Page 32

H azel

The moon hangs low in the sky, casting a silver glow over the estate grounds.

The cool night air wraps around me as I join Kieran by the window, my arms hugging my torso.

The distant sounds of the pack drift through the trees—low murmurs, the occasional bark of an order from a patrol, the rustling of leaves in the wind.

I inhale deeply, willing my heartbeat to grow steady. It doesn’t. Not with him standing beside me. His scent wraps around me like the warmest blanket, and I immediately miss the cocoon of his arms. I sigh.

I don’t turn to face him. I don’t have to. I can feel him—his warmth, his energy, the way the bond hums between us, thick and undeniable, restless and nagging.

I hate it.

I hate how easily my body recognizes him, how effortlessly my wolf leans toward him despite everything that’s happened.

He’s the only safe space she has. With his wolf.

And to her, no matter how bad his actions were, no matter how deep our suffering is right now, all she wants and cares about is the safety and security that our Mate offers.

Her deepest desire is still to be with Kieran’s wolf. Her fantasy of running through the grass and snow and rain with him fills my mind, and with the way my heart beats, I wonder if it has become mine too.

“Are you going to stand there all night?” His voice is rough, low, the gravel of it sliding over my skin like a physical touch.

I don’t answer. I can’t think and I don’t know what to say. My body is tight in my core, and my pulse is throbbing between my legs. I’m sure he can smell me begging to be taken by him. But he is choosing now to be respectful. I scoff in my mind.

He takes the step that closes the gap between us and rests his hand on the small of my back.

I can feel his heat against my spine. My breath catches when I realize he’s standing right behind me and the hardness I feel is his bulging throbbing cock through his pants.

He leans into me, his head so close to my ear that I hold my breath.

I feel my skin set ablaze by his closeness. Oh, how I need him.

“I meant what I said,” he murmurs. “I won’t force you into this, Hazel. But by Goddess, how I crave you…”

A bitter laugh slips past my lips. “You say that now.”

His silence stretches between us, but I don’t fill it. I let it settle, thick and unyielding, let the brew of lust swirl between us, torturing us. He can’t do anything unless I will it. And my wolf is having a little fun with the play, even though her muscles are wired with his burning tension.

Finally, he exhales. “I deserve that. I haven’t been as open to you as I should be with my Luna.”

I close my eyes, gripping the stone railing.

The last thing I want is to be with him, but my chest protests at the thought.

I’ve been lying to myself, convincing myself that I don’t need him.

But the joy that swells in my heart hearing him talk about me this way is unmatched.

Everything in me sings with glee, and I feel a giggle bubble up inside of me.

“Why are you here?” he asks, his hands sliding up my arms until they reach my jaw. He gently caresses my lower lip, and I feel the burn of his lustful eyes on me. He’s greedy and possessive as he toys with my lip. He’s doing nothing to hide the greed and hunger in his eyes.

It sends a shiver down my spine. “Because I can’t stay away.

” The honesty in my voice, now thick with need, shocks even me.

But it’s true. And I’m tired of pretending like it’s not.

Nothing Kieran will ever do will end this need I have for him.

This ache is my life because he’s not filling that void.

I know my wolf has forgiven him. She has gotten past the trauma of what we went through.

He’s here now. That’s all that matters. He wants us.

I spin to face him then, anger and something else tightening in my chest.

I shake my head. “This isn’t fair.”

Kieran lifts a hand, his fingers skimming over my jaw before I can stop him. His touch is hesitant, testing, as if waiting for me to pull away. I should.

I don’t.

His hand slides to the back of my neck, his thumb brushing against my pulse, and then he wraps a hand around it, strong, firm, tilting my head up.

I whimper with need, and I press my body into him, feeling all his hardness, all his heat, wanting to sink into it, feeling the gaping holes in my throat and between my legs he should be filling.

“Nothing about this has ever been fair.” His voice vibrates through me and I all but cum at the sound of his voice.

I hate that he’s right.

My breath stutters when he tilts his head closer, his scent washing over me—cedar and smoke and something distinctly him. His wolf.

The moment stretches between us, thick with unsaid things. Then, he tilts my face to his, and his lips brush against mine, soft and uncertain. Testing.

“I need you, Hazel,” he says, his voice strained with need he too has been keeping under control.

The tightness in his voice makes me bite my lip.

There’s nothing like the feeling of knowing you affect someone else just the way they affect you.

A Mate. There’s nothing like having a Mate. And my body sings at the thought.

The bond flares, hot and consuming.

I break first.

My fingers fist in his shirt as I crush my mouth against his, all the anger and frustration and lust and love and need and pain bleeding into the kiss. His hand tightens in my hair, his body pressing against mine, solid and warm and everything I’ve been trying to resist.

I hate him .

I want him.

The contradiction is maddening.

I must have him.

My Mate.

I feel my wolf straining against the seal, needing to feel her Mate, seeking to bond with him.

Kieran growls low in his throat, his grip tightening as he lifts me effortlessly, pressing my back against the cool stone of the balcony’s pillar. His lips trail down my neck, nipping, tasting, teasing. My wolf keens, her instincts demanding more.

I need to feel him fill me up. But he takes his time taking my dress off, exploring every bit of flesh that he exposes with every button he undoes.

His mouth captures my nipples, and I press his face into my chest, holding on to him, because all my awareness has migrated to each nipple he takes in his mouth.

“Fuck Kieran. The things you do to me,” I moan, throwing my head back, my body already surrendering to him. He kisses my belly and then further down, until he kneels before me.

The rush of seeing him on his knees, eager to please me, of knowing that he can’t help but be drawn to me, that I am the only one he can be this way for, has me feeling powerful. I grab a handful of his hair and press his face into my wetness as I grind against him.

His tongue and lips are doing a dirty number on me, and I am just a ball of quivering pleasure. He doesn’t stop, doesn’t come up for air and in a matter of seconds, I am squirting all over his face, moaning his face as I cum in an eyes-rolling-to-the-back-of-my-head kind of way.

But he’s not done. He pulls back with a transfixed look in his eyes, like nothing can break his focus from my pussy. It makes me hotter and wetter, even though my body is still quivering from the last orgasm.

“Hazel. My baby girl. My tough little bean,” he coos as he watches my pussy clench and unclench with need.

I whimper and whine as he toys with my folds, using my oozing juices as lube as he teases my clit.

The sensation goes all the way to my scalp, and I am a moaning mess again.

I need him to fill me. The need only intensifies the more he plays with me.

I want him to slide a finger inside me, or his tongue.

Or his veiny, throbbing cock. Fuck, I need him.

It doesn’t take long for me to squeal out with another orgasm.

I have to stop him. He carries me over to the table, and I position myself so that my face is right at his crotch.

“What do you want, princess?”

Fuck, who knew I was into this? All these sweet names he’s coming up with seem to just get me wetter and make my wolf more excited. I nudge at his straining bulge.

His hand connects with my mound again, and he resumes teasing me, heightening my pleasure. Oh Goddess, I’m going to burst into flames if he doesn’t slide a finger into me right now.

“Please, fill me up. I need you filling and stretching me,” I blurt, crazed with need for him, delirious with the pleasures that’s rippling through me.

In the blink of an eye, his warm flesh is on my face and I hungrily take it, my hand wrapping around his girth, my lips already running along his shaft.

“Fuck, baby, do you see the effect you have on me? Only you can do that to me. Yes, baby, just like that,” he moans, and it is the best thing I’ve heard in my life.

I take him down my throat. I don’t stop when he hits the back. I keep wriggling until I feel him slide down, and it feels like he’s going to reach my stomach if I keep going.

He hisses and slides his finger into me. I’m full of him on both ends. My wolf can’t be happier. My body thrums with satisfaction. All I feel is the euphoria of being filled by my Mate. Nothing comes close. Nothing feels better.

I need this to last forever.

He fucks both my holes. I can’t breathe, I can’t think, I can’t use my hands. I’m just an object of pleasure in this moment. All of my problems melt away with each thrust, each finger sliding into me, each flick of my clit, each time he kneads my breasts with his free hand.

I’m in heaven. And I never want to get out.

Before long, I’m squirting all over the maps and reports, I’m cuming all over his fingers, sucking them in, clenching and pulsing around the two of them. I feel his cock harden even more. He’s about to cum and the excitement from that makes me cum again.

“You’re gonna fucking milk me dry, Hazel,” he says. He tightens in my throat and soon enough, he’s spurting pumps of his seed into me.