Chapter 24 #3
His mouth follows the path of his hands, trailing fire down my throat to the curve of my breast.
“Kier,” I gasp, my head falling back against the weapons rack as he takes my nipple into his mouth through the thin fabric of my bra.
The sensation shoots straight to my core, making me arch against him with a soft cry. His responding growl vibrates against my breast as he sucks harder, his hands sliding down to grip my ass and lift me against him.
I wrap my legs around his waist instinctively, bringing our centers into perfect alignment. Even through our remaining clothes, the friction is incredible—hot and desperate and exactly what I’ve been craving.
“We need to stop,” I pant even as I rock against him, chasing the pleasure building between us.
“Yeah,” he agrees, his mouth moving to my other breast. “We definitely need to stop.”
But his hands are sliding under my sports bra, palming my bare breasts while I grind against the hard length of his cock. Nothing about this feels like stopping.
“We’ll stop,” he says, grinding against me. “Just watch me stop.”
I bite his shoulder, growling as he sucks my breast into his mouth.
I’m reaching for the ties of his pants when the sound of approaching footsteps freezes us both.
“Shit,” I breathe, scrambling to untangle myself from him and grab my discarded shirt.
Kier steps back, running a hand through his disheveled hair as he tries to control his breathing. His erection is still prominently visible through his pants, and his eyes are dark with frustrated desire.
“Lithia?” Levi’s voice calls from the corridor. “Are you in here?”
Of course it’s him.
“Just finishing up,” I call back, pulling my shirt over my head with hands that shake slightly. “Be right out.”
Kier has managed to retrieve his armor, though he’s making no attempt to put it back on.
Levi appears in the doorway, his yellow eyes immediately taking in the scene—my mussed hair, Kier’s shirtless state, the tension crackling between us.
“I was looking for you,” he says, his voice carefully controlled. “There are some last-minute details about tomorrow that need your attention.”
“Of course there are,” I mutter, checking to make sure my clothes are properly arranged. “What details?”
But his attention has shifted to Kier, and I can practically see the calculations running behind his eyes. The possessive anger that flares in his expression makes my wolf bristle in response.
“Perhaps we should discuss them privately,” Levi suggests, his gaze never leaving Kier.
The emphasis on the last word is a clear insult, and I see Kier’s jaw tighten in response. The testosterone in the room ratchets up another notch, and I suddenly feel like prey caught between two predators.
“Any pack business can be discussed in front of a team member,” I say firmly, moving to position myself between them. “What details, Levi?”
He reluctantly drags his attention back to me, though I catch the warning look he shoots Kier. “The coven have called. They’d like to know more about the enhanced guards.”
Something Levi could have easily told them about. This is pure territorial posturing, and we all know it.
“Fine,” I say, picking up my gear. “Let’s go handle it.”
As I move toward the door, Levi falls into step beside me, his hand coming to rest at the small of my back in a gesture that’s clearly meant to mark territory. I resist the urge to shrug him off—barely—and keep walking.
Behind us, I hear Kier gathering his equipment, and I don’t need to look back to know he’s watching us leave with an expression that could melt steel.
Tomorrow, I tell myself. After the mission, we’ll figure this out.
But even as I think it, I know tomorrow might be too late. The tension between the three of us is reaching a breaking point, and when it finally snaps, someone’s going to get hurt.
I just hope it’s not in the middle of a life-or-death rescue operation.
The evening passes in a blur of final preparations and briefings that feel more like exercises in avoidance than actual planning. Levi finds reasons to keep me busy until well past midnight, reviewing issues we’ve already discussed a dozen times.
By the time I finally escape to my quarters, exhaustion weighs heavy on my shoulders. But sleep remains elusive as I lie in my empty bed, staring at the ceiling and replaying every moment of what happened in the weapons room. Particularly Levi’s interruption.
This can’t continue. My wolf paces restlessly, torn between desire for our mate and frustration at the complications his presence creates.
A soft knock at my door interrupts my brooding. For a wild moment, I hope it’s Kier, coming to finish what we started. But when I open the door, it’s Levi standing in the hallway, his expression serious.
“We need to talk,” he says.
“It’s after midnight, Levi. Whatever it is can wait until—”
“No,” he cuts me off, stepping closer. “It can’t wait. Not when I see you making poor choices.”
The presumption in his tone makes my temper flare. “What choices would those be?”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” His yellow eyes burn with intensity. “The nomad. You’re letting him cloud your judgment.”
“My judgment is fine,” I snap. “And my personal relationships are none of your business.”
“Everything about you is my business,” he says, echoing the words from our earlier confrontation. He steps closer, his voice dropping to something rougher. “I would die for you, Lithia.”
“And I would for you. But I call that loyalty,” I say gently. “And friendship. It’s not romantic love, Levi. It never has been.”
His jaw works for a moment, emotions cycling across his face too quickly to track. “You’re only saying this because of him.”
“This isn’t about Kier—”
“Everything is about him!” The words explode from him with enough force to make me flinch. “I’ve watched you these past weeks, Lithia. Watched you come alive around him in ways you never did before. And I know what that means.”
“You don’t know anything.”
“I know you’re in love with him,” he says quietly, and the certainty in his voice makes my heart stutter. “I know you’ve never looked at anyone the way you look at him. Including me.”
The admission hangs between us like a blade. Because he’s right, and we both know it.
“Levi—”
“I also know he’ll break your heart,” he continues, his voice hardening. “Because that’s what nomads do. They take what they want and move on when it becomes inconvenient. And when he does, I won’t be here. I’m not going to pick up the pieces.”
Anger flares in my chest, hot and protective. “You don’t know him. And I’ve never needed anyone to hold me together, Levi. I’ve never asked you or anyone else to pick up the pieces. I’m not broken, and I don’t need rescuing.”
His jaw tightens, but I’m not finished.
“Real friendship isn’t something you withhold and use as a weapon when you don’t get what you want. What you’re doing right now—this resentment, this bitterness because I can’t return your feelings—this isn’t the Levi I know. This isn’t my friend.”
I step closer, my voice growing harder. “My friend would want me to be happy, even if it wasn’t with him.
My friend wouldn’t try to manipulate me with guilt and ultimatums when his feelings weren’t reciprocated.
And my friend sure as hell wouldn’t stand in my quarters insulting someone who saved my life just because he’s jealous. ”
The words hit their mark—I can see it in the way he flinches.
“I know his type. I’ve seen a dozen wolves like him over the years—charming, dangerous, completely unreliable when it matters. They’re addictive until they’re not, and then they’re gone.”
“I don’t recognize this version of you,” I continue, my voice softening with genuine hurt.
“The Levi I know is better than this. He’s honorable and kind and puts the pack’s needs above his own desires.
But this wolf standing in front of me? This wolf is letting his wounded pride turn him into someone I don’t want to be around. ” I point at the door. “Get out.”
“Lithia—”
“I said get out.” My voice carries the full weight of my Beta authority, and he steps back as if struck. “This conversation is over.”
For a moment, I think he’ll argue. Then his shoulders slump slightly, defeat flickering across his features.
“I love you,” he says simply. “That’s not going to change, no matter how many nomads you take to your bed. But I can’t wait around for you to work that out. Once this mission is over, I’m leaving.”
“Levi—”
He shakes his head. “I’ve told you what I want, Lithia. Now the choice is yours.”
But there is no choice.
I close the door and lean against it, my hands shaking with residual anger and just a touch of fear.
Because part of me—the part that remembers every loss, every betrayal, every moment of abandonment—whispers that he might be right.
That Kier will leave eventually, and I’ll be left with nothing but regret and the memory of what it felt like to want someone completely.
A whisper touches my mind. Our bond.
He’s our mate, my wolf whispers. He’ll stay.
I know, with bone-deep certainty, that whatever Kier is, he’s not the kind of wolf who disappears when things get difficult.
I swallow, my decision made. I’ll tell him after the mission.