Ned hummed in acknowledgement, but I caught the hint of a hidden smile twitching at his cheeks.
I glancedup from my notes at the knock on my office door, my brow furrowing. "Come in?" My frown smoothed as Torion appeared, darting through the door and shutting it quickly behind him. I'd only made it as far as rising from my seat before Torion had crossed the room and wrapped his arms around me, head bowing and mouth covering my hello.
He groaned into the kiss and I sighed, my arms lifting to circle his shoulders, taking hold of his wing roots to keep him close. Not that he seemed inclined to move away, as he crowded closer until I bumped into my desk. His tongue stroked against mine, his hands sliding down and molding around my ass, squeezing gently, trying to fuse our hips together.
Desire breezed through my veins, warm and languid. I moaned into the kiss, melted in Torion's arms. I was embarrassingly responsive in the past few weeks, although I wasn't certain Torion had noticed yet, given his need for me had always been…so much. Tylane's tail, this man enjoyed kissing me. When it went no further than that, he still walked away from me with a grin on his face and a swagger in his step. But lately…
"Don't you dare walk out of this room," I gasped out when Torion started to pull away. I was clinging to him, my body throbbing with need.
Torion looked down with fire in his bright eyes, his cheeks warm with color and lips damp and shining from my kisses. "I don't have long."
I blinked at him, dazed for a moment, and then recalled that Torion was meeting with Alpha Worthington from Skybern. Damn.
He cleared his throat and then added with a low rasp, "So I won't be able to knot you."
I grinned and nodded. "A compromise, good." Then I turned in his arms, bracing one hand on my open notebook and using the other to hike my skirts.
Torion groaned loudly behind me before falling eagerly into my back, helping me lift fabric out of the air, his hand sliding up to cover the mound of my belly, the other circling above and sliding down into the collar of my dress to fondle my breasts.
"H-how is the meeting going?" I asked as some distant part of my head rose up in the urgency of the moment, demanding I express interest in Torion's duty.
"Brigid!" He laughed, his breath on my neck creating gooseflesh. His fingers found a nipple to play with at the same moment he guided himself to my entrance, and we both exhaled with rushing moans. "Fuck. You're so wet already. Have you been thinking of me?"
Truthfully, I hadn't been thinking of Torion at all. I'd been focused on my work with perfect attention until he'd stepped through the door. But for a month now, it was as if the second I set eyes on him, my body prepared itself for pleasure. I'd taken to avoiding meeting him throughout the day, if only so I wouldn't interrupt us both with my desire.
"P-please," I hiccuped.
Torion sank into me with one endless, smooth stroke, and my entire body bloomed at the union. I collapsed down to my elbows, arching my back to take him deeper, carelessly wanton and so perfectly empty headed.
"Damn, now all I can think about is knotting you," Torion said, breathless as he covered my back with his warmth, staying deep inside of me and cuddling me as I bent over the desk. He moved in deep nudges, the hand on my stomach sliding down to touch me between my trembling legs. "As soon as Worthington leaves, I'm taking you back to bed."
I whined, trying to pin my lips together to keep the words inside of me. Except when had a secret from Torion ever served me? He took every confession I offered and protected it, protected me. And this one was hardly likely to disappoint him.
"I wish you were in rut again," I gasped out, and Torion bucked in surprise over my back. "Every time I'm near you, I just want you to drag me to bed and keep me there for days until I'm too weak to move again."
Torion let out a long, low curse and began to move, rough and deep, never pulling more than halfway out of me.
"We have four days until the accounting feast," Torion gritted out, nuzzling against my ear as I opened my mouth and whined down into my desk. "And you're going to get your wish if it kills me. Now cover your mouth so no one hears you screaming, because I know what it means when you get tense like this."
I rested my forehead to the cool, dry pages of my open notebook and held my hands tightly over my mouth as Torion drove me to oblivion.
Perhaps Ned MacIntyre was a little right to worry about Torion and his responsibility to Grave Hills, because after carrying me up to nap in bed, it only took him another two hours with Alpha Worthington and his men before he returned to me to make good on his promise.
If I was walkingfunny at the accounting feast, I hoped the attendees would blame my now apparent pregnancy and not notice Torion's incredibly languid and smug expression. We'd barely made it out of bed in time to get ready this morning. There'd been as much quiet conversation—whispered dreams and worries, gentle reassurances and teary eyed hopes—as bright cries of ecstasy in the past few days. I found myself smiling shyly every time I looked at Torion and was just satiated enough to manage the public event.
"Have I mentioned how beautiful you look tonight?" Torion asked, bowing his head to murmur the words in my ear.
I flushed as he lifted my hand and pressed a long kiss to my knuckles, holding my gaze and letting the whisky heat in his eyes warm me throughout. "You have," I said, pulling my hand free when I realized he had no intention of releasing it. But I found myself smoothing a few stray curls away from his face.
"It bears repeating," he said with a shrug.
I glanced around the full great hall at the many couples gathered—so many young betas grinning madly at one another, women in small groups huddled with heads bowed and more subdued smiles. My eyes landed on Emily Anderson leaningagainst Samuel, her beta, and caught the moment his head bowed and his mouth landed on the exposed skin at the edge of collar, before sliding up her throat to whisper something in her ear. She flushed and glanced around, checking to see if they were observed, but I smiled as her head jerked in a brief nod, face sharpening with a familiar expectation. Then the couple stepped back away from the crowd and moved to the shadows of the departing hallway.
Years ago, I'd never imagined myself having a pleasant conversation with the woman, but earlier this evening, I'd laughed at her dry humor and sharp wit.
"Young dragons are so exhausting," she'd said, her gaze traveling across the room, where Samuel shoved at a friend of his and laughed loudly. And then she'd looked at me, eyes glittering warmly, and we'd shared a conspiratorial smile.
"I do find myself sleeping heavily," I allowed, smirking.
