Chapter Seven #3
I fought the urge to lick my bottom lip, even as Marcus stopped by my side and attempted to get into the tub behind me.
“What are you doing, Blackwood?” I shrieked, as his hands urged me to scoot forward. “You can’t fit.”
He made himself comfortable as water sloshed along the sides of the tub, adjusting his legs so I was sandwiched between his bent knees. “You were saying?” he teased.
“That you’re going to clean up your mess.”
His low chuckle was filled with mischief—proving that a somber drunk hadn’t replaced the alpha I loved to banter with. “I always clean up my messes. The ones I make… The ones I… stimulate. It’s the gentlemanly thing to do.”
My nipples hardened.
I was so fucked.
His fingers skimmed my skin beneath the water until his hand found my washcloth. We sat in silence as he slowly washed my back, and when he finally moved onto my shoulders, he cleared his throat. “I need to ask you something.”
I reached up, taking the washcloth from his hands as I turned around, curious about what plagued his sobering mind.
He focused his vacant stare, his eyes leaving a spot on the tub to meet mine. “The night we met… you knew who I was before you approached me.”
I moved back until I rested on the tub’s slipper across from him, slithering into the water, disappointed that his question had nothing to do with how soon he could be inside me. Still, I answered it with a nod.
“How did you know you could trust me?”
“I didn’t. We realized Ethan was the murderer, and I swore you let him escape.”
“No.” To my surprise, Marcus did not react to his ex-beta’s name but had an objection I hadn’t considered.
“I mean, right at the beginning.” He stirred, water lapping at his graceful body.
“You sensed my power. You knew I was an alpha and that I wasn’t alone.
Yet you still revealed yourself to both me and Maya.
Doesn’t that go against a hunter’s nature? ”
I straightened, crossing my arms over my breasts and letting out a derisive snort.
Marcus chuckled, pulling me by my legs. “I’m not questioning your judgment as a hunter, Joanna,” he said, his voice indeed free from mockery.
He pulled me as if I weighed only a handful of feathers but moved slowly as if he didn’t want me to lose my balance. He hiked me up onto his lap, positioning himself between my bent knees. His dick pressed firmly between our stomachs, already hardening in response to our closeness.
“I’m asking you if you think this…” I gasped as his hand left my thigh and slid down to the tattoo on my groin. The silent inferno in his eyes burned so hot, I almost expected the amber irises to turn blue. “…Is it possible your hunter’s mark knew I would never hurt you?”
My clit throbbed in response to his low voice. I was on fire, despite the water having cooled to a disappointing lukewarm.
“What if I want you to hurt me?” I asked only half-joking.
He frowned, shaking his head and pushing me away. “No, I…” He sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
I ignored his frown and hopped back into his lap.
“What are you—” My lips grazing over his halted his words. He closed his eyes and growled. “Joanna,” he whispered, “I don’t think we should tonight.”
I took his face in my hands. “If you want me to stop, Alpha, then tell me to stop.” My lips danced and teased against his as I gave him small, gentle kisses. I nibbled his lower lip and grazed it with my tongue, smiling when he moaned into my mouth. “Marcus. Tell me to—”
He palmed my ass and pulled me closer, pinning my clit against his erection. The pressure made me groan.
With one hand still on my ass, he raised his other to the back of my neck and drew my head even lower, his lips demanding mine to part wider. His tongue slid its way in, weaving and stroking, making pleasure explode against my tastebuds.
Spearmint was never so intoxicating. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to brush my teeth again without getting so damned wet thinking about the way he tongue-fucked my mouth.
I clutched the base of Marcus’s dick and positioned its head at my aching entrance. But his hands swiftly found my waist, and with his eyes locked on mine—dark and hazed with desire—he dug his fingers into my flesh, lifted me up, and eased me down onto him.
My breath hitched as he stretched me, filling me so deliciously. Water spilled over the edges of the tub with each plunge onto his erection. I rolled my hips, my clit hungry for the friction.
Marcus raised his pelvis, thrusting deeper. My walls clenched tight around his shaft.
“Fuck, Joanna.” He threw his head back, releasing a carnal groan.
My fingers locked into his hair as my hands ached with a need to touch him everywhere—his arms, his back, his dick… though that was now buried inside of me. Stroking me. About to be my undoing.
Marcus wrapped one of his arms around my torso and used his free hand to squeeze and massage my breast.
As the water lapped against our skin, I continued to ride him and revel in the surge of tension that built in my core. I squeezed my eyes shut and threw my head back as the world melted away, leaving only the low, primal symphony of Marcus’s grunts.
The orgasm left me gasping for air as it traveled through my body like a tidal wave. My mind was in freefall until I collapsed into the safety of his arms. My heart pounded loudly in my ears as everything stilled.
I expected Marcus to chase his own release; to continue thrusting as my walls contracted around his dick.
But he didn’t move.
He held on to me tightly with his eyes closed and took deep, sonorous breaths. He lowered his head to rest his forehead on mine. “A perfect fit,” he whispered.