17. Alaric
Alaric
It's late afternoon.
I adjust the strap of the tote bag on my shoulder, arms laden with boxes.
Silk sheets. A cashmere throw the color of crushed violets. Imported dark chocolate. The kind she’d casually mentioned loving. Little things.
I pause outside her bedroom door.
Her scent lingers in the hallway—warm, sweet. But threaded through it, unmistakable, is Leo’s and Raph’s.
My cock throbs in protest at the deprivation. I could have been with her. I should have been.
But I’ve learned patience over the years.
Something primal inside me snarls at that restraint, urging me to go to her. But the simple, undeniable truth is this: her comfort will always matter more than my own needs.
She deserves someone who cares for her in every way, not just physically.
Hence why I went shopping for her.
I knock on her door, forcing my breathing to even out.
“Come in,” she calls, her voice soft but clear.
I step inside, and the sight hits me like a punch to the gut.
She’s sprawled across the massive bed, wearing nothing but an oversized sweater that slips off one shoulder. Her deep brown hair is a tousled mess, and her cheeks are flushed—whether from sleep or from whatever Leo and Raph wrung out of her earlier.
My fingers twitch, my mind drifting. I’d savor you slowly. Or not. Depending on how you’d ask.
She blinks up at me, surprise flickering across her face before softening into something warmer.
“Alaric,” she murmurs, her voice wrapping around my name like silk.
It slices through my restraint like a blade.
I clear my throat, crossing the room in a few measured steps.
“You’re still resting,” I murmur, setting the tote bag on the nightstand.
She stretches lazily, like a cat, and the hem of her sweater inches up her thighs.
“I was.” Her voice is sultry. “But then I smelled you.”
My dick twitches. Hard.
Her gaze drops to the boxes.
“What’s all that?”
“Things you might need,” I reply evenly. I pull out the cashmere throw, spreading it over the bed with careful precision. “Comfort items.”
She watches me, her expression unreadable, as I line up the chocolates, smooth the sheets, and light the bergamot candle she’d mentioned in passing.
When I glance back at her, she’s propped up on her elbows, studying me.
“You didn’t have to do all this.” Her eyes glint.
“I wanted to,” I reply, our gazes locking.
A faint blush blooms on her cheeks. She bites her lip, her gaze flicking from the chocolates, to me.
“So you’re taking good care of me,” she murmurs, her voice dipping low. “Now who’s gonna take care of you?”
I swallow, my throat suddenly dry.
“I’m being serious,” she continues, her body shifting. The oversized sweater slips lower, teasing the curve of her breast. “Come here, my Alpha. So I can properly thank you.” Her voice is mesmerizing.
I move without thinking, crossing the space between us before my mind catches up.
Fuck.
She watches me like a predator about to pounce. Her sweater slides even lower, barely clinging to her frame.
“Come here, my Alpha,” she purrs, voice drenched in seduction.
My restraint unravels, strand by strand.
I sit at the edge of the bed, muscles locked tight.
“I was going to run more errands for you,” I rasp, my voice low, my restraint hanging by a thread. “You could use more blankets.”
She shifts onto her knees, crawling toward me, every movement languid, calculated. The sweater slips further, now barely covering anything at all.
“You’re so considerate,” she murmurs, fingers ghosting over my chest. “So in control.”
She leans in, breath warm against my neck. “But don’t you want something too?”
My hands fist the sheets.
She tilts her head, studying me. Then, without hesitation, she straddles me, pressing her naked pussy against the hard line of my cock.
A groan rips from my throat before I can stop it.
Her fingers slip into my hair, grazing my scalp. “Mmm, there’s definitely something I feel,” she murmurs, rolling her hips in a teasing, torturous grind.
A moan slips from both of us.
I grip her hips to slow her down. But the second my hands land on her, she melts into me, sighing.
A shudder rolls through me.
Screw those errands.
“I’m gonna fuck you ’til you can’t sit.”