Page 34

Della

Today was fun.

Maybe not the part where Levi and I got ourselves locked in a motel room with a broken door. Afterward. The talking in the kitchen. The Chinese food. And the movie.

I can’t remember the last time I felt so at ease.

I fell asleep while Xavier finger-combed my hair, missing the end of the movie. When I woke up, I found a blanket draped over me. It was late, the TV was off, and I was alone. Yawning, I headed upstairs to my bathroom to brush my teeth and prepare for bed.

It was tempting to stay in the living room for the rest of the night, especially with the sound of Vincent talking to someone in his office. But I refuse to let a stray thought scare me.

I hear a gentle knock on my door as I finish up in the bathroom. Turning off the bathroom light, I go to answer it.

Levi stands outside my room, in gray sweatpants and a black T-shirt.

“No tray of food?” It’s probably too late to eat and I’m still full from the Chinese food.

He shakes his head, his hands stuffed in his pockets. “You weren’t downstairs when I went to check on you.”

“Why would you check on me?”

“I worry.”

“You don’t have to worry.”

“I know. Doesn’t mean I’ll stop.”

I lean on the doorframe, a smile tugging at my lips. “I’m okay. Did Xavier go back to the school?”

He nods. “As soon as the movie ended.”

I force a movie on them and then fall asleep midway through, probably loudly snoring my way through the climax.

Way to go, Della.

“Was it as good as I heard it was?”

He smiles and nods. “Vince said you had good taste. We can watch it again another time. The sequels as well, if you want.”

“You’re just saying that.”

“It was a good movie.” His smile fades. “We haven’t felt like a pack for a long time, and then you come along.”

I tilt my head up so he doesn’t catch me staring at his biceps. “I come along and do what?”

“Remind all of us what we’ve been missing.” His voice is soft.

“But I’m not an omega.” The more time I spend with three certain alphas, the more I find myself wanting to be theirs.

Clearing my throat, I pretend it doesn’t kill me to say, “I went to school with a bunch of them, so I could introduce you to a couple of nice ones who smell like you’re walking down a bakery aisle. ”

He rests his hand on the wall beside my door. “A pack doesn’t need an omega to be a pack. It just needs people who fit together.” He lowers his head. “And I don’t want an omega who smells like I’m walking down a bakery aisle. I want you.”

“Alphas knot omegas,” I remind him. “It would feel better for you to be with an omega.”

“I had you in my lap.” His thumb ghosts across my lip. “Nothing could feel as good as having you in my arms.”

Now I know he’s lying.

I arch my brow. “ Nothing ?”

His eyes flick down, lingering on my mouth. “Maybe something else.”

A smile crosses my face as butterflies flutter in my stomach. “I walked right into that, huh?"

His gaze is warm with amusement. "Yup.”

My thoughts drift back to the motel room.

If he kisses me like he seems to want to, I would want more. On any other day, a kiss might be enough, but not today. Not after what I overheard in that motel.

“I’ll let you rest,” he says, eyes darkening as he straightens.

“Why would Vincent ask if I had a boyfriend?” I blurt out.

His lip quirks. “I would think that would be obvious, Della.”

“He likes me like a friend. The way you all do, right?” I don’t dare to think it's anything more than that.

“You’re too smart to be asking me a question that stupid.”

“ Hey !” I snap, offended. Then I realize it was actually a compliment. “Oh. Thanks. I think.”

After a probing look, his expression shifts. “I’m going to do something. If you want me to stop, tell me or push me away. I’ll leave.”

My mouth is dry. “Okay.”

Slowly, inexorably, he draws my body toward his.

I feel his cock nudge my belly before our bodies are flush together. The breath catches in my throat. He’s hard. There’s no mistaking how hard he is through thin layers of cotton.

“You feel that?” he asks, eyes on me.

I gulp and nod.

“I’ve been like that since the motel. You know why?”

I shake my head.

“You. This is all because of you.” He urges me even closer, and at this point, breathing feels like a sport I never mastered. I desperately need him to strip those pants away, shove me to the ground, and follow me down.

“What do you think they were doing in that motel room?” He cradles the nape of my neck. One finger brushes the tiny hairs there, making me shiver.

I shake my head, my mind slow and foggy. “I don’t understand.”

“Do you think he had her on her knees?”

The video from the academy inserts itself into my mind. The alpha putting his omega on her knees, clasping her hips, and pounding every inch of his cock inside her.

His head lowers, his mouth hovering an inch over mine. “Or do you think he was holding her thighs open? Face to face as he fucked her?”

I’m breathless, imagining it.

“He was holding her open. Face to face.” I’m not sure I’m still thinking of the couple from the motel room, or I’m telling Levi what I want him to do to me.

His kiss starts slow. A brush of firm lips against mine, the slight graze of his fingers along my hip. As he slants his head and steps into me, deepening the kiss, my brain twists.

I’m in a locked room, my back against the wall, trembling as I try desperately not to think about what that alpha did to me.

“Della?”

Levi’s soft voice pulls me back to the present.

I’m not sure when he stopped kissing me, but my lips throb, and I’m breathing hard, gripping the front of his shirt. He’s staring down at me, light green eyes creased with concern.

He opens his mouth.

“ Don’t . That isn’t who I am.”

I refuse to let what happened define who I am.

I won’t.

He takes my hand. His grip loosens as he lifts my fingers to his neck. To his tattoos. To the scarab beetle he had to hide the scars his uncle gave him. “And this isn’t who I am.”

He understands.

We are more than the broken pieces inside of us.

His skin is warm, but that isn’t why I keep my fingers on him long after he’s released his hold on my wrist.

He peers down at me, waiting. Watching.

He holds still as I grapple with this new Della—or try to be the old version of me again.

This Della has weaknesses, fears, and thoughts that make her want to run and hide.

The old Della wasn’t shy about what she wanted. Never flinched away from taking it. Wasn’t afraid of the things she probably should have been.

I want to be her again.

Levi is motionless, his gaze fused to mine as my fingers skate down the smooth surface of his skin. There’s a slightly raised edge to his tattoos, and I feel the scars beneath that he tried to hide.

His breathing is so quiet in the dimly lit hallway that I barely hear it. As my fingers skim over his washboard abs and creep beneath the soft cotton of his shirt, his breathing deepens.

He doesn’t stop me.

Not when I slip my other hand under his shirt.

Not even when one hand slips beneath the waistband of his pants, and I feel how much he wants me.

He crushes me against him, a raw sound torn from his throat as he wraps his arms around me and lifts me.

We’re in my room. He’s kicking the door shut as I wind myself around him, breathing in his warm amber scent as he walks us back to my bed.

He falls back, and we hit the bed with a solid thump.

I break the kiss to peer down at him. “Did you even look before you did that?”

“Floor. Bed. Don’t care.” He brings me back to him, fusing his mouth to mine.

He rolls us. Before a memory can snatch me into the past, the scent of his skin keeps me in the present, holding me there as his hands cup my breasts, squeezing slightly. Breathing gets harder.

He plucks my nipples. My back bows, pleasure bursting within me.

He breaks the kiss, peering down at me. “More?”

His eyes are hooded, dark, and so sexy, I instantly drag him down for more. His lips curve in a smile as they meet mine, and he gives me the kiss I’m craving.

He rolls us again, making quick work of my pants and my T-shirt.

But he takes his time with my panties, eyes fused to my black lace covered pussy.

The rough pads of his fingers graze the soft skin of my hips as he skims my panties down, and I hold my breath.

My heart is in my throat, thrumming. Pounding.

He licks his lips and puts them on me. My heart leaps. A hundred thousand butterflies take flight in my chest as he licks and sucks, fucks me with his tongue. He’s so hungry to consume me, I grab onto his head and spread my thighs even wider for him.

I’m falling when he forces his clothes away even faster than he undressed me. But with me, he is so gentle. His fingers are soft and light as he skims them over my arms, down my belly, and to my thighs.

He holds me open. Face to face, eyes fused to mine. “You want this?”

“I have always wanted you.” The words are soft, but true. So achingly true that his eyes soften as his head descends.

Tongue dueling with mine, I taste myself in his kiss. And I taste him. Sweet. Rough.

I hold my breath as his cock touches my pussy. He’s hard. His fingers tighten on my hips as he pushes inward. I keep my eyes on his even as he draws a moan from deep inside of me, chest tight, breathing harder.

“ Della ,” my name is a tangible groan, and he’s shaking. I feel him trembling against me as his cock throbs inside of me. “Fuck. I’m moving too damn fast, but I can’t stop.”

He thinks he’s hurting me. Maybe he even thinks this isn’t what I want.

The opposite can’t be more true.

I widen my thighs, framing his handsome face with both hands. “Don’t stop.”

He sinks in another inch, a choked groan falling from his lips as I answer it with a soft sigh. I feel him stretch me. He is opening me up one slow inch at a time, each thrust filling me up and making me burn up alive.

“More?” his voice is barely comprehensible.

My moan is like a dam breaking. He pulls out and thrusts in again, sinking deeper into me. The slap of his skin on me feels amazing. The stretch of his cock feels even better.

Suddenly, we’re in a race. Thrust and groan. He’s moving faster, pounding into me as my nails threaten to break the skin on his back.

My head falls back, and my moan splits the silence of the room. Sweat drips from my collarbone.

His hands grasp my hips, force my body tighter against his, holding me there as he jerks inside me.

He doesn’t let me go.

Even as he slumps against me, his fingers tighten as if he never wants to let me go.

My heart is still pounding as he curls me against him, draws a cover over us both, and presses the sweetest kiss on my lips. They prickle in response. My heart feels so full, I fall asleep with a stupid smile on my face.