And I'm nowhere. Floating in this weird space between arousal and frustration.
"Come for me," he murmurs. "Please, Vespera. Want to feel you—"
"I can't." The admission tears out of me. "I'm trying but I can't—"
"What do you need?" His voice is strained. "Tell me what you need."
"I don't know!" Tears leak from my eyes. "It feels good but it's not enough. You're not—"
I cut myself off before I can finish. Before I can say what we both know.
He's not pack. Not Alpha. Not theirs.
And my body won't accept anything else.
"Keep going," I say, even though I know it's futile. "Maybe if you just—maybe I need more time—"
He keeps moving, determined now. Trying every angle, every rhythm, every trick he knows. His fingers working my clit with increasing desperation.
But nothing works.
I'm wet enough. I'm aroused enough. My body is cooperating in every technical sense.
Except the one that matters.
I can't come. Can't even get close. It's like there's a wall between me and pleasure, and no matter how hard Ben works, he can't break through it.
"Fuck," he gasps, hips stuttering. "Vespera, I'm gonna—I can't hold—"
"It's okay," I whisper. "Just finish."
He does, spilling inside me with a broken groan. Collapsing against me, breathing hard.
And I just lie there. Frustrated. Empty. Aching with need my body won't let him satisfy.
He pulls out carefully, and I can feel his come leaking out of me. The physical evidence of what should have been intimate. What should have worked.
"Did you—" he starts, but stops when he sees my face.
"No."
He sits back, running a hand through his hair. "Fuck."
"It's not—"
"Don't." His voice is sharp. "Don't say it's not me. Because what the fuck else could it be? I just—we just—" He gestures between us. "And you didn't even get close?"
"Ben—"
"I tried everything." There's an edge to his voice now. Hurt pride mixing with genuine confusion. "Every angle, everyrhythm, I worked your clit the entire time. I know what I'm doing, Vespera. I've never had a partner who couldn't—"
"I know." Tears burn my eyes. "I know you did everything right."
"Then why?" He's staring at me like I'm a puzzle he can't solve. "Is it me? My size? The fact that I'm Beta? What—"
"It's the bonds." The admission feels like failure. "It's what they did to me. My body won't—it can't—"
"Bullshit." He stands, starts pulling on his clothes with jerky movements. "That's convenient. 'Oh, sorry Ben, biology says I can only fuck Alphas now.' Do you hear how that sounds?"
