Page 17 of Alpha's Chosen Mate (Wolf Billionaire #2)
CHAPTER 17
ASHER
“ I ’m not leaving. This is my father’s pack, and you are my fiancé.”
My jaw tightens. “Our engagement ended over a year ago, Sasha.” We didn’t work out. She thought I was emotionally unavailable, and I thought she was vain. It wasn’t that she was a terrible woman. I just happened to have imprinted on a different woman, and it didn’t matter how many nights I spent with Sasha—Leilani’s scent, her infectious laughter, and the sight of her body consumed me.
I was unfaithful without realizing it. I returned from my visits to France only to take a brush and bring my obsession to life. Sex with Sasha stopped bringing me peace or satisfaction. I held her for long hours while she spoke about designer clothes, shoes, parties, while she slept, and on the rare occasions when she cried for her father, but she felt me drifting.
We had fights. She would yell, cry, break things, cut herself, anything at all to get a rise out of me. It worked for a while, but eventually, I understood. I didn’t have it in me to love someone, not after everything I’d been through, but she needed me to love her. I tried, but nothing I did was enough. She wanted more than I could give, breaking up with me at the slightest displeasure, knowing I would return because I’m a man bound by his word. Until I didn’t. She raged for months, calling, texting, cursing, pleading. But she deserved better than a man whose mind was—is—fractured. A man who’d given his heart to a red-haired woman he was supposed to kill.
Tears gleam in Sasha’s teal gaze, and she leans in, placing her hands against my desk. “Is it because of her? I was there when Dad found you. I was there when no one else was, even when you shut the entire world out. I never left. Dad would never have made you his heir if it weren’t for me. Now you’re discarding me because of reason you lost everything.”
“Leilani is not her father,” I growl.
Sasha’s nostrils flare. “No? You saw her last night. She was going to kill me for no reason! I don’t see how that makes her any different from?—”
“I saw.” My fists clench. “I heard every word. You pushed her, like you’ve been doing since you arrived. She merely responded in kind. Don’t try to twist the situation to your advantage. Leilani is a good woman. And patient, quite frankly. I’ve killed for less.”
Her face pales, and I see the question in her eyes. Why did I defend her instead of my wife? A cold smile crosses my lips. “I didn’t take your side. I merely saved your life. I’ve seen Lei fight, and I feared she would keep true to her word and kill you.”
Emotions flicker through her eyes, and her lips quiver. “Lei? That’s what you’re calling her now? Why her? Why not me, Ash?” She walks around the desk, and I stiffen when she leans over, cupping my cheeks. “Can’t you see? I still love you. I can’t get over you. End things with her, and I’ll take you back. We’ll forget she ever happened.”
I have my fingers wrapped around her wrist to extricate myself from her grip, when the door opens. Our gazes snap up and I freeze at the sight of Leilani. Her hair is pulled tight in a ponytail, and the curly strands tease her bare shoulders. She’s wearing a black crop top that exposes her toned midriff, and a black spandex pants. My mouth suddenly dries and my cock stirs in my pants. Goddess .
Piercing amber eyes flick between Sasha and me, and it suddenly dawns on me that this doesn’t look good. To affirm my thoughts, the corners of her mouth tug down in a frown. I snatch my hand back from Sasha’s skin. Her sharp gaze tracks the movement, but she only blinks and unplugs a headphone. “I’m going for a run.”
She doesn’t wait for a response before turning abruptly, causing her ponytail to whip at the air, and I wonder if the aggressive swinging of her hips means she’s taunting me with her impossibly perfect ass, or if she’s still mad at me. I run my fingers through my hair in frustration. Why does nothing ever work right with us? I can’t even sleep in my bedroom anymore out of fear of losing control and following the instinct to touch, to fuck, to hold, to do things that’ll make me cringe if anyone finds out. It’s already weird enough that I climb onto her balcony every night to watch her sleep.
A soft chuckle forces me to meet Sasha’s teary gaze. “You’re pining after a woman who doesn’t even want you. How pathetic.”
Her words hit too close to home, digging deep into my into years of insecurities. I lean back in my seat and cock my head at the door as I rasp softly, “Get out.”
“W-what?”
I cut her a stern look that gives no room for argument, and her sobs fill the hallway as she races out.
“And Dan?” I ask, flipping the pancakes. Turning to locate the bottle of honey brings my gaze to the door, where Leilani stands, staring at me like I have two heads. She wipes the sweat from her forehead and eyes me skeptically when I silently wave her over.
“You’re cooking,” she says under her breath, her voice tinged with bewilderment as she approaches with caution.
“Deal with it,” I tell Bernard, and hang up. Slipping the phone into my pocket, I smile at my wife. “Hey.”
Her distrust only increases, and she skirts around me, taking a bottle of water out of the fridge. Unscrewing the lid, she half frowns, half glares at me. “What? You need something?”
I hold out a plate of pancakes topped with cream, berries, and honey. Leilani rears back like I have a pistol cocked at her. Her eyes flick from mine to the plate and back. “What gives?”
“The entire pack could hear your stomach growling from miles away.” I set the plate on the edge of the counter closest to her. “Eat.”
“If this is an apology for last night, I don’t want it.”
Typical. I smile at the too-familiar rebellion in her voice. She looks like she’s considering smashing the plate against my skull. “Alpha assholes don’t apologize, remember?”
She huffs an annoyed breath and moves the plate off the counter, planting her ass on it instead. Crossing her legs in a manner many would find unrefined, she stabs a fork into a pancake, impaling it and bringing it to her nostrils to sniff. Does she really think I’d poison her, or is she doing this for show? Another smile tips the corner of my lips. Suspicious of everything, this one.
I pretend not to watch her eat as I make more pancakes and refill her plate. She pretends I don’t exist at all, which is counterintuitive, seeing as her shoulders are tense and her heart is racing. I lean back against the opposite counter and let the full weight of my stare bear down on her. “The constructions and repairs to the Blue Moon Pack are nearly finished. I could take you to see it later.”
“I’m busy.”
“Tomorrow, perhaps?” I can’t tell if the thing that causes my heart to slow is...hope.
She wipes the corner of her deliciously plump lips. “Are you asking me out on a date? You already know what my answer is—hell no.”
“Wouldn’t you at least like to try?” I snap, unable to help it. I’m not a man who loses his temper easily, but with Leilani, everything sets me off. “I thought about everything, and I shouldn’t have kept the truth from you. About your father, about being mates, about Sasha. We’ve barely had time to talk to each other, and when we do, it’s usually to fight. That’s not an excuse, though, and I’m sorry. I’m used to problem solving alone, and not sharing details until I’ve got it under control, and I thought...I thought I’d find out who was behind your father’s death first, and deliver them to you. It’d make me less of a villain in your eyes...or a failure.”
Leilani’s lips part and close, her amber eyes softening. “A failure? Why would anyone think that?”
I brace my hands against the counter to hide their sudden trembling. I’ve never admitted this to anyone: that the air of surety, the aura, the walls I’ve built so high, aren’t always as strong as they seem. “When I took my place as alpha and gave the homeless a safe space, I promised they’d never have to go through what I did. I should’ve noticed the signs, but I was too distracted. I...failed you.”
Her eyes widen to the size of saucers. “That’s a very heavy burden, Asher. One I never expected you to carry for me.”
Pleasure scuffs against my bones, but I hide it behind a shrug. I like it when she says my name like that—softly, intimately. “I’ll carry it anyway. You’re my wife, my mate, my luna?—”
“As if you ever treat me like I am,” she sulks under her breath, stuffing her face with another pancake.
“I do, you just never act like one,” I mutter, well aware that she can hear every word. Her shoulders tighten with indignation, and before annoyance can set in, I say softly, “I’m not ashamed of you, Leilani.” Surprise widens her eyes and I push forward, needing to get the words out. “If you’re going to be respected as luna, you have to earn it. It can’t always be an extension of the respect or fear they have for me. Forcing you through every event ensures you have a chance to communicate with everyone. They’re waiting for you to ask their names, their children’s names, how they feel about the pack. They want to know you, as much as you need to know them. They want to know why I chose you, and I’ve given you every opportunity to mingle, but you choose the bar instead. You choose the wine, and it makes them think that you’d rather be drunk than be their luna.”
Her eyes flare. “That’s not...that’s not what...” Her voice trails off and she bites her bottom lip, unsure. I see the gears turning in her head, and I know the moment she realizes that I’m right. She stays quiet, looking everywhere but me.
“Last night was the first time they really saw you.” Her eyes flick to mine, to the smile teasing the corner of my mouth. “I got an earful during training this morning. They think you’re amazing, and I’m the asshole.”
A blush stains her cheeks, and it takes everything I have to refrain from touching her. I won’t, unless she wants me to. As if hearing my thoughts, she sets the plate aside and untangles her legs to let them dangle off the counter. Then she looks at me from beneath long lashes, patting the space on the counter between her legs. “Come here.”
My heart stutters, and I cross the space between us until her warm thighs cage me in. Her fingers trace the length of my tattooed arm, lifting my sleeves higher. “What do they mean?” she asks, caressing the writing.
I watch her lips move, her quick breathing, her bright, intelligent eyes, her top clinging to her sweaty skin, and my skin grows taut. “Names. Of every man, every family lost in...” My voice trails off, and understanding flashes in her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers, and my mouth dries when her soft lips press against the column of my throat. I groan, bracing my hands on her thighs as her lips travel shyly up my neck. My cock hardens when her teeth graze a vein. My hands travel up her soft, yet toned, sides, and I groan when her lips trace my jaw. “Sensitive,” she breathes against my jaw, before moving up to nip my earlobe with a sharp canine .
My hips buck and I tug her into me, burying my nose in the crook of her neck. “Quit teasing me, Lei.” A hand snakes under my shirt, hot as fire, and her nail drags along my abs before her thumb flicks a nipple, causing fire to erupt in my groin.
“I have no idea what you mean.”
I yank her off the counter roughly and she giggles, wrapping her legs around my torso. She feels me up under my shirt, appreciative sounds escaping her lips. “I can’t imagine you as a child. You must’ve been a big bundle of joy.”
“Keep touching me like that and you’ll find out how big.”
Her amber eyes crinkle with mischief, and her voice is the sultriest I’ve ever heard it when she whispers against my ear, “Oh, I think I already know.”
She pulls back and presses her lips to mine. It’s soft at first, tentative, like an offer of an apology or a truce, and I accept it wholeheartedly, abandoning the idea of taking her upstairs as need streaks down my spine. I kick the door shut, heaving her against it. Her ankles lock behind me and she meets me move for move, her wicked mouth stroking mine in a way that steals my thoughts, my breath, my control.
Her hips roll sensually and my hips thrust forward, chasing after the heat of her thighs. “Fucking pants,” I growl against her lips. My fingers dive through her silky hair, freeing it from the ponytail. I take a fistful of it, grabbing harder than I intended, but she moans, kissing me with such hunger, it turns my breathing ragged. She wants me. This perfect fucking woman wants me.
Buttons pop as she fumbles with my shirt, and I grow increasingly frustrated when it dawns on me that I can’t rip off the spandex without hurting her. “Put. Me. Down.” Every word is punctuated by a roll of her hips, and she gasps the last word. “Counter.”
I set her down without breaking the kiss and her small hands push, walking me back to the counter. My back hits the stone slab and she breaks away, peering up at me slyly. “Your neck must hurt from all the bending?—”
“Take it off,” I snarl.
Her tongue darts out to caress her bottom lip as she tugs at the band of her pants and pushes them down. A red thong peeks out and I hiss, “ Fuck .” I have her in my arms and her ass hits the counter before her pants are all the way off.
“What if someone comes in— oh .” Her hot breath fans across my cheeks as I pull her toward the edge and drop to one knee. “Asher,” she whispers, looking down at me, unsure. My fingers get lost in her soft thighs as I reach between them and push aside the thin, wet material. She moans, her head dropping back as she pushes against my fingers. She shudders as I breathe against her. “Please,” she moans. “Asher, please.”
I don’t tell her she is the first and only woman I’ve wanted to taste. I kiss the apex of her thighs, slowly working myself up until I reach her slick folds. My tongue finds her clitoris first. She gasps, parting her legs wider and propping herself on her elbows as she pushes against me. I suck on her gently, dragging my tongue down her wet pink opening and back up, slowly.
Her moan is a hoarse cry that stirs my cock. Her hands are in my hair, urging me deeper, but I ignore her request, needing to devour every inch of her first. I work a line down her slit, teasing her just shy of her asshole before returning to her clit. “Oh God...dess,” she cries out with pleasure .
She slides forward and then backward, and I laugh as she gives up entirely on getting me to do her bidding, taking the reins by moving against me. I grip her hips, holding her in place, and her warning growl is dangerous.
With one last languid stroke from her clit to her entrance, I force my tongue inside her, lavishing every last taste of her earthen sweetness. She cries out again, rolling her hips. I glance up to find her watching me, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. Well, fuck me , I think, plunging my tongue deeper, as hard as I possibly can.
Her eyes roll back and she lets out a sharp groan as a new taste floods my mouth. Her cum, sweet and musky like her scent. She pulls me up, kissing me, licking the taste of herself off my lips, and something about that filthy little action makes my cock even stiffer. She’s turned me into a sex fiend, sharing the taste of her orgasm and becoming unbearably turned on by it.
I push up the tank top, baring her breasts. I pull away, just to stare at them. I lean in slowly and she arches, pushing her pink nipples toward my lips. They’re hard and swollen as I feel the texture of each with my tongue. I tell her they’re perfect, unable to help myself as I suck hard.
Her moans grow more desperate, and her crotch soon rubs against my pants, wetting them. “I need you,” she breathes, her eyes opening slightly, and they’re a brilliant gold. “I need you inside me now, Ash.”
Ash . If she’d called me that the moment she invited me between her thighs, I would have fucked her without bothering to shut the door.
Leilani reaches between us, unbuckling my pants with record speed. My dick in her hands is a different kind of death. I pull away, stretching a nipple between my teeth as I do. “Fuck,” I cuss as she guides me to her tight heat and rubs my head against her entrance. She gasps too, a mewl slipping past her full lips. Her tongue darts out as I grab her by her throat.
“Hard?” I rasp, and she nods eagerly, spearing her pussy with my tip. I snarl, bracing a hand on the counter to keep myself up.
Her heat of her burns as she swallows my cock. She squeezes, and I have no sense of where, what, or who I am. My entire world is narrowed to the wet velvet walls of her pussy as it pulls me farther in. My teeth begin to ache, and I latch onto the skin of her neck, nipping it as I withdraw halfway and thrust back in.
I look down at where we’re joined, and a moan crawls up my throat. “Goddess, Leilani, your pussy was made for me.” She gasps as I ram into her, filling her up until her eyes are feverishly bright and her moans echo off the walls. Her pussy floods with arousal, her wetness trickling down my dick. She’s so wet, the sounds she makes against me are nearly enough to tip me over the edge.
She grabs my shoulders, locking her ankles around me once more as I hold her close, thrusting in an unrelenting motion. She bounces up and down against the counter, her ass slapping hard against the cold surface. Sweat builds on her skin, mingling with mine, and our moans fill the air.
“Does Sasha mean anything to you?” The question is so abrupt, so out of nowhere, that I nearly halt my thrusts. Now? She’s talking about Sasha now ?
“She’s a friend,” I grit out painfully as her inner walls strangle my dick .
Leilani pulls back to look in my eyes. She looks livid. Why is she suddenly mad at me again? “Did you fuck her?” Her pussy clenches again when she says “fuck,” and I have no idea what the hell is happening, because she doesn’t stop moving against me, and I sure as hell won’t stop driving into her.
“Recently? No. We broke up a year ago. There’s nothing going on between us. I’m yours, Leilani.” I pause, and punctuate the next words with two deep thrusts. “I promise.”
Her lips pucker in a cute pout, but the lust in her eyes singes me. “You still should’ve waited for me.”
Right. Only my mate would be mad that I touched other women before her. It makes something soft crawl into my heart, and I move my fingers from her throat, cupping her cheeks tenderly, in a way I never have with a woman before. When our lips fuse, it isn’t with hunger or lust. It’s something softer, deeper, purer. I kiss her with the words I can’t speak, with the emotion I don’t know how to express, and she returns it briefly, only to release a sharp cry of pleasure as my movements become less calculated, spiraling toward recklessness.
Her fingers dig into my ass, kneading it as she pulls me in, holding on tightly. Her pussy begins to pulse around my cock, and another cry rips from her lips. I groan, unable to hold back the wave of pleasure that ripples through me at the sound of her orgasm, and my cock swells in anticipation.
With Leilani, there’s never a moment to think, or hold back, or withdraw. The thought of coming inside her makes me as excited as the thought of fucking her, and my hips are bucking before I realize it, my cum filling her up and spilling onto the counter.
She falls forward and wraps her arms against my neck, holding together the pieces of me that she’s left in shambles. My arm wraps around her slim waist, and I’m content to remain in this position, with my cock still inside her. It feels oddly comfortable. It feels like home.
I start to harden again and Leilani rears back, staring at me with wide eyes. “Doesn’t it get tired? You know, shouldn’t it take a breather or something?”
I peer down at where we’re still joined, her body slick with sweat and cum, and I let the mischievous grin spread along my lips. “Or something.”
She laughs. It’s a carefree sound, and the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. I laugh too, leaning in to press a kiss on her forehead. I’m considering starting to move inside her again, but then there’s a knock on the door.
“Asher?” Talon calls out.
“Go away,” Leilani responds, burying her nose in my neck. I smile, threading my fingers through her hair.
“Glad to hear nothing’s broken in there. Though I can’t say I’ll be eating anything made in this kitchen ever again,” Talon drawls, and after a moment, he adds, “You’re never gonna guess who we caught snooping around our borders.”
My ears perk up at that, and I begrudgingly pull away from Leilani. She makes a small sound that would sell in erotic movies when I pull out of her, and I shake my head, amused. “It better be worth this interruption, or I’ll stab you with your own dagger, Tal.”
“Georgia Anderson is here…and she’s asking to see the luna.” Leilani and I stare at each other, mirroring frowns pulling at our lips. Well, that was most definitely unexpected.