Page 89 of Ascendant King

Cade made a face, as though he had tasted a lemon. “Are you suggesting that in the soap opera version of our lives, your mother slept with Leon, or she adopted you secretly?”

“Secret adoption,” I said confidently. “And in the soap opera version of our lives, one of us is going to end up in a coma.”

“No, no comas. Fake death, followed by evil twins.” There was a flash of a smile on Cade’s face. “In fact, I think we should both be evil twins.”

“It’s a bit hard to be evil when the two of us are the ones fighting to save wolves and mages.” I let my eyes linger on him, on his face. We had taken House Bartlett. We had broken the ties to the poison that was hurting mages.

It should have felt like success.

Instead, I felt an ache of dissatisfaction. My sister was in the wind. We still had to figure out how to stop the poison from hurting other supernatural creatures.

And we had to find Leon. That was the part that echoed in my head, a drumbeat that sounded like paws pounding on the forest floor as we chased down prey.

“Don’t you want to go after your sister?” Cade asked, his voice gone serious.

A thick, choking feeling grabbed me by the throat. “No.”

I coughed, trying to clear it, but I couldn’t. When I tried to close my eyes, Cade grabbed my chin, turning me to face him, and his steady gaze was the one thing I could hold on to. I could trust his gaze.

“No,” I repeated. “I hope she gets away. I hope I never see her again so I don’t ever have to deal with what I’m going to do with her. We can’t hold her forever. It’s… the whole situation is untenable. I don’t know what to do with her.”

Cade swallowed. “We’ll figure it out. Together. You don’t have to deal with her alone ever again. I told you the last time this place felt like home was when you were here?”

I raised my eyebrows, my breath still coming unsteady. There was so much to do, but I couldn’t tear myself away from him. I couldn’t force myself to do anything but stay in his presence, bask in the warmth of his body.

“Is that still true?” I murmured.

“The house wasn’t my home. You were.” Cade leaned into me, covering my mouth with his. His soft lips gave in, and I let my tongue sweep into his mouth, moaning as he pressed himself against me.

I wanted to be naked again, fresh from a shift, my skin still feeling overwhelmed. I wantedhim.

Cade gasped, pulling back. “We shouldn’t.”

I surged forward, covering his mouth with mine. His magic twisted at my neck; my blood still painted his skin. I neededmore.

He said I made him feel safe, but he made me feel like I belonged to someone, to something. I might be alpha of my own pack now, buthewas the first one who made me feel like I was anything more than a lone wolf. I wouldalwaysbelong to him.

Cade moaned, gripping my shirt tightly, but my shift hadn’t torn the fabric, and his fingers did little more than tug at the threads. He reached his hand down, grabbing at the pants I had just barely put on, sliding his fingers under the waistband.

“We need to go check on everyone,” I said against his lips, even as he found my cock, wrapping his palm around it.

He pulled, and I hardened underneath his fingers. We didn’t have time. He was covered in my blood; I still felt a sting in my throat from where his magic had sliced through it.

But I couldn’t resist. He had killed me and then brought me back. He had decided he needed me more than he needed revenge. The knowledge of it sat heavy in my stomach, twisting tightly.

BecauseIneeded him. Ineededto know that even if my pack left me tomorrow, even if I lost a battle against a stronger alpha, Cade would always need me, Cade would alwayswantme.

Cade stroked harder, his hand too tight, too much friction. I moaned, throwing my head back, grabbing at the back of his neck with my hand and squeezing tight.

When I leaned forward, kissing along his jaw, I tasted salty blood. My blood. As I licked at the skin, Cade moaned, lifting his chin, exposing his throat. Then, he pulled his hand free.

My entire body shuddered, shivering from the lack of contact. But his hand worked his own pants, shoving them down his hips, and then both of his hands found the front of my pants, trembling as he tried to get the button undone.

The waistband of my jeans scraped over my cock, oversensitive. I yelped but not quite in pain.

Then both of Cade’s hands were around our hard cocks, pumping. I felt the drag of his palm against the underside of my cock, and the soft skin of his own member. He shuddered, and I came a second later, our hot come spilling between us.

We leaned against each other, only upright because of the other.