“Sit down.” Not a request.
I follow her command, sitting back on the cool damp marble, continuing to allow her to pretend she’s physically strong enough to move me where she wants—though the dominant alpha part of me wants to grab her hips, drag her onto my lap, and bury my face in her throat. I want to taste her without the ghosts of what I did haunting the space between us.
But I owe her this.
I owe Noa more than I can ever payback in this lifetime. She deserves this moment where she can take whatever she wants from me, and I stay still. I’ll let her lead until she pushes me past the line where my wolf stops tolerating restraint.
Noa steps forward and slips between my knees, her new position bringing her almost eye level with me. The sight alone drags a groan out of my throat.
Then she leans in.
Her mouth finds my right shoulder first, lips pressing into my damp skin, slow and claiming. She kisses, then licks, then lets her teeth graze me in a way that drags a low rumble out of my chest before I can even think of containing it. She crosses to my other shoulder, her caresses leaving a trail of heat in their wake. Every brush of her mouth is deliberate—a pattern that feels anything but random.
A realization slams through me. My mate is marking every part of me she can get her mouth on,making sure the world knows I belong to her and her alone.With every slow press of her mouth, she’s leaving her scent on my skin with a focus that damn near borders on reverent.
I’m not mad about it. Not even close. If anything, this is the version of her I’ve been starving for. The possessive and unapologetic omega who isn’t afraid to stake her claim on me in whatever way she needs.She hasn’t even laid a hand on my cock yet, hasn’t touched me beyond shoving me where she wants me, and still my knot throbs at the base, close to swelling just from the feel of her mouth on me.
Noa’s lips trail back to the center of my chest, right below the hollow of my throat, and her pace slows. Her mouth closes over the spot and sucks until my dick jerks hard against my thigh. She starts to kiss down my torso, and with each lick or bite that follows,the need to feel her mouth lower, to have her lips part and take my length, digs its claws in deep.
My ache for her is nearing on painful.
And the little minx knows it. She hums in response to my growing need, the soft, pleased sound enough to make my vision go hazy at the edges for a heartbeat.
I grab for her without thinking, hands lifting to her hips, wanting her closer, wanting her weight pressed to mine. As soon as my palms meet the soaked fabric of her stolen sweater, herlittle teeth nip at my nipple. The small, sharp reprimand stops me cold.
“No.” Her voice is breathless and dripping with want, but her warning still cuts through me. “Hands on the bench,Alpha Fallamhain.”
Anyone using that tone with me would be on their back, neck bared and reminded of their place in seconds. But Noa? She’s the exception to every instinct ingrained in me. Her command only sends a slow warmth through my chest. I drop my hands without protest and set my palms flat on the marble beside my thighs.
“Okay, sweet one,” I murmur, voice dropping low, letting her hear just how much this restraint costs me. “You’re in charge. For now. Enjoy it. Just know, once I get my hands on you, I’m not letting you go until you’re screaming my name.”
The effect is immediate.
Her scent deepens, blooming through the steam, warm and sweet and unmistakably omega.The pulsing crown of my cock starts to leak, heat settling low in my gut. My mouth waters, and the memory of her taste floods back hard enough that I have to lock my jaw to keep from dragging her down onto my tongue again.
Slick. That’s what I’m smelling. More notably,my mate’sslick.
“Fuck,” I bite, the curse more growl than spoken word. “Do you know how good you smell, omega?”
The title is something she’s still learning to wear, but rolling off my tongue, it carries a meaning far greater than just her designation. It’s sweeter. Intimate. The way her breath catches, a tiny whine slipping free before she can swallow it back, tells me she feels that shift. Her mouth falters where it’s been tracing slow, torturous paths down my torso, and the sound yanks at me, demanding that I answer it.
“Good girl,” I praise, because I want her to learn how to step into her designation without flinching.I want that word to wrap her in warmth and safety and the certainty of being wanted, not the survival and chaos she’s been conditioned to expect. I want her to enjoy what she is, to feel adored in it. And I want to be one of the reasons she believes she can.
The thought barely settles in my mind beforemy world shifts again. Hard.
Noa drops to her knees.
The sight steals the air from my lungs. It’s a reflection of what happened just over an hour ago, when I was the one kneeling for her in front of a crowd, confessing everything with my heart in my hands.Now there’s no audience. Just heat, mist, and the sound of water filling the space. And she’s the one kneeling at my feet, eyes meeting mine with a devotion that makes my pulse studder.
It might be the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.
I want to frame it, commit every detail to memory and keep it for the days I’m sure I don’t deserve her. Her gaze is still flickering between human and wolf, pupils blown wide, something wild and something heartbreakingly soft fighting for space. The need painted on her face borders on tangible.
Hands sliding over my knees, searing heat ignites everywhere she touches.She keeps her eyes locked on mine as her fingertips climb higher, her nails tracing sharp little paths up my thighs. The higher she goes, the more of me she takes, and the tighter everything pulls inside me.
My cock, thick and heavy in the space between us, jerks with each deliberate scrape of her fingernails, begging for her attention.
For years people wondered why I stayed alone, why I never let anyone close, why I ignored the attention that comes so easily to men in my position. I never had an answer that felthonest.Instead, I told myself it was duty and fatigue. Or maybe I was just too damn shut down to care.
