Chapter 19 Riley
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Riley
I stood on my tiptoes and crashed my mouth on his.
Holy shit. I was kissing a werewolf.
An Alpha Prince werewolf. I was kissing royalty from another dimension. I should be running for the hills while calling the police. I should be doing literally anything other than pressing my body against his and letting his tongue slide into my mouth, hot as it claimed me.
But there was a feeling in my chest, that same tug I felt in the alley, that warmth that led him to me, and it was screaming that this was right. That he was right. That despite everything, despite the secrets and the lies and the frankly unhinged behavior, he was a good man. A good wolf? Whatever.
I pulled back just far enough to look at him. His gray eyes were desperate, hopeful, and I could see he was waiting for me to change my mind. He seemed like he couldn’t quite believe I was still here. How could he be so damn cute?
“I should hate you,” I said. “You lied to me. For weeks.” I stared at him. He stared back. Neither of us moved. “I’m trying to be angry,” I said. “I’m trying to list all the reasons this is insane and I should kick you out and never speak to you again.”
“Is it working?”
“No.” I groaned, dropping my forehead against his chest. “I can’t stop loving you. It’s very inconvenient.”
His arms tightened around me. I felt him press a kiss to the top of my head.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “For all of it. I should have told you before letting us get this far into our relationship.”
My heart skipped at how our relationship sounded on his lips. I liked it very much.
“Yes. You should have.”
“I was afraid you’d run.”
“Well. I did run.”
“And then you let me back in.” His voice was wondering. “Why?”
I lifted my head and looked at this ridiculous, completely unhinged man who looked at me with absolute devotion.
“Because you’re a good man,” I said. “Even if you’re also a werewolf stalker with boundary issues.”
“That’s... not the compliment you think it is.”
“Take what you can get.”
He let out a breath that was almost a laugh. “I’ll take anything you give me.”
I weighed my options. I’d been doing it all day, the mental pros and cons list that kept coming out in his favor despite all logic and reason.
Pro: He loved me. Con: He was a werewolf.
Pro: He protected me from Damien. Con: He stalked me.
Pro: He made me laugh. Con: He put cameras around my building.
Pro: The way he looks at me. Con: He’s technically a prince from another dimension.
Fuck it.
I’d been reeling from emotions all day. My brain was fried. My heart was exhausted. And the man in front of me was warm, solid, looking at me with naked want. I wanted to let go and stop thinking. I wanted to feel good instead of confused, scared.
So I kissed him again, hard. It wasn’t a tentative, testing-the-waters kiss. My hands grabbed his shirt tight, my body pushed into his. and my tongue shoved into his mouth.
He grunted, a sound of surprise and desperation, and kissed me back with everything he had.
Things escalated quickly.
One moment we were standing in my living room, kissing desperately. The next, we were stumbling toward my bedroom, arms and legs tangled, gasps and touches everywhere.
Caelan backed me toward the hallway, his mouth never leaving mine. His hands grabbed my waist, hips. They slid under my shirt, fingers on my bare back. I held his shoulders, pulled him close, no space left.
“I’ve wanted this,” he growled against my lips. “Every fucking day since I met you. Every hour. I won’t get tired of remembering you how much I’ve ever desired you, Riley. The restraint it took not to touch you...”
“Then stop holding back.”
We hit the doorframe. I gasped. He growled, an actual growl, low in his chest, and the sound sent heat rushing to my pussy.
“Bedroom,” I managed against his mouth. “Now.”
We tumbled through the doorway. My knees hit the edge of the mattress and I sat down hard, looking up at him.
He was breathing hard, his pupils huge, a ring of amber around the edges that should be terrifying but was somehow the hottest thing I’d ever seen. His hair was wild from my fingers, the blanket around his waist barely clinging to his hips.
He looked ready to eat me alive.
I wanted to let him.
“Off,” I said, tugging at my own shirt. “Help me.”
He obeyed instantly. Pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it aside.
His hands shook slightly as he reached for my bra clasp, and I found the tremor endearing.
The big bad wolf, nervous to touch me. Alpha Prince of an entire kingdom and he was fumbling with a bra clasp. I’d never felt more powerful.
“I’ve missed you,” he admitted, fumbling slightly. “I don’t want to fight ever again. Fuck, Riley. Please never leave me again.”
“We’ve only been apart for a few hours at most.” I lifted an eyebrow.
“Too many.” The clasp gave. He slid the straps down my arms, and stared at me for a long moment, looking almost pained. “Worst fucking time of my life.”
He pushed me back onto the bed, covering my body with his. The weight of him, the heat of him, the feeling of his bare chest against mine, it was overwhelming in the best way. I arched up, pressing against him, and we both groaned at the contact.
His mouth trailed down my neck, leaving kisses and gentle bites in its wake. He reached my collarbone, lingered there, then moved lower. When his mouth found my breast, I gasped, my fingers digging into his shoulders.
“So sensitive here,” he murmured approvingly, his tongue circling my nipple. “I’ll remember that.”
“Caelan...”
“Shh.” He switched to the other breast, giving it the same attention, sucking and licking around my nipple, the skin growing pinker and pinker. “Let me learn you.”
I was panting, writhing under him, when I remembered...He was still wearing the blanket around his waist. That simply wouldn’t do. I reached down, yanked it free, and wrapped my hand around his hard cock.
Caelan made a wrecked sound. I’d destroyed him with one touch.
“Fuck... Riley...”
“This is for me,” I said, stroking him slowly. “All of this cock. Mine.”
“Yours.” His hips jerked into my fist, his voice dropping to a growl. “Only ever yours.”
He was so big, I still hadn’t gotten used to that. I stroked him again, watching his face, the way his jaw clenched, the way his eyes squeezed shut.
“Look at me,” I commanded. His eyes snapped open, burning with need. “Good boy.”
He groaned, broken, at the compliment. His hips thrust into my grip, desperate, and I felt a surge of power. It was dangerous, I could get addicted to command him like this. The Alpha Prince, completely at my mercy. I loved it.
I leaned back on the bed, pulling him with me, and that’s when I saw it. I froze completely, my gaze fixed on the front side of his upper thigh. What the actual-
“What is that?” I screeched, pushing him back to get a better look at his thigh and what was written there, in elegant, black script.
RILEY.
My fucking name was permanently tattooed on his body.
“You...” The words wouldn’t come. My brain had short-circuited. “YOU TATTOOED MY NAME ON YOUR THIGH?”
Caelan had the audacity to chuckle.
“Yes,” he said, completely unashamed. “I tattooed your name on my thigh.”
“When?!”
“A few weeks ago. Dom did it.”
“Weeks?! Dom?!” I was screeching again. Couldn’t help it. “The guys at the tattoo shop know about this?”
“They thought I was insane.” He was grinning now, that infuriating, beautiful grin. “They weren’t wrong.”
I stared at the tattoo. The script was elegant, flowing, positioned on the front of his upper thigh where he’d see it every single day. There was no fucking hiding this. Ever. A thought occurred to me. That was why he’d used so many band-aids. Holy shit.
“I’ve known you for like a month or so,” I said weakly.
“Doesn’t matter.” His voice dropped, commanding. “You’re mine. I’m yours. This is how it works.” He pressed a kiss to my hip, just above the edge of my underwear. “I’m proud to wear your name every single day for the rest of my life. You own me, Riley.”
“That’s... that’s...”
“The truth.” Another kiss, lower. “Now stop thinking about it.”
“Stop thinking about the fact that you permanently marked your body with my name after knowing me for a month? No, not months. Scratch that. After knowing me for days?! Just... stop thinking about that?”
“Yes.” He looked up at me, eyes dark with promise. “Never mind. I can make you forget myself.”
I frowned and opened my mouth to argue how he could make me forget, but then his fingers hooked in the waistband of my underwear, and the argument died in my throat. Oh.
“These need to go,” he said, voice rough. “Now let me taste what’s mine.”
He pulled them down slowly, reverently, pressing kisses to my thighs as he went. I was trembling with anticipation, and when he settled between my legs, I forgot how to breathe.
“Caelan...”
“Be quiet.” His breath was hot against my core. “Let me worship you.”
And then his mouth was on me, and I stopped thinking entirely.
He ate me out with single-minded focus. I was the only sustenance he needed.
His tongue was relentless, traveling around my folds, from my seam to my clit, sucking sharp and smoothing it with quick strokes of his tongue.
He found every sensitive spot and ravished me, working me with devastating precision.
He licked, sucked, devoured me as if he was starving for this.
I was writhing, gasping, hands fisting in the sheets because if I grabbed his hair I might rip it out.
“Oh god... Caelan... fuck...”
He growled against me, and the vibration sent sparks up my spine. Then he slid two fingers inside me, curling them, finding a spot deep inside my pussy that made me see stars. Yes. Fuck, yes.
“So wet,” he groaned, not lifting his mouth. “You taste better than any nectar from the gods.”
His fingers thrust deeper, his tongue circling my clit, and I was climbing fast. Too fast. My thighs were shaking around his head.
“I’m going to... I’m...”