Page 25 of The Alpha Under My Bed (The Chosen #1)

Twenty-Five

MALCOLM

The second I had Ellie in my arms, the bond snapped tight—so tight I could barely think through the haze of possession roaring through my skull. Her scent was wrecked, spiked with leftover fear and the sharp tang of Claudia’s chemicals, but underneath it all, there it was.

Heat.

Fucking hell.

The injection had done its job. It had forced her into heat, slamming her body into a biological need so overwhelming that she was dripping for me. Her thighs were slick, her pupils blown, her skin flushed with the unbearable torment of being unclaimed while burning.

I should have come faster. Should have torn this place apart sooner. Should have gutted Claudia and her men before Ellie reached this point.

A ragged sound tore from her throat as her fingers clawed at my shirt—weak, trembling, desperate. Her legs locked around my waist, her mouth parted on a silent whimper as she rubbed against me—mindless, seeking, grinding against the hard length that had been hers from the beginning.

“Mal,” she gasped, her voice wrecked, broken. “It hurts.”

A shudder tore through me, my alpha instincts raging, feral, demanding I fix it.

I tilted her face up, my fingers pressing into her jaw, forcing her dazed, glassy eyes to lock onto mine. "I know, sweetheart," I murmured, my voice low, rough—raw—the words scraping from deep in my chest. It was the only thing keeping me from throwing her down right here on the cold, blood-smeared floor. "I’m going to make it better. I’m going to take care of you."

The promise hung between us, heavy and suffocating.

I walked us out of the warehouse, my boots crunching over debris, past Claudia’s lifeless body, past the blood still drying under my nails. None of it mattered now. Not with her.

Barely making it onto the bike, Ellie shifted against me again, her soaked thighs rubbing along my waist, chasing the friction. Her breath was hot, her body trembling with need. She whined—soft, desperate.

“Mal—”

I kissed her before she could finish the sentence.

It wasn’t soft. It wasn’t gentle. It was everything.

Possession. Hunger. Claiming.

Her mouth opened to me, desperate, and she moaned against my lips, arching into me, pressing her body closer, like she was starved for something only I could give. She gave herself to me without hesitation, without resistance, her hands tangling in my hair, her nails scraping against my scalp as she matched my hunger, taking as much as I did.

I groaned, barely holding myself together as I pulled back just enough to whisper against her lips, “Hold on tight, sweetheart.”

And then I tore through the city.

I kicked the apartment door open without breaking stride, my focus tunneled down to one singular, undeniable goal—Ellie.

She was trembling in my arms, slick already soaking through my jeans, her breath coming in short, gasping little pants as she fought the unbearable torment of her heat. Every fiber of my being demanded I put her out of her misery, tear away the last remaining barriers between us, and fill her the way she was meant to be filled.

But I forced myself to wait.

Just for a second.

I set her down on the bed, stepping back, my chest heaving as I watched her. She was a mess—wrecked by her body’s needs, her skin flushed, her pupils so wide and dark they nearly swallowed the color of her irises.

She shifted against the mattress, rubbing her thighs together, whimpering softly, as if she couldn’t bear the emptiness inside her for a second longer. Her fingers curled into the sheets, her body straining toward me, silently begging.

She whined.

The sound went straight to my cock.

I went still, every muscle in my body locking tight as I watched her, the bond between us singing, thrumming with the undeniable truth that she was already ruined for anyone but me.

“You need me, baby?” I rasped, my voice dark, rough, dangerous.

Ellie let out a trembling breath, nodding frantically, her lip caught between her teeth as she arched toward me. “Please.”

That was it.

The last thread of my control snapped.

I was on her in a second, tearing my shirt off, shoving her thighs apart, caging her beneath me. Her breath hitched, her bond mark throbbing on her throat, her pulse a frantic, desperate rhythm beneath my lips.

“You’re mine,” I growled, my fingers tracing down the soft dip of her stomach, teasing the waistband of those thin fucking shorts that were keeping me from where I needed to be. The fabric was already damp, already ruined, clinging to the slick heat between her thighs. My slick. My omega. My mate.

“Say it,” I ordered, my voice rough, thick with everything.

Ellie gasped, her breath hitching, her lips parting on a soft, desperate whimper. “Yours.”

The word destroyed me.

It wrecked every last ounce of control I had left. I tore her shorts down in one harsh movement, my breath punching out of my chest as her scent hit me like a wrecking ball. Raw. Unfiltered. Untouched by anything but me.

I wanted to bury myself in her. I wanted to sink so deep she’d never get me out, never forget the way I felt inside her, never be able to breathe without thinking of me?—

Then I saw it.

I stilled, my gaze landing on the gleam of metal. The belt.

My belt.

The one I had locked onto her myself.

A low, dangerous growl rumbled from deep in my chest, the sound vibrating through the space between us, making her breath catch. I dragged my knuckles over the cool, unyielding metal, feeling the way her body trembled, the way her pulse jumped beneath my fingertips.

She was fucking perfect like this.

Pinned. Trapped. Mine.

“Mal—” she whispered, her voice shaking, hands fisting the sheets like she was fighting the very thing her body craved.

I smirked, slow and dark, my fingers grazing over the lock—not undoing it, not yet. Not until I had my fun.

“I should leave it on,” I murmured, watching the way she shuddered beneath me, the way her thighs tensed, instinctively trying to rub together for relief. “Should make you wait a little longer. Should make you beg.”

Ellie whimpered.

Fuck.

My cock throbbed painfully, heat licking at my spine, my entire body strung tight with the need to wreck her. I groaned, the sound rough and ruined, my fingers tightening around the lock like I might actually consider it?—

But I couldn’t wait.

I unbuckled it in one swift motion, yanking the belt off and tossing it to the floor with a heavy thud.

And the second it was gone, her scent exploded.

Raw. Wild. Unrestrained.

Ellie arched beneath me, gasping, whimpering, so fucking lost to her heat it was killing me. She squirmed, shifting against the sheets, chasing friction, chasing me.

And before I could pin her down, before I could spread her open and claim her the way I had always meant to?—

She grabbed my wrist.

I felt it.

The frantic pulse beneath her skin, the sheer desperation bleeding out of her in waves. And then she said it.

“I love you.”

I froze.

The world tilted sideways, the air punched from my lungs—because it wasn’t just the heat making her say it. It was real.

And that?

That was the final fucking nail in the coffin.

A snarl ripped from my throat as I crashed my mouth against hers, swallowing the words, stealing them, taking them so she’d never give them to anyone else.

I was going to fucking ruin her.

My lips crushed against hers—rough, desperate, possessive—like I could carve my name into her with nothing but this kiss. Ellie’s moan was raw, desperate, as her body arched into mine, opening for me like she couldn’t get close enough, her nails digging into my shoulders like she needed me inside her just as badly as I needed to be.

I rolled my hips against her, slow, teasing, dragging the thick, aching length of my cock against her swollen, slick folds. She trembled, her body slick with need, the sheets soaking with the evidence of her desperation. She was begging for me—for this—for us.

“You need me, baby?” I rasped, my voice thick and broken, straining with something primal.

Ellie nodded frantically, her breath ragged, her lips swollen, red from the violent clash of our mouths. “Please,” she whispered, a plea so soft yet desperate, like she was begging for the very thing I was already planning to give her.

I tore my shirt off in one motion, shoving her thighs apart, pinning her against the mattress with all the force of what was coming. Her breath hitched, her eyes wide as she stared up at me, her bond mark pulsating on her throat, her pulse a frantic rhythm beneath my lips.

I pushed her thighs wider, staring at the soaked perfection before me, the heat rising from her in waves.

“Perfect,” I muttered, my voice a low growl, “so fucking perfect.”

Ellie whimpered, her body shifting, desperate for me, aching in a way I couldn’t ignore anymore.

I dipped my head, dragging my tongue along the sensitive skin of her inner thigh, my hands gripping her waist, locking her in place.

“You smell like fucking heaven,” I rasped, my voice wrecked with need, the words almost too much to handle.

“Mal—”

I cut her off, not letting her beg, not yet.

I licked into her like I was starving, groaning against her as she arched off the bed, her back bowing beneath me, a shattered moan tearing from her throat as I devoured her.

She was already so close, trembling, falling apart—yet it wasn’t enough.

I needed her to break. Needed to hear her scream my name.

I slid a finger into her, curling it just right, feeling the tight grip of her around me, pulling me deeper, pulling me under, taking me with her into the madness.

“Come for me,” I growled, my voice thick with dominance.

She shattered.

Her body locked up, the cries ripping from her, raw and desperate, her name falling from her lips like a prayer.

I kissed my way up her body, pressing my weight into her, my cock grinding against her soaked heat, teasing her entrance, just enough to drive her insane.

She clawed at my back, wrecked, desperate. “Mal, please,” she gasped, her lips trembling against mine. “I need?—”

I lined up, pressing just an inch inside, groaning as her body clenched around me, trying to pull me deeper, already wanting everything I had to give.

“Tell me what you need, sweetheart,” I growled against her throat, fighting my own instincts to thrust deeper.

She whimpered, squirming beneath me, her body so fucking eager. “I need your knot.”

And that was it.

I snapped.

I slammed into her, stretching her wide, filling her completely, claiming her in every way that mattered.

She sobbed, her body tightening, her slick making it too fucking easy, too perfect, too overwhelming.

I set a brutal pace, driving her up the bed, chasing the inevitable, losing myself in the pleasure of her.

Her nails raked down my back, her legs locked around my waist, pulling me deeper, forcing me to give her all of it.

Her body fluttered around me, tightening, her breath coming in sharp, desperate cries—and then?—

She came hard.

Her bond flared, her body clamping down on me so tight that the world tilted, stars exploding in my vision.

Don’t come. Don’t come. Don’t come.

I exhaled hard, panting, still buried so fucking deep inside her I could feel her heartbeat against mine, and then?—

“Fuck. Your glasses.”

Ellie blinked up at me, dazed, her lips parting like she was struggling to understand the words, like she barely remembered what glasses even were. Heat had already eaten away at her mind, making her soft, needy, utterly ruined.

“Huh?” she managed, still breathless.

I groaned, dropping my forehead against hers. “They’re still in the fucking warehouse,” I muttered, the realization hitting me like a delayed punch to the gut. Gone. Trampled. Probably broken as shit.

She just blinked at me again, completely unfazed.

I let out a slow, heavy breath, brushing my nose against hers, then growled, “I’ll buy you fifty more.”

Then I kissed her.

Then I fucked her harder.

Because nothing was getting between me and my omega.

She sobbed, her body tightening, her slick making it too easy, too perfect, too much.

I set a brutal pace, driving her up the bed, chasing the inevitable, losing myself in her.

Her nails raked down my back, her legs locked around my waist, forcing me deeper, forcing me to give her everything.

Her body fluttered, tightening, her breath coming in short, sharp cries?—

And then she came again.

I barely had time to groan before my knot slammed into place.

I roared against her throat, filling her, claiming her, marking her from the inside out.

Mine. Forever.

She trembled beneath me, wrecked and perfect, knotted and owned, and so fucking mine I couldn’t breathe.

I pressed a soft kiss to her throat, my voice rough, final.

“You’re never getting away from me now.”

She sighed, exhausted, satisfied, wrecked beyond repair.

“Good.”