He looked up at me. His eyes flashed wildly. “See?” he said sweetly.
“Huh?” He seemed to be trying to teach me something. A lesson, maybe. What the lesson was, I couldn’t tell.
“That’sme trying to seduce you. Can you tell the difference?”
Ah.
I whipped my head up and down rapidly, eager to agree with whatever he said, though in truth, I could no longer tell when exactly Jules had started trying to seduce me. Maybe he’d only just gotten started. Maybe he’d started when our designations were assigned. Or when we got to the cabin. Maybe it had happened that first night with Storm. Who could tell? He laughed softly to himself and got to his feet. As he started to turn, I caught his hand in mine. My fingers wrapped around his palm and squeezed tightly.
“What do you want, Sully?” I looked into his eyes and was so overcome I couldn’t speak. “Tell me,” he said. His voice had gone syrupy and sweet. “Tell me and it’s yours.”
My breath caught in my throat. The warmth of his hand in mine was spreading up my arm. I looked down and saw a film of gold dust around my hand. It was still, suspended in time, then it slowly started spinning rings around me. I looked up at his face. His eyes were dark. His hair was pushed back off his forehead. His lips were full. Fuller than usual, I swear. I felt a longing so deep and intense, I had to crush my own lips together to stop the mournful howl that was threatening to escape.
“I want a kiss,” I said when I could.
His chest caved and shook as he started to laugh. “Really, alpha boy? A kiss? You could have anything, anything at all, andthat’swhat you want.”
I nodded again, slowly that time. I meant it. I wanted his lips on mine more than anything else. He came closer to me, lifting one leg and then the other, straddling me. My hands went around his waist immediately. I circled the small of his back and let my hands rest on the curve of his ass. I didn’t blink as he leaned down. I couldn’t. He reached behind my head and tugged at my hair tie, pulling it free. My hair fell about my shoulders. He ran his fingers through it.
“It’s almost all white,” he murmured. “Just a few strands of black left.”
I nodded mutely.
“It’s wild. The same thing is happening to your wolf.”
I heard the words, but I didn’t understand them. I knew he was speaking but by that point all I understood was that Jules was moving his lips. I watched as they moved. They pressed together and parted. When he stopped talking, he gave a small sigh, then he leaned down and closed the space between us. He brushed his lips against mine. They were warm and sent a bolt of electricity through me. He did it again. That time, I closed my eyes, and everything melted. I saw the forest and the trees. I felt the moonlight on my skin. I saw flashes of Jules and me. Jules and me. Jules and me. I saw moments we’d shared throughout our lives. I saw laughter. I saw inside jokes and shared knowing looks. Raised eyebrows and lopsided grins. Angry words. No words at all. I felt his presence beside me. Always beside me. All my life, all my days, it was always Jules. It had always, always been Jules.
When he pulled away, I was reeling. My head was spinning. I’d heard about omegas becoming intoxicated by alphas, but I didn’t know the name of what he’d done to me. Intoxicated didn’t begin to describe it.
“Are you okay?” he asked as he got to his feet.
I shook my head and when I blinked, my eyes rolled back in their sockets. “I never been sho high,” I slurred.
His mouth dropped open. Blue, green, and purple streaks of laughter burst out of his chest and flew into the night, flapping like long ribbons in the wind, as they made their escape. I looked at him in amazement. I remember it clearly. The mist that had formed around us had drawn close. It had cut us off from the rest of the world. We were an island. That was the moment, that was the precise moment I recognized Jules for what he was.
The most magickal man on the planet.
He held out his hand to me. “Let’s go inside.”
18
Heundressedmeslowly.I lifted my arms and my legs mechanically. Arms up. Right foot up then down. Left one, too. I did what he wanted without him having to ask. When I was naked, he took a couple of steps back and moistened his lips. His gaze was intense. Unapologetic. I liked how it felt to be looked at like that. He unbuttoned his chinos. I hyperfocused on his zipper. As each tiny tooth sprang free, so did my wildness. By the time his clothing was on the floor, I was growling and the room had gone lighter.
“I want you,” he said.
“I know.” I smiled. “It’s the heat. I get it.”
“It’s not just the heat. I’ve been wanting you for a while.”
I swallowed hard. I scrunched my eyes closed and shook my head quickly. When I opened my eyes, my mind felt clear. The fog had lifted. I was relieved. Even though he was saying the exact words I wanted to hear, I wanted my mind to be clear to assess whether he meant them. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, something changed between us the first time we were with Storm. At least, I think it changed for you too, but Iknowit changed for me. I wasn’t expecting it. I was kind of nervous and freaked out about you being there. I was jealous. I thought it would be weird. It was at first, and then it wasn’t. It felt almost normal. Like, you’re always around, so why would it be weird for you to be around during sex, you know?”
I nodded.
“It was exciting. It felt kind of rebellious. I was having a good time. I was all about Storm, all my focus was on her and what she was doing, and then you made this sound. It was this low, animal sound. I felt it here.” He placed his palm flat on his sternum. “The next time you made it, I felt it here.” He pushed his hand down his belly all the way down to his dick.
I searched his face and his eyes. His jaw was set. Teeth clenched. There was a darkness in his eyes that wasn’t usually there. Outside of his heat, I’d never seen it. As I looked at him, I saw them grow darker. His heat was changing again. The calm was over. We looked at each other for several long seconds. I sized him up and he did the same. At last, he smiled, and the room buzzed with tension.
