Page 18

Kiera weighed nothing to me as I carried her to my bedroom, but I'd never had anything more important in my arms. She smelled like heat and sun-warmed lemons, and I wanted to bury myself in her, taste every inch of her skin.

She was already whimpering with need when I laid her down on the bed, her fingers digging into my shoulders. "Samson," she gasped, and just the sound of my name on her lips made my cock swell even more. "I can't...I need..."

"I've got you," I promised, trailing my hands up the soft skin of her thighs. I knew she was begging me to fuck her, to bury myself in her as soon as possible, but I hadn't lied when I told her I wanted to take my time.

I had waited too long to touch her to rush this, no matter how badly my body demanded it.

My mouth found hers, and I kissed her hard. She moaned, arching up into me, her breasts pressed against my chest. I broke away from her mouth to kiss her neck, loving how she trembled at my touch.

"I want you," she gasped, "I want you so bad, Samson."

"And I'm going to give you everything you want," I rumbled, dragging my tongue over her collarbone. "Everything you deserve."

She couldn't stay still, her restless hands stripping her clothes off before I even had the chance to. I laughed low in my throat, unbuttoning my jeans and following her example.

When we were both naked, I looked at Kiera's beautiful body and had to swallow hard to keep myself from swearing. She was so damn gorgeous, and I was starving for a taste. I started at her scent gland, dragging my teeth over it just the way she liked, and then continued down her neck. She pushed herself against me, and I felt her nipples pressing against my chest.

I kissed between her breasts, sucking one nipple into my mouth, my hands gripping her waist and hips as she writhed beneath me. When her first nipple was hard and wet from my ministrations, I switched to the second, giving it the same attention. Her hands tangled in my hair, and she whimpered, her thighs squeezing my hips. My sweet Omega was beyond words, but her desperation was clear.

I grinned against her breast, pulling away with a pop and trailing my tongue down her stomach. "Patience, Kiera," I said, dipping my tongue into her navel. She shivered when I nipped her hip bone. I kept going, spreading her thighs and burying my face in her pussy.

I was sure she was about to jump out of her skin when my tongue made contact, but damn, was it worth it. She was slick, nearly dripping for me, and the taste of her on my tongue made my head spin.

"Samson..." she cried. I knew exactly how she was feeling. The mate bond was like a rope wrapped around my chest, tightening with every second that I wasn't buried inside her. I lapped at her clit, sliding a finger into her heat, and her whole body clenched.

She chanted my name, like it was the only thing she could remember in the haze of her heat, and I had never heard a sweeter sound. My cock was so hard I could fuck through solid steel, but I wasn’t coming up for air until she came all over my face.

Kiera's muscles locked up as if electrified when I slid one, and then two fingers inside her, curling them and stroking that secret spot against her inner walls. She pushed my face against her pussy, all but riding me as she chased her pleasure. I laughed, the rumble of it making her tremble, and kept sucking her clit until her whole body spasmed.

"Samson," she gasped, "Oh god, don't stop..."

"Never," I growled, fucking her with my fingers and my tongue.

She moaned, her thighs shaking, and I knew she was close. "You're going to cum for me, Kiera," I commanded, and she shattered. Her pussy tightened around my fingers as she came, and I didn't let up, savoring every little twitch and cry she wanted to give me.

When it was over, I pulled my fingers out of her, sucking them into my mouth to clean off every last drop of her taste. Kiera watched me, her eyes wide and glazed with lust. "That was...you are..."

"I know," I chuckled as I kissed a path up her body.

A bit of normal, not heat-addled Kiera rose to the surface, unable to let me gloat without biting back. "It figures you'd turn even this into a chance to stroke your ego."

I couldn't resist. "Baby, I've got something a lot bigger than my ego you can stroke."

She screeched, but I stopped her retort dead in its tracks by slanting my mouth over hers. I laughed against her sweet mouth, dipping my tongue and letting her taste herself as the heat daze rolled over her once more. Her body softened, legs still trembling from the first orgasm, as she spread them to welcome me into her body. She was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, and I bit the inside of my cheek to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

Nope. Kiera, my Omega, was still spread out before me, waiting for me to fuck her, knot her, and make her come. It was enough to drive a man mad, and I didn't hesitate another second. I gripped her waist, lining up my cock with her pussy and sliding into her tight heat in one stroke. She hissed, nails digging into my shoulders, eyes rolling back. This was what she needed.

"You feel so fucking good," I gritted out, grinding my hips against hers. "Such a good girl for me, aren't you, Omega?"

She hummed in agreement, rocking her hips to meet mine as I started fucking her. I didn't even know if she heard me, the haze of her heat overwhelming everything else. But that was okay—I could read her body well enough to know that she was right there with me. Her legs were wrapped around my waist, her hands gripping my shoulders as I slammed into her. It felt so good that I couldn't stop myself from sinking my teeth into the juncture of her neck and shoulder. Not hard enough to break skin, but enough to leave a mark.

"Fuck," she gasped, "Samson, please...please..."

I didn't know what she was begging for, but I knew what she needed. I moved faster, harder, until the headboard was slamming against the wall. She screamed, nails digging into my back, and I felt the exact moment that her pussy started milking my cock as she came. The mate bond snapped tight, wrapping around my chest like a steel band and making my cock swell.

Kiera made a high, desperate noise as my knot stretched her open, and I nipped at her scent gland again before capturing her mouth to drink down her cries. My vision blurred, my whole body lighting up with pleasure as my knot locked into place inside of her. I came so hard that it felt like my entire being was pouring out of me and into her, but it was more than just that. She was mine, my Omega, a part of me as vital as my own heart. I tried to tell myself it was just the knotting that was making me feel this way, but with each passing second, it became harder and harder to believe.

We were both panting as we came down from our highs, her eyes wide and glazed. She looked stunned, her lips swollen from our kisses, and I couldn't resist leaning down to press my forehead against hers. It was too much—too intimate, too personal—but I couldn't pull away. Not yet.

I rolled us onto our sides, my arms tightening around her as we settled in to wait out the knot.

"Are you alright?" I asked. She was so quiet that I was starting to worry I'd hurt her.

"Yeah," she said softly, "I'm just...processing."

"I can't say I blame you. That was intense." Kiera was my weakness, but the connection had been so intense this time that I was still seeing stars. "How's the heat pain?"

"Gone," she said with an enormous yawn, "But it will be back once we're no longer tied."

It was all the excuse I needed. "Stay with me tonight, Kiera. I'll get you through it. You won't have to hurt."

She hesitated, and I couldn't tell what was going through her mind. Finally, she nodded. "Okay. You're...I..." Finally, she sighed, "Thank you, Samson."

My heart lurched. She shouldn't be thanking me. Although spending the time together would help her, I was still a selfish man, and I wanted to have her as many times as possible before the sun rose. Her heat was just a clear-cut reason that didn't make me have to examine why she affected me so powerfully.

"You're welcome, Kiera."

***

After spending an entire night with Kiera in my bed, I should have been satisfied enough to let her slip my mind. But after taking Kit to school and returning home to see that she had left for work without saying goodbye, it seemed impossible to focus on anything else.

It didn't help that she'd left a note thanking me for the night together. It was so damn formal that it set my teeth on edge, and I wanted nothing more than to go into town and find her. I could have gone back to sleep—I didn't get enough rest, especially after the last few nights—but I knew there was no chance of that. Not with Kiera's scent still lingering on my sheets.

My wolf was restless, pacing through my mind, demanding that I go find our mate. My wolf had never been wrong about anything before, which made the fact that it was so insistent all the more irritating.

She was my mate, but my obsession was bordering on dangerous. No matter how much I wanted her, I couldn't afford to let her consume my every waking thought. Not with the pack and work to take care of, and not with the attack that had nearly taken me out. Someone was gunning for me, and if I let myself be distracted, they would win.

I wasn't going to be able to shake the urge. I needed to see her, just to know that she was safe, and that things weren't irreparably changed between us.

I stopped at Kiera's old job, grabbing two coffees to have an excuse to see her, and I'd almost made it to Emerald Blooms when a familiar figure waved me down from the other side of the sidewalk.

"Samson," Scott called, jogging over, "Didn't think I'd run into you here."

"Scott," I said, bristling. With so few possible identities for the attackers from the other night, Scott had risen pretty far on my list. I couldn't pinpoint what exactly he would get out of such an attack, but he'd shown interest in Kiera when she worked for him. "What are you doing here?"

Scott raised an eyebrow. "Just taking a stroll. What about you?"

"Bringing coffee to my mate," I said, trying not to snap at him. It was harder than I expected. Even though I couldn't tell what he wanted, the fact that he was standing between me and Kiera was setting off every protective instinct I had. "Why in the hell am I finding you here in my territory again?"

Scott didn't rise to the bait. "Come on, Sam. Because of the coffee shop. We've been over this."

"You're not at the coffee shop now, asshole," I pointed out, wishing like hell my hands weren't full of cardboard cups. "In fact, you're a hell of a lot closer to where Kiera is working now than you are to Crescent Moon."

He cocked his head. "Don't tell me you're still stuck on the idea that I'm sniffing around your mate."

"I don't need to tell you anything," I snapped. "I'm telling you now to get off my territory before I make you."

"Up until right now, I was under the impression I had free travel privileges here from you and Joe. Hell, Samson, my territory is just a few miles away. You can't be serious about this."

"Do I look like I'm joking?" I growled. I was about to throw the coffees to the pavement and show Scott just how serious I was, but before I made the decision, I heard the shop door of Emerald Blooms open and a gust of magic-tinted wind push Scott and me both a few feet away from one another.

My eyes darted to Kiera, who was standing in the doorway of her shop with a murderous expression on her face. "You're upsetting my customers."

I blinked, my rage evaporating at the sight of her. She looked gorgeous, even dressed in a ridiculous apron with dirt all over her hands.

"I wasn't harassing anyone," I said defensively. "Scott and I were just having a conversation."

Scott snorted. "A conversation about your territory."

Kiera's gaze landed on Scott and narrowed. "There are way better places for a talk like that. Scott, please go. Samson, come in."

I did as I was told, feeling like I was a teenager being sent to my room. Not that it was a bad thing to be near Kiera. If anything, she was the only thing in the world that could get me to stop fighting with Scott.

The second we were inside, Kiera closed the door behind us, turned on her heel, and glared at me. "What the hell?"

I held up my coffee-filled hands in surrender. "Kiera, I swear I'm not trying to fight with Scott, I just—"

"No," she interrupted, "I don't give a shit if you want to fight Scott. What the hell are you doing here?" She was annoyed, but the twitching of her lips told me she was also fighting a smile. "Didn't you get enough of me last night?"

"Not even close." The words were out before I could think about it, and I almost winced. There was no need to be so blunt. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

Her face softened. "Oh, Samson..."

"And to bring you coffee," I added hastily. I didn't want her pity, even though I knew she didn't mean it that way. "I wasn't sure if you'd gotten enough sleep last night."

She raised an eyebrow. "Was that your plan? Wear me out until I can't move and hope I stay home from work?" She plucked the cup from my hand and took a sip. "Good try. Too bad I'm a professional."

I grinned. "Can't blame me for trying."

Kiera sighed, but her eyes were sparkling. "You're so lucky you're cute. Come on, I'll show you around."

Just like that, Scott was out of my mind, and every ounce of me was laser-focused on the woman next to me.

"Where do you want to start?" she asked as we walked into the main part of the shop.

"How about right here?" I asked, grabbing her around the waist and running my thumb over her lower lip. The few people in the shop turned around and pretended like we were invisible, but Kiera flushed bright red anyway.

"One quick kiss," she hissed, "Before you get me fired."

"No promises," I murmured, but I did as I was told and kissed her. I wanted nothing more than to lay her out on one of the tables and fuck her until she was screaming my name, but I couldn't do that here. It would be hard enough for her to work after last night.

Instead, I reluctantly released her. "Now, how about that tour?"