storeroom for a basket and create a sign declaring the oil vials free along with the benefits and uses. On my way to the front, Nina enters the cabin with her baby on her hip and Cormac’s mate close by her side. Her mate must be back in Cormac’s good graces because they’ve been sitting with his brood’s table in the dining hall.

The two of them fuss over the baby until I put the basket on a side table near the door. Sylvie looks past me warily, twisting her fingers. She never speaks much. Not unless Cormac makes her. My stomach sours. If it were up to me, I’d kick anyone rotten like Cormac, Lorne, and Nina’s mate out of the pack for the way they treat females to turn them into husks of themselves.

“Are you here to see Eugene? He’s not here.”

Nina frowns. “We can return later. I’m sure it’s nothing. Trent will be home soon, anyway. He doesn’t like it if I’m out when he gets in.”

Sylvie shakes her head and feels the baby’s forehead. “Too warm. Something’s not right.” She eyes me again, and something must set her at ease enough to say more to me than she ever has. “I’ve raised enough pups to know.”

“I can check him for you.” I gesture to the second room Alisha appointed me.

Nina chews on her lip and nods. They follow me. I clock fading mottled bruises on Sylvie’s arms when her sweater cuffs ride up as she passes the baby to me. My jaw clenches.

This can’t go on like this. I had no power to change their lives as a pack outcast other than offering larkspur or hemlock as poisonous justice. It’s different now. I could take this to Caden. He won’t stand for this.

Nina’s baby is drowsy and his breathing crackles with mucus. He rubs at his flushed cheeks with a cranky whine. I recognize the symptoms from caring for Lena. I get a basin of cool water and dip a cloth in it, wringing it out before wiping his face. He sighs, turning his big eyes on me.

“Does that feel nice?” I smile when he clutches my hand to keep the cloth on his face.

Sylvie leans over my shoulder. “What’s wrong with him?”

“Don’t worry. He’ll be fine. It’s a cold. Take some of the tea tree and peppermint oil from the basket and rub it on his chest to ease his breathing. He probably won’t like a cold bath, but you can do cold compresses like this to give him some relief. With rest and fluids, he’ll feel better in a few days.”

“A cold,” Sylvie says, astonished. “He’s sick like humans get?”

“Shifters can catch colds, too,” I explain. “It’s just less common. Usually our innate healing abilities ward it off for us.”

“I’ve never heard of it. I thought he was getting moon sick.”

“If you’d like, I have ginger root paste at my place. I can mix in some elderberries, too. Give him that regularly to help keep him strong.”

Nina nods. “Thank you.”

I catch her wrist. “Just so you know, if Eugene were here, he would’ve written it off and called your pup weak. He’s not.”

She slides her lips together, eyes shimmering. “He’s not.”

Sylvie waves her out, taking two vials from the basket on the way. I follow them through the front door.

“If you need anything else, come to me. Anything,” I stress, glancing between them so they understand my meaning. “I’ll help you.”

Nina drops her gaze to the ground. “Don’t talk about that out in the open. You never know who’s around to listen.”

“Hush, girl,” Sylvie mumbles. “Just say thank you and keep your head down.”

She nods to me curtly and bustles down the road with Nina. I’ll need to talk to Caden about their situation. I don’t want females scurrying around in fear.

When I’m finished late in the afternoon, I head home for the night. Caden didn’t come to interrupt my work. He must’ve gotten wrapped up in Alpha duties. Before I reach the split in the road with the trail that leads up to my cabin, five males stop me.

Lorne, Dane, and a handful of the other dimwitted males that hang around them. One leers at me while scratching his ass. Dane and the other two crowd me with smug expressions.

My wolf rumbles in warning, displeased with them encroaching her like this. She rears up, fighting for control. I hold her back with my teeth clenched. If I do as I always have, I’ll get out of this.

I sidestep, but Lorne’s lackeys shove me.

“Not so fast. We saw you at the healer’s with my dam and one of my cousins’ mates,” Lorne says.

They’ve been following me that long? They kept their distance enough that I didn’t sense them.

He leans into my space. “They were supposed to be home with the other females. Family meeting.”

I grit my teeth, giving up ground. It’s either back away, or be assaulted by his stench. It’s not as strong as it was the night of the full moon run, but it still makes my wolf want to puke.

One of his cousins is at my back. I bump into him. Lorne smirks, blocking me in.

“I don’t see how that’s my problem,” I mutter.

“You’re gonna tell us what that little visit was about,” he says.

I pretend to think. “How about… No.”

His annoying amusement burns away in a flash of wrath. “Are you talking back to me?” He turns the question on his cohorts. “Is this brazen female talking back to her better?”

They chortle and call out suggestions to show me my place. Tension winds down my spine. I should’ve held my tongue.

Lorne grabs my chin, lip curling. “You’ve grown bold. You think because the current alpha’s your fated that you can get away with disrespecting his bloodline?”

He winds a lock of my hair around his finger, tugging until I’m forced to bare my throat to him. I struggle, flashing my teeth as I scramble to take hold of the bond. It’s stretched taut with distance. Caden’s far, on the other side of the perimeter. I don’t know if he’ll sense I’m in trouble, but he still might not make it in time if I yank for him to come to me. I have to deal with this myself.

“Get off me. Caden’s bloodline has nothing to do with it. You’re being a dick and I don’t have to tell you anything. But you know what? When I tell him you were messing with me, he’ll be furious.”

Dane freezes, shuffling back a step. “Lorne.”

Lorne laughs. “Relax. It’s fine.” He gives my head a shake. “You truly think my cousin gives a shit about you? He rejected you. He doesn’t want to claim you. All you’re good for is an extra pussy to present for him.”

The words sting and turn my stomach, but I know he’s wrong. I feel it in the thrum of the mending bond.

“Leave me alone. Now,” I snap, kicking out at Dane at my side.

He snorts. “She attacked first.”

Lorne grins. “Females should know their place.”

He uses his grip on my hair to wrench me to my knees. I go down with a bitten-off cry of pain, my scalp throbbing.

“You like using that mouth so much, you can use it on me.” Lorne grabs his belt with a sickening leer. “After we’ve taught you a lesson.”

He lifts his boot to kick me. I roll away before the blow lands, grunting as his toe catches my shoulder instead. The males snicker. They think I’m nothing. They believe I’ll lose to them and allow them to rough me up simply because they feel superior to me.

One of them blocks my escape, roughly tossing me before Lorne so I land hard on my knees, scraping my hands to catch myself on the road. Another pulls my hair to make me look up at his arrogant smirk. He backhands me with enough force to snap my head to the side. I gasp for breath, my face on fire.

“This is going to be a long lesson if you don’t sit there and take it,” he says casually. “How long do you think it’ll take her to cry, boys?”

Fuck this.

I’ve had enough. I’m not a broken shifter who can’t defend myself. I’m not waiting for my mate to come to my rescue like I’m helpless. These males have treated me terribly for years, making sure I always knew my place at the bottom of the pack hierarchy. Beneath males like them.

They don’t get to hurt me anymore. The rage I’ve always swallowed down bubbles to the surface, overflowing in an unstoppable flood that demands retribution for myself and all the females shifters like Lorne have wronged.

My wolf bursts from me, shredding my clothes. The transformation startles two of the group back.

“Shit, she’s fucking huge,” someone balks behind me. “You didn’t say her wolf was that big.”

I go for him first, herding him back with clacking snaps of my teeth until he’s backed against a tree, eyes wide. I prowl a wide circle on the road, then face Lorne in challenge.

Fight me, male. See how strong you are against me. I’ll break your bones with my teeth.

He narrows his eyes and rips off his shirt. “You want a fight? You’ve got one, you stupid bitch. And when I’ve broken you, I’ll make you regret it.”

When he shifts, he’s smaller than me, covered in wiry gray hair. His eyes are deadly. They’re a mark of the danger he poses. I won’t underestimate him the way he does with me.

He waits for me to make a move, faking me out until my wolf grows frustrated with his games. She wants him to clash with her head on. When he runs us around in circles, he finally darts in. His charge fails to knock my balance. I headbutt him, then pounce on his back.

He goes down, but he manages to wriggle free, kicking at my feet until I trip over him. I round on him, biting his shoulder as he gets to his feet. He howls, teeth dragging over my ear. I growl at the sting without releasing his fur.

Another wolf barrels into my side. He’s slightly bigger, with the same wiry hair. Dane. He pants, attention split between me and his brother. Another of their cousins has shifted, too. The shaggy brown wolf comes at me from behind. One of the males that hasn’t transformed throws a rock at my side.

Then all at once, the five of them are on me. My wolf is a formidable beast, but the fight isn’t fair.

I swipe at brown fur with my claws and kick at a wiry gray muzzle at my rear flank. Someone’s teeth puncture my back when they try to pin me. My wolf isn’t going down without giving all of them hell.

She rolls to the side, attacking Dane’s leg. He yelps, backing away. Two others are back on me again.

Lorne is within reach. He stayed to the outskirts of the tussle once his friends joined in. If I take him down, the rest will give up.

Rearing up, I throw one of them off. The other keeps on me, biting at my heels as I charge Lorne. He snarls at me, hackles raised.

I leap into a tackle. Someone bites my ankle, but I focus on Lorne. My claws dig into his side and belly. I clamp my jaw around his throat. My teeth sink in, tearing at flesh and fur in warning to demand his submission.

One of them barks and their offensive stops. The one biting my ankle backs away. A furious growl booms from my chest. Blood drips from my snarling maw. They thought they could take me down, but they were wrong.

Lorne’s wolf alternates between whining and growling, attempting to swipe at me from the prone position I have him pinned in. He can’t beat me like this one on one. My wolf is bigger than his. Stronger.

Yield, I snarl.

He barks, then slumps with a pissed off noise. I keep my teeth bared, allowing him up. He surveys me with his tail rigid and fur ruffled down his spine.

I expect him to attack again with the way he meets my eye without an ounce of remorse. Then he turns tail and runs. The others follow his retreat. Fucking cowards. I bound after them, clacking my teeth at their heels until I chase them off.

Satisfaction and pride dance within me. I’m not coming away unscathed, but I have more than my wits to fight with now. I’m not Wolfless. Nor am I an easy target to pick on. Five males fought me at once and my wolf outlasted them. If any packmate tries me again, I know I’ll be able to take them on.

28AVERY

When I make it back to the cottage, my wolf gives up our fur. The shift back is uncomfortable, my body drained and stiff. I press a hand to my bleeding arm and hobble through the door. At least my sisters aren’t here to see me like this.

The worst of the wounds will heal within a day or two. I check myself over and most of it is superficial. I already feel some of the scrapes tingling, but I can make things more bearable to take the edge off. After pulling on a loose cotton shift that ties in the front, I get a bowl of water and a washcloth to clean the deep gash in my arm, setting it on my workbench.

The crash of the door slamming into the wall so hard it almost comes off its hinges startles me. Caden barrels through out of breath, features contorted in confusion and distress, fangs extended, fingers partially shifted into claws.

He stops in his tracks, raking his gaze over me, nostrils flaring. His fists ball and he’s at my side in two strides, face set in a feral storm of emotion.

“You’re hurt,” he says hoarsely.

“It’s not that bad. My wolf can handle herself.”

“Who did this to you? Who fucking touched you?” His fingertips flutter over my bruised jaw and his wolf becomes more evident in every word. “Tell me who hurt you.”

Through the echoes of pain, warmth spreads through me in a rush. I fought my own battle, but to see the way this affects him stokes a fire in me. I wish he could’ve seen how resilient I was.

“Calm down. It doesn’t matter right now.”

“Of course it does,” he counters fiercely.

I rest a palm on his chest, searching his face. It helps quell him, though he’s still a restless force. The bond ripples with probing pulses from him.

“I just want to clean up.”

He folds his arms, tracking every movement as I press the damp rag to my arm. At my hiss, he bats my hand away. He takes the cloth and holds my chin, gently lifting it until his piercing gaze captures mine.

“Let me,” he says gruffly.

“It’s fi⁠—”

“I need to. I—it’s hard for me to see you like this. I have to know you’re safe.”

My heart thumps at the troubled concern and devotion evident in his eyes. My attention drops to his shoulder. The scar is covered by his shirt, but the memory of how my gut wrenched being unable to stop him when he put himself in harm’s way by jumping into the fight between our fathers remains permanently etched in my mind. I hated seeing him in danger, and recalling that moment now amplifies it so intensely I struggle to breathe.

He caresses my cheek with his knuckles and takes great care in cleaning the gash. Once he has it bandaged, he checks me over for himself, cataloging the sprained wrist that’s already twinging less to the smallest bruise I sustained with grumbles and sharp exhales.

Each injury, no matter how minor, receives a tender, devoted kiss, his burning eyes locking with mine.

Being cared for by him unravels something within me that’s been knotted in a tight mess for years.

“My wolf got agitated and I didn’t listen because I was still dealing with—fuck. I should’ve been with you.”

He scrubs his face, then rests his forehead against mine. I swallow as my heart clenches. It’s comforting to know he could feel that something was wrong, even if I was able to manage the problem myself before he reached me. I’m not fighting alone anymore.

“You can’t be with me all the time. I’ll be okay.” I crack a tired half-smile. “You should see the other guys.”

A rumbling protest sounds in his chest and he cradles my cheek. “No. You’re not okay. What happened?”

“I was on my way back after doing some work. Some males stopped me and got aggressive with me when I wasn’t giving them what they wanted. They saw me talking to Sylvie and Nina at the healer’s cabin and wanted to know what I said to them. I offered to help Nina get out of her situation and they might’ve overheard.”

“Some?” he presses. “Be more specific. I want names.”

I sigh. “Lorne and his friends.”

A thundering noise explodes from him, rattling the windows.

I grab Caden’s arm, stopping him from storming off. “Where are you going?”

He whirls on me, eyes golden and fangs lengthening, his wolf barely contained. “Where do you think? I’m going to kill whoever touched you.”

“You can’t.”

He snarls, dragging me with him towards the door. I curl my fingers around his bulging muscles and find the threads of the bond to yank him to a stop. He grunts, rubbing his chest.

“You’re the alpha. You can’t come at them in the same manner they attacked me.”

He’s still fuming, though he makes no more moves to leave. “This isn’t a simple disagreement. I won’t stand by and allow anyone to attack you. I got so pissed off about Dane just for making a comment that I made an example of him in the dining hall. They put their hands on you. Do you understand what my wolf is demanding right now for this? I don’t want to fight them until they submit, I want to rend them limb from limb.”

My wolf is into this and on his side. She’d like to join him, finish chewing those males up and spit them out for thinking they could push us around. They need to bare their throats for us, and if they’re lucky she won’t tear them out. Our pack will regard us as mates who won’t back down when we’re challenged. The two of them are making me dizzy.

“I don’t want you to. It doesn’t do the pack any good if you kill anyone you please. Then you’d be no better than the tyrant alphas of the Original Pack.”

His neck stretches in agitation. “I’ll destroy them all.”

Yes, mate, my wolf gushes, enthralled with him. He is perfect. He feasts on the blood of our enemies.

“Caden.” I step back so he can see my slowly mending injuries. “I’m fine. This will heal.”

The reflective gold glow of his eyes fades back to stormy blue. “I can’t let this go without doing something. At least let me call Lorne out in front of the pack for ambushing you. No one will ever dare touch you again.”

I grimace, not wanting that much attention on myself. It doesn’t matter if things are beginning to revert back to how they were before. I spent so many years at the edges of the pack as an outcast drawing as little notice to myself as possible that it’s not an easy transition to make.

“I doubt they’ll try anything against me again. They know I won’t be as easily pushed around as other females they intimidate. My wolf kicked ass. If it had been a fair fight one on one, I would’ve beat Lorne.”

“You think I won’t protect you?” Caden’s stormy blue irises flash golden again, then narrow.

“Everyone knows you’re the one who re—” I break off at the reminder, then grit my teeth to push the word out. “Rejected me. The pack mostly ignored⁠—”

His fierce growl interrupts the rest of my response. The muscles in his jaw twitch as he works it.

Then he’s on me, pushing me back with purposeful strides until my hips hit the edge of the workbench. My pulse spikes as he cages me in and I swallow thickly as he grazes his nose from my temple down to my throat.

“Avery,” he rumbles in a fervent tone.

Mate. He didn’t use that word, but the reverence matches.

It sends heat racing through me, igniting an irresistible inferno in my core. My breath hitches and my skull thunks against the wall. He lifts a hand to cradle the back of my head, massaging away the fleeting throb.

“I’ve failed you. I’m still failing you when all I want is to make everything right.” He continues scenting me, the heady mix of us making it difficult to focus on anything but his proximity. “I won’t do that again. I’ll protect you. I revoke my rejection and I swear to you I won’t rest until I’m worthy of your claim. If you’ll have me. I’ll be the safe space you can rely on. The guardian of your heart as I always should’ve been.”

My chest squeezes with a stutter that echoes throughout my nerve endings. I waver on the edge of allowing the last of the wall I built around it to crumble for him. Everything in me demands to close the gap between us.

“I’m not helpless. I don’t need to be protected,” I breathe.

“Whether you want it or not, you have it.” His lips brush my skin and I arch into him. “You have me, remember? I’m yours, you stubborn little wolf. I won’t let you forget it.”

A strangled noise catches when he places a soft kiss beneath my ear. He grasps my waist, fisting the thin material of my shift until the ties strain. My nipples pebble, my entire body aching for more.

Need wells in me. It’s similar to the feeling that overcame me when we were in the forest surrounded by fireflies, but I’m more in control of what I want. I grab his hair and pull him into a kiss.

He makes a rough noise and I swallow it with a thrill. He devours my mouth, pulling me against him with a rumble. His hands grip my thighs, being mindful of my bruises and mending cuts, hooking my knee to lift my leg around his waist. The skirt of the shift hikes up and he fits between my thighs.

I arch with a whimper at the firm ridge of his cock pressing to my center, rocking my hips for more. My body aches to feel him. His mouth parts from mine with a tortured groan.

“I need to taste you,” he rasps. “The scent of your arousal drives me insane.”

He grasps my jaw and angles my head to lick a stripe up my throat that draws a shudder from me. My nails scrape his back, his shoulders, anywhere within reach to urge him on.

“Caden,” I beg.

“I know. Your scent’s telling me everything you need.”

He kisses a path down my fluttering pulse point to my collar bone and takes the shift in both hands, tearing it down the middle. My desire heightens so fast, I’m lightheaded with it. Cool air kisses my flushed body and my clit throbs.

“Damn it.” A husky laugh puffs out of me. “I like this.”

“I’ll get you a new one. You won’t need them in our bed, though. I want you bare for me like this, always. Fuck, you’re dripping.”

He grazes a knuckle down my slit, smearing my slick wetness. I bite my lip when he brings it to my clit, giving me just enough pressure to tease me. I squirm, trying to grind on his hand. The corner of his mouth kicks up and he steadies my hip, playing with me until I’m panting.

“Is this pretty mess for me? I’ve barely touched you yet.” His sensual hooded gaze snares mine as he licks his finger clean with a groan. “Do you know how incredible you taste? I’ll be addicted to you. More than I already am.”

He kisses me again, stealing my breath. Fingers finding my clit, matching the slow pace of his mouth on mine. I cling to him as he takes my pleasure higher. Then his hand is gone, spreading my thighs wider as he kisses his way to a nipple, taking it in his mouth.