Page 28 of Ruthless Alpha (Nightfire Islands Alphas #3)

By the time we left Argent, we were fed, watered, healed, and completely, utterly, blindingly happy.

Or at least, I was. Rosie’s smile was wide but more tentative; despite her bravado, I knew she was at least a little worried about returning to Ensign, and I didn’t blame her.

I would do everything possible to ensure she never regretted her decision or her faith in me, but I could only hope that Damien and my other Betas had managed to maintain order in the two days I’d been gone.

If Rosie seemed a little hesitant about returning to Ensign, she certainly wasn’t hesitant about our reunion, and my wolf and I were equally cocky about the way she cuddled into my side at every opportunity.

Leo had teased us for it over breakfast, but the twinkle in his eye told me he shared our happiness.

He’d also radioed around to tell our friends that I was alive and Rosie was safe, because he was a saint.

I’d probably still have to call Ethan and apologize at some point, but that could wait until Rosie and I were settled back on Ensign, back in our home.

It was hard to keep my eyes on the path as our wolves journeyed across Argent, too captivated by the playful joy of Rosie’s little white wolf.

Watching her skip and jump, her ears perking up at the sounds of birds and little critters, my heart ached slightly for the months I had kept her locked in the house.

There would be no more of that—from now on, Rosie and her wolf would be free to roam wherever they wanted, as long as she came back to me at the end. I had no doubt she would.

That joy was a little less pronounced as we crossed the bridge onto Ensign, the playfulness giving way to wariness.

She didn’t cower, though, didn’t stick to my shadow the way she had when we’d arrived, or when I’d walked her out of town on our way to Ferris.

She was on her guard but not afraid, and when we reached the town, she didn’t hesitate to enter, her head held high as she trotted at my side.

It wasn’t long before someone caught sight of us.

I held my breath, but Trent only waved at us both, then cupped his hands around his mouth to yell,

“Hey Damien! Alpha’s back!”

Rosie still flinched a little at the sudden shout, but she shook it off quickly as we saw Damien jog over.

“All clear, Alpha,” he told me, not phased that I hadn’t bothered shifting.

Despite her newfound confidence, I knew Rosie wouldn’t feel comfortable being naked around Ensign males—and I wasn’t too thrilled with the prospect either, even if I trusted both Trent and Damien—so I would stick to my wolf form until absolutely necessary.

“A couple of dissenters got a bit rowdy once they realized you were gone,” Damien continued, “but they’re all in solitary now.

Otherwise, it’s been smooth sailing. Funerals are set to start tomorrow night, with only a couple of widows who seem significantly upset.

Females are still a bit wary, but I’ve seen a few of the braver ones out on errands on their own.

Lenise is strutting around like she owns the place. ”

I let out a snort of laughter. I didn’t doubt that. I gave Damien an approving nod as I felt something nuzzling into my chest. Rosie’s wolf was so small she barely came up to my shoulders, her tongue flicking out to lick the underside of my jaw. Damien smiled.

“This island finally got itself an Alpha Female?” he asked, and I nodded again, giving Rosie a reciprocal lick to the top of her head between her ears. “I won’t keep you, then. Go home, both of you. Rest up. Or don’t.” He winked, and I felt Rosie purr against my chest. Yeah. It was time to go home.

Just as Damien had said, we did see a couple of nervous-looking females out in the center of town, all of whom stopped to offer a shaky smile and a wave as we passed. The skip was returning to Rosie’s step as she walked behind me, and I felt warm despite the chill in the air.

That warmth carried us back to my house, and only increased as I watched Rosie trot happily up the porch stairs.

She turned in front of the door, catching my eye as if to say, “watch this!” before she hopped up on her hind legs and pushed down the handle to open the door, swishing her tail proudly as she nudged the door all the way open with her snout and disappeared down the hall into the kitchen.

My wolf was too big to fit through the front door, so I shifted on the porch to follow her inside, my breath leaving my body as I walked into the kitchen to find my mate sitting naked on the table.

Her hair was mussed, forming a messy halo around her head, and her smile was warm, but her pretty blue eyes were full of tears.

“What’s wrong, angel?” I asked, rushing forward to take her face in my hands. Was it so awful for her to be back in my house, in the place I’d kept her captive for so long? I’d rip the whole thing down if I had to, and build her somewhere new.

“Nothing,” she assured me, her hand coming up to cover mine. “I’m just happy. I never thought—I never thought we could have this.”

“You can have whatever you want,” I promised her, and she gave me a damp little laugh.

“You’ve done enough,” she assured me, but I shook my head.

“You did all that,” I said, because it was true. “You changed this place, changed me. I was a coward before I knew you.” I’d known that things on Ensign weren’t right, known that we should be better, but I’d never truly believed we could change until Rosie demanded it. She was a miracle.

I kissed her before she could try to argue with me, which turned out to be an incredibly effective tactic.

She melted beneath my mouth, her arms winding around my neck as her legs came up to hug my hips, pulling me in closer.

Her kisses were treacle slow but insistent at the same time, and I could feel the blood already rushing to my cock.

As easy as it would have been to take her right there on the table, I wanted to do this slowly, do this right.

Sliding my hands beneath her thighs, I lifted her from the table, smiling at the little gasp she let out against my lips.

Her ankles crossed against the small of my back, and I luxuriated in the sensation of her belly and breasts squishing against my torso, shivering at the heat of her core where it pressed against my abs.

I dug my fingers into the flesh of her thighs, and she wriggled in my hold, pulling away just enough to whisper against my lips.

“Are you going to take me to bed or not?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied, and she giggled as I pressed a kiss against the side of her neck before spinning on the spot to take us out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

It was a longer journey than it should have been, because Rosie might have been my angel, but she was also a menace, squirming and rubbing herself against me with every step, peppering kisses along my shoulders and nipping at my neck in a way that was altogether far too distracting.

By the time we made it to my bedroom, I was fully hard and desperate for her, but that didn’t stop me from pausing when I tossed her down onto my bed.

Rosie blinked up at me from her back—her pupils huge, lips pink and shiny from kissing, her nipples hard, and her inner thighs already beginning to shine with arousal.

She was so perfect, and now she was where she belonged: in my bed.

Rosie reached up for me, making impatient little grabby motions with her hands, and I could not keep her waiting any longer.

My heart was hammering absurdly in my chest as I stretched out above her, capturing her lips in another long kiss before I broke off to pay the same attention to her neck, her shoulder, her chest, and then to take one straining pink nipple into my mouth.

She gasped at the sensation, her hips bucking up to leave little wet stripes on my abdomen with every pull of my mouth.

Her hands were buried in my hair, tugging hard at the longer strands on top of my head, and I moaned against her skin, the vibration making her gasp.

I could have stayed there for hours, but I was too impatient, needing to touch her, to taste her again.

My fingers slid inside her with little resistance, and Rosie moaned in relief as I pumped those two fingers, leaning down to fix my lips to her clit.

I’d already teased her enough, so my suction was measured and firm, interspersed with soothing licks that had her wailing and shaking and coming apart within minutes.

Her pussy was a vice around my fingers as I fucked her through her orgasm, and my cock twitched in anticipation.

I wanted to claim her, to mark her neck where everyone could see, to feel the bond between us in its true glory, but I understood that her feelings around that would be complex.

I knew she loved me, knew she wanted to be with me, but the claiming bite was, in its own way, a mark of ownership. Rosie wasn’t anyone’s property.

It was a conversation for later, I decided, as she pulled me back up toward her for a kiss, and all coherent thoughts were driven from my mind.

Rosie was still shaking slightly as she licked the taste of herself from my mouth, and I hooked my hands under her knees to spread her legs as wide as they would go.

She tried to buck her hips, but she was pinned to the bed, and could do nothing as I dragged my cock through her wet folds, not pushing in, but rubbing up against her over-sensitive clit, covering myself in her slick.

“You want me inside, angel?” I whispered, and Rosie whimpered as she nodded her reply.

“Yeah, yeah, I need it. I need it— please. ”

She was so polite. I pressed a kiss to her forehead as I lined myself up, pushing slowly into the tight, wet heat of her.

Her pussy pulsed around my cock, and my grip tightened around her thighs, my fingers surely leaving fresh bruises on her delicate skin.

Beneath me, Rosie’s eyes were screwed tight with pleasure, her breath coming hard and heavy as she tried frantically to take me deeper.

“Patience, angel,” I cooed, stroking her inner thigh with my thumb.

It was something I needed to remind myself of, too, as my own body was shuddering with the effort of holding back.

I pressed in a little further, and we gasped in unison at the intensity of it.

Pulling back, I thrust in again, deeper, and I felt her nails dig into my scalp, her inner walls contracting around my cock, trying to keep me inside her.

My next thrust was interrupted by the emergence of my knot, and Rosie whined, grinding her hips against the bulge to try to take it inside herself.

“Are you sure?” I breathed. I knew I was big, and she’d taken me so well, but surely my knot would take her over the edge of pleasure into pain.

“Yes,” she panted. “I want—want to take all of you.”

I couldn’t say no to that. My wolf was howling in victory within me, and I rolled us over so she was sitting astride me, my cock still buried deep inside her.

“You’re in control, then,” I told her. “Take it easy, angel.”

From my position underneath her, it was even more obvious how wrecked she looked.

Her hair was frizzy and disheveled, her mouth smudged and pink, her breasts littered with bruises.

Her eyes were wide and wanting, and she nodded at my instruction, grinding down gently on my knot until she opened up to it, taking me inside her sliver by sliver.

“Oh,” she gasped. “It’s so—oh!”

“You’re doing so good,” I promised her, my eyes glued to where she was approaching the widest part of me.

Reaching out, I began to rub her clit gently with the pad of my thumb, coaxing her to relax, to open up more for me.

After a few moments, Rosie’s thighs began to tremble, and then there was liquid rushing over my knot, pooling on my abdomen, dipping down onto the sheets beneath us.

“Holy shit,” I breathed, as she slipped around my knot, taking me in completely.

Despite the overwhelm of her scorching flesh around me, I didn’t stop rubbing.

As she began to shiver and shake around me, building to another inescapable climax, I bared my neck to her.

My mind was utterly blank, wanting nothing but to feel our bond, and if that meant I was the one to carry the mark, then it was an easy decision to make.

As her teeth sank into the junction of my shoulder and neck, we tumbled over the edge together.

I could have lived forever in that moment, buried inside her to the hilt while she claimed me as hers.

As we came down from our high, she licked and kissed at the fresh mark on my shoulder, and I grinned dumbly up at her, feeding on the joy I could feel through the now solidified bond and sending it right back to her.

“Thank you,” Rosie whispered, and I squeezed her tighter against me.

“You don’t need to reciprocate if you don’t want to,” I assured her, but she shook her head.

“One day,” she promised, and I felt the truth of it in our bond. “Soon.”

The kiss she pressed to my lips was light and chaste, filled with tenderness, and as I pushed her hair out of her face, I noticed the way her eyelids had grown heavy. I settled her against my chest, carefully raking my fingers through her curls.

“I love you,” she breathed.

“I love you, too.”

Rosie hummed contented, and it wasn’t long before the calm that flowed into me through the bond lulled us both into blissful sleep.