Chapter 56
Aiden
“Knock, knock,” Emitt calls as he pokes his head through the open doorway. The second our eyes meet, his lips stretch into a grin.
“You know, when people say that, they usually do the knocking too?” I say, straightening from my table.
“That wouldn’t make any sense,” he dismisses as he shoulders the door open so he—and the armful of rolled-up maps—can fit through. “If I did that, it’d be a quadruple knock or something. Then what’s even the point?”
Rolling my eyes, I move to meet him on the other side of the table, catching two of the maps before they hit the floor. “Were they hard to find?”
“Surprisingly not.” he admits as he drops the rest. “Julian’s got that library running like a military base.”
“Of course he does,” I mutter, shaking my head. “Still, thanks. I’ve been swamped today, so I appreciate you going.”
“Don’t even. It was nothing.” Emitt beams and helps me spread them across the table. “But are you finally going to tell me what all this is for?”
“The witch—Katerina—she said something weird,” I say, sliding the maps together until the edges line up. “Said she was drawing magic, but not from us.”
“Scary,” he mutters, hands settling on his hips.
“Yeah, but there shouldn’t be anything supernatural within a five-mile radius of our borders,” I say as I stretch across the table for my pens. “Nothing but rogues.”
Flattening out the corners, I started marking the map—red Xs for the rogues we dealt with, and black for the sightings we haven’t. A cluster forms quickly, north of the packlands, spreading towards where the Moon’s Shadow Pack resides. That is a problem because it means there’s more.
“I’ll make the call,” Emitt says before I can ask. His expression is pinched as he stares down at the map. “Several. I’ll make several calls.”
“There you are.”
I glance away from the outline of our packlands to find Julian crossing the rooftop with a smile. By the look in his tired eyes, he only just got home.
“Here I am.” I sit up on the couch to make space for him.
“I’ve been looking for you,” he says as he slides his slippers off and climbs into the space between my legs. He pecks my lips before he turns and leans back against me.
I hum into his hair as I wrap an arm around his waist, and he sighs heavily. “Long day?”
“You have no idea.”
Unfortunately, I do. Drained doesn’t even begin to cover it.
After so long away, every hour of our attention needed to be on the pack, and we’ve been running on fumes.
Still, it isn’t for nothing. We’re settling back into the natural order, and our pack’s trusting us again. Trusting in their alphas.
“What about you?” Julian asks, settling his hand on mine.
“Same as you. I have Emitt looking into rogue sightings beyond the pack,” I say, hoping it doesn’t shift the mood. “I just want to be sure we’re safe.”
“Okay,” he says, but he shifts to look at me. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Jewels,” I murmur, pressing a kiss to his temple. “You make sure that I am.”
I feel it when his heart kicks, before I watch his smile spread. He tilts his head, and I don’t hesitate to take the offering.
I press my lips to his, longer this time, slower. Sparks shoot down my spine, electrifying my soul as it finds itself reacquainted with its other half. Julian twists in my arms until he’s draped over me.
His lithe body presses against mine, warming every inch of skin he touches. I sink into the pleasure, letting myself feel him—really feel him—as our mouths move together. The kiss is slow and deep.
Julian breaks away first, but only to start a path down the length of my neck with his mouth.
“If you keep that up, I’m gonna get my hopes up,” I say with a chuckle that quickly turns into a groan when his tongue brushes the edge of my mark.
“Maybe you should,” he murmurs with a smile I feel against my skin.
My heart hiccups in my chest as my groin tightens.
It’s been over a week since I told Julian about my past. So it’s also been almost a month since we’ve done anything remotely close to this. His insistence that I take time to deal with what I’d relived had felt like a punishment at first, but I knew that it never was.
As much as I tried to deny it, the last time I tried to take things further, Julian knew that I didn’t want it—not really. I wasn’t even hard, and he had been kind enough not to point it out. He just asked me to do the one thing no one ever had before. Make sure I was okay first.
I’d been trained to bury things, pretend that nothing ever happened. I thought that’s what we’d do, too. But Julian … he showed me how different things could be, when someone who really loves you sees all of you, and stays anyway.
“You’re distracted,” he whispers against my ear, his hands sliding down my sides.
“Yes, I am,” I groan, trying to think past the coaxing grind of his erection against my stomach. “I am very distracted and excited.”
He huffs a laugh as his fingers slide into my hair.
“I just don’t know … if … if we should be getting distracted up here,” I manage. I’m all for fucking wherever, whenever, but the last thing I need is to finally get a piece of my mate, only for someone to walk in on us.
“We can be quick,” Julian whispers as he rocks against me. “We’ve done it before, and I’m already close.”
“Fuck, Jewels.” I tighten my grip on his hips and thrust up. We share a groan at the blessed friction. “We’re outside.”
“And?” he pants, before teeth clamp down on my ear.
My cock jerks. I moan, and Julian laughs as he pushes me back onto the couch.
“Goddess be fucking merciful,” I beg as I take in the vision of the fallen angel seducing me.
He climbs up to straddle me properly, pushing his hair from his face in one swoop before he tugs his shirt over his head—leaving nothing but skin and temptation in its place. He’s filled back in over the past few weeks, looking more like my alpha than ever.
“Come on,” he purrs, leaning down for another kiss.
But I slap a hand to his chest.
“… Aiden.”
“We need to … we … need to go downstairs. To, um—” I stammer, watching as he palms himself through his briefs. “The bed,” I mumble, but then he grabs my wrist and presses my hand over him, replacing his with mine as his cheeks flare. “Dinner? E-eat. We need to eat!”
“Eat?” Julian echoes, as he leans into the hand between us. His eyes glow as they flick down to my mouth. He drops his voice. “Eat me.”
I tried.
I drop the hand on his chest, sit up with Julian still in my lap, and slide him down onto his back so he’s laid out under me. Julian sucks in a breath as my hand slips past his waistband to take hold of his slick cock.
He moans, gripping my shoulders, trying to deepen the kiss I’m already breaking so I can taste the heat of his skin. His body unfurls for me, warm and sweet beneath my searching lips while I stroke him slowly.
“I’m not stopping,” I warn, my voice a growl, and the sound alone makes him jerk in my grasp. I smile against his nipple. “Not until I’m satisfied.”
I suck the nub between my lips and drag a wrecked moan from Julian’s throat. He arches beneath me, and I worship every inch of him I can while my hand works his already leaking cock.
“I can’t believe we’re still working,” I mutter as my hand trails down his side, tracing the dip of his waist. His brows meet as he struggles to breathe, caught between arousal and confusion. “Aren’t we about to cover every base?”
“Not that. Not now,” he pants, despite the humoured huff that follows. “I don’t want to think about kids when I’m about to come.”
“That close?” I ask, slowing my hand. “We should probably talk about it first. You know—before I come inside of you.”
Red blooms across Julian’s face as he tenses, but a tug of his nipple with my teeth has him melting for me all over again.
“What if I accidentally knock you up?”
“Shut up, Aiden,” he growls while he thrusts into my palm.
“I mean, if I don’t, there are always other options,” I continue as I pick up the pace again, watching his irritation waver as he moans. “We could call Kat. Ask for her help again.”
“Aiden!” he growls, frowning behind closed eyes.
“What?” I chuckle. “Maybe she can get a baby in you. Pop one in the oven—no problem,” I can’t get the words out without laughing. Julian’s eyes fly open, glowing with rage.
“There is no oven, you imbecile!” he shouts, and this time, he really does try to shove me away.
“Alright, alright.” I concede, rubbing my thumb over the tip of his cock when he tries to yank me away by my hair. His grip immediately loosens, and I take complete advantage of that. “I was just having some fun.”
Julian’s glare hardens, making me laugh as I press a kiss to his chest.
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m trying to make you come.”
Angry and aroused, Julian’s expression twists as he seesaws between giving in and shoving me off. But his arousal gets the best of him. His frown slips away with his glare, and he fucks into my fist, slicking my fingers with his precum as he chases the edge.
“That’s it,” I groan. “Come on, Jewels.”
“Agh!” Julian pants. “I … I’m g-going to c—”
“Such a beautiful view. You guys got some nice land—OH MY GOD!”
Julian shrieks, and I flop on top of him like a damn weighted blanket, trying to shield him from the intruder. The intruder, who, when I peek over my shoulder, is none other than Kat.
The witch drops to her knees with a tortured wail.
“My eyes!” she howls while she claws at closed sockets. “MY EYES!”
“What the fuck?!” I shout, glaring at her while Julian scrambles under me, desperately clawing his shirt from the ground. “What the fuck are you doing here?!”
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” Julian whispers in a panicked ramble as he tugs his shirt back on. It’s back to front and inside out, but he hardly notices.
“Why are you still here?” I bark at Katerina as I glance back at the witch.
“I was summoned here!” she shrieks from over her shoulder while she tries to crawl away. “Oh Gods, it’s in my head.”