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Alejandro tugged on my cock, and I whined. He started jerking me faster, the pace completely at odds with the pace he was setting inside me. I gasped, his finger squeezing the head of my dick and then jerking faster. He bottomed out inside me, his knot hitting my entrance and I let out a garbled yell.

“What do you want?” his voice strained.

“Fuck me, alpha. Take me with your gorgeous cock,” I begged, need twisting inside me. I wanted everything. I wanted the sweet hot oblivion.

He cursed, pushing harder inside me. For long minutes it was just him rutting against me, the slap of our bodies, his grunts of pleasure, and his hand like a vice around my cock.

Pleasure built deep inside me, spiraling out until I gasped and came. My alpha grunted, thrusting twice before knotting me. I came again, writhing against the blankets.

Alejandro’s scent and weight made me feel safe, my hindbrain relaxing. He purred, caressing his hand down my arm.

I rubbed my face on his forearm, joy seeping through me.

“When you bond me,” I said, my voice raspy, “I want it somewhere visible. Where everyone can see.”

Alejandro purred, and his cock twitched inside me. “Like your forehead.”

“No.” I swatted him, thinking the “when we bond” portion might be coming a lot sooner than I thought. “Forearm. Shoulder. Neck. Collarbone.”

“Mmm, I like that.” He kissed the back of my neck. “In the meantime, I should bite you in all those places, see what gives the best reaction.”

He proceeded to mark me with love bites everywhere, making me come again and again.

I’d have to check in with Ember and soon. I didn’t want to be the first to be bonded, but with each passing day I wasn’t sure I’d be able to last much longer.

This was my pack and I wanted to be as close to them as I could be.

Chapter 44

Ember

The worst part about being stalked, aside from the whole jangled sense of security, was the tedious waiting. It had been weeks, and some days I felt like I could crawl the walls.

I didn’t have any more threatening texts, any more photos, nothing. I’d kept my number the same, and Raina screened the Cosmic Bonds mail, but so far, nothing.

It was like after the asshole destroyed my nest, he decided to back off. I’d spoken to several detectives and they all said stalkers were unpredictable.

He could have been following me for years, or only months. The texts came from a burner phone, and the photos had been dropped off by hand. The police couldn’t trace it back to a suspect with no evidence.

No hairs, fingerprints, nothing. It felt impossible, given the level of destruction, but the knife he’d used to rip up the pillows and blankets was a basic box knife, found anywhere in a hardware store. He cleaned up after himself, and the few strands of hair they’d found at the scene weren’t in any database they ran.

Ben hired a private investigator, who was digging into other avenues, but until they had suspects to link evidence to, they were at an impasse.

Work somehow stayed the same. I worked with my clients, showing them their matches, and talking to my family about the next events. Everyone made sure to stop by my office, something that impinged on my sexy lunch time with West, but they were determined.

I was slowly going crazy. I was used to being able to go to the beach without finding someone to come with me, but everyone in my life agreed they didn’t want to leave me alone.

My stomach tightened and my skin crawled at being alone, so I didn’t fight it. It kept me cooped up between the office, the house, and sometimes the store. The building security was top-notch, so when I did go to Computer Solutions, West rode with me and we checked in via group chat.

I was stuck in my office on a nice day and had the window open. I’d spent the morning wandering the grounds in between intakes. We had cameras everywhere now, and even though the lodge wasn’t booked solid like it would be in another month or two, we had residents.

Terran and Zephyr were doing work on the cottages to prep for our busy season, and I nodded at them. I wandered over to the place the new duck pond would be and sent another subtle update to everyone’s business emails about the Operation: Quackers update.

The update, of course, was spring was the best time to install a new water feature. I was totally making that part up, but I didn’t care. It made me cackle.

Terran approached me from the south lawn, looking slightly sweaty. He raised an eyebrow. “Still pushing the duck pond agenda?”

I spread my arms out. “Picture it. Your tai chi class in front of a beautiful turtle pond, the gentle sound of water helping you balance everyone’s chi.”