Page 54

His breathing got more ragged. His hand was tight around us both, moving faster and faster.

His expression as he came, his mouth hanging slack and his pupils blown wide, was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. I threw my head back against my office chair so I could stare. He took up my full field of vision. His lips were swollen and pink, a faint shine of sweat made his golden skin sparkle in the city lights peeking through the window.

How was I ever going to go without this?

It was impossible. My wolf already knew that.

We were doomed, and losing him was going to break me.

Only it couldn’t. I had my pack to think about. Crescent, too.

Fuck.

I slipped my arm around his waist and pulled him tight against me. His breath caught, the sound sharp in my ear. His arms twined around my neck, his fingers sliding through my hair in the most delicious drag.

I whined and nuzzled against his chest hard enough to flatten my nose. I wanted to open my jaw and eat him whole, the beast inside demanding as much of him as I could get.

His chest shook with his ragged inhale. When I pressed my chin against it, he leaned back, so I caught his eye.

“Do you want to come home with me?” I asked.

Dakota bit his lip.

“Or I can take you to your place,” I rushed to offer.

No matter what my wolf wanted, we couldn’t keep Dakota with us every hour of every day. He wasn’t our mate. He wasn’tours, even if he responded to the idea of a bite that could take everything from him by fisting my cock fast enough to make stars sparkle in my vision.

His expression softened. The sweetest affection shone in his eyes.

If I’d had a tail right then, it would’ve been thumping.

His fingers combed through my hair. “I was just thinking about whether or not I’m ready to talk to Donnie.”

“I don’t mind taking you there, really.” As long as I saw him to the door of his apartment, I could convince myself that he was safe, even if I didn’t particularly like Donnie.

I’d just caught him at a bad time. He’d put Dakota on edge and I was being overly protective.

I couldn’t help the thrill of victory when Dakota shook his head anyway. “I’ll just text him that I’m staying with you. I don’t want to deal with it tonight.”

He wrinkled his nose, and it was just about the cutest thing I’d ever seen.

I grinned up at him. “Perfect. I’ll make breakfast.”

As long as Dakota wanted to carve out a spot in my life, it was his.

At least while I could keep stamping down the instinct to make him mine.

27

Dakota

Istared at the back of my hand as it closed. Inch by inch, then slower, slower, until it was barely moving at all. I had a scratch across the back of my knuckles, and I wasn’t sure where it had come from. It barely looked like a paper cut, but I didn’t remember getting one of those. I should have remembered that, on the back of my hand, right?

Maybe I’d gotten it while I was sitting on Jax’s lap the night before.

“Distracted, dear?” Prudence asked me after a moment.

I jerked so hard that I almost fell out of my chair, then came back to the moment. The fire. I was supposed to be putting the fire out by increments, and instead I’d gotten lost in thoughts of paper cuts and sex at Jax’s desk.