Chapter 28
CHAPTER 28
C hristophe
I turn my body from one side to the other, wrestling to get comfortable enough to sleep. It’s useless, but there’s nothing else for me to do. No longer does the hard, stone flooring cause aches and pain in my body—I’ve probably just gotten so used to them that my brain doesn’t even process the pain.
A part of me contemplates doing another round of push-ups, but after already doing fifteen hundred this evening, the idea bores me. Suddenly, an idea comes to mind.
I rise to my feet, kicking away the light sheet I’d used to cover myself, and head to the closet. Inside, perched in the corner is a long, iron rod that’s been there for years. When this house was first built, Chael had intended to use the rod as part of the support for the supercomputer I’d envisioned building.
A familiar ache starts in the center of my chest as I think about all of those years ago. He never got around to building that stand, and I never built that supercomputer.
Chael had been busy with the construction of this commune. A final place to settle our pack and end all of the warring and fighting. He wanted a comfortable place for everyone to live in peace.
And you almost destroyed it all.
I shake the thoughts away at the same time I reach for the pole. It’ll never be used to support any supercomputer of mine, but maybe I can mount it to the wall above the door to use for pull-ups.
“I know he’s in there.”
Ashley’s insistent voice stops me short, arms raised with the pole in my hands as I’d started to measure the length of the pole against the wall.
“Well, then wake him up. I’ll do it.”
Where he’d previously been uninterested in my actions, my wolf stirs, rising to his feet. The sound of her voice alone calls to us. My hands tighten around the pole.
“I’m going in.”
“I can’t let you do that,” Mike tells her.
Days ago, I’d asked him to tell Ashley I was either asleep or busy if she came by. And to let her know my wolf wouldn’t be going out on any runs for the foreseeable future.
“I know you’re lying to me,” she tells him.
For the first time when it comes to her voice, I wish my damn wolf ears weren’t so good. The sound of her voice alone makes me weak. It was easy to maintain my distance when it was mere text messages I was ignoring.
Hell, that wasn’t even easy, but it was doable.
Now?
Knowing she’s only feet away, the sound of the frustration and pain in her voice? Yes, pain. I can hear the pain masked by her anger.
My arms drop, and my eyelids lower. I will myself to ignore what’s happening on the other side of the door.
“You can’t go in there,” Mike says.
“Don’t touch me.”
Before I can explain what’s happening, I’ve dropped the pole and make a beeline for the front door, yanking it open.
All I hear is Ashley’s gasp before she scurries off somewhere. Just a flash of her face is all I get. However, my attention focuses on Mike as, somehow, I have my arm braced against his throat, pushing him up against the wall beside the front door.
“Don’t touch her,” I growl.
Mike’s eyes widen as he stares at me. The sensation in my jaw tells me my incisors have descended.
“I didn’t touch her,” he replies calmly.
But I can’t hear him clearly or something, because his words don’t penetrate. All I can hear is Ashley telling him not to touch her. It echoes the memories from that prison cell. Her fighting to get free from those guards and me powerless to help her.
“Christophe,” a soft voice calls from somewhere behind me. Much more delicate than Mike’s voice.
“He’s not lying. Mike didn’t put his hands on me,” Ashley says as if she’s a zookeeper speaking softly yet firmly to regain control over her animal.
Not so strangely, though, it works.
I reduce the pressure against Mike’s throat.
I take a step away before finally dropping my hands, allowing Mike to stand. At the back of my mind, I know if he wanted to, he could’ve fought back.
But he chose not to, which is likely why I mumble, “Sorry.”
He shakes his head with a slight smile. “Don’t sweat it. I would’ve done the same if I heard someone put his hands on Belinda.”
That’s not right.
Belinda is his mate, the female pregnant with his second cub. Ashley is my …
I let the thought trail off, ignoring the answer my wolf gives me because I know that’s not possible.
“Besides, what right do you have to come out here attacking anyone for touching me when you’re the one who’s been ignoring me for over a week now?”
My back goes ramrod straight. I stare at Mike even though Ashley stands behind me.
Mike’s small grin morphs into a knowing smirk.
“I wasn’t ignoring you,” I say, still not turning around. “I’ve been busy with this search.”
“Bullshit!”
It’s my turn to widen my eyes. She’s pissed.
In spite of ourselves, both my wolf and I like it. Mike’s head drops as he shakes it, and I swear I catch a whisper of a smirk.
A part of me wants to ask for his help, but then I remember I’m the one who just attacked him, so I probably shouldn’t be looking for any favors there.
“Ashley …” I trail off, not knowing what to say. I’ve never been good with words.
“Meet me at our spot in five minutes,” she insists.
“Wha—”
“Five minutes. No excuses or so help me … Be there.”
Without thinking, I turn to face her, but by then she’s already walking away. All I get is a glimpse of her backside clad in a pair of tie-dye leggings. My wolf whimpers at the sight.
Mike’s chuckle pulls my attention back to him.
“I told you that you wouldn't be able to keep up that busy lie for too long.” He raises an eyebrow and cocks his head to the side as if asking what I’m going to do.
When I don’t say anything, he nods.
“Yeah, thought so. Let me grab my bag with my extra set of clothes. We’ll likely need to shift to make it there in the four minutes and thirty seconds you have left.”
* * *
Ashley
“You’re late,” I say when I hear Christophe coming up behind me.
“You shouldn’t be out here this late,” he counters.
I hate the way his deep voice wraps around every cell in my body, squeezing it. Hate the way everything inside of me, including my wolf, wishes it was his arms instead. And I especially hate the way bliss wells up inside of me at the mere fact that he’s here.
“Well, you shouldn’t use your mouth to make me come like I’m the last dessert on earth and then ghost me afterwards. So we’re even, I suppose.”
It’s not Christophe’s sudden growl that startles me. It’s when he growls, “Get out of here,” that a shiver of warning runs down my spine.
But that’s when a small chuckle, that strangely sounds like it’s coming from Mike, meets my ears.
I throw my hands over my mouth, not believing I’d just said that with Mike standing right there. With my back to Christophe, I didn’t realize he wasn’t alone. If I hadn’t been so angry, I might’ve utilized my other senses to pick up on Mike’s scent or hearing to recognize that there had been two sets of footsteps instead of just one.
“I’m taking my wolf out for a run,” Mike says, laughter in his voice. “You two kids have fun.”
A beat later, out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of his wolf racing deeper into the forest, in the opposite direction of the river which I’m facing.
“You shouldn’t say things like that.” Christophe’s deep voice penetrates the air around me.
He moves close. So close that I can feel him at my back, towering over me.
“Yeah, well, my adopted mother always said I had an improper way of putting things,” I reply, bitterness seeping into my tone.
Though she’s been dead for months and she can never hurt me again, I still can’t help but resent her and my adopted father for what they did to me and Emery.
“No,” Christophe’s voice breaks into my thoughts, “that’s not why.”
He moves in closer, wrapping his arms around my waist, forcing me to lean my back against his muscled chest. My eyes slowly close, as my body and soul find comfort in his embrace. A comfort that I haven’t known for days. Not since that night he made my body crave his.
“You shouldn’t speak like that because it makes my mouth water. Because it makes me want to strip you down, spread you out on the bed I’ve never even laid on, and devour you until your legs are trembling so much, you’d swear they’ve forgotten how to walk.”
My, “Oh,” comes out breathy and tremulous.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to demand to know why he dares to say such things to me when he’s ignored me for the past week. However, Christophe puts a halt to that complaint when he dips his head low, pushing my new braids to one side to make room for his kiss against my neck.
I tilt my head to the side, giving him better access. He takes full advantage. A deep tremor races through my body when he runs his tongue along the pulsing vein in my neck.
My wolf whines and then sighs inside of my chest.
I press my hands to the arm he had banded around my waist, as if forcing him to keep it there. Not that he seems to be moving anytime soon. Not with his lips continuing to trail open-mouthed kisses up and down my neck.
My brain scrambles when he moves his hand underneath my shirt, placing his large palm against my stomach.
“Soft,” he whispers in my ear, in awe.
I want to feel his lips against mine again. That one kiss we’ve shared wasn’t nearly enough. All of the questions I’ve had in mind to ask him fall by the wayside, for now.
But when I start to turn, Christophe holds me in place, his face still in the crook of my neck. One arm continues to band itself around my belly, but his free hand moves lower.
It drops until his hand finds its way inside of my panties. His fingers lightly brush against my hairy mound, moving lower still.
A gasp of air rushes out of my mouth the moment his fingers make contact with my already swollen clit.
“You’re wet,” he says, as if discovering some precious jewel he’s been seeking for eternity. “Is this for me, butterfly?”
Another abrupt gush of moisture stains the seam of my panties from the pet name he whispers in my ear.
“Yesss,” I manage to hiss out at the same time my hips jump the moment he starts to massage my swollen button.
Leaning my head against his shoulder, I squeeze my eyes tightly. My entire body strains, my hips pressing into his hand, reaching for more.
“Ahh!” I call out when Christophe runs his teeth against the skin of my neck. He doesn’t let up even as I start whimpering out loud. In fact, he does the opposite when he inserts a finger inside of me.
“Oh, Mother Moon.” I blow out a harsh breath. It’s becoming difficult to breathe regularly. My heart palpitates in my chest, making me wonder if I’ll make it through this encounter in one piece.
But as soon as the question forms in my mind, so does the answer.
It doesn’t matter.
It absolutely does not matter if I don’t make it out of this encounter alive because this is the way I was meant to go.
“Come for me,” Christophe growls in my ear while working his fingers inside of me and against my clit.
With encouragement like that, I can’t do anything but give into the release my body demands.
A second later, I fly apart, the orgasm rushing over me like water rushing over Niagara Falls.
Christophe continues to use his fingers, stroking me through my orgasm. My pussy spasms around the two fingers he has inside of me. His groans of pleasure nearly set off a second orgasm.
He couldn’t possibly be enjoying this as much as I am. Especially, not when I feel his cock still pressing into my back. He hasn’t had a release.
A yearning to satisfy him overcomes me as I pull my eyelids open. But when I do, it’s at the same time Christophe removes his hand from inside of my panties.
Speechless, I watch as he lifts his hand to his mouth. With closed eyes, he brings the two fingers that were just inside of me into his mouth. I swear my panties become drenched all over again as I watch an expression of pure adoration and joy take over his handsome features.
It’s as if he’s devouring the most delicious food he’s ever eaten.
I turn to fully face him, place one hand over his eyes, and then bring his lips down to meet mine. I want to taste myself on him. Despite my hand slightly in the way, the kiss isn’t awkward.
It’s tender and all-consuming and a little bit sloppy.
In other words, it’s perfect.
Christophe moves my hand in order to deepen the kiss. I want to remind him why that’s not a good idea, but I can’t seem to remember why myself. Instead, I get lost in the kiss.
An anger I didn’t realize I was still holding onto overtakes me, and I nip his bottom lip with my teeth. Christophe doesn’t get angry. He doesn’t even seem to wonder why I bit him.
No, he merely chuckles before deepening the kiss all over again.
I sigh into him, knowing he understands. That love bite was my payback for his days of radio silence.
I want to kiss him like this forever. With no barriers between us. Whether underneath the moonlight or inside of our own home, this is my greatest wish.
“Ashley,” Christophe whispers, at the same time he places his forehead against mine.
The strain in his voice brings to my attention that I’ve spoken my deepest desires out loud. I hadn’t meant to. I didn’t want to ruin this moment, but my selfishness got the better of me.
“What am I supposed to do with you?”
“Stay with me,” I answer, even though I don’t think he intended for me to respond.