Chapter 15 Nova #2
“After all this business is done…” I made my smile wide, almost congratulatory, despite everything inside me screaming not to say it. “It’s about time you got a promotion, don’t you think?”
His head jerked back like I’d struck him. “P-promotion?” His mouth shaped the word as if it didn't make sense.
I pushed forward, pretending not to hear his heart skipping a beat. “I want to honor your dedication and good work. You’ve done a hell of a job helping me build this into the fighters’ mecca I dreamed of, and I’m so close to solidifying that.”
Leaning forward, I punched his arm lightly, playing at camaraderie, even though my words tasted like acid. “Now, it's time for your dreams. I’d love for you to be somewhere strategic, like the South, to cover the East Coast, but it’s your gift and your choice. Whatever works best for you.”
He sat frozen, eyes wide, shoulders stiff enough to crack.
The silence stretched, and my stomach clenched.
I rushed to fill the space with more words.
“If you need to talk this over with… someone, that’s fine.
We have time until all this mess is sorted.
I just wanted you to start thinking about it. Make plans.”
“Someone?” The bite in that word cut straight through my act. I tilted my head, unsure what he wanted from me.
Why was he looking at me like I’d gutted him? Did he want me to bless him and Lucy? To hand him off to her with a neat little bow? I’m trying, aren’t I?
I grabbed my drink and downed it in one shot, trying to drown the hurt raking up my throat. I was opening my mouth to tell him I hoped he’d be happy, with Lucy or whoever, when he dropped to his knees in front of me, catching my hands in his.
“Why are you doing this?” The deep, pain-filled desperation in his voice caught me off guard. “Why are you pushing me away? What did I do? I can fix it. Whatever it is, whatever you want. Just… please don’t leave me behind.”
Those last words struck like stones thrown into water, their ripples smashing through my composure. I shot up so fast my chair toppled, yanking my hands free. “Leave you behind?! Is that what you think I’m doing?” My voice shook with each word, fury and pain grinding against one another.
“I’m not leaving anyone.” My body vibrated, a taut wire ready to snap. “You’re the one leaving me. You’re going to find your mate, start a family, and be so fucking happy. And I—” my voice broke into a growl—“I’m going to stay here, rejected, focusing on my business and my family.”
I glared at his beautiful, panicked face. “I’m going to let you go. I’m going to release you from this toxic mess that’s been eating us alive. We’re going to move the fuck—”
I didn’t get to finish. He surged up, hands framing my face, before his lips crashed onto mine, swallowing the rest of my words like they were never meant to exist.
*The rich taste of cherry-laced tobacco slid across my tongue as his mouth claimed mine, taking, testing, tasting, coaxing me to respond in kind.
The flavor was hypnotic, the smoke laced with a tart sweetness, and, before I could think better of it, I threw my arms around his neck, pulling him down to me as I surrendered to the craving I’d been starved of for years.
Gods, it felt good. Too good.
We took a few stumbled steps together until my back hit the kitchen counter with a dull thud, the impact sending a tremor up my spine.
His tall, muscular frame caged me in, heat radiating off his body as his hands came up to cradle my face with a gentleness that made my throat tighten.
My eyes burned, unbidden tears threatening to spill.
“Don’t let me go,” he pleaded against my lips. “Keep your claws in me.” His mouth claimed mine again, and I just couldn’t stop him.
Why is he doing this to me now? Why tear me open just when I’d built walls thick enough to survive him?
The questions clawed at the back of my mind, but I held them back. Terrified that if I spoke them aloud, if I demanded the answers, he’d stop, and the desperate, selfish part of me couldn’t bear for him to do so. Not yet.
I knew this was dangerous, that this could end in a mess for us both, but the cold, rational voice inside me had been outshouted. If this was all we’d ever get, then I would take it, take him, for one night. The least he could do was let me have this before I let him go.
My body moved on instinct. My legs wrapped tight around his waist, my hips tilting to rub shamelessly against the hard, thick length between his legs. His low moan vibrated into my mouth, breaking apart the fragile control I had left, and my legs squeezed him tighter into me.
“Fuck, Nova,” he groaned against my lips, his breath hot, voice raspy like it’d been years since its use. “You taste so good.”
His hands slid under my jacket, dragging my shirt up as his palms cupped my breasts.
The flick of his finger across my nipple sent a violent shudder through me, and my wolf howled her answer.
Mate. Mate. Fuck mate. The word pounded in my skull like a spell, and, for once, I didn’t silence her.
I did what she wanted, what we both wanted.
A burn sparked at my wrist, but not hot enough to truly register through the fog of liquor and years of repressed hunger. I was done holding back. I wanted to feel. I needed to feel. At least once.
I tore off my jacket, top, and bra, scattering fabric around the floor like a flag of surrender.
His tongue dragged a molten path down my chest until his mouth closed around my nipple, sucking, circling, teasing, while his other hand toyed with its twin.
My head dropped back against the cabinet as he trailed kisses down further, an involuntary purr slipping out of me at the sensation.
“I love that sound,” Zeth murmured against my belly, his fingers playing at the waistband of my pants. I hissed at his touch, biting my lip to keep from begging.
“Another sound I like,” he taunted, and the sharp pops of my zipper unfastening ricocheted off the kitchen walls. My pulse spiked.
“I wonder what kind of sound you’ll make when I touch you here.” One hand worked my pants off as his other brushed along my slit in a feather-light stroke that made my hips jerk forward, craving more, needing everything.
“Quit wasting my time and—” The words broke off as he discarded my pants, lifted one of my legs over his shoulder, and dove into my pussy like a starved man.
His tongue licked and sucked greedily, and the messy sounds made my entire body tighten, the pleasure almost too much.
“Oh—oh, shit,” I gasped, tangling my fingers in his hair, tugging hard to keep myself from going over the edge. He moaned against me, and the vibrations shot up into my core, making me clench around his tongue. I needed more, all of him, right now.
As if he’d read my thoughts, his hands gripped my ass, fingers digging into my skin hard enough to make me cry out. He chuckled darkly, lifting my other leg over his shoulder until I was trembling in his hold. “You better hold on tight, Nov,” he cooed. “I’m not going to fuck you in the kitchen.”
That was all the warning I got before he hoisted me up like I weighed nothing, his mouth still buried in me, and shivers of fear skittered along my skin.
“Oh, shit!” My legs clamped around his neck, and I gripped down on his hair for dear life. His tongue flicked at my clit, my whole body seizing with the jolt. How the hell was he going to get me upstairs? At this point, my thighs were around his head, and my pussy was covering his view.
Not giving me time to think, his tongue moved faster, flicking back and forth, making my eyes roll back as my claws slid free. Leaning over his head, I lightly raked them down his back while he carried me out of the kitchen, his stride steady despite my nails scoring his skin.
He paused at the wall by the stairs and lifted his head with a smug grin. When he spoke, his words were breathless but still teasing. “I know this house like the back of my hand,” he said, “but I will stumble if you keep distracting me.”
My world narrowed to him, the way his desire-consumed eyes caught mine, the scent of us hanging heavy in the air, the soft burn of alcohol blurring the edges of my vision.
It was like stepping out of time. How could this all feel this good when he’d broken my heart so completely?
But right now, none of that mattered. This moment was ours, for better or worse.
“Then I guess you’d better concentrate,” I whispered.
His tongue dragged against his glistening lips, and I bit my lip in response. His fingers on my ass creeped closer and closer until he slipped two fingers inside of me at a slow, tantalizing pace that was driving me insane.
My eyes slammed shut, fingers twisting in his hair because they needed something to hold onto in order to keep me grounded.
*“Look at me, Nova.” The command in his voice had the boss in me wanting to bark at him, but the mate who loved him wanted to follow the command, and tonight, the mate won.
My gaze locked onto his, those Caribbean green eyes swirling with unbridled passion.
He cooed as he stepped up the stairs, “Even if you never say the words, I can see them in those gorgeous rose gold eyes. I can see your need, your desire for me. I can hear them begging me for more.” The fingers in my pussy pumped in and out, working me up notch by notch as the wet noises grew louder.
The moans that tumbled out of my mouth were raw and husky.
His eyes watched everything, memorizing every twitch, every reaction to him and his words.
Even when he reached the top of the stairs, he didn't look away, just turned left and went down the hallway, telling me to duck my head when we made it all the way there.
The booze went straight to my head, and I got dizzy, my fingers gripping him harder, trying to steady myself.