10. Ava #2
Grinning, I smacked his hand away, but that only instigated him.
He gasped and grabbed my free arm, twisting it behind my back so my hips were pressed against the edge of the counter.
His hard, scorching chest burned my back, his pelvis firm against my lower spine, trapping me between his massive body and the kitchen island.
“Open your mouth, Ava,” he growled against my ear. “Or I’ll smash this strawberry against your pretty lips until it drips down the front of your flimsy robe.”
My pulse raced, and I struggled for air.
Every place his skin touched mine sizzled, and his grip on my wrist reminded me of how much stronger he was.
I hadn’t seen this playful side of him before, and now that he’d let it out, I understood why Lycan and Poe hit it off.
They must have had fun together. They must have laughed and loved out loud, and I would have given anything to have seen it at its height.
The tender press of his lips to my shoulder brought me back to reality. I should have stopped whatever this was. I should have told him the eggs were nearly done, and we hadn’t added any veggies. Breakfast wouldn’t cook itself. Instead, I instigated.
“Do you think that scares me?” I laughed obnoxiously.
“You cover me in strawberry juice, and I’ll…
” He leaned closer, pressed his nose to my neck, and took a long, slow inhale.
The cool trail of his breath echoed down the front of my robe and coasted over my breasts, turning my nipples into hard peaks.
His scent hit me in my cunt, all strong, luxurious male, capable of holding me down and taking me how he wanted.
“You’ll what?” The ghost of his mouth caressed my earlobe, and I tried to hide a tremble…failed miserably.
I reached for the bowl of fruit and grabbed a handful of whatever I found, bananas by the feel of it, and held it up as an admittedly weak threat. “I’ll smash this into your hair.”
He brought the strawberry closer to my mouth. “Should we see who’s faster?”
I’d lose. I knew I would lose. I couldn’t stop myself.
He smiled as he smushed the strawberry into my closed mouth, exploding sticky-sweet juice down my chin and neck. I lobbed mashed banana at his head, swiping it over his temple and down the side of his face while I twisted out of his hold and ran to the other side of the island.
I laughed. He balked.
“Really?” he said, swiping his hand through the lumpy substance before flicking it at me.
But I couldn’t stop now. Whatever jovial side had been unleashed in both of us, I wanted more. I grabbed the entire bowl of fruit, snatched a handful, and threw it at him. He immediately reacted to the challenge, racing around the island to snatch my midsection and haul me up against his torso.
I squealed, and he roared with feigned offense.
“Now you’ve done it,” he said. “You ruined my breakfast, and you refuse to listen. I can’t tolerate this disobedience.
” He wrestled us to the floor, fruit spilling everywhere as the bowl clattered next to my head.
Poe wedged himself between my legs, holding my arms up over my head with one hand while he grabbed fistfuls of berries with the other, smashing them into my hair, my cheeks, my neck, whatever skin he could find.
I pretended to struggle, twisting my head one direction while I giggled and kicked at his torso.
“How have you been here this long without learning to respect a dominant’s orders, huh? ”
“I pride myself on my insolence, thank you very much.”
He tsked his teeth and shook his head, threading his fingers through mine before relaxing on top of me. “Look at what you’ve done.”
Our foreheads touched. The pheromones radiating off him clouded my judgment, telling me things I definitely shouldn’t listen to.
I sucked in a deep breath and stared into his amber eyes, glowing with his wolf.
My other side, the primal feral beast with no compunctions about societal expectations, surged in front of my inhibitions.
She leaned forward, stuck out her tongue, and traced over the banana sliding down the side of his face.
Poe closed his eyes and made a small, pained noise, half whimper, half moan.
I rolled my hips against him as he leaned into it, nuzzled harder against me.
I rubbed my clit up against the hard bulge trapped between us, moaning at the deplorably euphoric sensations sprinting through my veins.
He lowered his head to my neck and lapped a warm, wet trail up my windpipe and over my jaw.
My cunt squeezed. My thighs shook. I threw my head back to give him more access.
“Fuck,” he whispered, letting go of my wrists. “You taste so fucking sweet.”
I speared one hand through his hair to encourage him to keep going and wrapped the other around his thigh, coaxing his hips to rut against me harder. I wanted him to rip through all this silk, find the wet spot underneath, and shove himself inside.
A throat cleared from somewhere behind us, and I startled as I glanced up.
Lycan leaned against the wall by the dining room with his arms crossed, wearing nothing but a pair of gray sweatpants, a smirk, and one raised eyebrow.
He might as well have dumped ice water on us.
Poe shot to his feet, his eyes wide as he scrambled away from me.
I hauled myself upright and tried for playful, pretending we hadn’t just tried to eat our breakfast off each other.
“I didn’t realize we’d decided on a body buffet this morning.” Lycan shifted his ice-cold stare between us. “I guess my invite got lost somewhere between here and the bedroom.”
“What? You’ve never had a food fight before?” I scoffed and reached for a towel, wincing internally at the shake in my voice.
What happened to the plan?
God, I’m acting reckless. I don’t do reckless.
Get your shit together, Ava.
Lycan shot forward to stop me, grabbing my hand to yank me closer to him.
“Poe says you taste sweet? Better try for myself.” Lycan grabbed my hair, tilted my head back, and dragged his tongue along my windpipe.
A guttural moan shot out of my throat, coming from somewhere instinctual, and a bone-deep tremor ricocheted through my body.
My own arousal blasted between us, inviting both of them to take me, have me, do what they would. “Hmm, fucking delicious.”
When Lycan pulled away, he wasn’t looking at me. No, his gaze was on Poe, who stood with his hands clenched into fists, his jaw tight, and his eyes blazing with fury…and hunger. Another scent twisted through the atmosphere, mingling with mine to create something even more thrilling and delicious.
It smelled like Poe but darker, like Lycan but warmer.
What is that? I love it.
“I’ll go get cleaned up,” Poe said in a broken, hoarse voice. “You should throw that away. It’s burnt to hell.” He pointed at the stove before storming off toward his room, slamming the door behind him.
Lycan trained his stormy-gray gaze on me. “You’ve been a naughty girl.”
I opened my mouth to defend myself, but Lycan pressed a finger to my lips to silence me.
“You think I can’t hear what’s going on inside that pretty little head?” He grabbed my jaw with his right hand, squeezing my cheeks between his fingers and thumb.
“Of course you can.” I wasn’t trying to hide it.
“My magic’s still inside you, Trouble,” he said. “And even if it wasn’t, you and I…we have something deeper than that.” He grabbed my left hand and held it up. “We’re married. You swore yourself to me. You’re my wife. You’re mine.”
“That wasn’t real.” I shoved away from him and grabbed my towel to wipe the blueberry juice from the side of my face. “We both know—”
“Do we?” He stalked closer and flipped me around so I faced him, putting his hands on either side of my hips, pressing his pelvis to mine. “If I’m inside your head, that means you’re inside mine. What do you feel, huh? What do you sense coming off me?”
The exhilarating scent wafted off him again, winding my magic into heavy knots.
He pulsed with jealousy and hunger and possession, a debilitating combination that threatened to fold me in two.
Lycan wanted to consume me. He wanted to take me back to bed and keep me there for another three days, mark me and claim me until the entire world knew I belonged to him.
But…there was something else there, too.
Something that grew feral at the sight of Poe on top of me.
Lycan tucked his head against my neck. “You smell like him.”
He didn’t say it like it was a bad thing. His soft baritone melted like chocolate on summer asphalt, like honey dripping from a hot spoon. The pungent tang of arousal floated off him, and my restraint nearly crumbled.
“I know what you’re doing, Trouble,” he murmured, tilting his hips against me, rubbing his thick cock against my lower stomach. “You should stop while you’re ahead.”
I swallowed against a dry throat. “I’m not afraid of you.”
He licked his lips, and my focus dropped to his perfect pink tongue. “You have no idea the monsters you’re messing with.”
I expected him to lift me onto the island, push me down, and fuck me into the granite. I shivered with the thought he might claim me right here for Poe to walk in on. The sudden glint in his gaze seemed to suggest he’d heard that and approved.
Instead, he stepped away and nodded toward the bedroom. “Go get that shit off you. Get dressed. I’ll make breakfast.”
Turned on, confused, and disappointed, I scurried away, shutting the door carefully behind me.