Page 23 of Nursing the Alpha

FLYNN

I stretched languidly, my muscles protesting with a dull ache, but I curved my lips into a slow smile. God, I was sore in all the right places. Every shift of my hips reminded me exactly how many times Seth had taken me last night, filling me, emptying me, and then starting all over again.

My pecs ached too—emptied completely.

I cupped them through my thin T-shirt, grazing a tender nipple with my thumb. A soft sigh slipped out. He’d been insatiable. By the end of it, I wasn’t sure if I’d been feeding him or if he’d been feeding some dark, primal part of me he’d awakened.

The room reeked of sex and sweat. I wrinkled my nose at the cloying, sticky sweetness clinging to the air.

We had been animals last night. No other way to describe it.

I swung my legs out of bed carefully, wincing as my sore thighs protested. The sheets beneath me were twisted, damp with more than just sweat. The sight alone made heat crawl up my neck .

With a grimace, I tugged them off and bundled them under my arm.

The bathroom was blessedly cool. I shoved the sheets into the washing machine and got it running. Then I stepped under the shower, letting the water run hot over my aching muscles.

As the spray hit my pecs, I flinched. They were tender, skin flushed and nipples still pebbled. He’d left marks, faint but visible, where his teeth had grazed me, where his fingers had kneaded too hard in his desperation.

I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead to the cool tiles.

Gods, last night…

The way he’d taken me like he couldn’t get deep enough. The way I’d begged him not to stop, even when my body had screamed that I couldn’t take more.

The way we’d collapsed afterward, tangled in each other, too wrung out to speak.

We hadn’t talked. Not really.

I sighed, running my hands over my wet face.

The water turned cold, and I stepped out, shivering.

I dressed quickly in soft sweatpants and a loose shirt, my body still humming from last night’s attention. Then I returned to the bedroom, straightened the bed with fresh sheets, and opened the window a crack to let in some fresh air.

The smell of coffee drifted into the room, and my stomach rumbled. But although hungry, I paused in the doorway, my hand on the frame.

Seth was there.

Last night, we had great sex multiple times, and I fell asleep to the sound of his steady breathing and the press of his arms around me. But we never really talked about everything that had happened between us.

The clink of cutlery and the sizzle of bacon echoed from the kitchen.

I let out a shaky breath.

It was time.

Time to face him.

To see if last night had been about more than lust and desperation.

To find out if we were still broken or if there was something left to rebuild.

Seth stood at the stove, shirtless, sweatpants slung low on his hips. His hair was still damp from a shower, the ends curling slightly at the back of his neck. He looked so domestic, it felt jarring after the raw, animalistic way he’d claimed me the night before.

When he heard me, he glanced over his shoulder, his expression softening into a smile that made something in my chest ache.

“Morning.” Almost as an afterthought, he crossed the kitchen and pressed a quick kiss to my temple. “Sit. You’re just in time.”

The counter was covered in food—eggs, toast, a small mountain of pancakes, and an entire platter of fruit.

“You… made all this?” I slid into a chair.

“Went out for groceries while you were sleeping.” His tone was casual, but my heart gave a weird little stutter.

“Thanks,” I murmured, unsure what else to say.

He set a mug of coffee in front of me, then a plate heaped with food. As we ate, the silence stretched, the only sound the hum of the refrigerator.

I snuck glances at him. The way his jaw flexed as he chewed. The way his forearms tensed every time he cut into his food. He seemed relaxed, but something coiled beneath the surface.

Seth set down his fork and exhaled heavily.

“I guess amazing sex doesn’t erase what happened. We should talk about it.”

My stomach flipped.

“You… think our sex is amazing?” I asked because I couldn’t help myself.

His lips quirked. “Flynn, it’s the best sex I’ve ever had. No contest.”

Heat crept up my neck, but I ducked my head, cutting a piece of pancake I didn’t really taste. “Okay. So… talk, then.”

He leaned back in his chair, drumming his fingers lightly on the table.

“I took advantage,” he said simply. “Of things you shared with me. You trusted me with information, and I used them to get my way.”

My throat felt tight. “It’s my fault. I overshared. You were a stranger, and I told you everything. I didn’t think…”

“I wasn’t a stranger for long. After all those talks on the train, I felt like I knew you.” His voice softened, but it still held that undercurrent of guilt. “After you told me about applying for the Nourish Collective, I signed on. Specifically for you.”

I halted my fork midair.

“Why?”

“At first, I just wanted to watch you. I set up that room so I could see you express. That’s all I thought I needed.

” His jaw tightened. “But I craved you, Flynn. Every second. And before I knew it, I was slipping things into your food so you’d sleep while there.

Nothing to harm you, I swear on my life. ”

I sucked in a breath .

“You drank from me while I was unconscious,” I said flatly.

“Yes.” His voice didn’t waver. “If I could do it all over again, I’d do it differently. But I’m not sorry. Not for wanting you. Not for craving you like I did. I hope… I hope you can live with that.”

I stared at my plate for a long moment. “I appreciate your honesty,” I said finally, my voice small. Maybe I should have been honest as well about the camera in the bedroom, but I just couldn’t make myself say it.

He leaned forward, his eyes locked on mine. “Since we’re being honest… there’s more.”

My spine stiffened. “What more?”

“I used to stalk you.”

“What?”

“I followed you. Home. Sometimes on your morning runs.”

The pancake stuck in my throat, his words hanging in the air like a thundercloud. I blinked. “That morning in the woods… when I felt someone watching me…”

“That was me.”

The memory clawed up my spine, the cold bite of fear, my pounding heart. I’d felt eyes on me that day.

I opened my mouth, closed it, then swallowed hard.

“I was terrified.” My cheeks heated. “But… I also remember thinking, just for a second, what if it was like one of my books? What if some alpha abducted me… claimed me…”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “I guess my books affected me more than I thought. I let myself think too much of the fantasy. But this is the real world. Things like that don’t happen.”

A pregnant pause filled the space between us .

“Who says it can’t?” Seth’s voice was low, dangerous.

“Huh?”

He leaned in, his dark eyes glinting. “The first time I saw you, I thought you were sweet. Innocent. But you’re not, are you?”

My stomach flipped violently.

“I did think about it,” he said. “Dragging you off into the woods and having my way with you. Making you beg for my knot. Watching your hole drip with my cum. We can do it, if you want.”

My breath hitched. “We… we can?”

A slow, wolfish smile spread across his face.

“We can. And to make it even better, I’m not going to tell you when it’ll happen.” He reached across the table, brushing my fingers. “We’re going to fulfill one of your fantasies, Flynn. Every last filthy detail.”

My heart thundered, equal parts fear and excitement pooling low in my belly.

My fingers felt numb where they brushed his.

I should’ve pulled away. I should’ve laughed, told him he was insane, that we were both insane. But I didn’t.

Because my heart was pounding so loud I swore Seth could hear it.

He wasn’t joking.

I could see it in his eyes—that dark, hungry glint that said he’d thought about it. Every filthy, depraved possibility. And now he was daring me to admit I wanted it too.

God help me… I did.

I’d thought my books were just an escape. Pages full of fantasy, impossible scenarios that I could close whenever I wanted. But sitting here, I realized how deep it went.

How much I wanted to live in that fantasy.

To be taken. Hunted. Owned .

I pressed my thighs together under the table, a shiver snaking down my spine. I imagined him again, his size, his strength, the way he could drag me screaming into the shadows, and nobody would hear. Nobody would save me.

I don’t want to be saved.

My body betrayed me, even as my mind whispered warnings.

This is the real world, Flynn. Alphas like Seth don’t just pounce and knot you in the dirt.

But another part of me—darker, more honest—hissed back: Why not? Isn’t that what you’ve been craving all along?

Seth stroked over my knuckles with his thumb, gentle in a way that only made his words echo louder.

“I won’t tell you when it’ll happen.”

A thrill shot through me. My chest tightened, my nipples aching against the fabric of my shirt. My body already knew what my mouth refused to say out loud.

I wanted it.

I wanted him .

I let out a deep sigh, and Seth’s smile deepened. Like he could smell the shift in me. Like he already knew he’d won.