Chapter 24
A growl tore from her lips as she charged, her eyes locked on Gabe. Beneath his skin, I felt more than saw the answer—Felix surging forward.
The hallway narrowed in on my best friend who stood frozen, his beautiful blue eyes wide as the Gamma slammed into him.
Then the air shifted as their souls collided.
Gabe moved in a blur, grabbing her waist as the force carried them backward, slamming her against the opposite wall.
She didn’t fight him. The thud of her spine hitting the stone echoed through the quiet penthouse as she willingly surrendered, her hands flying to grip his shoulders.
I was stunned as he buried his face into the curve of her neck, inhaling her scent like it was his only lifeline.
Olivia arched her back, offering her throat to him in total submission.
My gaze shot to Odis as a warning growl reached my ears.
My best friend was too busy dragging his tongue up her neck to notice the death reflected in the Beta’s eyes.
Odis flew toward the couple, and I jumped in front of him as the elevators dinged.
His chest hit my hands with the force of a runaway train, the impact shoving me back, knocking the wind from my lungs.
In a flash, an arm wrapped around my back, steadying me as Odis was pried off.
Ethan towered over me as he gripped his Beta with the other hand.
Aggression vibrated off him in thick, suffocating waves as he stared Odis down.
His green eyes darted to Olivia; her legs wrapped around Gabe’s waist, her fingers fisted in his hair.
“Warrick,” Ethan growled. The name filled the room with so much Alpha power the couple was physically wrenched apart by the command. Odis blinked, his silver eyes bleeding back to blue as he forced his wolf down, but his gaze remained pinned to Olivia. My heart broke for him.
“Do you know how dangerous it is to be in his path?” Ethan asked, his voice strained, directed at me. He didn’t let go; if anything, his grip tightened, pulling me flush against him.
“I…”
“Gamma,” Ethan snapped, turning his focus to Olivia.
Olivia’s eyes faded back to their natural gray. “As hard as it is for me to say this,” she rasped breathlessly, her attention snagging on Gabe as he stepped back to smooth his clothes, “this will have to wait.”
Gabe looked wrecked—and then something crossed his face, quick as a blink. It was gone before I could name it.
She turned to Ethan, her cheeks flushed even as her professional mask slid back into place. “Is it true?”
Ethan pulled me close, his fingers digging into my side as he drew me into his heat. “The trial is today.” He turned his gaze to Gabe, his eyes narrowing. “Are you ready to take the stand?”
Gabe let out a ragged breath. “Yes. When the trial is over, I’ll take whatever punishment you see fit.”
My best friend was offering himself up to the Mad King’s judgment, willing to bleed for what he perceived as his sins toward me even though the Goddess had handed him a mate and a reason to stay alive.
Olivia’s eyes lingered on Gabe. “The trials will be in the Hall, the same place the festival was held. The packs are already gathering. They’ll all be there.”
He turned to Odis, who looked like a man who had watched his whole world burn to the ground, yet he stood at attention, his hands clenched.
“Odis, escort the witness. Olivia, go with them. Ensure the perimeter is sealed. Make sure there is sufficient surveillance on the crowd, specifically Half Moon Enforcers.”
“Alpha,” Odis rasped. The word was hollow. He stepped toward Olivia, not touching her, but placing himself between her and Gabe. “This way.”
Olivia dipped her chin to me and her Alpha before following Odis toward the elevator. Gabe flashed me a reassuring smile before the doors hissed shut, leaving me in the silence of the penthouse.
I was alone with Ethan, the desert sun reaching into the room. He turned me in his arms, then lifted me without a word, scooping me against his chest. I gasped as my sandals slipped from my feet, forgotten on the floor as he carried me out of the sanctuary and onto the terrace.
He set me on the railing. The stone was cold against the back of my legs as the heat of his body moved between my thighs.
When I tilted my head back to look at him, my lips parted. My mate was a beautiful, swirling madness that promised both ruin and safety.
“The voices…” he trailed off, his voice a gravelly friction as his lips brushed the sensitive skin of my ear. “They want me to keep you here. To lock the doors and let the world rot while I mark every inch of you.”
His hand slid down my spine, a heavy heat that made me shiver.
“Hold the rail, Adea.”
I did as he said, my knuckles turning white as I gripped the cold stone of the terrace railing. Behind me was the drop—hundreds of feet of open air and the sprawling territory. He lifted me with one hand, his strength effortless, while the other moved with a violent, sudden snap.
I heard the metal button fly and the heavy seams of my shorts give way as he shredded the denim aside, exposing the dark red lace clinging to my hips.
The stone was ice against my bare skin when he’d placed me back down. He fell to his knees between my legs, the movement so sudden it stole my breath.
He didn’t hesitate, draping my legs over his broad shoulders.
My mouth went dry at the sight of him. I wanted to touch him, to feel the thick silk of his hair between my fingers, but I stayed pinned by his gaze.
I looked over my shoulder for a split second at the world. My heart battered against my ribs.
Then, heat kissed my inner thigh. I arched into it, my focus snapping back to the man below me.
“I need you to smell only of me,” he growled, his hands sliding up my inner thighs. “I want your juices all over my face when I look that bastard in the eye and decide how he dies.”
“Ethan,” I rasped, my fingers fisting in the hair at his temples. The wind howled around us and I wondered if they felt his wrath too.
“I want to fuck you until you’re locked on my knot,” he whispered, his eyes bleeding into gold as Erebus surged to the surface. “We want it. We want to keep you under us until you forget how to speak anyone else’s name.” I was reflected in his eyes and my soul reached out for his.
“I’m yours,” I breathed.
He pushed my shirt up, my bra springing free in the cool air.
His eyes darted to my rolls and up to my heavy breasts.
His gaze darkened before he looked me in the eyes and dragged his tongue up my core, right over the dark red lace.
Everything clenched as I wriggled. His rough finger pulled the fabric aside, and his tongue repeated the action on my exposed pussy.
“Oh.” I moaned.
The sound undid him. He buried his face between my thighs, his tongue lathering and driving into me with feral desperation. He was relentless against my clit, hot and heady as he elicited wave after wave of agonizing pleasure from me.
His head bobbed as I cried out. Everything tightened as my feet dug into his back. “It feels…” I trailed off. My fingers loosened from the rail as I hurtled over the edge. I spasmed on the edge, and he growled against my sensitive flesh, “Hold on!”
The command made my thighs shake, but I gripped the rail again, trapped between the abyss behind me and the beast in front of me.
But he didn’t stop. He worked his tongue in a punishing rhythm that had me writhing against him, desperate for more and escape as a second, sharper climax coiled in my gut before the first had even faded.
“Ethan!” I cried, but he was a predator claiming his prize. He pushed two fingers into me, stretching me, and I saw stars. I watched as they disappeared into me, his eyes locked on mine as his tongue lapped up my juices. I spasmed against his tongue as it dragged up my clit. Again and again.
“Oh, please,” I whimpered as that white-hot pressure built up inside me again.
“You’re mine,” he murmured against my skin, his face slick with me as his fingers sped up. The gold in his eyes locked on my face. “Cum on my tongue, Wildflower.”
He didn’t let me down. He kept the pressure constant, dragging me toward a third, soul-shattering release.
I screamed his name as I came undone yet again. I convulsed around his fingers, breathless and sobbing. His eyes never left mine, a look of territorial satisfaction on his face as he drank in my release.