Page 19

I left the game. I didn’t fake an injury or say there was a family emergency. I just left.

Everything had been about hockey until Kienna crashed into my life. Now I could think of nothing else. She was in all my waking thoughts, my vivid dreams, and every moment in between.

I grabbed the keys to the SUV and drove it six blocks to pick her up. A group of white haired women fussed over Kienna as they helped her into the vehicle and gave me trouble for letting my Omega out of my sight. Then they detailed explicit suggestions of how to help her.

My fear for Kienna spurred me on blended with my fury that she had left the game. Alone. I didn’t dare speak a word lest I yell, saying something I’d regret, or coddle her like a fragile kitten.

She laid curled up on the floor of the SUV behind my seat. Every whimper tore at my soul. There was only one way to fight the thing that was hurting her, to battle her heat, and she could not deny it was needed. I refused to let her suffer any longer.

I pulled into the driveway of the pack house and carried her inside up the stairs to my room.

“I need my cozy.” Kienna tried to squirm out of my arms toward the attic door.

There was no way I was letting her escape and hide. She had to face the fact her heat was at its peak and it could literally destroy her. As pack leader, I had to take care of everyone, and there was no doubt that she was part of our pack now. She was mine to watch over, and I wasn’t going to let her hurt herself anymore.

“You need relief from your heat.” I growled as she pushed me. We wrestled on the bed. The feisty minx was a fighter, and while that was a turn-on, I could see the gleam of fear in her eyes. I would not have her afraid of me or of anything. I pinned her and made sure she was looking at me. “Why are you afraid? You know I would never hurt you.”

“Then what are you doing? I shouldn’t even be here!” Kienna kicked her legs and tried to buck me off. As much as I knew she was emotionally struggling, I couldn’t stop my arousal.

My Omega was here, pinned underneath me. She was ripe with slick and musk, and fuck, I wanted to strip her down and pound into her.

“I’m trying to help y—”

“You just want to claim me and knot me and make me stay here forever!” Tears spilled from her big dark eyes and glistened like caught diamonds in her hair.

“Make no mistake, that is what I want to do.” My fierce words caused her to freeze, and she held still, trembling under me. I released one of her wrists and wiped at her tears. “But I won’t force you to do anything.”

Kienna groaned and her pretty face screwed up with pain as another pang wracked her body.

“I can make it better,” I whispered and nuzzled the side of her neck. It wrecked me to see her in agony. “Let me knot you.”

She flooded with slick at those words. I could feel the wetness through the material of both our pants. Yet she gritted her teeth and tried to fight against it.

“What are you afraid of, Kienna? Tell me.” I had to get her over whatever it was. As her Alpha, I was her rock, her strength.

Her Alpha. My Omega . I saw us together already. But she did not.

“I’m not afraid,” she hissed out with her pain.

“Liar.” I brushed my lips over her skin and traced the tip of my tongue along her neck. She tasted of sweetness thick with desire and the sharp tang of fear. “Tell me.”

She let out a small cry and kicked her heels against the mattress. “What don’t I have to be afraid of? I’m an unclaimed Omega in heat and four Alphas want to claim me. But those Alphas are on my father’s hockey team and he would freak out. They would lose their careers. Their whole futures would crumble around them. They’d resent me for the rest of our lives.”

“It’s our choice to take that risk. Not yours. If I believed hockey was more important than you, I wouldn’t be here right now. I’ve already risked my future, and I don’t give a fuck. I’m here where I want to be and I’ll never regret it.” Each second spent with her was more than worth it. I broke my contract and could lose my place on the team tonight. I wasn’t going to apologize for it. I needed to be here with Kienna.

Her gorgeous eyes searched my face, looking for deceit. She wouldn’t find it.

“What else are you afraid of?”

Kienna swallowed thickly and wet her lips. Oh, those plush pink lips. “You claim me, I’ll be forced to stay here.”

“What is here that you fear so much?” I caressed her face, tracing her exquisite features. Little soothing touches to give her clarity of mind. She’d protested about being stuck in Winnipeg before, but I didn’t know if she didn’t like the city or if it was something else.

She winced again, clenching her hands and unclenching them. “It’s incredibly boring.”

“It’s not.” It was no big European city or even like New York or Seattle, but again, I thought that an excuse and not the reason.

“I was stuck in my hotel for days.”

“Not the city’s fault.” I raised my brows, daring her to challenge that. “Give me what’s deep in your heart, your truth.”

Kienna growled and tried to wiggle away. There was no way I was releasing her yet. She arched her back as if trying to bust out of her own body and then finally burst out with a sob that slashed across my heart. “I don’t want to ruin your life, or anyone’s life. If you claim me, you won’t have your career. If you share me with the whole pack, all of you lose your futures. I will not be your downfall.” She sucked in a shuddering sob. “And if an Alpha claims me, I won’t be free. I’ll be his. No more adventures. Since I don’t do well with authority, I’ll rebel at every chance. He’ll start to hate me. Our bond will become one of hate and distrust. I don’t want to live that way.”

I sat up and gathered her to me, holding her tight as she cried. This was the truth I was after. Her wild nature made her fear being tied down, and her compassionate heart didn’t want to hurt anyone along the way. Everything in me needed to protect her, to make her world right. That instinct felt as if it might swallow me and I wanted nothing more than to let it.

But she needed me strong as much as I needed her.

Several minutes ticked by as she let loose her misery. I wiped away the tears and kissed the top of her head. With all this sadness and fear leaving, I was determined to fill that space with happiness and pleasure.

When her crying eased, I lifted her chin and kissed her lips. “Know this, Kienna. I would never force you to do anything. Even if I did claim you, you would never be made to do anything you didn’t want. I would worship you and serve your every desire.” Every single one . “I’ve already chosen you over hockey. I haven’t lost my future. I’m hoping for a much better one.”

“Fuck,” she murmured and blinked away fresh tears. “Why do you have to be so sweet and hot?”

“It’s my curse,” I teased.

“I see modesty isn’t part of that curse.” Her comeback was fast. Her wit was sexy as hell.

I chuckled and kissed her. “Kienna, let me knot you.”

There was that initial instinctive push from her. Yet I knew what it was now. I kept a firm hold on her and kissed her again. “Listen to me. I won’t take away your freedom. If, after your heat, I’m not what you want, if this pack isn’t what you want, you’re free to leave. None of us will stop you. But I want you to give us a chance. Give me a chance.”

Kienna whimpered and nudged her nose against mine. Her perfume filled my head, making me almost dizzy. “You promise? No possessive Alpha bullshit?”

I turned our bodies and laid her on her back. I was barely holding myself back. Never had my control been tested in such a way. I licked up her throat and nipped her jaw. “Oh, there will be possessive Alpha bullshit. But I promise you will always have a choice and that choice will be respected.”

She moaned and pulled at my shirt. “What if I just want to take a nap now?”

This Omega was driving me wild. I ran a hand up her thigh and rubbed her hot mound. “A nap, hmm? Is that what you really want?”

Gasping and squirming, she yanked my shirt all the way off and kissed across my chest. “Maybe…”

Each kiss seared in the mark of her lips. I growled as she continued to hold back. “Tell me what you want.”

Kienna slid her hands over my biceps and shoulders, cooing at the muscles. She hissed out a breath as another heat pang had her shuddering, but somehow she managed to keep playing coy. “I don’t know. Let me think about it.”

No more playing around. I grabbed her wrists and locked them above her head and nudged my thigh up between her legs. “Tell me.”

Mewling, she ground herself against my leg. “You. I want you, Kane.”

There we go. A small smirk lifted my lips. I didn’t release her yet. “And what do you want me to do?”

Kienna bit her lower lip as if trying to hold back the words. I bumped my thigh against her most sensitive parts and she let out a small cry. “Knot me! Fuck, I need you.”

Oh yes. Mine. All mine.

“Don’t move your hands.” I released her wrists and kissed her hard. She immediately ran her fingers through my hair and I snatched her hands again. “Hands stay up.” She whimpered at my command but she did as I said. “Good girl.”

A gush of slick soaked us further as I called her that.

I slipped off her shirt and raked my gaze over her silky skin. Her breasts sat plump in the cups of her lacy black bra, temptingly jiggling. I bent forward and kissed and nibbled each one before I unclasped the bra and set them free.

“Fucking beautiful.” I ached desperately to be in her. She was like a dream girl come to life laid out on my bed. The black of the comforter made her look as if she were made from moon rays.

Not so smoothly, I pulled off her pants and panties to leave her naked. Words fled my head. There was only this sexy Omega that I wanted to ravage. I stood and started to undo my pants. “Spread your legs for me.”

Already flushed from arousal, Kienna turned a deeper red. She rubbed her legs together before slowly parting them. Her slick had left her glistening with an invitation.

Oh fuck. My cock felt as if it thickened like it was knotting just at the gorgeous sight of her pussy. My fingers dug into the material of my jeans as I pulled them off, reminding myself that she needed me to be gentle. She’d never been knotted before. I’d be her first.

Mine .

Ridding myself of my jeans and boxers, Kienna gasped as my cock sprang free. Her legs started to close but I caught one of her knees. “Uh-uh. Stay spread.”

She was starting to pant and pressed on her abdomen with one arm. Her heat pains were getting worse. I stroked myself a few times and she gave a small cry.

“You’re so…” She struggled to find the words. “So much. So big.”

“It’s all for you, Kienna.” I crawled onto the bed and snatched her up in a feverish kiss. She locked her arms and legs around me as our bodies pressed together. The heat of her flesh revved up something like a growl and a purr in my chest.

“Yes. God, yes!” She rolled her hips upwards, angling to take my erection into her. The tip of my dick slid along her slit several times as I kept myself just far enough away. “Come on, Kane. I need you now. Right now .”

I wanted to drive into her and fuck her senseless, but this was her first time. It needed to be done right.

Straightening so that I was kneeling on the mattress with her locked around me, I helped position her so that she was straddling me. I kissed her and bit at her lower lip. “Okay, baby. You do this at your speed. Sink down onto my cock.”

Kienna gripped my shoulders and wriggled her hips so that my erection was poised at her entrance. I gritted my teeth as my heart hammered. Control. I needed to be in charge for her.

Staring into my eyes, she lowered herself onto me. She let loose a strangled cry and rose before lowering again. More this time, another inch. Then another. I shook with the torture of staying still and not pounding her.

I kissed her all over, distracting her from any pain she might feel. If she did, it didn’t stop her. She took me all the way in and quickly found a rhythm.

“That’s right,” I grunted and moved to match her pace. I held her tight little ass and kneaded it as she rode me. Her nipples rubbed against my chest and her pink hair draped around my face. I could never get enough of this Omega.

Her cries grew more frantic as did her rhythm. The quickness of her hot breath on my face, the bouncing of her tits, and the tightening of her cunt. All perfect.

“Oh God! Kane!” Kienna screamed and tossed her head back. She only stayed on me because I held her with a bruising grip. She shuddered with her orgasm and broke the last tenuous hold I had on my control.

I tossed her onto her back with my still inside of her, and I drove in deep. My balls slapped against her and she cried out with it. Harder and faster. I couldn’t tell if she was still coming or if it was a second climax with the way she shook.

My cock swelled with its knot, stretching her to her limits. Mine .

“Kane!” Her bliss surged through me and let loose with a roar. Hot jets of my seed filled her. Jolt after jolt, they kept coming.

She didn’t want to make any promises of staying with me, but I couldn’t ever let her go.

“You’re mine.” I wasn’t even aware I said it out loud until she replied.

“Yes. Fucking yes.” Kienna’s legs fell limp at my sides. Her arms tightened around me. “Mine.”

Her words rang through me. “I claim you.”

“Yours.” Her head tilted to one side with the invitation.

There was no hesitation. I bit her neck and broke the skin. I lapped at the bit of blood and caressed her still trembling body.

My mark, my Omega. No one would ever take her from me.