Page 23

22

His senses seemed to sharpen as he strode around giving orders for protecting the camp. The smoke from the fires hit his nose so intensely he could identify the greener, bright tang of new wood being burned. Every moment that kept him away from his tent was torture. With each step he took, the stiff fabric of his pants rubbed against his length, both teasing and tormenting him further.

Needing to keep his focus, he sucked in a deep lungful of air. They’d reach Argos by mid-morning tomorrow, but all he could think about was Kassandra, and having her again.

Xander approached, removing his helmet. “Are we still on as planned for when we reach Argos?”

“What?” Kassandra’s taste still lingered on his tongue. He hadn’t meant to kiss her, he simply … had. Now, he didn’t want to stop. “Yes.”

“With the Sardi, too? And your plans for her?”

“Yes. She’ll come to Argos, too.”

Xander nodded. “All right. I’ll have everything arranged for when we enter.”

Lodan waved him off. “Good. Finish the nightly preparations. Double the number in each watch just in case the Sardi are still nearby. Send out a scouting patrol.”

“Should I have them report to you when they’re done?”

“No. You handle this one.”

Xander’s brows rose. “All right.”

Lodan usually wanted all reports to come to him, but tonight, he didn’t want to be interrupted. After having her tonight, he’d regain control over himself. No longer would he walk around camp like a randy teenager. He’d spend the night inside her, and it would slake his lust.

No, it wouldn’t.

He went to the armory tent and removed his armor. Then he dumped a few tankards of water over himself, washing away the dust from the road. He pulled on fresh clothes, barely noticing what he grabbed.

When he stepped out into the camp, his vision narrowed until all he saw was his tent. Had she obeyed his orders? Was she in there, waiting for him on all fours?

Only one way to find out.

With every step, his body coiled tighter. The vanilla-tinged scent of pure Omega arousal floated in the air as he got closer. He swore out loud and lengthened his stride.

He’d relaxed her guard to one warrior, who stood shifting from foot to foot beside the tent flap, his face set as if he were in pain. No Alpha could be around this kind of desire without responding. When he saw Lodan, relief splashed across his face. “I need to leave,” the warrior practically shouted.

“Leave.” He didn’t want any other Alpha inhaling her sweet scent. He didn’t want any other Alpha around her period.

Something awoke in his chest. Deep, primal need clawed at him. My Omega. Claim her.

He flung the door flap out of the way and shouldered inside.

Kassandra had half obeyed him. She was naked, but she stood next to the bed, not on all fours on top of it. It didn’t matter, she was ready for him.

He yanked the clasp on his pants and kicked them off. “I’ve been patient all day. I’ve reached my limit.”

The light blue of her eyes had almost disappeared. She crawled onto the bed with her hips toward him, then looked over her shoulder. He tore his gaze away from her face to what she’d bared to him. Her sex already glistened. Wet and needy. “I ache inside.” Her hand drifted down between her thighs, and she stroked herself.

“I’ll take care of you.”

She tilted her hips. “Yes. Take good care of me.”

His eyes flooded with black. “Get farther on the bed.”

Keeping her gaze locked on his, she slowly crawled to the middle of the bed. “Look at you.” He walked closer, shedding his shirt so he was as naked as she was. He climbed onto the bed and knelt behind her, his fingers going to her sex. “So ready for me. So wet and needy.”

A shiver went through her. “Yes.”

He settled on his knees between her legs. One hand landed on her hip, gripping her tight and hauling her back against him. The other went between her legs. He rubbed his cock through the moisture she’d created for him as his fingers slid through her slick heat. “All of this is for me.” He needed to get inside her. “Say you want your Alpha.”

Her gaze met his again, her pupils dilating. “I want my Alpha. I want you.” The need churning inside him quieted for one brief, glittering moment. He leaned forward and kissed her shoulder. Softly. Gently.

He gripped her hips with both hands, digging his fingers in, holding her in place. In one thrust, he shoved inside all the way. He would have fallen to his knees if he hadn’t been on them already. She was paradise, her soft heat welcoming every inch of him. She squeezed him hard, her inner walls already fluttering, eager for more. “Gods above. This is madness.”

He withdrew and pumped back into her again. And again. He fully mounted her, sliding his chest against her back, his lips landing at her neck. His arms became two taut ropes on either side of her, keeping her caged under him.

She arched her back, giving him even better access to plunge deep. So deep. He could bed her hundreds of times and it would never be enough. “You’ll take every inch. Then you’ll scream for more.”

“Alpha.” The words tumbled from her in a kittenish purr. “Alpha.”

His control snapped.

His strokes became savage. Demanding. She answered him in the same way, meeting every thrust. He was out of control because of her. Only her.

She clutched his hands, her fingers entwining with his on the bed, holding on with all her strength. Her hips bucked, and her sex clenched around him, faster and faster as she approached the edge.

“Not yet, Princess. Not yet.”

He used his thighs to wedge hers farther apart and changed the angle, hitting her exactly where she liked. His lips were at her shoulder, precisely where an Alpha left his mark, his teeth grazing her skin with each hard thrust. “I should make you wait. Finally get you to beg.” His breath was ragged. “But I’m not going to. Come for me. Let me feel what your Alpha does to you.”

She exploded, her entire body spasming, her sex gripping him. Milking him. Wanting all of him. A short, tortured scream ripped from her throat.

He groaned, and his hips pumped harder. He shoved himself all the way inside her, then stilled. “I’m going to stay buried inside you as I let my knot come. I want you to feel every inch of it as it swells. For you. Only for you.”

She shuddered beneath him. “Lodan.” His name on her lips punched another searing lash of lust through him.

He’d never done anything this intimate before. He nudged his hips, sliding his cock in small motions back and forth but not withdrawing. She moaned and whimpered, owning every part of him as his base swelled in rippling pulses. She would be able to feel every twitch as the motion added layers of friction to the sensitive places inside her.

He grew bigger, now snagging with each dip of his hips as his cock fought to seal them together. “Tell me what you want.”

She shook under him. “I want your knot. I need it. I ache .” The pressure of her squeezing him so tight was exquisite torture, right on the edge between pleasure and pain. And she’d be feeling it even worse.

He wasn’t going to keep it from her any longer. He groaned. “I’ve never been this hard. Or swelled this much.” He rooted deeper. “What are you doing to me?”

She whimpered. “I can’t take any more.”

“You can take it. You can take all of it.” With one final hard throbbing pulse, he fully knotted her.

Kassandra clawed at the bed. His knot held her in place, but even so, he wrapped one arm around her and pinned her to him. Crying out her name, he came. His vision darkened, and he groaned. He’d never released this hard, even after months of abstinence while battling. This was all because of her. She drove him to madness, then wrung every possible pleasure from him.

He hunched over her, his mouth at her shoulder. He released her, and his hand went between her legs. “Come again on my knot, beautiful. You need it.”

His hips snapped in small surges, pressing into her. She tightened around him again as she obeyed, catapulting into another release, milking his seed deep inside her. His release rolled on, and he shuddered.

Wrapped together, they fell onto the bed, and he shifted his weight so he wouldn’t crush her. He remained locked inside her a long time. He knew Alphas and Omegas were built for each other, but this was on an entirely different plane.

Nothing else existed. No time. No place. No prisoner. No enemy.

He’d kissed her earlier, something he said he wouldn’t do, and he needed her lips on his again. When his knot finally softened, he turned her over and claimed her mouth.

She was taking a sword to each barrier he’d built around himself. The ones to remind him she was a Sardi. The brother of his enemy. The barriers collapsed more with each moment he spent with her. Somewhere, she’d stopped being a Sardi and became Kassandra.

“Each time I see you, your beauty hits me so hard, I can’t take a breath,” he whispered into her ear. “I want your lips.” He ran his finger over them. “I’m obsessed with them. The taste. The feel. And most of all, the words that will come out of them next. It’s never what I expect.” It wasn’t exactly poetry, but those were the words flowing through him.

He replaced his finger with his mouth, and she opened for him, whimpering low. He kissed her deeply, and her breath came quick and sharp. “Don’t stop kissing me.”

And he didn’t. He kissed her as he took her again. Long, and slow. He kissed her as his knot filled her again, and this time, when he came, it was even more powerful because he claimed her mouth at the same time.

Deep inside him, the truth about their connection whispered to him with every beat of his heart, but he ignored it. If he didn’t, it would change everything.