Chapter 13
Chapter
Thirteen
CHARLOTTE
The world spun as Beck carried me to his bedroom. It tilted when he flung me onto the mattress.
I landed with a bounce, my head spinning faster. The hot ache between my thighs made me squirm. I reached for him, but he stepped back.
“Not yet.”
“When?” I demanded.
Humor flashed in his silver eyes. “Patience isn’t your strong suit, is it, sweetheart?”
“No.” Although, I’d never considered myself particularly frantic when it came to sex. But that was before I met Beck.
The humor in his face vanished, and something predatory glinted in his gaze. “Clothes off. Now.”
My pussy clenched at the command. Throat dry, I sat up and shrugged out of his coat.
I removed my glasses and twisted so I could set them on the nightstand.
Turning back, I pulled off my sweater and the thermal shirt beneath it.
My breath hitched as I scooted to the edge of the bed and stood so I could toe off my boots.
Beck’s sharp eyes missed nothing. He watched like he intended to make sure I did everything right. Like he’d step in and administer correction if I stumbled or went too slowly.
I stepped out of my jeans, leaving me in my black bra and panties.
His nostrils flared. “All of it.”
My heart thumped harder. “You’re wearing a lot of clothes right now.”
He folded his arms, his muscles bulging.
His expression didn’t change, but something buzzed in the air.
As a kid, I’d hated my foster parents’ basement.
Their house was old, and the space was unfinished and stuffed with castoff furniture and boxes of moth-eaten clothes.
A single bulb had provided the sole illumination, its meager light leaving the corners steeped in shadow. The air had always felt charged. Alive.
A similar sensation slipped around me now, making goosebumps pebble my skin. But it didn’t dampen my desire. Because its source stood steps away, observing me with metallic eyes that promised I’d love whatever punishment followed disobedience.
Stifling a moan, I reached behind me and unclasped my bra, letting it slip from my shoulders and fall to the ground.
“Good girl,” Beck murmured in a voice almost too deep to understand. “Keep going.”
I slid my panties down my legs, biting my lip at the sight of the prominent wet patch on the cotton. Then I straightened, totally nude in the afternoon sunlight pouring through the window.
“Your glasses,” Beck said, his voice rough with command. “Put them back on.”
Heat flooded my face as I turned to the nightstand, and my hand shook a little as I slid the frames back on.
Beck’s eyes darkened. “Perfect,” he murmured. “Now turn around and get on the bed. I want you on your hands and knees facing away from me.”
My nipples ached, the tips a lurid pink as I slowly pivoted. Somehow, wearing my glasses made me feel more naked. I suspected Beck knew it. His gaze was a brand on my skin, his power crackling in the air between us.
No, his magic. That was the presence I felt. He’d unleashed whatever power made him alpha, and now he used it to fuel the lust between us.
The mattress dipped as I crawled onto the bed, a sweet lassitude in my limbs. Cool air caressed the hot, swollen flesh between my legs.
“Go to your forearms,” Beck said behind me. “And raise your ass. You’re not hiding anything from me.”
Desire swept me like I’d been thrust into a blast furnace. A moan trembled in my throat, and I dug my teeth into my lip as I complied, more air currents teasing my pussy.
Behind me came the rustle of clothing. The click of a belt buckle being undone, followed by the soft thump of a coat hitting the ground.
“You have no idea how gorgeous you look,” Beck said.
“How perfect you are like this, your ass spread for me, your pussy dripping wet. Ready and waiting for my cock. Knees wider, Charlotte. I think you can make a little more honey for me. I want to see it pooling in that pretty little cunt of yours.”
My moan was low and wanton as I moved my knees apart, my pussy thrust lewdly in the air. My clit throbbed, everything between my legs hot and aching. My hair slipped around me. Heat suffused my face, and I knew the flush spread down my chest.
Beck’s growl vibrated the bed. It rumbled under my skin and rattled my bones. Stroked my slick, needy center. Soft footsteps, followed by the sound of a drawer opening and closing. Plastic crinkled, and I knew Beck had rolled a condom onto his shaft.
Then the bed dipped, and his callused hands were on my ass, his thumbs stroking down my folds and spreading me wider.
“Fuck,” he rasped. “So pretty here, Charlotte.” He traced my entrance, gathering my arousal.
My clit pulsed, and I whimpered as I thrust my hips up and back, trying to get his fingers where I needed them. “Please,” I moaned. “I need—”
“I know exactly what you need.” His bare chest pressed against my back as he draped his body over mine.
His shaft lodged against my pussy as he slipped a hand around to cup one of my breasts.
He pinched my nipple before weighing the swell in his hand.
Then he slid his palm down my body and stroked my clit.
Hard.
A ragged cry tore from my throat. My hips bucked involuntarily as I sought more pressure, more friction. Beck leaned over me, stroking in perfect circles as he breathed against my ear.
“Such a hungry pussy, sweetheart. So loud and needy.” He widened his strokes, smearing my arousal over my lips and opening. He rubbed my juices over my mound before returning to my clit. “Louder, baby. Let me hear it. That’s a good girl.”
The smack of my arousal drowned my cries and the squeak of the bed. Every wicked circuit of his fingers sent hot bolts of pleasure through my body. I bucked like a wild thing, my breasts swaying and my gasps coming one on top of the other. The pleasure swelled. Release rushed me.
“I’m coming!” I cried.
Beck bit my earlobe. “I know. Come on.”
The orgasm slammed into me, stealing my breath. My body shook as scalding-hot pleasure shattered me into pieces. Beck kept up his ruthless assault, stroking fast circles over my clit until one release melted into the next.
Just as I grew oversensitive, he pulled his hand from between my legs. Then the world blurred as he rearranged us so he stretched on his back and I straddled his hips.
His cock jutted between us, the bulbous crown a red so dark it was almost purple. Precome gleamed in the slit. I shivered, my pussy clamping as aftershocks swept me.
“Take it,” Beck said, his eyes molten silver. “Take what you need.”
I rose and positioned myself over him. He gripped my waist, supporting me as he stared up at me with glittering silver eyes. The head of his cock nudged my entrance, and I sank onto his shaft. I was so slick, my body so primed, that I took him to the root in a single smooth glide.
The burn was minimal, the stretch divine.
“Oh god,” I moaned, rocking my hips. Taking him that much deeper. My glasses slipped, and I nudged them back into place.
“Fuck,” Beck muttered. His silver eyes held mine captive as he slid his hands to my ass and squeezed. “Do you know how fucking beautiful you are with those glasses on and your pretty cunt stuffed with my dick?”
I could only shake my head.
“If I had my way, sweetheart, you’d never wear anything else.” He kneaded my ass, urging my hips into another slow, sensual glide. “Ride me,” he ordered. “Take what you want, Charlotte. Take everything.”
Sweat beaded my skin and prickled under my arms. A new wave of pleasure built. I rose on trembling thighs and sank down again, whimpers spilling from my lips. Beck held my stare as he moved his hands to my waist.
“That’s it. Ride, baby.”
Gaze locked with his, I braced my palms on his chest, my fingers in the mat of salt-and-pepper hair. His heart thundered under my hands. His cock stretched me, leaving me without an inch of space to spare. But I didn’t want it. I only wanted him.
This.
Raw, primal sex. A well of endless pleasure.
Magic and man. I rose and fell, finding my rhythm and taking him with me.
Something fierce and possessive glittered in his eyes as he followed my lead.
Gasping and moaning, we fell into a perfect rhythm.
His shaft grazed my clit. We rocked together, every roll of our hips shoving me closer to another shattering release.
The wave built and built as my pussy clenched and my body frayed.
“Yes!” I cried, rocking faster. My thighs trembled, my muscles burning with my efforts. My breasts bounced, and my hair flew around my head.
“Beautiful,” Beck growled, reaching up and thumbing my sensitive nipples. “You’re so fucking beautiful. Let go for me again, sweetheart.” He moved his hand to my clit and stroked.
I flew apart. My scream split the air as I writhed on top of him. Beck sat up, holding me on his lap with his hands on my ass. He thrust once, twice, then buried his face in my neck as he shuddered through his own release.
His cock pulsed inside me. His heart pounded against mine. Sweat slicked our bodies, and our ragged breaths lifted around the ruined bed.
Slowly, our hearts slowed. After a moment, he eased back, and he hooked a finger under my chin as he searched my face.
“You okay?”
“Yes,” I said, my voice raspy from screaming. “More than okay.”
A soft smile curved his lips. Still buried inside me, he brushed my tangled hair from my face. Sunlight puddled around the bed, yellow rays making the thick scars on his chest stand out against the darker skin around them.
I traced one before looking up at him. “How did you get these?”
A grave but steady look filled his eyes. “My predecessor didn’t believe in democracy.”
I paused with my fingertip on one of the scars. “The alpha you removed from power?”
Beck nodded. “Rex kidnapped Skyler and held her prisoner. He would have forced her to mate with him even though she was more compatible with Everett.” Beck’s chest lifted as he drew an even breath. “He would have done worse. I couldn’t let him stay in power.”
So Beck had killed him. But Rex hadn’t gone down without a fight. It was barbaric. In the human world, it was criminal.
But Bear Cove wasn’t the human world. The men Beck called “brothers” shifted into bears. Animals with animal drives and instincts.
Rex had ruled as a dictator, hurting the people he was supposed to protect. So Beck had removed him from power. He’d eliminated a predator.
I leaned down and kissed the scar I’d traced. “Thank you for telling me.”
His breath caught. “Charlotte—”
“You did what you had to do.”
He stroked a thumb over my cheekbone. “I didn’t like it.”
I ran my fingertips through his beard. “That’s what makes you a good man.”
My man, a little voice whispered in my head.
Beck slid his hand into my hair, his big palm cradling the back of my head. Then he kissed me, the slow thrust of his tongue somehow more intimate than the passion we’d just shared.
When he finally pulled away, we were both breathing heavily. He eased backward, settling us against the pillows. His heart beat steadily under my cheek, and his arms were strong and solid around me.
Could I really give up everything to be with him? I’d have to cut ties with Dr. Henry and Colorado. Possibly, I could apply to another PhD program in Alaska, but there were no guarantees I’d be accepted—or if those programs had the funding or space. And I was already so close to finishing…
Making the switch wasn’t impossible, but it was far from easy. And, of course, being with Beck meant living in Bear Cove, which didn’t even have a coffee shop.
There was also the question of my research. I’d uploaded my data to the university’s server. Dr. Henry had my reports. What would he say if I refused to explain them?
Beck rested his chin on the top of my head, and his breathing turned slow and steady. Sleep tugged at me, my body warm and sated. I didn’t have to decide anything right now.
But as I closed my eyes, something told me I already had.