16. Safe
Safe
Calista
Idon’t want to die. I had no idea how much so until my lungs started burning, begging for air. I don’t know how much longer I can hold my breath. I’m so confused in the dark water. It sways back-and-forth, seeming to take me deeper.
Something grabs onto my hair, yanking me by the scalp. I scream out, losing all my air. I instinctively suck in water, my body thrashing with my uncontrollable panic. Something pinches under my arms, and I fear that I’m being eaten alive.
I continue to struggle, trying to punch through the water, but I have no force. I have no air. I’m drowning and fighting a losing battle.
Then I feel them. Two arms wrap around me, the warmth of another body sending relief through me as I finally break the surface.
I gasp and spit out saltwater, my body convulsing.
I can’t see through my watery eyes, but I don’t care who I’m hugging.
Someone saved me. Someone jumped in the water and pulled me up.
“Stop fighting. I got you, butterfly.” Jensen shifts my legs around his waist until I press against him. “You’re safe. They’re sending a raft. Look.”
Fear strikes through my very core, and my stomach clenches. “That alpha—he—he pushed me. He’ll try to kill me.”
Jensen swipes his hand across my forehead, pushing away the dark strands of my hair blocking my vision. His golden-brown eyes shadow against the light coming from the yacht.
“You’re safe with me. No one will hurt you again. Pack Loomis is being detained.” His words beg me to trust him, and my heart agrees before my mind.
Jensen strokes his arms, cutting through the water as if he’s swum in competitions.
I’ve never gone in water deeper than my waist. Alphas in the city prefer hot tubs.
I’ve been to a pool party once, but it was a glass bottom pool on a high rise, and it wasn’t deep.
It was intended mostly for show. The ocean is a completely different beast. The waves are alive and unpredictable. You can get lost at sea forever.
The thought unsettles me.
I lose myself to my fear, shivering in the cold water. The only thing that keeps me grounded is the warmth between Jensen’s back and my chest. I clutch him tightly, keeping my face tilted upward, trying my best to ignore the splashing water.
He swims toward the motorized raft. A guy in a polo shirt with the yacht’s logo mans the small raft. He doesn’t speak as Jensen pushes me up and pulls himself in after.
I remain in Jensen’s embrace as the raft slows and stops at the ladder leading to the swim platform.
Jensen holds me with one arm and climbs back onto the yacht.
I cling on to him until he sets me down and flops beside me to catch his breath.
His chest heaves, his defined muscles showing through the sheer fabric of his soaked white dress shirt.
I can’t look at anything else, my new fascination helping distract me from completely losing my shit.
I can’t believe I was knocked off a yacht.
I can’t believe that alpha did it out of spite and for no other reason than I didn’t belong to him.
It should have been a fun party. It was supposed to be a distraction. It was supposed to be…
It’s hard ignoring the soft commotion humming from the people gathered on the deck above.
The party has turned into a spectacle, people watching as the poor overboard omega struggles to survive.
I’ve never been so thankful for Jensen. This is the second time one of the Kismet brothers has saved me from an alpha.
I guess I was jaded, living in the city.
Why on earth did I think things would be the same here and that I’d be treated with respect by everyone?
This solidifies my desire and need to return to Nevada.
I can’t make it out here. I can’t see myself living the sort of life needing an alpha and pack to protect me.
It shouldn’t be this way. I shouldn’t be at risk, due to the possibility of a power struggle—one I could solve if I just gave in. But fuck.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” Jensen asks, his breathing heavy. Sitting up, he shifts my hair to my back, giving me a long once-over.
I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know. I’m so cold.”
Jensen unbuttons his dress shirt and shrugs out of it, showing off his bare chest and hard abs. He pulls me to him, hugging me against his skin, doing his best to push away my shivering. “Just breathe. We’re going to the captain’s suite. No one will bother us. We’ll stay there until we dock.”
He doesn’t let us stay on the platform long, lifting me up with him and carrying me into the salon to head toward the cabins.
I don’t say anything and just let him hold me.
My cheek rests against his shoulder as I hide my face against the crook of his neck.
I inhale a breath of his zesty scent, the lime mixed with the salt of the ocean—a more natural scent and not from the water. And it does something to me.
Jensen remains quiet until he closes and locks the stateroom door behind us. It looks like it’s never been used, the place gleaming with silver fixtures, navy and white décor, and a king-sized bed that faces a glass-walled bathroom with a soaking tub.
My heartbeat slows with the peace and quiet, and I close my eyes and focus on Jensen’s breathing.
“My phone got wet jumping in after you,” Jensen says, breaking the silence between us. “I’m going to borrow one, but I’ll be quick. You can make yourself at home while I call Nolan. Lock the door behind me.”
“No, don’t call him. Don’t leave me,” I say, my voice just a whisper of a breath. “I need a moment to wrap my mind around everything.”
“Okay, whatever you want, butterfly. Let me draw you a bath. You’re shivering.
” Jensen carries me straight to the large bathroom with the soaking tub.
I rest my chin on his shoulder, staring out the grand windows at the dark ocean and glittering stars.
No one can see us, and a part of me is relieved to look at the world from the safety of this stateroom—the safety of Jensen’s arms.
He doesn’t let go of me as he turns on the water.
Steam fogs the wall mirror, obscuring our reflection.
I can’t help staring at what I look like in Jensen’s arms—so fragile and small compared to his muscular form.
My mascara runs down my cheeks, and my hair looks like a tangled nest. Yet somehow, I don’t mind.
I don’t feel ugly while I’m being taken care of by Jensen.
“You’re cold too. Join me,” I whisper, my lips close to his scent gland. My attraction to him arouses something wild in me, and I crave for his continued closeness.
“Are you sure?” Jensen tilts his head, meeting my eyes. His golden-brown irises send warmth across my chest and in between my legs.
“I’ve never been more certain. Everything feels like a mess, but with you, I have clarity.
I want you close.” I lean in and brush my lips to his, knowing very well that this will end up being a mistake.
But I’m only human, and mistakes are how I grow and learn.
Mistakes are what make me who I am. And this is one I can savor without regret.
Jensen kisses me harder, his muscles tightening as he gently sets me on my feet, taking the time to slowly unzip my gown to let it fall into a pile around my feet. I moan at the cool air caressing my skin, my panties being my only undergarment.
“You’re stunning. You smell so good. I want to taste you.
” Jensen kisses down my jaw, his tongue slipping between his lips to graze over my collarbone.
I stand before him, cool and hot at once and craving more.
He sucks my nipple into his mouth, and I moan, combing my fingers through his wet hair, using him to hold myself up as my knees weaken.
I don’t speak. I don’t resist. I lose myself in the sensations buzzing over my skin as Jensen works his way lower until he adjusts my leg onto his shoulder and kisses the heat of my body softly.
“Perfect,” he murmurs, using his fingers to part me open until he glides his tongue over my clit, sucking hard enough to send tingles crashing through me. I gasp and wiggle my hips, wanting more of the sensation. Jensen slides his finger inside me, curling and uncurling without pulling away.
My breathing quickens as his tongue remains fervent, rolling over my clit in a rhythm that leaves me squirming. My body wants to explode, and I cry out as I orgasm, the ecstasy sweeping away all my wild emotions, leaving just my desire behind.
I tug his hair, getting him to slow as my muscles pulse and my knees shake. My slick drenches my thighs. He looks up at me with a smile, glistening in my lust like it’s a prize for his efforts. His eyes devour me as if I’m the only way he’ll ever survive the rampant hunger for more from each other.
I nod my head without saying anything, pulling him up to his feet.
I wrap my hand around his cock, gliding my fingers from his base to his tip, feeling the slick precum coating my palm.
I use it to glide up and down his length, loving the sound of his heavy breathing and quiet moans as he tries to keep himself in place, though I know he craves to lift me up.
I stroke him and kiss his chest, ensuring that our bodies remain close.
And then I stand on my tiptoes and position his cock between us, rubbing him against my slick-covered body, ready to welcome him in.
He takes over and lifts me up a few inches until our bodies align and pressure builds between my legs, his tip teasing me for only a second as my back presses against the glass wall and he thrusts inside me.
“I’ve dreamed of this, butterfly. You’re amazing.
Incredible. So damn beautiful. I’ve never felt this way about anyone besides you.
Ever since I met you, I wanted you.” Jensen murmurs the words with each of his thrusts, my body wrapped around his, my ankles ensuring that I stay in place and the glass behind me giving Jensen the resistance to pump deeper, harder.
“Please,” I say, my words just a whisper.
I don’t say anything else as the moan overtakes me, and pressure builds and builds until Jensen grunts.
His knot expands, ensuring that this moment won’t end until both of our bodies are ready.
We’re made for each other, but I want to resist. I still need to resist. Because I should not be made for someone. I should just be me.
None of those thoughts matter now as pleasure cascades in wave after wave between us. I cling to Jensen, sucking the crook of his neck, my need to bite him and mark him trying to overpower my good senses.
Jensen grips my ass, his fingers digging into my skin, and he groans as he carries me to the tub, our bodies still locked together.
Bringing his lips to mine, he kisses me passionately, stealing away my unbidden whimpers.
Hot water swallows us as he lowers me into the tub.
I sit on his lap, continuing to kiss him until he pulls back first and clutches my face, rubbing his palms over my cheeks, leaving his scent all over me.
He won’t mark me without my permission, but it doesn’t stop him from wanting to announce to the world that he wants to claim me. Needs to claim me.
“I’m almost done, butterfly. I don’t want it to end.
I know what happens next. I know you’re going to fly away.
Please, just give me your time. Let me show you what it’s like to be with me.
To be a part of Pack Kismet.” Jensen swallows, kissing me again, knowing I won’t answer him.
His warm hand strokes up and down my back, coaxing the trembles from our knotting away until the pressure between my legs subsides.
“I can’t get enough of you, Cali. I want you to be mine.” Jensen slides me off him but keeps me on his lap.
I kiss him again, wanting nothing more than to just cuddle and lose myself in the moment. No more words. No more thoughts. Just me and Jensen.
And he lets me.
Just me and him together.
That’s all that matters now.