Page 17 of Hunted Temptation (Alpha Nights: Unlikely Heroes #4)

Chapter Sixteen

ELODIE

Another day, another empty bed. It’s become the norm for me to wake up alone, and maybe I should mind.

I don’t, though. Every morning, I wake up completely satiated, achy in the best ways, and at peace.

So, if he’s not beside me, that’s okay, because I know he’ll be coming back here—to his home—to me, soon.

His . Home.

I don’t dare think of it as mine. That is a luxury I’m not sure I can accept.

Because if he decides that he really doesn’t want to keep me, I’ll be sad, but if I allow myself to think of this place, of this world, as mine, if I imagine a true future with him, and he doesn’t want to keep me, I’ll be devastated.

Reaching over, I find the sheets warm to the touch, which means he hasn’t been awake long, but if I know Vaughn at all, even if he lay here, he probably wasn’t asleep. He doesn’t seem to sleep much.

Slipping out of bed, I go in search of him. I don’t expect to find him anywhere in the house, figuring he got up and left as per his usual, but there he is, standing in the kitchen with his back to me… looking absolutely gorgeous, as always.

I didn’t think men could be beautiful, but this one is, and I will never get tired of looking at him. Maybe it’s because he’s saved me. Maybe it’s because he just is that gorgeous. I watch as he slowly turns his head, shifting his gaze over his shoulder before his eyes connect with mine.

His lips curve up into a grin, then he shifts his body around to completely face me before he speaks. “You wanna go to work with me today?”

I want to ask him if there’s a reason I need to go to work with him, but instead, I smile and nod. It doesn’t matter if there’s a reason or not. I’m not going to complain at all. Not if he wants me to spend the day with him. I will take any minute this man gives me.

Any single moment.

I want to be with him always, no questions asked, anywhere and everywhere near him. I’m falling for this man even though I’m trying not to. It’s happening without my permission, and I don’t think I’ll be able to stop it.

It’s not just me loving the fact that he’s my protector, either. As each day passes, I realize that my feelings begin to delve deeper and deeper inside me. But then something hits me, and I pause because I realize I don’t have anything to wear to his work.

I open my mouth to tell him that when there is a knock on the door. It interrupts our conversation. Vaughn jerks his chin toward me, then spins around as if I’m supposed to know what’s happening.

I watch as he walks over to the door, opens it, and thanks the person on the other side as he accepts a bag from them. He then closes the door, locks it, and turns to face me again. My eyes shift down to his hands, and I realize that he doesn’t have just one bag in his grasp like I thought.

He has three.

Pressing my lips together, I lift my gaze from the bags to look at his face. He is grinning, but only slightly. His eyes are dark, his expression serious, and I have to press my thighs together to attempt to relieve the ache there.

“Get dressed, Goldie,” he says, his voice low and rough sounding as he extends his arm, pushing the bags toward me.

I don’t know what to do exactly, so I just stand in front of him, speechless and motionless. He pushes the bags toward me again, flicking his gaze from mine to his hand, then back to meet mine.

I shake my head a couple of times, then my feet finally become unstuck from the floor. I move toward him, closing the distance between us in just a few steps. Hesitantly, I reach out for the bags. I slip them from his hands and am surprised by their weight.

But I don’t make a move to go into the bedroom and get dressed immediately. Instead, I stare at him, unsure of what to do or where to go. He’s handing me these shopping bags, and I assume they’re for me, but I am frozen, barely able to breathe.

“We leave in thirty.”

Shaking my head once, I finally find my voice. “What is all of this?”

“Clothes,” he states,

Clothes.

I am floored.

I haven’t even opened the bags, but I already know that it’s more than I need. More than I could ever pay back, probably in my lifetime, especially because the thick glossy bags and ribbon-style handles scream extravagance.

“It’s too much,” I whisper.

Vaughn takes one step toward me, then another. I feel his arm slide around my waist before he tugs me forward. When our chests press against one another, he dips his chin, and his mouth touches mine, but he doesn’t deepen the kiss.

Instead, he speaks, his mouth moving against mine. I can feel his warm breath against my lips, and I have to press my thighs together even tighter. I fear that my legs might give out at this point or that I will tackle him.

Anything is possible.

“It’s not too much, Elodie. In fact, it’s not enough. Go get dressed.”

He takes a step backward and then wordlessly turns around and walks away from me. I watch him go, one step then another, not looking back. He makes his way back into the kitchen, our conversation complete. Sucking in a breath, I let it out slowly before making my way into the bedroom.

I unpack the bags by taking out each item he’s purchased one by one. And each one is more luxurious than the last. They aren’t just name-brand clothes. These are designer items. They’re names and brands I’ve never even heard of, but I can tell by the feel of the fabric that they are expensive.

Everything is lush.

Beyond lush.

Extravagant .

It doesn’t take me long to shower and change, but when I put the clothes on, I have to close my eyes as they slide over my skin. Luxurious and lush don’t describe them properly. I don’t even know if I can properly describe the way the fabric feels. I don’t know the words for it.

The linen pants aren’t anything I’ve ever worn before.

The silky blouse, either, but as I stare at my reflection in the full-length mirror, I have never felt more beautiful.

I feel classy, or maybe it’s classic. I don’t know what it is, but I definitely don’t look and feel like an eighteen-year-old, not that I ever really have.

A soft knock on the door causes me to spin around.

I open my mouth to call out for Vaughn to come inside, but before I can actually say the words, the door slowly opens.

He stands in the doorway, his eyes scanning my body, and it feels like he’s actually touching me from all the way across the room.

“You ready?” he asks.

Smoothing down my pants, I shrug a shoulder, trying not to show him just how absolutely elegant I feel. I’m not sure why. I should be running up to him and kissing him everywhere, because I know how much this must have cost.

“I kind of feel like I’m playing dress-up, but at the same time, I have never felt more put together.”

“I think you look beautiful, Elodie. But I always think you look beautiful.”

I can feel my cheeks heat up at his words. My heart slams into my chest. Forcing my feet from their cemented place on the floor, I move toward him. I need to feel his hands on me… anywhere… everywhere.

Closing the distance between us, I swallow the lump in my throat and sink my teeth into the corner of my bottom lip as I look up at him.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

He laughs softly but doesn’t respond. Instead, he lifts his hand and cups my cheek.

His thumb slides across my bottom lip. His hand drops from my face before he takes a step backward and walks away.

I follow behind him until he stops at the front door, his back resting against it, his eyes connecting with mine.

When his arm reaches out, I feel his fingers curl around my waist. “I’m going to fuck you at my office today.”

“You are?” I ask on a breathy sigh. The shiver tingling up my spine causes goose bumps to break out over my entire body.

I want that. I want him to do that to me right now .

Right this second .

He dips his chin, and his lips brush mine. He smiles against my mouth, and I inwardly hope that he does fuck me right here and now. I’m addicted to him. To the way he makes me feel, to the way he stretches me… to the way he consumes me.

VAUGHN

“What are you trying to do, Goldie?” I ask.

She looks up at me, peering up at me innocently and absolutely fucking gorgeously. She doesn’t say anything immediately. Instead, she places her palm on the center of my chest and slowly slides it up before she wraps her hand around the side of my throat.

Gliding my finger along the waistband of her pants, I pop the small button at her middle, then slide my hand inside her pants and beneath her panties, cupping her center. Elodie’s hands fly to my shoulders. She grips me there, her nails digging into my biceps through my shirt.

“You’re so wet, Elodie. Is that all for me?” I ask, keeping my voice low.

Slipping my fingers inside her hot, wet center, I curl them, making a come-hither motion inside her. Her fingers flex, her nails digging into my arms even harder as her head falls backward slightly and her eyes slide closed.

“Yes,” she exhales as if she’s been waiting for my touch and is relieved to have it.

It hasn’t been that long since I’ve been inside her, maybe six hours, if that.

But she needs relief, she needs me, and I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone crave me as much as she does.

It’s not just a desire. It’s a need that is untamable.

I want her to have everything she needs, no matter what that looks like.

If it’s my touch, it’s hers. If it’s money, it’s hers. If it’s my soul, it’s hers.

The only thing I will never be able to give her is the one thing she deserves more than anything, and that’s a normal life. A family. And love. It’s going to break me when she finally realizes that those three things are impossible.

I press my palm against her clit as her hips begin to rock against me, searching, grinding, and climbing higher toward her release. She hums, then whimpers as she begins to move against my hand.

It’s absolutely gorgeous watching her find her release.

Leaning forward, I touch my mouth to the center of her throat, then kiss my way up her neck until my teeth find her earlobe. I tug on the flesh of her lobe before my lips rest against the shell of her ear.

“Soak my hand, Goldie. I want to smell you on my fingers all fucking morning long. Then at lunch, I’m going to fuck you on my desk.”

Her body trembles, and then her hips buck before she cries out, and I feel her wetness soak my hand.

“Fucking hell,” I groan.

My cock is rock hard, but I don’t have time to use it right now. Instead, I let her ride out her release. I know when she’s finished because her body relaxes with a whoosh. Her fingers relax, and I reluctantly slip mine from between her legs.

I slip my fingers inside my mouth, sucking her sweet taste off them with a moan, because she tastes that damn good. Her eyes widen before her lips part as she watches me.

“Vaughn,” she breathes.

I don’t know if she’s horrified or impressed. I’m not sure if I want to know which one it is, either. I smirk as my hand falls from my mouth, then lower my head and touch my mouth to hers with a brush of a kiss.

“Time for work,” I murmur.

“Don’t you want me to…”

Sinking my teeth into my bottom lip, I shake my head a couple of times, then clear my throat before I speak. “No, Elodie. I’ll get mine later. This was for you.”

“Why?” she asks in a whisper.

This is exactly why.

She doesn’t even know that she deserves an unsolicited and unreciprocated orgasm. And she does deserve it. I touch my mouth to hers again, unable to break away from her.

I want to be so fucking close to her that she becomes one with me, that my body absorbs hers, and I don’t care how fucked up that sounds. It’s what I want. I’m falling for her, and I don’t want her to be able to leave me. Ever.

I want to keep her.

Again, I know how fucked up that sounds, especially since I can’t give her everything she deserves. The way I feel for her is less than healthy, but I don’t think it could be any other way.

Complete and total obsession or nothing.

And I’m completely fucking obsessed.

I have been since the moment I laid eyes on her.