Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Taimyr
This was pure torture. Kenai, in his rut-addled mind, had done a piss-poor job of setting up the magical barrier around his chalet.
Even without our mate bond, I would’ve been able to find this place—especially with Sylvie smelling like that.
I’d helped him shore them up but hadn’t thought to add one that might’ve spared me the agony I was in now.
Instead, I had to smell and hear everything they were doing in the next room.
You could go outside. Give them some privacy.
But it wouldn’t make a difference. I would always be able to feel it through my bond with Kenai.
And I would protect them. Another alpha was still a risk, with Sylvie being unmated.
Kenai was right—off-season like this, any alpha who scented her wouldn’t be able to resist. She’d been outside the barrier’s protection too long.
I’d protect them. That’s what I always did—protect my herd and mate at all costs. Even if the cost was to myself.
A particularly loud moan echoed down the hall, and my fists clenched. My dick throbbed, and sweat gathered along my neck. Sylvie hadn’t thrown me into a rut yet, but it was likely only a matter of time. Hopefully her heat would pass before then—and I could steal Kenai for it.
Maybe she’d want to join as well. She would be more clear-headed then, able to make her choice. I just wished we’d had more time to get to know her first. I had a feeling she was going to become a permanent fixture in my life.
I hadn’t seen Kenai so head over heels for someone since…
well, since he met me. The thought made me chuckle.
He was so open with his heart, so willing to charge in headfirst. It was one of the things I loved about him—how he never let fear of pain stop him from going after what he wanted. So very different from me.
He would want her to be his mate, and if they were scent matched… Sylvie was human, but that wouldn’t stop him.
Through the bond, I felt the exact moment Kenai’s knot locked inside her again.
The sensation crashed through me like a wave—a phantom pleasure that wasn’t quite mine but close enough to make me gasp.
I could feel his joy, his desperate need, and underneath it all, hers.
A faint echo of Sylvie reaching through Kenai to me, calling, wanting.
My body responded without permission, arousal clawing up my spine with vicious intensity.
I wanted her. Not just because Kenai did. I wanted to know what made her laugh, what she was thinking behind those intelligent eyes, how she’d look at me when I knotted deep inside her. I wanted to chase away the exhaustion in her gaze and replace it with rapture.
More noises rose from down the hall, and I groaned as our bond pulsed with Kenai’s rut energy—my dick twitching along with it.
The gray sweatpants I’d thrown on had been a bad idea. There was a dark stain where I was already leaking. I palmed my cock through the fabric, seeking any kind of relief.
Every pulse through the bond made it worse, an echo of what I should’ve been part of. This was torture. Beautiful, agonizing torture.
Not for the first time tonight, I thought about joining them.
But Sylvie was already overwhelmed, already struggling with her first heat and everything we’d thrown at her.
Adding another alpha to the mix was selfish, even if my instincts screamed that I should be in that room too—taking care of her too.
I bit back a bellow of frustration, my cock straining harder.
Then I felt it—Kenai’s presence in my mind, deliberate and clear. We need you.
I was on my feet in an instant, not sprinting toward Kenai’s room.
I reached out when the door became an unpassable barrier, my fingers tightening on the knob, my entire body on edge.
I was strong, but a shifter could only be pushed so far.
If I entered that room, turning around without interfering might be the hardest thing I’d ever done.
Then I heard Sylvie let out a needy whimper and Kenai’s low voice soothing her—and nothing could’ve held me back.
She was on top of him, and he was clearly knotted deep inside her. Her pert breasts were covered in red marks around each swollen, dusty-pink nipple, and if I’d thought I was hard before, well…
“Kenai, this had better be important—”
“Taimyr…” Sylvie’s voice was rough with need, her eyes hungry as she looked at me like I was her salvation. “Help me, please.”
Oh gods…what had I done in a past life to deserve this? “Sylvie…you’re not in your right mind.”
“Tai.” Now it was Kenai looking at me with those pleading eyes. “It’s worse than I thought. It’s like a doe’s first heat—it’s too intense. We need you.”
“I can’t—”
Kenai shook his head. “We talked about it. She agreed.”
Sylvie nodded frantically.
I stayed rooted by the door, every muscle locked tight. “She’s too deep in heat.”
Kenai shook his head again and gently pulled Sylvie’s long blonde hair to the side.
My eyes snapped to her neck. The fresh mark was unmistakable, already silvering at the edges.
“You bonded with her?”
Kenai’s thumb traced slow circles on Sylvie’s thigh, and I couldn’t take my eyes off it. “It wasn’t something I planned. But it felt right.”
I took a step closer, searching his face. Kenai could be reckless, but never with other people’s hearts. I knew him, and I knew this wasn’t a rut-fueled bonding. The sex, sure—but a mate bond was sacred.
Sylvie nodded. “I didn’t know it would feel like this—like coming home.” I knew the feeling well.
“I can feel you too, through Kenai. This must’ve been so hard for you, with us together and you alone. I didn’t know, Taimyr. I’m so sorry.”
She could feel me—and I could feel her too.
Through Kenai, but also through the bond that was starting to form between us.
She was more like me than I could’ve imagined.
Defenses of steel, emotions hidden behind sarcasm and control.
But beneath that, she felt so deeply, in a way I rarely let myself feel.
It took a kind of bravery I often thought I lacked to feel that much—and she was doing it, for us.
Tears welled in her eyes, and I couldn’t stand it. Couldn’t stand to see her hurting like this, especially when I knew I could help her. I took one step closer, then another, until my fingers wove through her soft blonde hair and she leaned into the touch with a soft moan.
“Taimyr, please.” Her eyes gleamed, and she was so hot—burning up. It would be dangerous to leave her like this, and Kenai wouldn’t be able to knot her again for at least half an hour.
I looked down at Kenai, who gave me a small nod.
“She was meant to be mine. She was meant to be ours.”
Ours.
The walls I always kept around my heart couldn’t withstand that. I took a deep breath and inhaled her scent, now mixed with the scent of the man I loved more than anything. Ours was right, and I didn’t want to wait a moment longer.
I climbed onto the bed beside her, my knees sinking into the plush mattress. I stroked her beautiful, golden locks, and she curled into my touch.
“I’m going to take care of you, Sylvie, but you must be careful with Kenai still knotted inside you.” She nodded against my palm.
“Untie my pants.”
Her eyes snapped open—hungry.
She tugged at my waistband, her tongue darting out to lick her lips as she did. Her smooth, warm hand dipped beneath the band of my briefs, sliding them down until I sprang free.
My dick was a mess, leaking precum everywhere from the hours sitting unrelieved. Sylvie was licking it off before I could stop her, her warm tongue velvet-soft.
I really needed a medal for all the restraint I was showing today.
I wanted nothing more than to slam my cock past those rosy lips until she teared up.
In her state, she would’ve loved it. But this was our first time—her first heat.
I needed to be gentle, even if that wasn’t something I was particularly good at.
I lightly grabbed her hair and pulled her back. “Patience, Sylvie.”
She whined and rolled her hips, Kenai wincing as she tugged on his knot. My grip on her hair tightened.
“Hold still.” The words came out a deep rumble—an alpha tone. She froze immediately. Fuck, I needed to do better.
“I know you’re hurting. I’ll give you everything you need. But you have to be good for me, understand?”
She nodded, her eyes wide. “Yes, alpha.”
Oh, fuck yes. I wanted her looking at me like that forever.
“Good girl. You’re going to suck my cock until that needy pussy of yours releases Kenai, and then I’m going to fuck you while he watches.”
The sound that came out of her and Kenai was perfectly pathetic.
“Kenai—”
But my mate didn’t need instructions. He started gently circling Sylvie’s clit with his thumb, and she moaned as I pushed the head of my cock between her already swollen lips.
She opened wide for me, and I was able to glide halfway in before I hit the back of her throat. She toyed with me using her tongue, her hand coming up to pump the exposed portion of my dick.
“You can go deeper than that, can’t you, Sylvie?”
For a moment, I saw a flash of defiance in her eyes that had more precum leaking into her mouth—but then she tilted her head, and I saw her throat work as I pushed farther into her.
“Gods, that’s hot,” Kenai said, still working her. “Maybe I was being too gentle with you.”
Knowing Kenai, he probably was. But despite how reckless he could be with his safety, in the bedroom he was always the controlled one. I couldn’t make the same claim.
I fisted Sylvie’s hair, holding her head still as I fucked her mouth.
She was perfect—taking me just a bit deeper with each stroke, keeping her tongue coiled to slide along the underside of my shaft.
Her mascara started to run as I pushed too deep, but I couldn’t stop.
Not when she held my gaze the entire time, both perfectly supplicant and full of fire.