Page 30 of Brutal Reign (Shadowed Heirs #5)

30

R iver’s dark hair whips in the breeze behind her, the long strands tangling as she enters a small clearing and the wind picks up. The muscles in her long tan legs bunch and flex beneath her olive skin, the sunlight beaming down from the break in the tree cover overhead illuminating her with an ethereal glow. She slows to a stop, folding over at the waist and pressing her palms to her knees, chest heaving with the exertion of her run as she struggles to catch her breath.

She’s continued hitting the trail every morning, despite how grueling it is for her. I’m surprised she didn’t skip today’s run, though, considering what she got up to last night.

While River and Seb were upstairs in the lounge, I was lying awake, blinking at the slats of the empty bunk above mine, mind conjuring up all kinds of scenarios for how their talk might be going. Five minutes after I watched her slink through the shadows and head upstairs, I decided it must be going well since she hadn’t come stomping back down. Twenty minutes in, I figured it was going really well. Around the thirty-minute mark, I rolled toward the wall, slipped a hand in my boxers, and like an absolute fucking pervert, jerked my dick to the mental image of my best friend nailing my girl while twenty-three other people slept soundly in the same room.

Hey, it was better than interrupting. Though they probably wouldn’t have minded if I came up to watch. River seemed to enjoy my eyes on her in the DJ booth, and Seb never passes up an opportunity to show off like a damn peacock.

All things considered, it’s probably for the best that I left them to their own devices. They needed to work out their shit amongst themselves– which they clearly did, because when Seb climbed up into his bunk at midnight, he moved like he was ten pounds lighter. And he reeked of River Jacobsen.

Strawberry chapstick, pine, and a subtle trace of motor oil. The scent wafts to me on the breeze; River’s signature brand of temptation. My wolf perks up as it registers, chuffing in satisfaction. He pulls on the threads of the bond, my chest tightening as the invisible tether between us strains.

River jolts upright, ripping her earbuds out and snapping her head back and forth in alarm. Spinning around in a circle, her hazel eyes scan her surroundings, searching intently.

“Come out, stalker!” she calls.

Shit, guess the jig is up. Slinking from the cover of the trees, I step out onto the path, beaming a grin at River as I jog ahead briskly to meet her in the clearing.

“If you want to run with me, you can just ask, y’know,” she scolds as I approach, folding her arms over her chest and popping out a hip sassily.

“What fun would that be?” I drawl, running my tongue over my teeth as I give her an appreciative once-over. “People are only themselves when they think nobody’s looking.”

“Spoken like a true stalker,” she scoffs, rolling her eyes.

A chuckle rumbles in my chest as I shrug a shoulder. “Hey, at least I enjoy my hobbies.”

She arches a dark brow. “Meaning?”

“Well, you obviously hate running. And as I recall, you also hate waking up early. Wouldn’t it be easier to just sleep in, show up late to practice, and get your conditioning in by running punishment laps?”

A little puff of air escapes her lips, brows pinching together. Guess she’d never thought of that.

“Whatcha listening to today?” I ask, eyeing the earbuds clutched in her fist.

She unfurls her hand, extending them toward me in offering, and I pluck one up, tucking it in my own ear and tapping it to play. The chords of a familiar guitar rift tickle my brain, the corner of my mouth lifting in a smirk.

“These guys again?” I muse, pulling it out and handing it back over.

“They’re great,” she declares as she tucks her earbuds in her pocket. “It’s actually annoying how great they are, because it’s impossible to get tickets to see them.”

“Hm,” I grunt, my expression not giving anything away.

She’s going to lose her shit when I give her these tickets.

“I should probably be focusing on training camp right now, anyways,” she adds, waving a hand in a gesture of indifference. “It’s a Friday night show, and I’d be kicking myself for staying out late when I had to wake up early for practice on Saturday.”

Sure thing, babygirl. You’ll be whistling a different tune when I surprise you with the tickets.

“Yeah, probably,” I mumble, stepping in closer. I need to steer this conversation in another direction before I let something slip– and naturally, my mind goes right back to where it was when I was lying in the dark, stroking my dick to the mental image of her writhing in pleasure. “Seb give it to you good last night?”

Her body stills, breath puffing out in a short burst. “Wh-what?”

I slide an arm around her waist and tug her in, leaning down to run my nose along the column of her neck and inhaling deeply. “I can smell him on you,” I growl.

“Does that bother you?” she breathes, tilting her head to give me better access as I trail my lips up to her jaw, nipping the curve of it with my teeth.

“No, just makes me want to leave my scent on you, too,” I murmur.

She slides her palms up onto my shoulders, pressing her body tight against mine and reaching up to stroke a palm over the top of my buzzed head. “Do it, then,” she pants.

I chuckle against the shell of her ear, nipping the lobe. “Nah, not yet.”

River gapes at me as I let her go and rock back a step, smirking.

“What are you waiting for?” she huffs in frustration. “Are you not…” she suddenly trails off, throat bobbing with a hard swallow as she averts her eyes. “Are you not attracted to me or something?” she mumbles softly.

“Babygirl,” I growl, retaking the distance I put between us and grabbing her by the chin. I lift it, forcing her to meet my eyes so she can see the truth behind them. “I am so goddamn attracted to you that it’s unhealthy. You’re the only thing my mind ever wants to think of; the only thing my eyes ever want to look at. But I’ve waited a long time for you, and I’m not about to rush this. When I have you, I want to enjoy Every. Fucking. Second .”

A deep blush rises to her cheeks, a shallow breath puffing from her lips. The heady scent of her arousal permeates the air as she blinks her long lashes at me, hazel eyes turning molten. “Jesus, Ace. Stop winding me up if you’re not gonna do anything about it,” she grumbles.

I chuckle lowly, banding one arm behind her back and sliding my other hand down the front of her belly. “Who said I wasn’t gonna do anything about it?”

Her breath hitches as I tuck my fingers beneath the waistband of her leggings, slipping past her panties and cruising down to the apex of her thighs. “See, the thing with pretty little wind-up dolls…” I pinch her clit between my fingers, her mouth opening on a sharp gasp. “All they need is a little twisting to let go.” River’s knees buckle when I do exactly that, her arms flying up to cling around my neck.

As if she needs to catch herself. I’m her mate. She’s mine , which means I’ll always be here to catch her.

I tighten my hold around her waist, supporting her weight as the fingers of my other hand start toying with her clit, building friction.

“Ace,” she whines needily.

My cheek brushes hers as I lean in. “Let go, babygirl,” I whisper into the shell of her ear.

She buries her face in the crook of my neck, panting against my skin as I work her up into a frenzy. I’m talented with my fingers; foreplay is my forte. It doesn’t take long to bring River right to the edge. Then she shatters beautifully, trembling through her release as I hold on tight, not letting her fall when her legs give out beneath her.

River’s panted breaths warm my skin as she slowly comes back into herself, finding her feet and picking her head up. Our gazes collide, molten copper swirling in her irises. My inner wolf surges to the surface, peeking back at hers through my own.

Slipping my hand out of her leggings, I bring it down in front of her, cupping her mound through the fabric. “Soon,” I promise, jaw clenching at the discomfort of my hard cock straining against the confines of my boxer briefs. “Not yet, but soon.”

She bites her lip coquettishly, dark hair swishing around her face as she nods in agreement.

Shit, I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to hold back. She’s a fucking vision in her post-orgasmic state, face flushed and expression soft.

Her arms slip from my neck as I release my hold on her body and rock back a step, digging a hand into my pocket for my phone and earbuds.

“Let’s sync our phones, listen together while we run,” I suggest.

A disbelieving laugh bubbles from River’s throat, hazel eyes widening on me like I’m insane. “You want to run after that?”

“Gotta get back to the complex somehow, right?” I mumble, unlocking my phone and pulling up the Spotify app before flickering my gaze back up to hers. “Unless you wanna shift…”

“No, we should run,” she blurts, then snaps her mouth closed, quickly schooling her look of panic. “I mean, I need to condition in human form, not as my wolf,” she adds with a laugh, trying a little too hard to come off as casual. “She’s got no problem with running, I’m the slow one.”

“Sure thing, babygirl,” I agree, smiling at her as I hand over my phone so she can sync it with hers. “Whatever you want.”

She nods as she takes it from me, seemingly satisfied that I’ve bought her act.

I definitely didn’t, but that’s something I’ll file away for later.

We get our music synced and slip our earbuds in, hitting the trail back to the squad complex. I match my pace to her slow one, the two of us jogging side by side while listening to the band we’ll be seeing together in just a couple days, unbeknownst to her. Keeping secrets can be fun, in the right context.

In others, secrets are dangerous. They can have catastrophic consequences if they reveal themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. I suspected something was going on with River’s wolf before, but now I know she’s hiding something. And I need to find out what it is before we’re in the wrong place at the wrong time and it blows up in all our faces.