Chapter 12 - Willow
My eyes widen in horror as I notice Thane's green eyes turning dark, the obsidian orbs ensnaring me in what feels like a trance as he slips off the bed and stalks toward me.
He doesn't even flinch, as if he weren't injured tonight, too focused on staring at me as if his eyes might take away this sudden, gripping pain.
Consuming me, the pain keeps me frozen, keeled over as it surges through my insides like an electric current that won't stop aching. My face twists with the incessant pain, my fingers digging into my lower belly as if I can pull the pain out.
“Do you have any idea what's going on?” Thane asks, his voice hoarse now as he stops half a meter away from me, keeping his distance with a hesitant hand reaching out.
“N-no!” The word rips from my throat as another searing bolt of pain slices my insides. “Hng—I don't know what's happening—gah!”
When another paralyzing ache grips me and drops me to my knees, tears flood my eyes, my vision hazy when Thane places a hand on my shoulder, and the sensation of his warmth spreads through my nerves and calms them.
“Well, I know what's happening to you. You're in heat, Willow,” Thane whispers, and I gasp in shock.
“No! That's not possible!” I protest, my eyes wide with horror as I shrug away from his touch. “I don't even—”
I don't even have a wolf. That's what I want to say, until another bout of licking pain arrests my insides, pooling in my core as if to answer my denial.
Heat.
It's something I've only ever heard about, but I've never experienced before. How is it even possible when I'm a wolfless omega?
Perhaps it has something to do with the magic that unlocked from my palms tonight in the height of a demon attack, but there's no time to think about the logistics when another shooting pain slices through my insides.
“Wh-what am I supposed to do?!” I wail when I have a moment to breathe between the contractions of pain.
“There's nothing you can do…” Thane whispers, his voice a heady drawl. “But there is something I can do.”
My eyes narrow into accusing slits as I glare at him. “No! I'm not sleeping with—”
“You wouldn't have to sleep with me, Willow,” Thane assures me with a sigh, his eyes remaining dark pits that I can barely read, except for a glint of sincerity in them. “I'll only make you feel better. I wouldn't even take my clothes off.”
He offers out a hand, but I remain hesitant to take it, glancing from his open palm to the intoxicating depths of his eyes. I can't miss the scent of mint that surrounds him, unable to stop the scent from filling my airways and making me highly aware of his bold presence.
“H-how…?” I breathe, intrigued and confused all at once, as I begin to rise to my feet again.
Thane nods at his open hand. “I'll show you. But you're gonna have to trust me.”
I open my mouth to throw out bitter, scornful words that rebuke the idea that I have to trust him—because I don't—but the words spill out as a wretched cry rips out from deep in my chest when pain slices through me again.
I'm about to fall over when strong hands grab me and keep me steady on my feet, swiftly turning me over to meet his soft eyes despite the darkness glossed over in them.
Whatever I find in those eyes—sincerity, care—has me instantly feeling better, allowing the pain to subside.
“Trust me,” Thane whispers as his hand slides across my cheek.
He cradles my face, the pad of his thumb gently stroking the scar I received when I'd been pushed around behind the Blood Claw laundry room a few years ago.
But his eyes remain soft, full of wonder, as if the scar doesn't disgust him the way I thought it would.
When his eyes flicker to my mouth, my natural response is to part my lips on an exhale, a wordless signal that I'm giving consent to cross this threshold. How can I be resistant any longer when his touch soothes me, when his mere breath has me feeling warmth throughout every inch of my body?
I nod briskly, prompting him to lean in and press his lips to mine. When a burst of pleasant, tingling sensations spreads through me, I realize that this is exactly what I needed, the pain disappearing as he kisses me.
My arms fly around his neck, a moan escaping my lips and echoing into his mouth as I search for more, deepening the kiss as I push myself toward him. Gone are the restrictions keeping me in denial of how good this feels, how much I need him, because deep down, I know I do.
I've just been resistant, but with his lips on mine, his tongue dipping into the cavity of my mouth, the sensations pooling between my thighs have me throwing all resistance away.
This feels too good…
Too good to be true, yet I don’t want it to end.
I push my chest closer, and Thane seems to understand the language of my body as he swiftly picks me up off the ground and cradles me to his chest without breaking the kiss.
It's as if all my resistance was futile in the end, clinging onto the hatred I had so tightly that it blinded me to realizing that his lips could feel like the safest place on earth.
Perhaps it's my raging hormones, and I might regret this in the morning, but it doesn't matter when his lips soothe me and calm my nervous system in a way that doesn't just take the pain away, but allows me to feel things I haven't felt before.
When he lays me gently on the bed, our lips remain locked as he begins peeling off the many layers covering my body.
He breaks the kiss, allowing me to catch my breath while he has time to rake his eyes over the exposed parts of my body.
He sucks in a breath through his teeth, an appreciative sound, as he cradles my cheek with adoration, stroking my moist bottom lip with the pad of his thumb before he slides his hand down.
The warmth his palm exudes is tantalizing as he slowly travels down the valley of my breasts, turning his hand and facing his fingertips toward the apex of my thighs.
His lips meet mine again just as his hand disappears between my thighs, his fingertips lightly brushing my moist folds.
I gasp and moan with exhilaration, my heart pounding, the sensation compelling me to part my thighs as far as they can as he toys with my folds.
When Thane breaks the kiss again, my breath is a series of hot pants as he slowly slips a long finger into my tight hole, a frown furrowing his brows as he stares deeply into my eyes.
“You haven't…” Thane's voice tapers off when I concede the unspoken question with a slow nod, my lips forming a pout.
“No…I haven't,” I whisper as he stills his finger inside me, his frown deepening as his eyes soften.
“Goddess, Willow…” he mutters, followed by a string of curses. “I had no idea.”
I shake my head fervently, reaching out to cradle his cheek, relishing in the way his beard prickles my fingertips and palm.
“It doesn't matter,” I whisper, but Thane shakes his head firmly as he proceeds to climb over me, settling between my thighs as he cradles my face with both hands.
“It does matter,” he insists in a raspy tone, and I can taste his breath in my mouth. “And I promise, I won't take what isn't mine, unless you gift it to me willingly.”
My heart skips a beat as Thane's lips meet mine again, his sultry promise lingering in every breath as he begins to move, peppering kisses down my torso until he ends up between my thighs.
Witnessing his reaction to discovering that I'm a virgin touches my heart, while his promise not to take it until I’m ready makes it feel like there might be hope—I might be able to trust him again.
His face becomes veiled by my pelvis, his long, raven black hair covering his brows, only his dark, penetrating eyes visible as he latches his lips over my bundle of nerves. I throw my head back, my mind emptying of any thoughts that might pull me away from the present moment.
It doesn't matter if I can trust him or not. My heart doesn’t matter right now. What does matter is the way his skillful tongue laps at my folds with precise flicks that send my body to places I've never been before.
Thane’s touch is gentler now, deliberate in its restraint.
Every brush of his fingers against my folds feels like an oath, one that says he’s not here to take, but to give, to soothe, to be of service during my desperate time of need.
His lips curl over my clit as he suckles the bud, his finger smooth and soft as he gently sticks it inside my aching hole.
“Oh, my Goddess!” I cry out in ecstasy when the mixture of sensations sends my body into overdrive, and I'm writhing and rocking to the motion of his ministrations.
My hands curl in the sheets, my eyes rolling to the back of my head as a tight knot coils in the pit of my belly, growing and growing until Thane's lips find mine again, softer this time, the kiss slower, lingering.
The ache that had been tearing through me shifts, replaced by a warmth that pools low in my belly, spreading like liquid fire while his fingers work magic between my thighs.
I let out a trembling breath when he breaks the kiss gently, clutching his shoulders as if I might anchor myself there, my nails digging into warm, tight flesh where his muscles flex.
His scent, primal and earthy, wraps around me, grounding me in a world that had just moments ago been spinning out of control.
For the first time in what feels like forever, I’m not afraid of the fire inside me.
I let it burn.
And Thane stokes that fire.
When he pulls back just enough to look at my face, his eyes are no longer dark with hunger, but dark with something deeper.
Reverence.
That's what it feels like when he whispers, “You’re safe,” and brushes a stray strand of hair from my face. “I’ve got you.”
Those words are my undoing. I melt beneath him, all my prior tension slipping away until all that’s left is the quiet rhythm of our breathing, the steady thud of his heart against mine, and the way he thrusts his finger between my thighs.
I close my eyes, feeling him move until the heat of his breath is on my drenched core.
His mouth returns to my folds, sucking, lapping my juices with squelching sounds filling the air as he devours me like I'm the tastiest meal he's ever feasted on.
My moans escalate into screams that reverberate off the walls in the tiny expanse of the hut, my body rolling in waves of pleasure as the tight knot uncoils from the pit of my belly, igniting every nerve fiber.
When the storm inside me finally fades, I feel weightless, spent, but at peace. No more pain. Just Thane gathering me close, his chest a solid wall of warmth as he presses a kiss to my forehead.
“Rest now, Willow…” he murmurs, his voice a low rumble that vibrates through me. “We’ll head back home at first light.”
My fingers curl weakly into his side, a silent response to what he'd just said. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, or what this means, if it means anything at all, but for now, I let my body rest against his. The pain is gone. The fear is gone. And my eyes drift closed as sleep washes over me.
All that’s left is his steady heartbeat drumming gently in my ears, and the quiet, unfamiliar comfort of being held.