Page 25 of Forsaken Desire (Ruthless Wolves #1)

I shuffled her inside the foyer, guiding her toward the staircase on the right of the entrance. Her steps were muffled over the carpet, and her eyes flicked around, taking in every inch of our home. She kept going on about her own place and her space, but this was her home now—wherever I was.

“This place is much bigger than it looked from the community center,” she mumbled. Her shoulders were curved inward, obvious discomfort in her posture. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Every blink, every flattening of her lips, her smell , all of her drew me in, urging me to claim and rut.

I rolled my shoulders.

“Huge.” Her eyes flicked around. “The staircase must fit three people walking up them side by side. Like, do you even have anyone else here?”

“No, Princess,” I replied. I wasn’t lying; there was only me in the main house, but there were two other houses in the back, one of which Cierra had stayed in. I rubbed my thumb against her side. Another piece of information I couldn’t tell her.

My mate shouldn’t know about the whores I’d allowed in her space. The disrespect I’d doled out.

“Are you okay?” she asked suddenly. I jerked my head up to meet her eyes. She tilted her chin up to look at me.

The pressure in my chest eased with her brown eyes on mine. She’d gone through so much . . .

I gritted my teeth, and the top of the stairs opened up into a hall. We crossed my office door on the way to my room.

Once I flipped the lights on, I guided her to the bed. I’d never realized how tall it was. Before I could pick her up, she hoisted herself onto the edge and plopped down with a bounce. She patted the comforter.

“So bouncy.” She grinned, wiggling some more. What had she suffered? I’d been so wrapped up in hiding my lies and gaining her trust in case she remembered her past, that I hadn’t looked into her file fully.

“Lucian?” She waved her hand in front of my face and pulled me back to the present. At some point, I’d grabbed her thigh and I was currently squeezing her skin. I pulled back, soothing the red spot.

“I’ll grab my kit,” I informed her and strode to the bathroom in my room. The drawer below the sink had small hand towels, so I grabbed one, rinsed it, and then crouched to grab the clear box.

Shifters didn’t have special healing abilities, so the materials were necessary.

I’d fucked up and hadn’t been able to control myself.

I returned to her. Once I set it on the edge of the bed by her hip, I swiped the damp rag across her neck.

With each ministration, she didn’t flinch or wince.

Only absorbing the pain with ease. It put my teeth on edge.

Another piece of proof of how she was clearly used to pain, and it only highlighted how much she must have gone through.

With the wound clean and red, I dabbed the medication along the teeth marks I’d left in her skin. The result of my loss of control—of my darkness reigning. The very part of me I attempted to shield her from.

Deep and raw imprints of my teeth that were, thankfully, no longer bleeding.

The clear gel soothed over the wound, and she didn’t react even though it must have stung.

I’d guided her straight to our bedroom instead of showing her every inch of the place because her exhaustion was clear to see.

Her eyes continued to droop, and her blinking was taking a bit longer.

I smoothed a wide bandage across it, and it easily stuck.

She stifled a yawn.

Her guileless eyes peered up at me. My heart throbbed like she had squeezed it. She had all of it and all of me.

“You don’t care that I’m an ex-convict?”

My heart pulsed again, the pain flitting toward my sternum.

I cupped her jaw and lifted her beautiful face. Her eyebrows were furrowed with a thin line between them.

“Never.” It was all I could say with the thickness lodging the words in my throat.

Her tongue wet her lower lip.

“I don’t have any of my memories before the accident.”

I know .

I couldn’t speak, so I kissed the tip of her nose.

“I don’t know if the name on my ribs means anything or if it was just fate. I don’t know if I used to belong to a pack. I know nothing of who I was.”

You do .

My heart squeezed, the muscle pulsating with pain. I’d left her alone to suffer.

I kissed her forehead.

“You never have to worry about anything.” A growl coated my voice, hiding the pain.

I fucking hated myself.

“There’s nothing to worry about. No one will harm you.” I’d kill them as easily as that mutt that had touched her.

She stifled another yawn. With my body, I encroached on her space until she had no choice but to lie on her back. She stretched her arms outward, and the move elicited a small shiver.

“I don’t think I can shut my mind off enough to sleep,” she huffed.

I could help with that. With my index finger, I slid the hem of her dress up, slowly exposing her smooth, brown thighs. Her torn panties remained in my pocket, along with her phone, so she was fully exposed to me as soon as the dress pooled around her waist. The shaved tuft formed a strip.

“Lucian,” she breathed. My cock stiffened, ready to fuck her again. But I wanted to bring her pleasure and worship her body. I squeezed her knees, spreading them and leaving her exposed. Her slick pussy on display for me.

I leaned down and ran my nose up her slit and rubbed against the bud at the top. Her scent was delightful. Underneath the earthy smell were hits of vanilla—the smell that was purely my female.

A shiver crested down my spine, and I slid my hands onto the blanket, bunching it. I speared my tongue into her sweet heat, taking all the slick I could collect.

I could eat her out for hours.

With my tongue, I thrust inside her, pumping into her channel. Her inner walls gripped at me, her hips writhing toward my face, begging for more. So I gave it.

I didn’t hold her down. This was the passion I wanted and craved. Her little moans and cries were music to my ears.

I squeezed the sheets so hard, my knuckles popped. My cock was stiff to the point of pain, and I couldn’t stop my hips from grinding against the bed as I ate her out.

She suddenly sucked in a breath, her body stiffening, her back arching. I slowed the quick pumps, wanting to feel the grip of her channel on my tongue. Josephine stiffened, her lips parting on a scream.

Her channel clamped on my tongue. I moaned, lapping every bit of her slick coating my lips. Her body writhed, hips shoving against my mouth. Another gush of her liquid coated my tongue. She was so deliciously wet.

My beautiful mate fell apart so perfectly for me.

“Lucian,” she whimpered. It was all I needed. My cock pulsated and jets of cum warmed the front of my pants. Bliss fueled my body, and I didn’t stop my frantic grinding against the bed, licking and tonguing her sultry flesh. So fucking good .

Her body suddenly went limp, and she panted, her chest rising and falling harshly. The dress she wore parted at her breasts, holding them from spilling free.

Fuck. She was a morsel.

I crawled a bit higher on the edge of the bed until my cheek rested on her belly. Her hand slipped into my hair, and she played with it.

Unbelievable warmth spread through my veins. I nuzzled my mate.

Reserved, sweet, and all mine. She hadn’t tried to run from me when instinct forced my dominance on her.

She’d accepted and taken that part of me.

And yet . . .

Yet, I’d disrespected her and our bond.

Pressure built at the bridge of my nose.

She hadn’t been dead?—

She’d been in prison.

If the truth ever came out, she could do as she wished to me. She would rightfully be angry.

I deserved her hatred, but I wouldn’t let her go—I couldn’t.