Chapter 22 #3
I hold his stare and lift my chin. “We’re alone. You got me out here to breathe again.” My fingers slip into his hair, tugging gently, not a plea, not a test. An invitation. “Don’t make me go back to pretending.”
Something in his face hardens into decision.
He kisses me again, deeper, hungrier, and it’s not messy.
It’s controlled hunger, the kind that tells me he could ruin me and still keep me safe while he does it.
His leg slides between mine, pressing in with just enough friction to leave me gasping, and he doesn’t let me hide the reaction.
His hand moves under my shirt, fingers splaying along my ribs, mapping me as if he’s memorizing every inch he plans to protect.
I meet him for once, drag my nails lightly down his shoulder over his shirt, and he groans in approval.
He draws back just enough to stare at me properly, gaze sweeping my face, my mouth, the way I can’t stop breathing too fast. His thumb brushes my cheek, gentler than a man this fierce has any right to be. “You’re unreal,” he says. “You’ve got no idea what you do to me.”
I swallow. “Go on,” I tease.
His gaze flares, approval and possessiveness tangled together. “Careful, darlin’. You ask me for that and I’m going to give it to you exactly the way I want.”
“And what way is that?”
His mouth tilts, pure cowboy arrogance, but his hand stays warm on my skin. “The way that makes you forget anybody ever had the nerve to make you feel disposable.”
He kisses his way down my stomach, pushing my shirt higher as he goes, and the warm afternoon air brings every nerve to life.
When he reaches my bra, he doesn’t fuss or ask twice.
He pushes it up and out the way with the same quiet confidence he brings to everything, leaving me exposed to the sun and the open sky, and the fact that we are out here makes my pulse trip even faster.
“You don’t even know what you’re doing to me.” The words land hard, like he’s warning me and himself.
Then his mouth finds my hardened nipple, and my whole body arches, the sound that slips out of me unfiltered and agonizingly desperate for more.
I clutch at the blanket, trying to keep myself grounded, but Seth is not interested in me staying composed.
His mouth sucks, that devious tongue flicking, and just when I’m about to burst, he lets go and moves on to my other nipple, adoring it with the same affection.
His hand slides to the waistband of my shorts and works them open, tugging them down over my hips, along with my panties in slow strokes that make me squirm.
I lift my hips, helping, and they slide down to my knees.
The air kisses my skin. His attention stays fixed on me, reading every reaction, tracking the way my breathing changes, as I reach down to push them lower.
“Impatient,” he murmurs, and it sounds amused, not scolding. “You always this needy, or is it just me?”
I try to answer, but my voice breaks as I grin. “I’m going to blame you.” I’m shuffling my legs and manage to kick off my shorts and panties.
He glances down, and his gaze goes sharp, hungry, taking in the completely shaved offering I’ve left for him. “Hell,” he murmurs, eyes lifting back to mine. “You’re trying to make me lose my mind.”
He shifts closer, sliding his other leg between my thighs until he has me spread, steadying me in place and blocking any chance of escape.
One firm hand presses into the blanket beside my hip, the other settling at my inner thigh with a quiet warning of control.
Then he pushes himself back onto his knees, his hands running down the length of my thighs, sliding them wider.
I gasp as he just stares down at me. When his fingers trace the seam of my lips, I tremble from the touch, then he presses them open.
“Let me see all of you,” he murmurs, pulling me open, revealing it all.
That shaking intensifies from a combination of arousal and nerves. He grins, his finger teasing around my entrance. I moan, my hips arching already. “You’re so wet. I love seeing you like this.”
He’s undoing his belt and jeans, pulling them down enough so that huge cock I knew to hide there pops out. I gasp at the sight as he palms it a few times, then uses the tip to rub me the full length, then to lightly smack me.
“She’s such a greedy little pussy, isn’t she? I see her clenching already for me.”
“And are you going to feed her?” I ask.
His gaze lifts to mine, an eyebrow arching so sexily I almost melt. “Hands,” he demands.
It’s one word. No softness around it. My hands lift without argument.
Seth catches my wrists, kisses the palm of each, and guides them up above my head, pinning them to the blanket with one firm hand. Not painful or cruel. Just absolute. My breath catches hard, and I expect fear to show up.
It doesn’t.
What shows up is heat, a deep, startling thrill that rolls through my stomach and lands between my thighs, because he is holding me still and I trust him enough to let him.
“You’re safe,” he says, as if he can see the thought flicker through me. His thumb strokes the inside of my wrist once. “You’re not in trouble. You’re exactly where I want you.”
My throat tightens. I nod, because words feel too small.
His gaze drops to my mouth. “Now say it,” he tells me. “No pretty lies. Tell me what you’re asking for when you beg.”
I swallow, cheeks burning, body trembling. The truth rises sharp and unstoppable. “I want you to take control.”
Seth’s expression shifts, something dark and satisfied settling into place. “That’s my girl.”
He adjusts his grip, keeps my hands where he put them, and lowers himself closer, his heat, his strength, the steady pressure of him caging me in without crushing me. He kisses the side of my throat, then my jaw, then the corner of my mouth, taking his time in a way that feels like ownership.
“You don’t get to run,” he murmurs. “You don’t get to hide what you feel. You stay right here, and you let me see it all.”
A shiver tears through me, half fear, half hunger, and I realize with a dizzy rush that this is what I’ve wanted without knowing how to name it. Being held, directed, and allowed to let go while someone else carries the weight. Something I feel with each of my three Alphas.
Seth watches the moment I stop fighting myself. Instead, I give myself to him while my body shakes with need, my pussy fluttering, and excitement seeps out of me.
Then he smiles. “Good,” he says. “Because I’m not letting you go until you believe you belong with us.”
He pushes his hips forward, his cock finding me instantly, driving into me without hesitation. I arch back, moaning, never able to get enough of being fucked by these Alphas, who all have massive cocks and know exactly how to wield them.
Seth is above me, holding my hands over my head with one hand, and the other he scoops underneath my thighs, lifting my hips to better meet his thrusts. When he’s got me where he wants me, he grins almost evilly.
“That’s it, beautiful. Now scream for me.”
The moment he drives the point home, my whole body jolts, the world tilting under me as if the mountains themselves shift.
Air punches out of my lungs. My hands are still pinned above my head, his grip firm enough to keep me right where he wants me, and I realize with a rush of heat and awe that Seth isn’t holding back. Not even a little.
I try to form words, but all that comes out is a broken sound. My hips lift on instinct, chasing more, and Seth makes a quiet, satisfied noise that goes straight through me.
“There you are,” he murmurs, close, approval threaded through every word. “Quit thinking. Quit fighting. Just take it.”
My pulse is everywhere. My skin is too hot for the cool air. Every movement sparks friction, fire, and I can feel myself tipping too fast, losing control in the best possible way.
“I want you to…” I gasp, swallowing hard, cheeks burning with the honesty of it. “I want you to do anything you want. I want you to use me. I don’t want gentle.”
Seth stills just enough to look down at me, eyes dark, expression fierce and intent, as if he’s making sure this is real and not panic talking.
“Say it again,” he tells me, quiet and commanding. “So I know you mean it.”
“I mean it,” I breathe. “All of it. Take what you want.”
Something in his face shifts. Satisfaction, possession, and the kind of restraint snapping that he’s been holding for my sake.
“Good,” he states, and the word lands heavily. “Because I’ve been picturing you like this. Hands above your head. Nowhere to go. Nothing to do but feel me.”
My body shudders at that, a sharp tremor that turns into a helpless moan when he moves again, when he sets a pace that steals my breath and makes my mind go blank. I can’t keep up with it. I can barely breathe through it.
He leans down, mouth at my ear. “You’d look real pretty tied up,” he murmurs, filthy and soft at once. “Would you like that, darlin’? Me taking my time. You being forced to hold still while I do whatever I want.”
My throat works, vision going glassy. The idea nearly undoes me right there, just from the words.
“I’ve never…” I gasp, the confession jagged. “Never tried it.”
Seth’s grip tightens, not punishing but claiming. “With me you can,” he says, certain as law. “You trust me, and I’ll show you what you like and what you’ve been missing.”
I nod breathlessly, barely able to think past the way he’s spreading me with each plunge, deepening the pressure inside me, how he’s dragging me closer to the edge and not letting me hide from it.
Every time I try to pull away from the intensity, he holds me there, makes me stay with it, makes me take it.
“Shaking already. That’s what I want. You falling apart for me.”
I make a broken sound, my back arching, my whole body trembling as the peak rushes up too fast, too big. The open sky, his strength over me, his hands keeping me exactly where he wants me. It’s overwhelming. It’s perfect.
“I’m close,” I choke out.
“I know. I feel your sweet little pussy squeezing my cock,” he says, calm and brutal, like he owns the moment. “Give it to me. Let me hear it.”
The pressure coils tighter, tighter, until I can’t hold it back. I can’t even form words properly. I just cling to him with every shaking breath.
And then I break.
His name tears out of me, raw and helpless, like it’s the only thing I know, like it’s prayer and surrender all tangled together.
Seth’s mouth curves, satisfied, and his eyes stay locked on mine as if that sound is exactly what he’s been chasing the whole time.
“Yeah,” he murmurs, dark and pleased. “That’s it. That’s what I wanted.” Then his rhythm turns ruthless, clearly chasing his own release.
He gasps aloud, the control in him finally cracking. He buries his face against my neck and curses through his teeth, whole body tightening as he hits the end too, and I feel the change in him instantly. The way he holds himself there. The way he doesn’t pull away.
A sharp, helpless sound slips out of me.
Because I know what that means.
That deep, claiming finish I’ve been bracing for.
The pressure of his knot swelling within me, holding him locked inside of me, as he spills his seed into me, more and more.
The bond connecting us in the way my body has been waiting for, the final proof that this isn’t just want anymore. We are meant to be together.
Seth’s grip stays tight around me. The cool air brushes my skin, and the world beyond us is nothing but open sky and jagged rock and wind, but inside his arms, it’s strangely quiet. The aftermath is still humming through both of us while we’re locked together.
He lowers his face into my hair, and for a second, I think he’s just catching his breath, that he’ll say something rough or teasing to cut the intensity.
“I love you, June,” he whispers, then lifts his head to stare down at me, releasing my wrists from his grasp.
I go completely still because, my whole life, I’ve dreamed of an Alpha saying that to me.
Seth—saying it as fact, as promise, as something he’s willing to stand up for.
My eyes burn. I swallow, but it doesn’t help. All I can think is how he carried me when I fell apart, how he made space for my fear without letting me ignore it, how he keeps reminding me that I’m his.
I lift my hand to his jaw, thumb brushing along the edge of it, needing to touch him.
“I love you too,” I whisper, and it comes out shaky and honest, the kind of truth you don’t get to take back.
He lifts his head and stares down at me, the wind gently tugging at his hair. “I’m the happiest man in the world,” he says quietly, like he can’t quite believe he’s allowed to say it. His gaze drops to my chest again, then returns to my eyes. “And I’m about to make sure I don’t lose it.”
My breath catches. I nod, then force the words out past the lump in my throat. “I want this.”
Seth’s expression tightens. “Say it again.”
“I want it,” I whisper. “Secure it, Seth.”
He leans in, presses a slow kiss to the top of my breast first, a steadying touch, then he bites me with the final mark, firm and undeniable. I gasp, my body going taut for a heartbeat, and he holds me through it until he lets go and licks the wound and I can breathe again.
Seth lifts his head, eyes locked on mine. “Now you’re mine forever.”