Page 11 of Code Mages & Empty Pages (Frostfire #2)

Luc

T he rut hit me hard by midweek. After days of restless nights, sharpened senses, and Dawn’s scent driving me out of my mind, I was ready to snap.

It didn’t matter how many cold showers I took, or how many times I hit the gym.

I was teetering at the edge and fought myself every time she brushed past or I caught her eyes across the kitchen table.

I knew what this was. I’d gone through a rut plenty of times before, but never with someone I wanted so badly it hurt living under my roof.

By the time Friday rolled around, I ran out of ways to keep my distance. The urge was a living thing in my chest, raw and hungry. My skin felt too tight, and my patience was worn paper-thin. I didn’t trust myself to be alone with her. Who knew how long the mask I wore would hold.

I managed to somehow keep it together until we arrived back home from work. Then she smiled at me over her tea, and everything in me snapped.

“Dawn.” My voice came out lower than usual as I stalked across the kitchen.

She froze by the counter and looked up at me. “Yeah?”

I tried to swallow the saliva that pooled on my tongue.

No drooling!

“I have a proposition for you.”

One of her eyebrows crept up. “Okay… what kind of proposition?”

I took a shaky breath. “You can’t tell me you don’t feel the tension between us. It’s not just me.” I couldn’t even form a coherent sentence anymore.

She fidgeted a little. “No, it’s not just you.”

Relief coursed through my body and calmed my nerves a bit. “Good. Because my rut’s making me climb the walls. I need some relief. And you said you needed inspiration for your book, right? Maybe we could help each other out.”

She narrowed her eyes like she was still catching up. “How, exactly?”

I cleared my throat, trying not to sound desperate. “I could, uh, help with your next book? Maybe your next MMC is a French Wolfman. Didn’t you say his name was Julien?”

She snorted. “He’s a Dragon. But it is still a nerdy office romance, so I’ll give you that.”

I groaned, grinning despite myself. “Figures. Still, if you ever need research on steamy workplace hook-ups, I know several spots at Frostfire that would be great for hookups. The server room is a classic, and the broom cupboard would be decent too. I’m just saying, for research purposes only.”

Dawn laughed for real, and the tension in the room lightened, though my pulse was still hammering. Then her expression turned serious. “Alright, assuming I said yes… We’d need ground rules.”

Nerves and anticipation tangled in my chest. “Absolutely.”

She ticked them off on her fingers. “First: if either of us wants to stop, we stop. No questions asked.”

“Agreed.” I tried not to sound too eager.

“Second: Honesty. If this gets weird, we say so. No bottling things up.”

“Yes. No drama.” I forced a steady breath, as my hungry brain caught onto the change in how she spoke.

She’s considering it.

“And third…” She hesitated. “This is just for research, and to help you with your rut. No strings attached and no expectations? We keep this out of work, and nobody else finds out.”

Dawn licked her lips. I nodded as my eyes dropped to her mouth. “Yes, it’s just pressure relief and research, no strings.”

A pause settled between us, thick with anticipation. She gave a wry half-smile. “So, colleagues with benefits?”

“Yeah.”

She exhaled softly “I need to think about it, okay?”

“Of course.” I raked a hand through my fur, desperate to keep my distance. “I’m sorry if I read your signals wrong. Rut makes it harder to see clearly.”

Dawn pressed her lips together and fidgeted some more on the spot. “You didn’t. I just need to think about it, Luc.”

“Take your time,” I managed. My voice was tight with restraint.

I spent the next hour pacing my room, every sense dialled up and my mind running wild. When the knock finally came, I almost lost my shit. I opened the door and leaned on the frame, trying to look casual.

Dawn hesitated for a second, took a steadying breath, and looked right at me. “I’m in.”

The relief was like a punch to the gut. “Are you serious?”

She nodded, almost shy. “Yeah.”

I had to be sure. I took a half-step closer, heat rising under my skin. “You really want this, Roe?”

Her palm found my chest, warm through the fur. “Yes, I do.”

That was all I needed. I pulled her into my arms and claimed her mouth in a kiss that was more desperate than careful. Her legs came up around my waist, and I carried her to my bed, lowering us onto the duvet. She tasted like bergamot and everything I’d been starving for.

My kisses turned frantic. I tried to slow down but failed. Her hands were in my hair, then on my chest. She tugged at my shirt. “Can we start now?” I breathed into her skin, already half-undone by the way she clung to me.

“I think we kind of answered that question already.” She giggled, then kissed me again. And I lost the last thread of my restraint.

“I want you, Roe. I want you so bad it hurts. Tell me I can have you?”

Her voice was soft, but the words were firm. “Yes, Comte. You can have me.”

Some of the tension in me eased.

Just a few minutes and I can knot her to me.

I kissed her again, gentler this time, one hand cupping her cheek and the other stroking down her body. I pushed her shirt up, then trailed my palm over her breast. She groaned when my thumb brushed her nipple. “You are so fucking gorgeous, Roe.” I meant every word. “I have an implant.”

Dawn sobered up for a moment. “Oh, right. Are you tested, too? I am.”

She gasped and let her hands and gaze roam my chest. Every inch of me burned with need.

“Roe,” I groaned when my fur bristled under her palms. “I’m tested. I need you, please.”

“What are you waiting for, Comte?”

Her legs fell open for me. I didn’t trust myself to go slow anymore, but I had to pump the breaks. She was too beautiful to be devoured by the Big Bad Wolf, no matter how horny he felt. A woman like Roe needed to be savoured.

Moon Goddess.

I stared down at her slick cunt, and my lips coated with saliva.

She is perfect.

My hands wandered over the faint silver stripes at her hips, her stomach, and her thighs. They mesmerised me. It looked like a part of me was already under her skin.

I groaned her name as I reached her breasts and stroked her tight nipples.

“Luc, please…”

“I hear you,” I whispered as I lined my cock up with her centre and pressed inside. I went cautiously at first, waiting to feel her open for me, and paused to memorise every sound she made. “Moon Goddess, you’re tight.” My voice was ragged, all pretence stripped away.

She wrapped herself around me and urged me deeper. I lost myself in the way her body welcomed me and the gasp of her breath as I stretched her. Dawn’s eyes narrowed with lust when I was nearly fully inside her and my knot pressed insistently against her slick flesh.

“All of you,” she groaned.

I kissed her temple, her cheek, and her jaw as I cradled her in my arms and moved in her. I went gentle at first, then fucked her deeper when she met my every thrust.

“You’re making it so hard for me to hold out,” I panted against her skin.

Dawn arched beneath me. “Good, I don’t want you to hold out. I want you to lock us together, Comte!”

Her words erased my last bit of control. I slammed my lips on hers and thrust my tongue inside. I needed to be inside her in every way. Roe mewled into the kiss when I pushed my knot into her tight body.

I never wanted it to end.

“Comte!” she cried, her hands fisting the fur at my neck as her hips urged up against mine to chase that last bit of friction she needed to fall for me.

Our kiss turned frantic, and I dug my fingers into her ass cheeks, pushing her core against mine.

Her muscles squeezing around my knot made it impossible for me to hold back a moment longer.

My animal howled with relief when I spilled myself deep inside her and her body contracted and pulled my cum deeper.

By the Moon Goddess. Sex during my rut was usually a primal affair. But nothing, ever, had topped this. I licked a few drops of sweat off her skin, then pressed a kiss on her hammering pulse.

“Wow,” Roe breathed.

Wow, indeed.