“Did Eva . . .” I trailed off. Of course she’d drawn it.
“Give us a ride?” Dorian said, his voice husky. Her sketch was our likeness exactly.
“Let’s go,” Bill replied, and I was already backing toward the guarded door.
Chapter 40
I’d been tossing and turning since I’d laid down, unable to get comfortable. All that went through my head was everything I’d read in that report.
My poor Alphas. They’d suffered so much.
I lifted the phone still in my hand and pressed the redial button . . . but it went directly to voicemail. I huffed and dropped on my back, setting Dorian’s phone beside the pillow.
Now that it was one in the morning, I doubted they would be coming home soon. I cinched my eyes closed, and exhaled.
Footsteps thundered in my direction, and I shot upright. And suddenly, they were there. I was off the bed and tossing my arms around Dorian with my next breath.
“Let us wash off, Eva, my heart.” But still his arms tightened around me. Cade kissed the top of my head and left.
The sound of the shower came on.
Rafe took me in his arms next, and I smoothed my hands down his back. “Eva,” he groaned. A purr started up in his wide chest, vibrating against me soothingly. I settled in his arms, his purr melting the stress stiffening my body.
“Done,” Cade announced, entering the room with a towel around his waist and his hand scrubbing another towel across his hair. “Come here.” He stole me from Rafe’s embrace and shuffled us over to the bed.
We dropped and he rolled us to the middle of the mattress.
“You’re nesting?” He nestled his face against my neck.
Meanwhile I turned my cheek into the side of his hair to breathe him in. His teeth grazed against my neck, over the healed bite mark Dorian left behind. His gentle nip wasn’t enough to break skin.
Just that one touch, the cautious yet tender scrape like he longed to sink his teeth into me made my decision.
Reaching down, I slid my fingers into my panties and yanked them, inching them lower until I could kick them off. It took a few awkward movements since Cade hadn’t pulled away from my Scent Gland.
I lifted my leg to curl it around his waist and tipped my hips to press against his towel-covered cock. The rough material rubbed against the inside of my thighs, and his girth prodded my sex. I glided my hand into the towel until it parted.
I pressed my heels into his lower back and lifted until I felt him glide across my entrance. My movement made Cade moan, his teeth sinking into my throat as if on instinct. A flood of pleasure wracked my frame, and my channel clamped onto him. The soft, lulling orgasm settled over me like a warm wave.
“Sorry, I can’t fight it anymore,” he croaked. “But I understand if you don’t want me.”
I pulled back to look at his face. There was no hint of manipulation, just stating a fact and guilt. Lots of guilt, like he felt bad for not being able to contain himself from claiming me.
“I do want you,” I blurted. He jerked, disbelief flooding his face. I rolled us so I was seated on top of him. His cock was hard as stone inside me, and his knot was already swelling.
He watched me, chest not moving. I lowered until I hovered right over him.
“Cade,” I murmured against his mouth and licked his lips, turning it into a soft kiss. Pulling back, I dragged my lips over his jaw and down to his neck. “Breathe.”
He exhaled in a burst, and I sank my teeth into the side of his neck. Tangy blood filled my mouth. It wasn’t entirely unpleasant, so I swallowed. Cade stopped breathing again, and on the heels of my bite, he knotted me, cock jutting with hard throbs while Cade moaned.
Our connection wasn’t complete, and it wouldn’t be until I claimed the rest of them. The uneasiness in my stomach would only be quenched by claiming them or waiting for the bonds fade in a few weeks, though Cade’s mark would never fade now that I’d returned his claim.
I sat up, grinding down as best I could with my movements restricted by his knot. Bliss crested his face, and Cade finally opened his eyes. The lamp’s light caught a glisten in them.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
The emotion in his tone caused my heart to stutter. Cade closed his eyes, and a smile remained plastered on his lips.
