“You’re crowding me,” I whispered.
“Sorry.” But he didn’t sound sorry at all. The bastard was enjoying this.
In the darkness, I could feel him looking at me. Feel the weight of his gaze even though I could barely make out his features. The bond hummed between us, that strange connection he’d created when he bit me. It was like touching a live wire, feeling his emotions bleeding into mine.
“You know what kills me?” His voice was barely audible, meant only for me. “I can feel how much you hate me through the bond. Every spike of anger, every moment of disgust. But I can also feel how much you want me. It’s driving us both insane.”
“Don’t-” I started, but he kept going.
“When I left that morning, it took everything I had. Every fiber of my being was screaming at me to stay, to wake you up, to beg you to let me explain what we were.”
“Knox-” I tried again, but the words kept coming, soft and broken in the darkness.
“People around me get hurt. I lost one of the most important people in my life and it was my fault. Others in the pack... I’ve brought nothing but pain. I thought - I thought I was protecting you by leaving, but all I did was hurt you worse. And I’ve never stopped thinking about you, not for a single day.”
His voice cracked slightly, and the bond flared with emotion. It was like that first night we’d touched, when everything had felt electric and inevitable, but now amplified. I could feel his pain, his regret, the self-hatred that ate at him. It was overwhelming,making my own emotions tangle with his until I couldn’t separate them.
“During the day I replay every moment we shared,” he continued. “The way you laughed at my terrible jokes. How you fit perfectly against me. The sounds you made when I-” He cut himself off, taking a shaky breath. “And at night I dream the sweetest dreams where I never left, where I got to watch our kids grow, where I wake up next to you every morning and make you coffee and raise our babies together.”
“Stop,” I whispered, but it came out weak.
“I was stupid and scared and I hate myself for letting my darkest thoughts win.”
The confession hung between us in the darkness, painful. Through the bond, I could feel the truth of it, years of regret and self-recrimination flooding through our connection. My carefully maintained anger began to crack, letting in things I didn’t want to feel.
“Knox,” I breathed, not sure if it was a warning or plea.
In the darkness, his hand found my face with devastating gentleness. His thumb brushed across my cheek, and I realized I was crying. When had that started?
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, and his lips were so close I could feel the words. “I’m so fucking sorry, Lina. I fucked up. You’re everything to me. You always have been. There’s never been anyone else, never will be.”
I should have pushed him away. Should have maintained my distance and protected what was left of my heart. Instead, I was pulling him closer, fisting my hands in his shirt like he might disappear again.
“I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you if you let me,” he whispered against my mouth. “Our pups, you… You’re my entire world.”
His forehead touched mine in the darkness, and I could feel how hard he was shaking, his breath ghosting over my lips. “Tell me to stop.”
But I didn’t. I couldn’t. My body betrayed me without hesitation, leaning into him, chasing the heat, the ache, thehimof it all. I should’ve pulled away, remembered everything he’d done. But his mouth brushed mine, just barely, and I let him take it. Let himtake me.
The kiss started soft, apologetic, almost hesitant. His lips moved against mine with aching tenderness, one hand cradling my face while the other gripped my hip. Then years of suppressed want crashed over us both and gentle went out the window.
I nipped at his bottom lip and he groaned, the sound vibrating through my chest. His tongue swept into my mouth, relearning my taste while I reacquainted myself with his, staking my claim with every stroke. He kissed like he’d never stopped wanting me. Like years had done nothing to dull the obsession. His hands slid under my shirt, rough palms dragging across my ribs, over my back, everywhere.
My hands tangled in his hair, pulling him closer, needing more. The bond sang between us, amplifying every sensation until Ifelt drunk on him. I didn’t even remember moving, but suddenly I was straddling him on the closet floor, knees pressed into discarded gym gear and old cleats, and I didn’t give a single fuck. All I cared about was the thick, hard length of his cock pressing up against me through his jeans, so big it made me grind down without thinking, chasing the friction like I was starving for it.
He cursed low and dark, grabbing my hips, guiding the roll of my body over him. “Fuck, Lina… You’re killing me. I’ve been hard for you foryears.”
He was panting now, mouth dragging along my neck, biting at the skin under my ear. “I missed you so much. I missed this,us.This pussy. I missed how fucking soaked you get just grinding on me.”
I gasped, rocked harder.
The bulge in his jeans dragged against the thin cotton of my panties, and I felt everything. How swollen he was. How wet I was. How easy it would be to unbutton, slide him out, and just… take him.
His hand fisted in my hair, tugging my head back so he could suck at my neck, open-mouthed, possessive. “God, you still taste the same. Still do the same sounds that haunt me in my dreams. You want me, don’t you? Please tell me you do.”
I moaned and rutted down against him instead, shameless now, humping the thick ridge of him like I was trying to come just from that. My panties were soaked. My clit throbbed. My thighs were shaking from how bad I needed him.
His hand slid up the back of my shirt, gripping my spine like he could hold me there, like letting go would ruin him.
