Cynthia was angry alright. Angry about all her hard work being wrecked by that little upstart. But somehow this hurt felt deeper.
She felt something on her cheek and wiped at it surprised to find tears on her fingertips.
She had been crying. For Calvin? Goddess. It had to be the pregnancy hormones.
It had to.
“Cynthia.”
She was startled as she heard Calvin’s voice as though summoned from her thoughts. She wiped at her tears hastily so that he would be unable to see them and misunderstand. Hell, even she didn’t understand them.
She was too late though because he caught her hand midway to her face.
“Cynthia.”
Somehow even his voice sounded heartbroken. It was in the way he pronounced her name and held onto her hand.
She closed her eyes overcome with emotions she didn’t understand.
“Calvin, let go of my hand.”
“Cynthia, I am sorry. I really am, please stop crying. I can’t see you like this.”
To her shock, she realized she was still crying.
Horrified, she turned away from him.
“Your mate awaits, my tears are no longer your concern, Calvin. Please just leave me alone.”
He didn’t leave though.
“I thought this would be different,” He sounded haunted. “After finding Rhea, I thought my feelings for you would dissipate but I… I still care for you more than I should.”
Cynthia turned to yell at him.
To ask him how the hell that was her business. Was she the one who had told him to be so fucking emotional? What did he want her to do with the information that he had just told her?
Who the fuck did he think he was?
Instead, she found herself pulling him down for a kiss. She kissed him.
In a way, this kiss in a way felt like their first kiss to her because this was their first kiss that she didn’t have to endure like it was a punishment.
He kissed her back, his hands gentle around her as if to protect her even then, his lips on the other hand told a different story of want and barely suppressed need, and she held on tighter to him. She could have kissed him for forever.
To her chagrin, he was the one who ended the kiss. He pulled away from her and pressed his forehead against hers softly panting as they both sucked air back into their lungs.
It felt so intimate doing that. Like she was breathing in the air he gave her and she almost kissed him again, only he pulled back as if sensing her intentions.
“We can’t do that again.”
Of course not. It would be stupid. Cynthia didn’t even like him. She loved Dorian. When she opened her mouth to speak, however, something else came out.
“We could if you chose me.”
Calvin looked at her shocked. That was alright, even she was shocked. The shock faded from his face quickly and he shut his eyes as though in pain.
“She is my goddess-given mate. I can’t do that to her. I’m sorry, Cynthia. I really am.”
Then slowly as though each step hurt, he backed away from her.
“Good night, Cynthia.”
In seconds, she was alone in the woods.
She collapsed on the forest floor, her legs suddenly feeling too heavy for her.
What the hell had she just done? What was wrong with her? Had she actually started feeling–
Her burner phone vibrated. It was Dorian.
She wiped her tears away and picked up the call.
“Hello?” Her voice sounded weak and tentative even to her ears.
“Why have you been ignoring my calls?”
She gripped the phone tighter unconsciously.
“Nothing. Things have been very busy here.”
That was a lie. She didn’t know why she had been ignoring his calls.
“Really?” He sounded more than a little sceptical. “We haven’t done anything of late so what is keeping you busy?”
“Jesus, Dorian, can’t I catch a breather? I’m finally getting into Ava’s confidence, she’s gotten a load of responsibility with the new pack, and I have to help her out.”
Dorian was quiet for a moment.
“I think it’s time for you to come back home. You are getting too involved in this.”
A month ago, she would have had her bags packed and ready to go in minutes. Hell, she would have left with the clothes on her back but now…
“I can’t. You sent me here. Let me do my fucking job.”
She ended the call and slipped the cell back into the voluminous folds of her dress. A second later, he was calling back. He’d be no doubt furious that she had ended the call on him but she found that she could care less. She dusted herself up and began to head towards her home.
Maybe if she had looked back, she would have seen Jenny stepping out of a tree cover, her face expressive with shock.
*******
“We can’t.”
Adrian’s hand slipped up her thigh and Ava gasped and held on to his forearms tighter, her back pressed up against a tree as she felt his touch.
“Anyone could see– oh, goddess…”
Her voice came out husky before warping into a moan, her resistance slowly melting away.
“You should have thought of that before doing that on the dance floor.”
Adrian’s voice sounded strained as her hips began to involuntarily move with his hands.
Maybe she shouldn’t have teased him so much on the dance floor but she had had more than a little strong wine and he’d looked so handsome that the wolf in her had wanted to stake her claim in any way possible.
His fingers curled within her, her head fell back as she moaned in pleasure, her vision going white.
They were in the woods next to the pack house and the celebration wasn’t too far off. Anyone, literally anyone could pass by and see them in this position but Ava’s reservations were dead now.
All that remained was the arousal that followed all of Adrian’s touch. His lips dropped to the top of her breast pushed up by the dress. He dropped kisses on her breasts.
“You drive me to distraction.” He said between kisses, his fingers still moving inside her. “When I saw you in this dress, I wanted to rip it off you and forget your brother’s mating ceremony was tonight.”
“I hoped you would.”
Adrian looked up at her, his pupils dilated with want and she pulled him closer before kissing him. The whole world could have ever right then and she would have been at peace.
They romanced and duelled each other with their tongue, lips and teeth. Ava’s nails scored his back as he bit down hard on their mating mark. Her legs felt weak with pleasure at the orgasm that hit her hard from the bite and his fingering.
It was everything. It wasn’t enough. She needed him, needed more. Yearned for it.
“Adrian, I need–”
She reached for the waistband of his trousers unbuckling it and rubbing him through the fabric.
Adrian paused his ministrations, a mischievous look on his face.
“What if someone passes by?” He blinked innocently.
“Adrian!” She was going to kill him if he wasn’t inside her in exactly five seconds flat.
He laughed and kissed away her protest while letting her finish unbuckling his pants. Then he was in her and they were moving as one to a rhythm as old as time itself.
She felt completed, at home, at peace and thoroughly aroused. Her moans and his grunts permeated melded with the natural cacophony of the forest alongside the wet smacking sounds of their conjugation.
“I love you, Adrian.”
“I love you too, baby. Come for me.”