Page 23 of Snarl First, Kiss Later (Alpha’s Prophecy #2)

TWENTY-THREE

AVA

T he kiss should’ve ended it.

It didn’t.

It opened something wider. Deeper. Made her chest ache and her blood hum in a way that had nothing to do with lust and everything to do with finally letting herself feel all of it.

He was still crouched in front of her, shadow and firelight carving him into something beautiful and feral. His scarred jaw rough beneath her fingers. His breath warm against her mouth. Silas didn’t move. Not until she whispered, “Don’t go.”

He exhaled like she’d stabbed him again. But this time he leaned forward, pressing his forehead to hers.

“Not running,” he rasped. “Not tonight.”

The silence between them was soft now. The kind that wrapped around the edges like a blanket. The cold nipped at her skin through her jacket, but she didn’t care. Ava had never felt warmer than she did with his hand in hers and the truth heavy in the air.

They stood slowly, close. Closer. Until her back pressed against the wooden fence of the ring and he caged her in with nothing more than a look. That same gray-gold stare that could level armies.

“You sure?” he asked, voice low.

“Yes.” She reached up, pulling the band from her braid so the wind could tangle her hair. “No hiding this time.”

His mouth crashed into hers — not wild like before, but slow and sure, tasting every corner of her lips like he was learning her all over again. Ava moaned into it, her hands sliding up beneath his coat, over his chest, feeling the taut muscle beneath the fabric, the heat of him.

“I want to see you,” she breathed, tugging at his shirt.

He stripped it off without hesitation. In the moonlight, his skin glowed warm and bronze, lean muscles rippling with every breath. The long scar down his back was visible even in the dark, a pale, brutal reminder of a past that never stopped chasing him.

Ava traced it with her fingers. “Does it still hurt?”

“Only when you look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like I’m worth touching.”

She didn’t reply. Just dropped to her knees in the dirt and snow-dusted grass before he could blink.

“Ava—fuck.” His voice cracked like ice under weight. “You don’t have to?—”

“I want to.”

She undid his belt, slow but confident, never breaking eye contact. His cock sprang free the moment she pushed his pants down — thick, flushed, already hard. The cold night air made him hiss, but when she wrapped her hand around the base and leaned forward, any protest turned to a shudder.

“You’re fucking perfect,” she murmured, breath brushing over the head of him before she licked — one long, slow stroke from base to tip. Silas braced himself against the fence, his head tilted back toward the stars, breath fogging the air.

“God, Ava—” His hips jerked when she took him into her mouth, slow and deep. Her lips sealed around him as she hollowed her cheeks and pulled back, tongue teasing the underside. Her hands stroked the length not buried in her throat.

He tasted like salt and earth and something darker, something wolf . His fingers curled into her hair, not pushing, just holding , like he needed the anchor or he’d come undone.

“Your mouth,” he panted. “You’re gonna make me—fuck—I can’t?—”

He pulled back suddenly, cock slipping from her lips with a wet pop. Ava blinked up at him, breathless and smug.

“You didn’t let me finish.”

“I was gonna,” he growled, hauling her up by the waist. “Inside you. Where you belong. ”

She gasped as he lifted her, spinning them so her back hit the fence post. Her boots caught the rail for balance as he shoved her pants down her thighs, tearing them halfway before they bunched at her knees.

The cold stung, but it didn’t matter. Not with the way his hand slid between her legs, finding her pussy soaked and swollen.

“Fuck, Ava. You’re dripping for me.”

“Then stop teasing,” she snapped, gripping his shoulders.

He didn’t. He lined himself up and paused just long enough to meet her eyes.

“No running,” he said.

“Not tonight.”

Then he pushed inside.

She moaned — low and broken — head falling back as he stretched her open, inch by inch. His cock filled her completely, the delicious burn of it knocking the air from her lungs.

“ Shit, ” she gasped, fingernails digging into his back.

“So tight,” he groaned, forehead against hers. “So fucking tight, Ava.”

She rolled her hips, urging him deeper, until he bottomed out. And then he moved.

The rhythm built slow, grinding strokes that rocked her against the fence with every thrust. Their breath fogged in the cold night air. Each time he withdrew, she clenched around him, already building again.

“Fuck,” she whimpered. “I’m close—Silas—I’m?—”

“Let go,” he growled, voice barely human.

She shattered, muscles locking around him, vision white as pleasure hit like a goddamn explosion. Her pussy fluttered around his cock, drawing him deeper as he held her through it, thrusting still.

He didn’t stop.

Even as she whimpered, breathless, overstimulated, he drove into her again — harder, rougher now.

“I need—” she choked out.

“I’ve got you,” he growled.

She came again without warning, body jerking, clenching around him like a vice. Her cries echoed into the night air, muffled by his shoulder.

And then, with a snarl that sounded half-man, half-wolf, Silas came. He thrust one final time, burying himself deep as he spilled inside her, cock pulsing, breath ragged.

They stayed like that — tangled and trembling in the dark.

The cold bit at her bare skin, but she didn’t care. His arms were around her. His warmth in her. His forehead rested against hers like a vow unspoken.

“You okay?” he finally whispered.

“Better than okay.” She smiled, dazed. “You?”

Instead of answering, he kissed her — soft, slow, reverent.

“I’m here,” he said. “With you.”

And this time, she believed it.