Page 139 of Contested Crown

Cade stepped back, eyes wide. Then, he shook his head, picking up the snake and taking him to an obliging pillow. Once Basil was settled in a loose spiral, Cade returned, placing one hand in my hair and pulling me down to his mouth.

“You love me?” His breath warmed my skin.

“Yes.” I whispered the word, hoping that he could hear my desperation in it, the yearning I felt in my chest for him.

He unbuttoned my pants with one hand, sneaking his hand inside my underwear, stroking my hard cock. I needed him. I needed him like I had never needed anything before.

“You ate from my portion,” I said, closing my eyes and rocking onto the balls of my feet, needing more contact.

“You let me.” Cade’s words dripped with desire, and I opened my eyes to see him looking at me hungrily. He pushed me back until I ran into a small couch in the center of the room, sitting down abruptly when my legs gave out.

Cade released me, then opened his own pants, pushing them down to expose his cock. He was already hard, and when I looked up at his face, there was a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

He swallowed, and I followed the bob of his Adam’s apple. “Suck.”

My breath hitched, and for a moment, I could feel the tension in myself, the part of me that wanted to say no. I was the alpha. I made all the decisions. No one told me what to do.

But I wanted to. I wanted to let him choose for me, let him tell me what to do. In giving in, I wasn’t giving up my own power. I definitely wasn’t giving my position away.

Instead, I was leaning on him the way he had been leaning on me for so many weeks in our run from House Bartlett. I was letting him be strong, not because I was weak but because partners supported each other.

I opened my mouth and took his cock between my lips, feeling the velvety skin against my tongue. I pushed forward until it bumped the back of my throat and I choked. His hips jerked forward at the sound, and I let my jaw relax, let him put one hand behind my head and thrust in and out.

He moved lazily, pressing in until I gasped around his cock, desperate for air. Then he pulled almost all the way out, the head of his cock just barely between my lips.

As though he could read my thoughts, he began talking. “You took care of me for so long. You let me be weak, and still you wantmeas your partner. You want me as your mate. I want that, Miles. I want you. We’re going to do this together. You and me.”

I moaned around his cock, and he began thrusting faster, his breath uneven. His fingers tightened in my hair, twisting the strands until it hurt, until I could feel everything.

“I’m going to take care of you. I’m going to take care of you the way that you have always taken care of me.” He was panting, and I waited for the spill of his come in my mouth.

Instead, he pulled all the way back, leaving my jaw aching, my mouth empty.

“What—”

But he was pushing off his pants, kneeling over my thighs, holding both of our cocks in two hands. He rose and fell, almost like he was riding me, thrusting us together, and the slick spit that coated his cock made me shiver.

He stared me in the eyes, his blue gaze sharp and probing.

“Say it.”

“I love you,” I moaned.

I came, his grip too tight, the only lubrication my own spit. He gasped, hips jerking, and I felt warmth on my stomach.

Cade fell forward, cuddling himself against me, and I wrapped both arms around him, holding him tight until our bodies cooled.

ChapterForty-Five

“You’re sure?” I asked.

“Yeah, boss,” Evelyn said. “We’ve only seen people goingin. No one’s come out so far. Declan’s called in everyone still loyal to him.”

I swore. Growling, I looked around the room. “How many is that?”

Gabe shrugged. “If he’s calling in the crews from the bars and clubs? A lot of guys.”

“It’s been flowing all night. I counted maybe sixty, seventy guys, and that doesn’t count the ones already inside.” Evelyn’s voice was tinny over the cell phone speaker. We were all crowded around it, the wolves highest in the pack closest, the ones further down in the hierarchy around the perimeter. The humans were mostly at the edges, and the House Bartlett mages and wolves had arrayed themselves closer to Cade, who stood at my side.