Chapter Twenty-Two ABBIE
A starter’s gun might as well have exploded into the air, the way my feet fly down the dirt trail.
Ark said he’d give me a headstart, but I have no idea if he’ll honor that, especially given his mood tonight.
The sight of me running for my life probably has the sadistic asshole straining at the leash.
I’d roll my eyes if I didn’t need to be watching my every step.
The path is well-packed and mostly free of debris, but the wind is still picking up, and I huff as I slap a stray leaf out of my face.
There’s a little light cast from the parking lot, but the further I go, the more I have to rely on the moon.
Of course, the storm has blown a bunch of clouds our way, and I yelp as the path suddenly veers sideways.
I trip, and have to pivot quickly to avoid running straight into a giant-ass tree.
“It won’t be much fun when I break my neck!” I call over my shoulder, a moment before I’m hit by a leather-clad, six-foot-something freight train.
To be fair, a train would probably just pound me into the ground and be on its way.
While Ark knocks me off my feet, he also wraps his arms around me and takes me down against his chest. It still jolts the wind out of me, and I hiss as my back connects with the cold earth.
I don’t know if I’m breathless from his weight or the wild chase through the woods, but my stomach flips as he laughs darkly into my neck. “Fuck, you can run, Abbie.”
I shove at his chest. “That’s what terror does to you, asshole!”
“You’re not terrified, butterfly.”
“Oh no? Why don’t you examine Exhibit A - my pounding fucking heart!”
He obediently places a hand on my chest, his eyes hot as coals as he squeezes my breast. “Definitely skipping a beat. But you don’t smell scared.” He thrusts a thigh between mine, rubbing his knee against the damp fabric of my panties. “You smell fucking delicious, actually.”
My pride prickles despite the praise, and I shove his chest again. “Did you ever stop to wonder if I really was trying to get away?”
He chuckles again and plants an open-mouthed kiss on my neck, his scruff prickling my skin.
“You’re too good a fighter for that, butterfly.
If you’d wanted to kick my ass and steal my bike back there, I’d be thumbing a ride right now.
” His dark eyes sparkle as I glare back at him.
“But you wanted to run, and you wanted to get caught.”
It’s true, and we both know it. I could have taken him down a dozen different ways between the lookout to this spot, and not a single one of them got further than a twinge of muscle memory.
Of course, when I’ve had fantasies about being chased in the past, it was usually by Wings, and only around our apartment.
This is on a whole other level, but there’s no denying that some of the blood fizzing in my veins is from excitement.
“So, now that you have me here, what are you planning to do with me?”
“Isn’t that obvious? I’m gonna kiss every inch of your body. You’re not gonna leave here until you’re wearing my scent from head to toe.”
My excitement is now laced with arousal, but I keep my chin up, my eyes narrowed. “And if the rain washes it away?”
“Then I start again.” He dips his head and nuzzles at the soft skin under my ear. “We’re gonna stay out here, Abbie Taylor, until you’re mine in every way.”
I bite the edge of my tongue, the urge to moan like a fist in my chest. He drags his lips across my cheek and I’m relieved when he seals his mouth over mine, swallowing the helpless sound.
There’s nothing languid about his kiss now, his lips all hard possession as his tongue ravages my mouth.
I grip his cut tighter, but I’m already falling as if that train really did plow into me and knock me flat.
“Ark!”
“That’s it, gorgeous,” he says, grinding his knee between my thighs. “Accept the inevitable. If you run, we’re always gonna chase you. And we’re not gonna stop until we catch you, butterfly.”
Even with him pressing kisses along my heaving collarbone, his use of the plural isn’t lost on me. “And you’re speaking on behalf of my pack now?”
“Pretty sure they’d agree with every word.
” He pauses to cup my cheek, his eyes swirling with moonlight and shadows.
There’s still enough light from the parking lot for me to see his face, but the trees looming up on both sides of us give the illusion of darkness.
Of being in our own world, where the only thing he can see is me.
“I feel like I’ve been running my whole life,” he murmurs, stroking his thumb over my cheekbone.
“The only thing that ever made sense was you. If I did enough, if I tried hard enough, then one day you might be at the end of everything, waiting for me.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask him why he didn’t hurry the hell up, but I bite it back. He had enemies to defeat and a club to rebuild. He wanted to have a refuge for omegas and a home that would be worthy of my return.
“I’m sorry I took so long,” he murmurs, like he can read my mind, “but I’m here now, and I’m asking you to accept me as your mate.”
Butterflies explode inside me, a hurricane of happiness. The hurt, the anger, the push and pull that has always dogged us, suddenly fade away. I can fight it, I can run, but I’m going to end up back here in the end because it’s exactly where I want to be.
Until an actual physical breeze whips at my hair, and I narrow my eyes at him. “Are you proposing to me in a muddy ditch, Arkin Wallace?”
“That depends.” He looks around at the churning shadows. “Are you thinking about saying yes?”
“Well, I might be persuaded...”
I don’t get another word out, because Ark is devouring my mouth again, and I kiss him back, just as greedily. How long have I wanted this man? It feels like an eternity, and my body hums to finally have him in my arms.
Any fight that was left in me now channels into something hotter, hungrier.
He’s pressing me down into the dirt, but I barely notice our surroundings anymore.
In fact, it excites me that he’s brought me here, that he didn’t try to woo me with candlelight and silk sheets.
He’s the most controlled, methodical man I know, and yet he wanted to chase me through the dark woods.
He wanted us here, tearing at each other’s clothes with insatiable hands.
Maybe even fantasized about it. Like he said, there will be a hundred more chances to make love in our pack bed, but right now this is exactly where we need to be.
Our tees are both gone, my skirt stripped away.
The first press of my mouth to his chest rips moans out of both of us.
He’s bigger and broader than my other mates, with a strip of dark hair that I devour with my tongue.
I pounce on his nipples and bite at them, while he tears my panties off singlehandedly.
I groan again, trying to kiss my way down to his stomach, but he pulls away. “Wait. I want you to wear this…”
He plucks his cut from the ground, shaking it out before slipping my arms through the vest holes.
It settles around me like a warm skin, the scent of leather and violets filling my nose.
“It looks good on you,” he says, running a finger between my breasts and hooking around my dog tags. “And it’ll protect your back.”
I nod, even though I haven’t given my scar a thought since he stripped me bare. “Thank you. For the cut and the tags. It took me a moment, but I’m guessing that’s you protecting me as well?”
He smiles, but instead of answering, he quickly presses both of my wrists back to the ground. I think about fighting him, but then he licks a broad stripe over my claiming bites and my brain whites out. “Ark!”
I can feel his smile against my throbbing scent gland. “Sensitive, sweetheart?”
“You try having two big-mouthed alphas gnaw on your neck!”
“Just as long as there’s room for me,” he smirks, taking pity on my throbbing flesh and dipping down to my breasts. I groan as he feathers his beard over the straining peaks. “Didn’t feel like a bra tonight?”
“Well, I didn’t think I was going to be running through the woods…”
“Or is it because these sweet nipples are too sore? One of your mates likes to nibble on them, by the looks of things…”
“Wings!” I gasp as he takes my left nipple between his lips and tugs on it, stretching the tender flesh. I shudder in relief as he finally sucks it into his mouth, rolling it on his warm tongue. “He’s obsessed.”
“I can see why.” There’s a devilish gleam in his eyes as he runs his tongue teasingly over my other breast. “So, nipple play is a yes. What else makes you drip for your mates?”
“Everything!” I splutter, thrusting my chest up as he licks his way softly over my ribs. “Why don’t you just hurry up and try something?”
He smirks into my flushed face. “Impatient, butterfly?”
“Well, if you’re just going to keep teasing me…”
“Nope. I just want to know your body inside and out. And like I said, I’m gonna kiss every inch of it, because it’s damn delicious.” He dips his tongue into my navel and then runs it in a tingling line down to my curls. “Open your legs for me, Abbie.”
I groan in approval, even though I can feel the dirt trail scratching me up. Ark clicks his tongue, scooping a hand under my ass and propping my legs on his denim-clad thighs. “Keep them up, sweetheart. I don’t want trail rash on your pretty skin.”
“What about beard rash?” I ask, staring at his scruff.
“Well, that’s unavoidable.” His lips curl in a wicked smile. “But I promise the payoff will be worth the pain.”