Chapter 39
Thirty-Nine
WILLOW
The last hour passed in a blur. I barely remembered Kaelen carrying me through an abandoned warehouse with Torin and Aidan flanking us along with half a dozen other men. At some point, he settled me in his lap, in the back of a car with Torin and other betas I didn’t recognize.
I clung to Kaelen’s shirt, nuzzling and scenting him, unbothered by our audience. Sweat glistened on my skin. My body ached, and the empty spot between my thighs demanded to be filled with my alpha’s knot.
“Alpha,” I murmured over and over again, uncertain he was real.
“Omega,” he whispered, gently stroking his fingers through my damp hair.
Lips brushed over my temple. A rumbling purr grew in Kaelen’s chest, getting louder the tighter I held him. The heaviness of the soothing sound lulled me.
Comforting arms lifted me, swaying me gently.
Through my hazy vision, I saw Aileen—her face drawn and lips turned down. I tried to offer her a weak smile. Unfortunately, it came out more like a tired grimace. I burrowed my face back into Kaelen, inhaling his heady scent.
A door clicked behind us, and I lifted my head.
“We’re home,” he said.
Carefully, Kaelen righted me. I wobbled. Hands flew to my hips, steadying me. In the center of the room sat my nest, my omega sighed.
“Let me clean you up, and then you can get settled.”
A noncommittal sound trilled in the back of my throat. Despite the incessant need swirling inside me, I wanted nothing more than to scrub any lingering scent of that place and that man off my skin.
I wanted to smell only of us—of my alpha, of us.
Cold marble pressed into my bum as he placed me on the vanity. Turning, he ran the tap in the shower. After testing the water, he stood between my thighs, running his hands over my sides before cupping my face.
“I love you, Willow.”
Those three impossibly perfect words quieted the roaring in my blood. The open sincerity in his declaration made everything right. For the first time, the constant whir of intrusive thoughts stopped.
Instead, all I heard was him.
Of how right he was for me and I for him.
Lips pressed to the tip of my nose. Then he claimed my mouth in an unhurried kiss. The coarse scruff rubbed against my cheek, his lips against my jaw.
“Love you,” I breathed.
With a peck on my temple, he pulled off my dingy sweater and bra—a possessive purr growing with each second. Helping me to stand, he removed the rest of my clothes.
A shuddering sigh rattled my ribs at the immediate relief. My skin itched and burned, everything far too sensitive.
Keeping his gaze locked with mine, he slowly removed his belt, the leather gliding through the fabric. My mouth turned dry, fascinated by the veins in his hands as he tugged the t-shirt off his muscled frame.
Whoever created my alpha, hewed him from stone. A sculpture for me to admire.
I moaned, shamelessly drinking in my husband. Dark ink covered his pale torso, his heavy cock slapping against his abdomen.
Auburn strands hung loose around his face as he tugged the hair free from its confines. A burning throb ached over my clit. My nails mapped a path over the hard planes of his abdomen before I gripped him in both hands, huffing a tiny, impatient growl.
I imagined the weight of it against my tongue as I sucked and licked at him before he gave me his knot. As I started to sink to my knees, he stopped me, urging me towards the glass ensconced shower instead.
“No. Knot,” I grumbled, unbothered by how petulant I sounded.
Why was my alpha denying me? He said he loved me. How was this love?
“Omega,” he said, his voice on the edge of a bark. “Wait. We’ll wash off and then get you in your nest where I can take care of you.”
A tug pulled behind my sternum, my omega urging me to please our alpha. Resignedly, I stepped into the shower, delighted when cool water met my flushed face. I closed my eyes as my alpha trailed a soapy cloth over me, gently washing away the blood and grime.
Water mixed with swirls and brown and red slithered down the drain as he washed my hair, massaging my scalp. I arched into him, grinding my ass over his knot. My alpha was everything.
And he was mine. All mine.
“Omega,” he said, and I grinned at his crumbling restraint. “Can my good girl be patient for me?”
I perked up at the praise, spinning in his arms to face him.
“Yes, Alpha.”
“So sweet, listening to your alpha.”
With that, he finished washing the blood from his face and turned off the water. Carefully, he wrapped a fluffy towel around me. I squirmed, finding the material too itchy.
“It’s okay. Just for a minute. Come on,” he murmured, carrying me into my nest.
Instant relief consumed me as the towel fell away from my skin. My alpha stood beside my nest, his eyes blazing with desire.
Passion.
Love.
I sat up on my knees, and my brow furrowed. Something wasn’t right. This place wasn’t ready for my alpha to knot and mark me.
Huffing, I crawled around the bed, shifting pillows and fluffing them. Kaelen stood out of the way, a glimmer of amusement playing across his features as I scurried across the room, collecting more blankets and clothes from the hamper.
It needed to smell of us.
A rush of slick stuck to my thighs as I weaved our clothing between the pillows. Another needy whimper escaped me. I collapsed, curling in on myself, burrowing into the back of my nest.
I writhed, wordlessly reaching out for my alpha.
“Invite me in, Omega,” he panted, a vein in his neck pulsing.
“Alpha. Please. Come here. Now. Don’t leave me alone.”
Responding with another growl, the bed dipped under Kaelen’s weight.
“Never. Never alone again. I’m here for you always.”
Firelight danced along his back, casting him in shadow. A frown tugged at my lips as I eyed my nest, worried I hadn’t done a good enough job.
My alpha deserved a perfect nest. My hands fumbled as I frantically tried to rearrange the pillows and blankets. Kaelen’s hand covered mine, stilling my movements. Warm lips rested on my cheek as he brushed my hair over my shoulder.
“Shhh. It’s lovely. It’s perfect because you made it.”
“Do you like it?” I asked.
Long fingers carded through my hair. He maneuvered me until I was sitting in front of him. His hand slid under my chin, his thumb brushing over my lips.
“Such a pretty nest. You did such a good job. Do you want me to fill your sweet cunt here?”
“Please. Please. Please,” I babbled.
My nipples tightened and flush spread over my cheeks, fighting for dominance with the need burning me from the inside out. Kaelen grabbed something from the end table.
“Drink, little omega,” he ordered, holding a water bottle to my lips.
I pushed it away. “Knot.”
“Soon. After you’ve had something to drink and eat,” he said, his voice quiet but no less commanding.
Glaring, I relented, parting my lips. Cool liquid slid down my throat, coating the sore spot. A quiet moan escaped me at the sweet relief. I drank the entire bottle, smiling at Kaelen, eager for his praise.
“My good omega. Now, eat.”
He reached for a bowl of berries, his scarred fingers brushing against a blackberry.
My omega keened at the primal, intimate act as he brought the fruit to my mouth.
The juice stained my lips as I licked the remnants from his fingers.
A dark, possessive look settled in the depths of his blown pupils, making pride swirl in my chest.
I did that. I unleashed my alpha.
I rocked my hips, eagerly accepting the food he fed me until he was satisfied I had enough.
“Now. Alpha. Knot?”
“Almost, sweet omega,” he cooed, laying me down into the pile of blankets. “Need to get you ready for me first.”
“I’m ready,” I protested, closing my slender fingers around his thick length.
A pearl of pre-cum glistened on the head. I swiped at the bead, bringing it to my lips and sucking it clean. It tasted of him, of my alpha. My omega clawed at me, desperate for control. I was on the verge of letting her have it, wanting to give in completely.
Kaelen’s nostrils flared, his knees pinning me in place on either side of my hips. His mouth crashed against mine.
Gone was the tenderness from earlier.
This was a claiming, bruising embrace that made stars explode behind my eyes. He growled into the kiss, his hands brushing along the underside of my breasts.
My back bowed into the touch, an electrifying current scolding me. Rough fingers plucked my nipples, and I moaned, my hands burying into the blankets beneath me. With a nip on my bottom lip, my alpha moved lower, trailing hot kisses and lashing his tongue across my skin.
Lips closed over my nipple, suckling and flicking. I whined at the exquisite torture of it all, running my fingers through his hair and tugging.
“Alpha. Please,” I begged.
A dark chuckle escaped him as he descended, his fingers digging into my thighs. He spread me open, and the cool air stung along my burning core.
A slow breath rolled through me.
His eyes found mine from between my legs, unyielding as he nipped and marked my flesh. The pad of his thumb trailed through my slit, gathering the slick there and circling my clit, making me gasp.
“Such a pretty pussy. My omega is so wet for me. So needy.”
Before I could say anything, he licked a languid, teasing swipe through my entrance. Words failed me, feeling as though my body wasn’t my own. Everything caught fire, the intensity devouring me. Kaelen gripped my hips, holding me in place.
I clenched around him as he slid a finger inside almost too easily. His dark green eyes found mine again, and I couldn’t look away. The intense look burned into my very soul as he added a second finger, curling them and tapping that spot that stole the air from my lungs.
A series of stuttered breaths choked me with the dizzying pleasure overpowering me. Kaelen was unforgiving, thrusting harder.
His mouth closed around my clit and I screamed, yanking hard enough on his hair to make him unleash another feral sound that threatened to send me over the edge.
“Good girl. That’s it. Doing so well. Come for me, Omega. Come for me and I’ll give you my knot. Fuck you like you deserve.”
Those words unraveled me, undoing the tight coil in my belly. His tongue circled my clit and his fingers curled deliciously. I came with a broken cry, my come coating his hand and staining the blankets.
My chest heaved with heavy breaths.
“Shhh. There you go, sweet girl. Deep breath.”
My thighs trembled as my orgasm rocked me, sending me into some fiery oblivion with the intensity. The heat in my body faded for only a moment, the relief short-lived as my omega demanded more.
Demanded my alpha.
Demanded his knot.
“More. More. More. Knot me.”
Kaelen removed his fingers, shining with my release. I licked my lips, impatiently waiting for my alpha to give me what I wanted. He brought his fingers to his mouth, sucking them clean with a possessive groan that made my pussy flutter.
He settled between my thighs, pushing them open with his knees. Sweat dotted his brow, his cut jaw glimmering in the dim light. I had no idea what time it was. He fisted his length, stroking it, notching the tip at my core.
Smirking, I pressed my feet into his sculpted ass, urging him to take me.
Stubborn alpha didn’t move, however, making me pout.
He smirked at my eagerness, collaring my throat with his free hand and bringing my lips to meet his.
I softened at the possessive touch, feeling safe and protected in my nest with my alpha.
With his lips still fused to mine, he sank into me in one heady thrust. My teeth grazed along his bottom lip, nipping the flesh as my nails dug into the corded muscles along his back. The stretch was otherworldly; nothing had ever felt more complete.
My entire body tensed.
“Harder,” I breathed into his kiss.
“Anything for my omega,” he said, snapping his hips.
I cried, clawing at his body, desperate for something to hold on to.
The pleasure tunneled my vision until I saw only my alpha. Flush colored his cheeks, the tattoos on his chest and hands glinting in the light from the fireplace. I saw now why people thought him to be a demon.
In this moment, he looked every bit of one. But he was mine.
My demon.
My alpha.
His pace turned punishing, each snap of his hips more determined than the last. Every nerve in my body burned with exquisite bliss.
My legs quaked and my body trembled. With each thrust, his growing knot caught on my entrance, spiraling me higher.
He thickened, his impending release spurring on my own.
“That’s it. You’re taking me so well. Come on my cock,” he moaned, his voice cracking.
I sobbed, my chest squeezing as I detonated around him like a dying star. My cunt flexed around him, taking him deeper with each subsequent stroke of his hips. As waves of my climax destroyed me, his knot slid into place, and he came, warm ropes of his release spilling inside me.
With us locked together, everything quieted. My mind quieted, and my body stilled, the heat from earlier abating. Kaelen positioned my sated form on his chest, stroking my hair and caressing my curves.
“I love you. My pretty girl. You did so well. We fit so beautifully together, don’t we?”
“Yes, Alpha,” I whispered, peppering sleepy kisses over his pulse. “Will you bond me now?”
“Soon,” he soothed.
I didn’t try to hide the disappointment on my face.
It wasn’t long before his knot deflated enough for him to slip out of me. I whimpered at the loss, my pussy clenching longingly around nothing. Moments passed before flames licked across my flesh again, need commanding me.
The desire to be filled by my alpha overtook every thought.
“Alpha. More,” I pleaded with a tiny growl that my alpha appeared to find endearing.
“I will give you everything you desire, Omega. Worship you. Serve you. Cherish you. Now. Present for your alpha,” he commanded, gently slapping my ass.