Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
ELENA
In the following days, Leon avoided her presence as much as he could. Perhaps regretting his impulsive actions now that his family had pointed out his grave error. He understood now exactly what she was, what Elena had done to his reputation.
There was a real risk that doors would close to him now. He’d have less reach. A young and powerful Alpha needed such things to gain strength and profit.
Elena’s strength waned, her appetite was not what it should be, but she would be all right. She had to be.
Spending the bare amount of time with her to keep her health from failing with the pregnancy, most of the hours with her were in the dead of night while Elena slept.
Restless and weary, her dreams were of dark things, but at some point each night they turned into glorious imaginings of the small thing inside of her slowly building itself into a real child.
No matter what combination of their features she dreamed of, they all of them had his eyes. Intense, rich darkness that held a wealth of knowledge and understanding too old for such guileless visions.
It bothered Elena more and more as she struggled through each day.
Though Leon hadn’t said a word about the absence of the nest after her heat, stacks of blankets and used clothing began to appear at the foot of the bed each morning.
A silent command that she tried to ignore, but ultimately gave into with miserable execution after she woke to find herself clinging to his sweater.
The roughshod clumps of linen and down did nothing to appease her fragile state or soothe her frayed nerves. If anything it added to it because he wasn’t in it near often enough to satisfy her need for his scent and touch.
She avoided it at all costs now.
That’s why he found her sleeping on the chaise in the sunroom in the middle of the day.
Too distraught to bear the weight of his absence any longer, she’d curled up in the solid warmth of the room to try and find some little comfort there.
Instead she’d cried until the tears ran dry and Mrs. Jacobs stopped her fretful hovering, finally drifting off into an exhausted sleep.
Elena came awake as he picked her up, cradling her against his chest. He began to purr as he noted her opened eyes, his brows pinched above the dark shadows of his gaze as he looked down at her.
“Please stay,” Elena begged in a broken whisper as he started up the stairs to the bedroom. Tongue lying flat and silent, she couldn’t give voice to all the pleas she had. Only that one managed to escape before her cheek settled against the insistent sound demanding her solace.
Leon laid her out on the bed before stripping her down.
With little fanfare, he followed suit, climbing into the bed beside her to curl around her shivering body.
Blanketing her in his heat and weight before he tugged the blankets high around her.
He said nothing, continuing to purr as his palm skated over her chilled skin.
Warming her in slow passes as Elena snuggled closer despite not wanting to show just how very adrift she was.
“Why didn’t you say something, little one,” he finally asked after Elena sighed, fully relaxed for the first time in weeks as he began kneading the long muscles of her back, wiping away the tension there.
“You weren’t here for me to tell,” Elena murmured, surprised into giving the truth as he worked away every last drop of anxiety, keeping her pliant and docile under his hands.
“I’ll always come if you need me, Elena,” he husked, shifting their bodies so she laid under him, his eyes searching her face for something she had no answer for.
“Every pregnancy is different, sir,” she said, putting space between them with the honorific, even if she couldn’t move her body away. Elena couldn’t let herself depend upon him or this moment. He was untrustworthy. A villain to be scorned, not snuggled up to.
Leon’s eyes narrowed, his weight crushing her by degrees until he was suddenly on top of her. Forcing Elena to open to him, spreading her wide around him until she had no choice but to accept him into the cradle of her thighs.
Eyes widening, she gave the smallest shake of her head.
She couldn’t deny him, but still she thought to try as her hands came up to apply the barest pressure to his chest. Instead of pushing him away, she found herself lost in the bunching muscle as he held himself aloft the barest inch.
Her fingertips glided over smooth flesh, relearning its texture as if she hadn’t explored every inch of him during her heat.
A gasp stuttered into her lungs as his continued purr lengthened into a growl.
One of pleasure as he ground his hips down against her, forcing her to feel every inch of him against her.
The smell of him grew stronger with his excitement, even more potent the longer Elena’s hands traversed the broad expanse of his chest.
Not until he leaned in, determined to drown her in his kiss did she realize what she was doing.
Elena closed her mouth tight, unwilling to give in so easily. She snatched her hands back, gripping the thick sheets on either side of her. Preparing for his rough violence, part of her hoping for it while the rest of her stoutly denied it.
“Open to me, little one,” Leon purred against her lips before his tongue teased across them, urging them to part under his delicate assault.
Elena made a helpless noise as he made another pleasured rumble, the sound reverberating through her chest. It was enough to part her lips on a bewitched sigh.
Enough to give him access as he delved deep inside of her.
Tasting her. Making her savor him on her tongue as he shifted his body above hers.
He fed her his grunts and moans, body jerking and swaying to a tempo she knew well.
Elena made a sound of denial as she realized what he was doing, his hand slapping against the wet folds of her lips as he pleasured himself between her legs.
Never once trying to enter her, he kept her still beneath him with his languid kiss though Elena attempted to struggle for more as the spun sugar sweetness of her readiness floated through the warm air beneath the blankets.
“All of me or nothing, my sweet,” he growled against her before ravaging her with lips and tongue, drowning her in his kiss as his hand shuttled up and down his length in a tight fist.
“Please,” Elena moaned as she arched against him, the tender peaks of her breasts sparking brilliant sensations as his chest rubbed against them. Her legs trembled as she opened them wider, bucking against the quick tap of his knuckles against her.
“Tell me you want it, Elena.”
There was no denying the darkness in his voice, the subterranean growl edging his words that plucked a hidden string deep inside of her body. It made her cry out for him, her arms going around his neck to cling to the monstrous Alpha above her as she sought to bring more of their bodies together.
“I want it, please,” she sobbed, writhing beneath him as he voiced a call so deep it vibrated through her entire body. Setting her alight as he entered her in one firm thrust of his hips. Splitting her open in glorious agony as she strained for every inch.
Only instincts.
He did not ease into a steady rhythm. Leon pounded into her from the very start, as if he could not stop himself.
As if he needed more of her. He buried his face against her neck, calling to her on every breath until slick flowed in a river from between her thighs, easing his quick retreat and furious return.
“Going to fuck you so good, my sweet,” he growled at her ear, arms wrapping tight around Elena to hold her steady. Whispering filthy, delicious words as he continued to assault her body with so much pleasure it hurt.
Heat surged through her with each shocking slap of his hips, his deep strokes battering her insides until primal sounds grinded from her throat.
Elena clung to him as pure electricity danced through her veins, drawing every muscle tight.
She teetered on the edge of oblivion only to be dragged higher with his every move.
His hand shifted to her tender breast, clenching over the soft flesh before he mounded it to his lips. Sucking hard at its tight peak, he applied the sharp edge of his teeth until Elena writhed and shrieked her pleasure to the ceiling and the Gods beyond.
Sensation sparked across her skin, sizzling just under the surface as every touch sent her higher.
She begged as it began in jerky snaps to the rapid tempo of his surging hardness. Pleaded with him to never stop as it stole over her, robbing her of breath as slick muscle contracted over his length. Wringing it for the swollen knot he slammed home with a roar of release.
Elena screamed as the world shuddered and dipped, tilting on its axis as pleasure unlike anything she’d ever experienced ripped through her body.
It wrenched her taut, strangling her with ecstasy until all she could do was cling to the man above her.
Taking in his heady scent on every panting breath, she whimpered when he shifted. Afraid he would take it all away.
Leon smiled against her lips as he began kissing her again. His hand stole between them, plucking at that bundle of nerves until her hips twitched and she whined low in her throat at the too much sensation.
“You’re going to come for me again, my sweet. Then I’m going to fuck you raw.”
Leon made good on his word. He mounted her several more times that day and well into the night. Painting her with his come, he spread it over her body and scented her as he’d done during her heat. Covering her and the nest she made right under his guiding hands.
Now Elena drowsed as he fed her tidbits from a tray Mrs. Jacobs had prepared, only rousing enough to chew whatever delicacy he put to her lips before her eyes fluttered shut once more and she hummed her contentment.