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43
ALICIA
I stare at him. What he’s saying-it’s the solution to everything. “You would do that?” I ask.
“Are you joking?” He cups my cheek. “For you? Anything, Alicia. And…” He closes his eyes and inhales sharply, and it almost looks like something is causing him pain. “And for Emmy.”
“I’d never have asked it of you,” I murmur. “To fight Lonnie-” “I can take that fucking creep.”
“I know. I know you can.” But it scares me anyway, the idea of Brandon going into battle. He was a fighter when he was young, it’s true, but he’s not young anymore, and from what I can tell, he’s been deliberately avoiding this kind of brawl decades. How can I let him do this?
For a moment, I’m tempted to stop the whole thing. I could tell him no. I could tell him that it wouldn’t make a difference, that I wouldn’t stay anyway. I could tell him there was no point in seeking out a fight like that, because even if he won, it wouldn’t change anything.
That would be a lie, though.
I love Brandon so much I can hardly bear to leave him, even with things as they are. If he could make this change, if he could take over control of the pack…
Well, then it would be a safe place for me and my daughter at last. Deidre would have no power to torment us. Lonnie wouldn’t be a danger to us.
And he’s doing it for me.
I think it’s the sexiest thing that’s ever happened to me in my life.
I crawl into his lap and straddle his hips so we’re face to face. I take his head between my hands and kiss him, deeply and passionately.
“I am so in love with you,” I breathe.
He slides his hands up the back of my shirt, and I raise my arms so he can pull it up over my head. His fingers twist open my bra, and I shake that away too.
“Is this okay?” he murmurs. “Doing this in your father’s house, I mean?” I smile. “We’ll have to be quiet.”
It makes me feel young again, getting naked under my father’s roof, being careful not to make too much noise so we won’t be caught. Just the thought of it makes the nerves in my body light up, and a wave of heat rushes through me.
Brandon buries his face in my breasts, and I feel his cock twitch against me. My whole center throbs in response to him, and I rock gently, teasing myself, feeling him grow harder.
He moans. It’s the most fragile, human sound-nothing like the usual growls and howls of the wolf when we’re fucking. It’s tender and sweet, and my heart breaks a little. I want nothing more than to give him all the pleasure my body can provide.
I climb off him. It’s hard to force myself to do that, but it’s in the service
of a greater good. I strip off my pants quickly, then go to work on his.
He starts to take off his shirt as I’m unzipping him, but I shake my head. “Stop,” I tell him.
“You don’t want it off?”
“Oh, I do. But I want you to let me do it. I want to do everything for you today.”
“You don’t have to-”
“Hush. You’re about to go to battle for me,” I say. “Before I send my mate away to fight, I’m going to give him everything. I just want you to sit still and enjoy it.”
He nods. Then he says, “Your mate?” “Of course.”
“My mate,” he breathes, and I see the hint of yellow around his pupils that tells me the wolf is responding.
“Lift your hips,” I tell him quietly, and he lifts up off the bed so that I can pull his pants down to his ankles. I wrap a hand around his thick cock and stroke it a few times, then I climb back onto his lap, gripping his cock so that I can slide down onto it.
I wrap my legs all the way around him and sit very still for a moment, relishing the way it feels to be filled up by my mate. He lets out a soft groan. I can feel him throbbing inside me, and I know the pleasure is building in him. I also know he’s aching for more, just like I am.
I press my lips to his, a brief kiss, and without pulling away, I murmur, “We’ve got to be so quiet.”
“I know.”
“My dad…you know his memory’s not so good. He might forget I’m supposed to be in here. If he hears something, he might come to investigate it
-”
“He won’t hear anything.” I can hear the alpha in Brandon’s voice. He’s all authority and commitment and confidence, and in that moment it’s clear to me I’m only setting the pace and tone of this night because he’s allowing it. He could flip me over and absolutely ravage me. Fuck, he’s done it before plenty of times.
But I asked for control. He’s giving me control.
My alpha.
I roll my hips, grinding into him, feeling the slow drag of him inside me. Every part of my body sings with pleasure. I feel so alive, so full and satisfied, and yet at the same time so hungry. I want to ride this as high as I can. I want to take all possible pleasure from his body and give it all back to him.
Brandon grabs my ass, and I think he’s going to pull me against him, guide me closer, but he doesn’t. He’s just hanging on for the ride, not applying any pressure. I’m so impressed by the restraint he’s showing. He knows I want to be in the driver’s seat, and he’s letting me.
And I’m ready to make this more aggressive. I push him down onto his back, releasing my legs from around him to give him room. I stay upright over him, bouncing on his cock, and I move my fingers to my clit.
“Do-do you want me to do that?” He’s gasping. He’s so out of control, and yet so on top of things. I really don’t know how he’s doing it. I’m about to spin out of control myself.
I shake my head. I do want him to-I fucking love it when he touches me, and the feel of his fingers is even better than my own, which I’ve never been able to say about any man before in my life. But today I want him to focus on his own pleasure.
I trace his lips with the fingers of my free hand as I start to play with myself. I know how he loves my hands. A moment later, he sucks two of my fingers into his mouth and massages them with his tongue.
Something in my body short-circuits. It’s like wires have been crossed, and I swear I can almost feel the rough press of his tongue dragging against my clit. I’m close now.
I ride him harder. I’m going to come first, I can tell, and I want to take him with me if I can. I know I need to stop touching myself if I’m going to make this last, but I physically can’t do it. My hips are bucking into my hand, and Brandon’s hitting me so fucking deep-
It takes me by surprise when it happens. I gasp and slam my hips forward into my hand, into the pressure of my fingertips, and spasms shake my body as I come and come.
I collapse on top of him when it’s over, my fingers slipping free of his mouth, and his arms come up to catch me and lower me gently down onto his chest. He’s breathing hard. Panting. I know he hasn’t come yet.
But he waits, his fingers trailing slowly up and down my spine.
Eventually, my breathing slows a bit, and the insane sensitivity of my body fades a little.
“I’m going to fuck you,” Brandon breathes into my ear-so soft, so quiet. I nod. “Yes,” I whisper back.
“I’m going to take you.” “I want it.”
“You’re just going to lie here in my arms, and I’m going to fucking pound you until I come.”
“Please. Please.”
He grabs my hips, and a thrill shoots through me at the awareness of
what’s about to happen.
And then he’s bucking up into me, moving so ferociously that I feel like his hips are trying to bounce right off the bed. I’m sure that if he wasn’t holding me in place, I’d be thrown off him and to the floor. Pleasure starts to build in me again.
His panting gives way to a low growl, and I know the wolf is rising in him.
His lips press to my shoulder, and then his teeth.
He’s going to bite me, I realize, dizzy with desire. I’ve been with shifters before Brandon, but I’ve never had the bite of a mate. This will make our bond official. This moment will cement him as my mate, and me as his.
The thought of it pushes me right to the brink of orgasm. I focus on the feel of those teeth against my skin, waiting for the right moment. He’ll bite me when it’s time, and that’s when I want to come.
“Take me,” I breathe. “Make me yours.”
He growls and lifts his hips, raising us both into the air, fucks into me in three quick bursts-
And then he bites down.
I feel the pain of the bite right along with the heat as he comes inside me, and it’s too much. I have to clap a hand to my mouth to hold back a scream.
Brandon rolls us over so he’s on top of me and shoves into me with all the force and weight gravity can give him. I’m a shaking, fucked-out mess underneath him, with his teeth and his cock still penetrating me, with my orgasm still zipping through my body. I manage to get a leg around his waist and pull him even harder against me, and he grinds so hard it feels like he’s trying to dig himself deeper.
I don’t know how long we lie like that, waves of pleasure breaking over us.
It feels like it’s never going to end.
Eventually, though, things crescendo-and fade.
I stare up at him as my body starts to relax. This didn’t even feel like sex.
I’ve had plenty of sex in my time, but this was transcendent.
If this is what it’s like to be fucked by your mate, it’s a damn shame I didn’t start sooner.
He rolls off me, but I don’t want him to go. I don’t want to be apart from him. Not ever. Even the few inches he’s putting between us to take the weight of his body off mine feels like too much distance.
I turn with him so that my head is resting on his shoulder, and to my great satisfaction, he wraps an arm around me and pulls me in close.
“You’ll stay tonight?” I murmur. “I’ll stay as long as you’ll have me.” “Well, that’s forever.”
He chuckles. “In that case, we might want to move back to my place.”
I smile. It’s a little thing, what house we’re in, but for the first time in a long time, I feel like I have choices. It’s a great feeling.
I get up and go to Kayla’s room. She’s back from her walk and curled up in bed with Emmy asleep beside her. I scoop my daughter up, careful not to wake her, and bring her back to my room.
That night, for the first time, my whole family falls asleep together.