Chapter 33
Alfie
I wake in the early hours and sense at once that something has changed.
There’s a kind of peace in the room, a calm that reminds me of the eye of a storm.
Jensen sits on the edge of the mattress, legs curled away from me.
A pretty pose for a pretty boy. The curtains have been pulled open a bit, and there’s a blue line of moonlight highlighting his profile that makes him look ethereal.
I don’t say a word or give any sign that I’ve woken.
I simply watch in wonder as the hope that shattered years ago is slowly and painstakingly knitted back together.
Jensen is looking down at the velvet box in his hands with a small smile.
He runs his fingertips over the lid, stroking the velvet against the grain, and then smoothing it down again.
His Adam’s apple bobs, sticking for a moment before traveling down the column of his throat.
Then, he pries the box open. His chin dips and his free hand comes up to his mouth.
His fingers curl against his lips and a gentle apostrophe is carved into his cheek.
He lifts the necklace out of the jewelry box and lets the moonlight reflect off each stone in turn. He struggles with the clasp, and I let him, but only because I know it’s the last time I’ll ever let him struggle with anything in my presence.
This moment is his, and I want him to have it.
The next one is mine.
And the one after that will belong to both of us.
He looks down as he fixes the clasp and trails his fingers lightly over the gemstones once the necklace is fixed around his neck. When he turns to me, there’s a tranquil lack of surprise in his eyes that lets me know he’s been aware of me watching him for a while.
He moves toward me through a series of dreams I’ve had of this moment.
Boyhood dreams, romantic and na?ve in their innocence.
A young man’s dreams, steamy and incredibly raunchy.
Fragile, torn remnants of broken dreams I spent years trying to bury.
He moves through all of them like it’s easy, and when he gets to me, he throws a leg over mine and straddles me.
My hands move to his hips like they’ve always belonged there.
“Jensen.” My voice quivers and cracks.
The moment has burst into full color, and I’m suddenly starkly aware of how momentous it is.
My eyes sting as every good emotion I’ve ever felt rises in me.
This is nothing like what I thought it would be.
Jensen is in heat. His pupils are dilated, his eyelids swollen and heavy, yet he doesn’t look wild or out of control. He looks peaceful and sure.
He leans his forehead against mine, cradling my head in his hands, offering me a limitless kind of comfort I didn’t know existed. I tilt my face up to kiss him as I allow myself to receive it. When my lips brush against his again, hot tears spill over and run down my cheeks.
He wipes them away the same way he does everything, with care. With consideration and an innate understanding of who I am.
When I dreamed of this moment, I imagined myself checking on him.
I thought I’d ask him over and over if he’s positive this is what he wants.
Now that I’m here, I innately understand that it’s not necessary.
There’s an unshakable set to Jensen’s eyes.
His body is experiencing the rigors of heat, but his mind is clear and made up.
He is sure of me.
He’s as sure of me as I am of him.
Our kiss deepens in slow, distinct stages.
Water swirling in the shallows at first, gradually flowing and swelling into a crest that’s bigger than both of us.
Jensen moans softly when I penetrate him, and I grunt in pleasure as I slide into his endless depths.
We move together, hips, chests, lungs, hearts, all arching and straining to get closer to each other.
Deep in my core, something brittle unravels.
It loosens and untangles, flapping free for a moment before crossing over itself.
It softens as it moves, becoming supple and malleable.
It happens over and under. A cord, a rope, looped and tied, and pulled tight.
My knot forms the same way our kiss happened.
Gradually. Naturally. Like something that was always meant to happen.
Jensen’s body stills as I swell inside him.
His eyes stretch wide and his mouth drops open from the intensity of the sensation.
His pupils are black and blown out completely, but his focus is fixed and true, aimed straight at me.
We move like water over river rocks. A slow dance to music only we can hear.
The sounds Jensen makes are beautiful. Hungry and mournful and euphoric at the same time. He thrashes in my arms, movements becoming jerky as my knot fuses us together.
His hands travel up his own body, his fingers clawing at his arms and chest and finally coming to rest at the base of his throat. He places one hand on the back of my neck, pulling me close to him as his other hand clutches the choker.
His teeth grit, lips pulling back in a smile that’s half snarl as he bucks and writhes in my arms. He struggles with the necklace, his head arching back deeply as the muscle in his forearm dents from exertion.
His hips rock, his body grinding against mine as a surge of power rips through him.
There’s a quick chink of metal as platinum links come apart.
Diamonds break free of their bindings and scatter, crystalized carbon rolling down his chest.
His throat is exposed, his head thrown back and tilted to the side. A submissive pose. An omega offering their alpha everything they’ve ever wanted.
I’ve never seen anything I like more.
I’ve never seen anything I want more.
My gums itch and my heart slams in my chest as instinct sinks its claws in me.
“Alpha,” he says, voice eerily calm, “I want you to bite me.”
I’d love to savor the moment, to take stock of my surroundings and memorize every detail about them, but my omega has spoken, and I’m powerless to resist him.
I trail my nose from the shell of his ear down to his clavicle, inhaling loudly and reveling in the heady scent of my mate.
His scent gland pulses from my proximity, and I kiss it lightly.
A dusting of lips and a gentle roll of my tongue.
Jensen moans loudly and clenches hotly around my knot.
The pleasure it delivers is indescribable, and it’s also more.
More than this place. More than this time.
Certainty travels up my legs and chest, straight to my heart.
This is it.
This is my moment.
I hold on to Jensen tightly and bare my teeth as I arch back before my head slams forward without warning.
My teeth sink in, canines piercing soft, smooth skin.
There’s a blinding light. An extraordinary burst of otherworldly taste.
And then an explosion detonates inside me.
Every color under the sun roars into being.
My chest is cleaved open. It’s agony and ecstasy.
The bond tunnels into my chest and buries itself deep in my soul.
Tendrils and vines of connection sink into me, weaving themselves into everything that’s ever mattered and making all of it better.
A light golden arch forms, spilling out of me in a thick gush as it barrels toward my mate.
The moment isn’t mine anymore, and it isn’t Jensen’s either. It’s the most beautiful thing that’s ever happened, and it’s ours.