Page 31 of Framed and Forgotten (Ashen Wolves #3)

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KOEN

I didn’t think twice. Any fraction of a second lost could mean letting her slip away, and I couldn’t afford that. Avril was agile, a master at dodging, especially when it came to me. Regardless, she was no faster than I was ambitious.

As she took a step back, I followed her. I seized her, grabbing her face with both of my hands to hold her in place before crashing my lips on hers. My tongue pushed inside, exploring her mouth with an urgency akin to the first time we’d ever kissed.

Goddess, had I missed her taste.

For only a blink, she froze. Her stiff lips, paralyzed with shock, suddenly trembled against mine, softening, unsure. As if she was caught between instinct and rejection. For that single heartbeat, I thought - hoped - she’d kiss me back, and that would be all it’d take.

Then, she shattered my foolish dream, shoving me back with enough force to send me staggering a step. My hands slipped from her cheeks, the loss of her warmth striking like an icicle jab. She’d been so close, and now we were apart again.

“I know your games, Koen,” she rasped, furious. “They won’t work. Keep your hands off me!”

Her eyes blazed with wrath, but there was something beneath it. Fear. Hurt. As if she could fathom how dangerously irresistible our connection was even if she couldn’t remember our entire history. But I caught the way her voice wavered, uncertainty slipping through.

Proof that her armor was cracking.

I paid no mind to her warning. She was all I could see. All I could think of was my goal. It drove me, pulling me toward her, and I moved in her direction.

Avril stayed true to her threat. As soon as I was too close for comfort, her palm collided with my face, sharp and merciless, and my head snapped to the side. The sting bloomed instantly, a red-hot flash across my jaw. I didn’t flinch, didn’t even raise a hand to it.

I deserved worse.

Taking a breath, I marched forward again, like a mindless soldier whose only purpose in life was to succeed. My heart roared in my ears, my pulse deafening. Still, I closed the space between us, because she was right there. She was right there .

She didn’t hesitate this time, her fist striking my stomach instead.

A solid, brutal hit. Pain shot through me, my knees buckling as the blow knocked the wind out of me.

The world tilted as I hit the floor, coughing and gasping.

I curled forward on instinct, one hand on the ground, the other gripping my abdomen where her knuckles had landed.

Even from my knees, I looked up at her.

Avril stood like a storm, chest heaving, wild hair tumbling around her face, rage dancing in her eyes like wildfire.

Her fists clenched at her sides, like she wanted to swing again; like the weight of her emotions was too much for one body to bear.

Yet, at the same time they quivered as if she regretted attacking me.

“I told you to stay away,” she cursed again, but her voice was different. It sounded like a prayer. Like she hoped I would make it easier for her and vanish from her life without a fight.

Unfortunately for her, I wasn’t ready to surrender.

“Is that what you really want?” I forced out, my voice rough and raw as I tried to recover from the punch.

Her mouth lingered shut for an instant, throat bobbing with the swallow she didn’t mean to show me. When her lips moved at last, they barely parted, reluctant to let the word out. “Yes.”

“Then kill me.”

My answer came fast as a bullet and struck like lightning. Avril went still - completely still - as if I’d struck her instead. Her eyes widened in confusion before narrowing again as she studied me, quiet, cautious.

I struggled to breathe in and out as I pushed myself up, slowly, standing through the pain. “The only way I’ll ever stay away from you,” I said, rising slowly, “is if I’m dead.”

And I stepped forward again.

With every step, I anticipated her next blow. I didn’t care if she clawed me to pieces. She could maul me beyond recognition and I’d still reach for her bloody hands. If becoming her personal punching bag was what it took to win her back, so be it.

To my surprise, she just stood, gaze flickering over me like she couldn’t decide whether to trust her mind or her heart.

Once I was inches away from her, close enough to feel the heat rolling off her, I murmured, “Until then,” I paused, my attention shifting to her lips. “I’ll keep coming back.” She didn’t move. Didn’t breathe.

I lifted my hand and brushed my knuckles down the side of her face, rejoicing when she didn’t flinch this time. A flicker of relief settled within me, and I relished it, touching my forehead to hers.

“I am never. Leaving. You. Again.” I swore, punctuating each word like I needed her to feel them down to her bones.

There was no protest when I lowered my lips to hers. Little by little, her ragged breathing calmed, her chest rising and falling to match the tempo of my own breath. She surrendered to the pull she couldn’t quite understand, letting go of all the reasons she had lined up in her head to keep me out.

The more she gave in, the more deliberate her actions became.

Her restraint slowly faded away as she went from hating herself for wanting me, to fully committing to her sin.

She met my mouth with fire, tongue clashing with mine in a feral dance for dominance.

Every stroke said she remembered something , even if not consciously.

That was the Avril I knew - the powerful alpha who always claimed what she wanted. Time and time again, I had enjoyed submitting to her, just to feel the satisfaction etched deep into my blood from having me at her mercy. Unfortunately for her, I wasn’t going to let her win this time.

I growled, forcing my tongue deeper into her mouth, taking her by surprise.

My hands skated down her body and gripped her hips as I walked her backward, forcing her step by step until her back hit the nearest wall.

Cornered, she instinctively tried to regain the upper hand.

Her palms flew toward my chest, ready to push me back, to regain control.

Just like I had expected.

Before she could try anything, I broke our kiss, catching her wrists and pinned them above her head, grinding my body into hers so she felt the full weight of what she did to me.

Her eyes widened at the unfamiliar yet undeniable comfort of being held beneath me.

To ensure she wouldn't try and escape, my other hand wrapped around her throat - not to choke, but to claim.

To remind her that I knew her.

“Not today, my Queen,” I asserted, eyes darkening with lust as I stared back into her eyes, meeting her defiance. “This time, you’ll submit to your King.”

When I dove in again, she abruptly lifted her chin, dodging my lips. “I don’t submit to anyone,” she determined, feisty.

I chuckled. “To me, and only me, you do.”

When she struggled against my grasp, frustrated, I held her tighter. She was Alpha of the Ashen Wolves. A force to be reckoned with. If she really wanted to, she could shake me off. The fact that she didn’t proved she was listening.

And while I had her attention, I continued, “You like being in control, but you love it even more when you give it up to me.”

“I’m the only one you can submit to, and you like it,” I accused, spilling every truth she didn’t want to hear, because proving I knew her better than she knew herself was the only way I could find into her heart.

“You like having the roles reversed. You crave not being the one in control. It’s freeing, isn’t it?

Just for a moment, to let someone else call the shots. ”

She didn’t dare answer me, but I knew I was right.

I could hear it in her silence, see it in the way her body stiffened, smell it in the maddening scent of her arousal.

This time, she accepted my kiss, but not without resistance.

A snarl vibrated in her throat, but I swallowed it, kissing her deeper, harder, until she gasped into my mouth.

I could feel her shock and realization when her body proved me right.

When she quit putting up a fight, tempted to test the veracity in my words, I let my claws come out to tear off her clothes.

She stilled when my sharp talons grazed down her stomach, my middle finger slipping between her folds to probe her.

Goddess, did I come close to losing my mind when I felt her arousal. She was so wet - so eager.

I didn’t bother fully unclothing, too desperate to have her, to show her how our bodies fit together perfectly.

All I did was unbuckle my pants, freeing my aching erection.

Lowering them down along with my boxers, I stepped out of them unceremoniously.

My hands dropped to her thighs immediately after, hauling her up, forcing her legs to wrap around my waist.

I didn’t even consider carrying her to the bed. The need to claim her surged within me, urgent and primal, and I made the decision - I would take her right here, against this wall.

With a single thrust, I plunged inside her.

“Ah!” Avril cried out, breaking the kiss between us.

The sudden intrusion forced her body to adjust, but I knew she could handle it.

Her walls contracted around me, accepting, welcoming, and the sensation was nothing short of exquisite.

I hadn’t meant to, but I remained still for a heartbeat, letting her catch her breath as I allowed myself to indulge in her warmth, her texture, her tightness.

When I was ready, I pulled out, only to fill her one more time, slower, savoring every inch of her.

I set the pace, moving slowly, thrusting as deep as I could.

She writhed against me, rocking her hips to try and gain speed, but I didn’t let her.

I pressed my body harder against hers, restraining her movements, reminding her that she should just sit back and relax.

“Koen-” she panted my name like a curse and a prayer all at once.

And for a moment, it sounded as though nothing had changed.

“You’re mine, Avril,” I growled against her neck.

“And I’m yours,” I declared, plunging in again, lingering inside her for a moment.

“They can try to bewitch me, and you can try to forget. But right here-” I pressed my palm between her breasts, right over her racing heart.

“We’ll always know we belong with each other.

” Every time I felt it pulse, beating for me, my cock throbbed.

“There’s no fighting it.” Easing out of her, I thrusted in.

“No denying it.” Another thrust.

She ground against me helplessly, drowning in the friction we built between us.

Her hands grabbed at me in despair, dragging me closer, fisting in my hair.

Even her claws came out, raking down my back, ripping my shirt and tearing my skin.

Claiming me. In that moment, I knew - submission didn’t look like weakness on her.

It looked like power.

Little by little, she started to fall apart.

As I picked up the pace, my mouth mapped every inch of her skin, from the curve of her neck to the slope of her shoulder and back.

My lips hovered at the spot where my teeth had once punctured her skin, marking her as mine, and I bit down just enough to remind her who I was.

Her Koen.

Her mate.

Just like that, she shattered. Her body quivered as she came undone, safe in my arms, where she would always belong.

I followed her right over the edge, the intensity of our reunion too emotional, too enthralling.

The high was all-consuming, wave after wave of pleasure rolling over me, spurt after spurt of my cum coating her walls, covering her in me.

When my legs began to shake, I leaned my forearm against the wall for support, my other hand still cradling her. Our chests pressed together, sweat-slicked and tangled, as the heat between us began to ebb. The aftermath settled in, and all that remained was a profound, undeniable peace.

With my eyes still shut, I exhaled softly, “Maybe you’re right.” I took a steady breath, my voice growing stronger as I added, “Maybe fate never really intended for us to stay together.”

Finally, my eyelids fluttered open, and the world narrowed down to her eyes - stubborn, wild, yet peaceful now, like the storm had passed. Home. I held her stare, never wanting this moment to end.

“But as long as we keep finding our way back to each other, I don’t give a damn what destiny has to say.”