Chapter 31 #2
I sit up a little straighter, then lick my lips, but instead of leaning over and kissing me, Perrin reaches over and takes my mug out of my hands. My fingers tremble slightly as I let it go, and I press them together in my lap, hoping he doesn't notice.
Then, without a word, Perrin stands and holds his hand out to me, open and patient, waiting.
I look at his hand for half a second, then put mine in it.
Perrin pulls me to my feet gently, before moving in close. I tip my head back to see his face, and what I find there makes my breath catch.
The sweet bashfulness from moments ago is gone, replaced by something wildly intense and very sexy. His eyes, usually warm and honey-brown, have darkened to amber. His jaw is tight, a muscle flexing as his gaze drops to my mouth and then back to my eyes.
It's like nothing I’ve seen from the beta before now—this raw, unfiltered desire that makes my stomach flutter and my free hand find the front of his shirt without me deciding to do it.
Moving slowly, his hand comes up and cups my face, tilting my chin up. "You are so incredibly beautiful."
And then he kisses me.
His lips are soft and warm against mine, moving with a tenderness that makes my heart flutter. There's nothing rushed about this kiss—nothing demanding or possessive. It's sweet and perfect, his mouth moving gently against mine as if he's trying to memorize the shape of my lips.
When I sigh into his mouth, he deepens it slightly, his tongue sliding against mine, and I press closer without thinking, closing the last inch of space between us.
Perrin’s hands move from my face into my hair, fingers curling into the waves at the back of my head, and something about the way he holds me there, firm without being forceful, makes my knees go unreliably soft.
A slow, melting warmth spreads through me from every point where our bodies touch. My pulse begins to flutter and my breath goes shallow as slick begins to gather between my thighs.
The lush scent of warm fabric, like linen that just came out of the dryer, mixed with a faint citrus fills my lungs, making me moan.
“Perrin,” I gasp as he walks me backward slowly. One step at a time until the small of my back meets the edge of the dining room table and I have nowhere left to go.
His body presses against mine, warm and solid, and I can feel exactly how much he wants me through the thin fabric of his sweatpants. His cock is long and hard, nestled against my stomach, the heat of him seeping through the layers between us.
A vivid thought crosses my mind of him lifting me onto this table and fucking me as the morning sun moves across the floor.
My sore, well-used body clenches at the idea with embarrassing enthusiasm.
But before I can shimmy up onto the table, the glass-paneled back door swings open, and we break apart.
Adam steps in from the deck, pulling his earbuds out with one hand and pushing the door shut behind him with the other.
He's clearly just finished a run. His dark blond hair is damp at the temples, his grey shirt soaked through in a stripe down the center of his chest, and his cheeks are flushed a deep pink from the morning air.
He looks up and sees us.
His eyes move from Perrin to me, then back to Perrin, taking in the small distance between us and Perrin's hands dropping from my hair.
My stomach drops a little as I brace for how Adam will react. He’s been so patient and kind when it comes to me and his alphas, but I have no idea how he feels about me touching his own twin brother.
Will he yell? Shut down? Or simply glare at me?
But none of that happens.
Instead, a slow, delighted grin spreads across his face, wide and completely unguarded, and it throws me so completely off balance that I stare at him for a second.
"Well," Adam says, looking between us. "Good morning to me." He cocks a smile.
Perrin exhales slowly through his nose, reaches across the table, and pulls his mug toward him with slightly more force than necessary. "Morning."
"Hope I’m not interrupting anything." Adam drops into one of the dining room chairs uninvited, the picture of pure innocence. He takes a long drink from his water bottle, then looks at me over the top of it with those warm honey-brown eyes, bright and genuinely pleased. "How'd you sleep, Elle?"
"Really well," I say, and I actually mean it.
Something in Adam's expression shifts at that. The teasing quality doesn't leave exactly, but something warmer moves in underneath it, and he holds my gaze for a moment longer than necessary before looking back down at his water bottle.
“Me too," he says simply. "The bed felt enormous. I spread out like a starfish and took up the whole thing." He holds his arms out as if to demonstrate. "It was amazing."
"Have you eaten anything yet?" Perrin asks, taking a slow drink of his coffee. "You can’t take your meds on an empty stomach.”
"In a minute," Adam says, waving a dismissive hand without looking at him. His eyes are still moving between me and Perrin with intense focus. "Your ears are red," he tells his brother.
Perrin doesn't even look at him. He sets his mug down, then pulls his phone out of his pocket. "I'm going into the shop this morning." He taps the screen checking his messages.
Adam frowns, like that’s a horrible idea. "Why?"
"Because I have a car to finish," Perrin says flatly. "I told the owner that I'd have their '68 Camaro done last week." He grimaces slightly. "He's been very patient, but I'm running out of goodwill."
"What's wrong with it?" I ask.
Perrin looks at me, and something in his expression shifts with pleasant surprise, like he wasn't expecting the question.
"Transmission rebuild," he says. "The previous owner ran it into the ground.
It's a beautiful car, but the whole drivetrain needs attention.
" He tilts his head slightly. "Do you know cars? "
"A little," I say. "My dad used to work on this old Chevy on weekends. It was an old beater he'd found at auction. But I spent a lot of Saturday mornings handing him tools I didn't know the names of."
Perrin smiles wide. "Do you want to come with me? I mean, we'd have to ask Cliff first. But if he's okay with it—"
"Yes," I say, before he's finished the sentence, the word coming out so fast that it even surprises me.
"Well, have fun, you two." Adam stands, stretching his arms above his head with a groan that suggests his run was longer than planned.
He points at his brother without looking at him.
"Don't bore her with transmission talk. You’re the only one who finds that shit interesting.
" He drops his hand and heads toward the hallway. "I'm going to shower."
"Eat something first," Perrin calls after him.
"In a minute," Adam calls back, his voice lifting, annoyed.
Perrin stares at the empty doorway for a second, then looks at me with the exhaustion of someone who has been having this exact argument for twenty-six years and has never once won it.
"I'll go ask Cliff," he says.
He turns to leave, and I think that's it. But then Perrin stops, and pauses, just a breath or two, where he seems to be deciding something. Then he turns back, takes my face in his hand, and presses his lips to mine. Soft and warm and quick.
Then he's gone, his footsteps moving toward the stairs.
I stand there in the morning light, pressing my fingertips to my lips, and I'm smiling so hard it's starting to hurt my face.