Page 104 of Ensnared by the Pack: The Complete Series (Destined Realms #3)
AUDREY
I kissed Bishop with everything I had, trying to match the passion in his eyes, while desperately wanting to believe his words. I wanted to be as strong as he said I was, but I couldn’t even pretend he was right. I never stood up for myself, it was always too dangerous, and that made me a coward.
Even now I wasn’t willing to stand up to Cyrus. It was always best to be as unnoticed as possible.
And while I had fought those two grimalkins, both times it had been a fluke, an impulsive decision and a bad one at that. I hadn’t thought it through, just reacted, just like I’d reacted when Knox’s wolf had taken control of his body and refused to let go. I might have been exhausted and vulnerable and partially manipulated by Sterling at the time, but that didn’t make what Cyrus said to me any less true.
Bishop cupped the back of my head and returned my passion, his tongue raking against mine, his breath picking up like mine.
Heat gathered low within me and the desire I’d always had for Bishop electrified my nerves, proving that my yearning for him had never been my heat. He made my soul sing with his kindness, compassion, and warmth. His stunning face and sleek muscles didn’t hurt, either.
I brushed my hands down his shirt then dipped under it, tracing the hard lines of his abs with my fingers and drawing a soft moan.
“So we’re playing dirty,” he said, his voice deliciously gruff.
“This is dirty?” I trailed my fingers higher, sliding them along the bottom ridge of his pecs.
“You know it is,” he groaned. “Now all I want to do is touch you back.”
“So why don’t you?” I purred, hoping and praying he’d touch me like I was touching him… except lower.
“Because groping isn’t something a person does on a first date.”
“I’m pretty sure we’re beyond first date rules. We’ve already had sex.” Fire burned my cheeks at the memory of my heat… or at least the erotic flashes that I could remember. “A lot of sex that I don’t really remember.”
“Heats don’t count and I promised I’d court you. That starts with dates and perhaps a little kissing.”
“That’s how it works, hunh?” I raised an eyebrow and gave him my driest look. I didn’t just want kisses, I wanted more, I wanted what we’d had our first night together in Kelna, and I didn’t want to wait any longer. “Those are your rules. There’s nothing that says I can’t grope you.”
I swept my hands up his chest to his collar bone then slowly dragged my nails down his skin to the waistband of his pants.
Bishop groaned but didn’t pull my hands away. “Audrey, you’re killing me.”
“You should probably do something about that,” I said, my voice husky. I didn’t know where this flirtatious woman had come from or how I was so confident in this moment, but I liked it. For just a moment, I felt powerful, able to bring this incredible alpha in front of me to his knees with desire.
With a growl, he captured my lips again in a searing kiss that stole my breath, a kiss that was more like my dream-Knox than the Bishop I knew.
His tongue plundered my mouth and his hand in my hair tightened, controlling my head, while his other hand pushed under my shirt and swept a blazing line to my breast.
Moaning, I arched into his touch, urging him for more. For everything.
But he broke off the kiss, his breath heaving, expanding his broad chest with every quick inhalation. Then he grabbed the bottom of my shirt, pulled it up over my head, and tossed it to the far side of the blanket. His heated gaze raked over my skin, starting at my waist, rising to my breasts, and stopping at my face.
The desire in his eyes tightened my core and made my blush burn hotter, sweeping down my neck to the top of my chest. I dropped my gaze to the ground, unable to meet that intensity and maintain eye contact.
Except that was a mistake and I now had a perfect view of his thick erection straining the front of his pants.
“You’re so beautiful,” he breathed, making me suddenly self-conscious.
I wasn’t beautiful. I had too many horrible scars.
I crossed my arms over my chest, but it was a futile attempt. I couldn’t cover my nudity and all my scars at the same time. There were just too many of them.
“None of that,” he said as he brushed his lips over the new scar at the top of my left breast. It sat right over my heart and the whisper of his touch sent desire shivering down my spine. “I think you’re gorgeous and I intend to convince you that I’m worthy to be your mate.”
“You are worthy.” He’d always been worthy from the moment we’d first met and he was kind to me when he’d made my first time having sex wonderous and beautiful. I was the one who wasn’t worthy.
“I’m still going to court you. This is the first of many dates. I want to show you all the best places and all the best people in Stonehaven. I want to watch sunsets and sunrises with you that don’t involve hiking across the countryside all day. And I’m definitely taking you dancing. At the festival and afterwards.” He punctuated each item on his list with a gentle kiss, inching lower and lower until his nose nuzzled against my arm covering my nipple, begging for access.
I hesitated a moment. Did I really want to do this? Only a few seconds ago, I’d thought I did, but we were still outside, and despite Bishop saying no one visited this garden, someone could still see us.
Of course, I’d probably been more out in the open when Knox had gone down on me last night and that hadn’t bothered me, but I’d also been caught in mine and Knox’s emotions. I wanted our mating to work so badly, I couldn’t have said no if I tried.
This time, I didn’t have another set of emotions urging me on and I still wanted him. I wanted the confirmation that he wanted me — even though logically I knew he did and wasn’t lying.
“It’s not fair if I’m the only one naked,” I murmured, a small spike of fear stabbing through my chest at my bold words.
“You’re still wearing pants,” he said, his lips brushing over my skin, sending hot need racing to my core. “You’re not naked.”
“But I will be,” I moaned, my voice breathy with desire.
“Your wish is my command.” He slid me off his lap then yanked his shirt and pants off and settled back on the blanket beside me.
I stared at him, stunned at how quickly he shed his clothes, but also at all his mouthwatering muscles — along with his already thick cock, fully engorged and standing at attention.
With a grin that told me he knew he’d stunned me — I was probably drooling, too — he leaned forward and kissed me.
The kiss was tentative at first as if he were afraid that stripping naked was too much for me. But when I didn’t pull away and teased my tongue against his lips, he opened with a low, delicious growl and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me back onto his lap.
Desire coursed through my system, reigniting my yearning and pooling hot between my thighs. All doubt about being naked out in the open was gone, all that mattered was the incredible man kissing me and hopefully about to do more.
I tangled my fingers in his hair, holding him close. I’d never get enough of Bishop’s kisses or his body.
And yes, I recognized how weird that was since Knox and Bishop had the same body. But to me they were different, completely separate individuals. I didn’t see them as two versions of the same person. Bishop was Bishop and Knox was Knox. Both attractive in their own way.
Bishop kissed me until I was breathless and squirming. Then he set me back on the blanket, kissed his way down to my breasts, and ran his tongue slowly, oh so slowly, over my nipple.
I moaned, the heat within me surging, and he repeated the sensual lick then sucked the tight bud into his mouth.
“Bishop,” I gasped as my back arched, pressing my breasts closer to him.
He pulled off with a pop, flashing me another wicked smile, and turned to my other breast, giving it the same agonizingly slow lick.
I tightened my grip on him and held him close, letting the pleasure rush through me and spin me tighter.
“Fuck, Audrey. I want you so much,” he groaned against my breast.
“Then have me.” I lay back, more confident than I’d ever been in my whole life, and propped myself on my elbows to maintain eye contact. “Please.”