Page 20 of Pack Kasen, Part 3 (Caught #3)

KAT

A ren is running his hand through my hair as I rest my head on his chest.

We’ve been in bed for a while. It’s the middle of the day, and, as Alpha, I can’t imagine that he doesn’t have some responsibility waiting for him.

“I feel you questioning yourself,” he says softly, his left arm tightening around me as if to keep me with him.

“I’m confused,” I quietly voice a feeling I’ve been having with increasing regularity.

The part of me that is terrified of being hurt is asking myself what I’m doing with a man who hurt me so badly.

What if he does it again?

And what about my life in the city? I worked so hard to graduate at the top of my class. I landed my dream first job at the city’s top accountancy firm. A job that increasingly looks like I will lose because I should be in the city preparing to start it.

Aren moves us so I’m on my back and he’s braced on his elbow to peer down at me.

“About?”

“You. Me. My life. My future. All of it.”

“A chance, Kitty cat. Give me a chance to prove I’m worthy of your love and you,” he says in a voice as quiet as mine. “You won’t regret it.”

“And you intend to do that with sex?”

His fingers are gentle as they brush the hair from my face.

He shakes his head. “By showing you I’m capable of change. That I learn from my mistakes. That I can be what you need me to be.”

“And what do I need you to be?”

“A partner. A friend. Someone who respects you and who you can respect.”

“And you think you can be all those things?”

His head dips, and he presses a gentle kiss on my lips, smiling faintly when my stomach growls. “I do. I’ll get you food.”

It’s been a while since I last ate. Between helping my family pack and seeing them off with a plan to visit them once this thing with Cristofer is over, I skipped out on breakfast. “I can do it.”

It was hard saying goodbye to them. My eyes burned as I hugged my parents, and I didn’t want to let my sister go. But my attention has been split since they arrived, and the sooner we deal with Cristofer, the sooner I can go to Nebraska to meet the rest of my pack.

He nudges me back onto the bed when I move to stand. “Stay here. I won’t be long.”

He gets to his feet, grinning at me when he catches me staring at his ass when he crosses the room to grab a pair of pants he steps into. He doesn’t bother with a shirt. From his glance my way as he heads for the door, I figure he wants to give me something else to look at.

“You have a big head, Aren Kasen,” I call after him.

“Anything else you think is big?” He waggles his eyebrows suggestively.

I smile sweetly at him. “Your ego.”

Laughing, he opens the door. “Wait there, Kitty cat. I’ll be back soon.”

When he leaves, I stay in bed for a little longer, then I get up, wrap myself in a sheet, and pad across the room to the big glass window that overlooks the tall pine trees in the distance.

There are probably a million other beautiful sights that would blow this one out of the water, but for some reason, this is a view I don't think I will ever grow tired of.

I’m still standing with my forehead against the glass, appreciating the beautiful view, when a door snicks shut behind me. The scent of savory meat draws my gaze to Aren.

He sets a tray down on the small table near the unlit stone fireplace. It’s too early and warm for a fire, so he doesn’t light it.

There’s a large plate with steak, baked potatoes loaded with butter, crumbled bacon, and chives, along with fried chicken. Two glasses of water accompany the meal.

“Sorry I was gone so long. It took longer than I expected to fry the chicken.”

“No one needed to fry me chicken.” Though my empty belly appreciates it.

“I have on good authority that my mate’s favorite food is fried chicken, and I aim to please. Come here.” He holds a hand toward me.

I walk over to him, moving to sit opposite him, but he pulls me into his lap.

“More caveman behavior?”

“Yes.” He touches his lips to mine. “And I am not the least bit sorry about it.” He cuts into the steak and forks a piece of it, offering it to me.

It’s not the first time he’s done this. Before, I didn’t have my memories, and I didn’t understand the significance of his insisting I eat first. Now I do.

I recall running around the dining room in my childhood home, a spacious room with heavy wooden tables and long, scratched benches. Meal times were always lively, filled with laughter and people moving between tables.

My dad would eat first, then my mom, and the rest of the pack.

Hierarchy is important to shifters. Even as a child, I was aware of those silent, unspoken rules. As a baby, I’d seen how the world worked, even if I didn’t have a clear idea about why yet.

He holds the fork to my mouth.

“The Alpha always eats first,” I tell him.

“Open,” he gently orders me.

Stomach grumbling, I open my mouth and let him feed me.

“Instead of apologizing to you like I should have,” Aren forks more food and offers it to me once I’ve chewed and swallowed. “I tried to show you that I was sorry.”

“Like wanting to bring me a dead deer?”

Amusement filters across his gaze. “The dead deer my wolf thought would impress you.”

“So why feed me now?”

He cuts more steak and offers me a bite. I take the fork from him and feed him instead.

Amber eyes flare with heat. “I want to show you that I can provide for you. That if there’s anything you need, I can give it to you.”

“You realize that saying three words would have been easier than hunting down a deer, killing it, dragging it back, and giving it to me like you’d intended?”

He shakes his head. “I’m used to being right, to people coming to me to apologize.

Actions have always meant more to me than what people say.

Part of that is because of who I am. Part of it is seeing the way Dania’s mate made so many promises, said all the right things, then fucked off and abandoned her and Leo to struggle.

I lost faith in words, and so did she when she took him at his word, and Leo nearly died. ”

I hadn’t realized Dania and Leo had such a sad past.

“You should have told me…” My voice trails off when I realize why he wouldn’t. “We’re going to have to work at this, aren’t we?”

“This partner thing?” He grins at me. “I had in mind I’d toss you over my shoulder, throw you into my bed, and convince you to love me.”

I laugh. “And I thought the partner I’d wind up with would know exactly how to talk to me.”

We have our own ways of thinking, of doing, and of looking at the world.

“We’re going to argue a lot, aren’t we?” I ask, resigned to it.

He kisses me. “Probably. But I guess we have a lot of makeup sex to look forward to.”

Smiling, I wrap my arms around him. “Figured your mind would soon turn back to sex.”

“Not just sex,” he says, his smile fading. “Getting to know each other and learning to communicate better.” He sighs sadly. “Even if that means less makeup sex.”

I kiss his bearded jaw. “But less arguing means other kinds of sex.”

“Like?” He’s breathless when I kiss his throat.

“The fun in the forest kind, or the throwing me down on the bed and—” I’m laughing when he picks me up, and tosses me on the bed, the sheet falling as he comes down on top of me.

My laughter fades as he holds my gaze. “What is it?”

“It’s always going to be like this.”

I touch his face. “What is?”

“Us. It will always be like this. I swear it.”

My eyes flutter closed as he kisses me.

I sink into his caress, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and moaning as his fingers slide down my stomach, heading between my thighs.

I break the kiss, and he chuckles, eyes flashing with heat when I push him onto his back, slide his pants down, and straddle him.

“You want to ride?” he asks, voice husky.

“Not exactly.” I kiss his throat. His fingers run through my hair, and he tilts his head, angling it so I can reach more of him.

His breath wheezes out of him as I rake my teeth over his hard flesh. “I love the way you taste.” I lick his throat.

“Keep doing that,” he groans, fingers clenching in my hair. “I won’t be responsible for what comes next.”

“What comes next, Wolf King?”

His cock jerks in response. “My face between your pretty thighs, swiftly followed by you coming on my tongue.” And as he speaks, his hand slips between my legs, and he rubs his thumb over me.

“ Swiftly ?” I moan as I grasp his hand, pulling it away when it kills me to do it.

His grin is assured. “I know exactly what to do with my tongue.”

“Later.” I smile as I kiss his throat and angle down. “I have plans for you, Wolf King. Don’t move.”

“No one orders me,” he says gruffly, fingers tangling in my hair.

“If you move,” I warn him, “then you won’t find out the interesting places where I want to put my mouth.”

His fingers clench in my hair. “ Kat …” he groans as I lazily kiss my way down his body.

I stop between his thighs, lifting my head to meet his gaze. “One day, you’re going to be on an important call in your office.” Still holding his gaze, I lower my head and breathe over him. “And you are going to notice someone is under your desk.”

He’s slack-jawed and breathing hard, his tanned, muscled chest rising and falling. “And what is that someone doing under my desk?”

I want to push him over the edge. I want to keep going until he loses control. He’s staring down at me like he wants me to. Like he needs me to.

“Pulling down your zipper, and…” I press a kiss on his cock, and he shudders.

It’s not enough.

I want more than a tremble. I want his hands in my hair, his fingers holding me, and my name a choked groan on his lips.

I want him desperate.

“Just that?” His tone is full of challenge, and his amber gaze burns.

I circle him with the tip of my tongue.

He gulps, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “You’ll have to work a little harder to get my attention, Kitty cat. I’d barely pause in my conversation with— fuck !”

His fingers clamp in my hair, and his eyes slam shut as I suck him deep into my mouth. I keep the pressure tight, sliding up and then down until he touches the back of my throat.

Both hands are in my hair as I rise, draw in a breath, and sink again. I love how he tastes. The salty splash of his pre-cum hits my tongue, and I swallow it all down.

“That’s it,” he groans as his hips slowly pump. “That’s fucking it.”

I’m increasing the pressure, working faster and deeper when he makes a choked sound in his throat. He yanks me up from between his thighs, rolling me and coming down on top of me.

One hard thrust and he’s buried every inch inside me.

I nearly come on the spot.

My heels press into the back of his thighs, my nails digging into his back as I choke out a moan.

With deep, hungry groans, he fucks me hard and deep.

“Aren,” I whimper, my stomach rippling as my orgasm edges closer.

He pushes my thighs wider apart, rising slightly, and touches his lips to my throat.

I tighten around him. He grunts and picks up the pace. “You want my bite, Kitty cat?”

Knowing how good it felt in my dream nearly makes me beg him to do it.

He strokes into me again, finds the perfect angle as I start to come apart.

His teeth rake my throat, and my hips buck, my eyes rolling back.

I grind against him, my climax ripping into me. Suddenly, he’s fucking me harder, grunting my name. Then groaning it. His hips piston in and out of me.

I’m falling again. Garbled moans erupt from my mouth as his hands grip my hips, hold me open, and he slams himself home. We’re hip to hip. We couldn’t be any closer if we’d tried.

His cock jerks, straining to go deeper. Head bowed, he’s so beautiful as he comes, I can’t look away.

He slumps over me, breathing hard, his skin damp as he wraps his arms tight around me.

The kiss he presses on top of my hair is lazy, and his voice is so sated he sounds half-asleep. “Shit. I think you blew my mind.”

I smile. “Does that mean no surprising you under your desk?”

“Sweetheart, I’m going to need you to live under my desk,” he groans, and I laugh.

Long minutes later, we’re still in bed, and I have no intention of moving from it ever again.

Aren gets up reluctantly, grabs the meal we abandoned, and carries it back to bed, where we take turns feeding each other and draining our glasses of water. Once we’ve finished everything, Aren moves the tray to the bedside table and we settle down again.

I’m lying in his arms, and he’s rubbing a hand up and down my back again when he says quietly, “Half the time, I don’t know what I’m doing.”

I pull back to look at his face. “About what?”

“Any of this. Being Alpha. My pack has more faith in me than I do in myself. I learned a lot from watching my dad. Without that, I’d be stumbling around with no idea what I’m doing.”

I’m confused why he would tell me this, but then I understand. He wants me to know him . Not just the parts that the rest of his pack sees. The parts he hides from them. “Did you ever think about not being Alpha?”

He shakes his head. “My pack needed me.”

“Were you scared?”

“Fucking terrified,” he admits. “But they needed me to be strong.”

I study him for a beat, thinking.

Beneath that Viking-like blond hair, handsome exterior, and arrogance, there’s more than I thought there would be.

His expression softens. “What?”

“Just surprised.”

“By?”

“You.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“Not sure yet.” But I think it is. “Robert would have liked you.”

“Am I going to want to kill this Robert?” His jealousy is plain and clear.

“Someone already did,” I whisper.

“Tell me.”

“Robert was my foster dad…”

As he strokes a hand up and down my back, I tell him about the man who made me feel so safe and protected, until robbers took him away from me.

I open more of my heart to the Wolf King than I ever thought I would want to.

And he listens, hugging me, kissing the tears from my cheeks when they fall.

Loving me in a way I never thought he could.