I grit my teeth, every muscle in my body pulling tight as a bowstring as I hold back my own release because I don’t want to miss a single second of this, of her, of the way she clenches around my cock, pulling me deeper, drawing me into every shudder rolling through her. I want to feel all of it. I want to witness her falling apart in my arms before I even think aboutletting go. And fuck, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to hold back from.
She collapses against me with a small, contented sound that I feel more than hear. I wrap my arms around her and roll us sideways so I’m on top of her.
She takes my hand and places my fingers on her mouth. I feel her lips stretch into a smile.
“Sweetheart, you’re so beautiful.”
“Jason, make me come again. Please.”
She reaches up and slides the blindfold down. “This time I want you to see what you do to me.”
Her legs tighten around my waist, as I move inside her. I take my time because I don’t want to rush being with her.
I let the moment stretch, let the heat build naturally, memorizing the way her breath changes, the way her body responds not to speed but to intention. To the patience I’m offering her.
I stay close, forehead resting against hers, listening to the soft sounds she makes when I move just enough to remind her I’m there and that I’m not going anywhere.
This isn’t about getting lost in the feeling.
It’s about staying with it.
With her.
I feel her pulse, then clench.
“Jason… I…I’m going to come.”
She squeezes me tighter. Her nails rake down my back as her walls tighten around my cock, a long moan shuddering out of her. And I come seconds after she does, undone by the way she holds me like she doesn’t want to let go.
I slide the blindfold off my neck and toss it on the bed beside us, then settle back, pulling her close to me. She snuggles into me, resting her cheek over my heart.
“You okay?” I ask quietly, stroking her damp hair.
She hums. “More than okay.”
I kiss her forehead as I pull the blanket up around us. This, this quiet after, this is the part that rips me open. Because I want it. I want this life. This woman. This bed. This peace. And I know I can’t stay. The alphas won’t stop. The danger won’t fade.
Bringing her into my world puts a target on her back the size of a continent.
But as her breathing evens out and she wiggles closer, her fingers curling loosely against my stomach, her scent wrapping around me like something that could be home, I feel the truth settle deep inside me.
I can’t let her go. Selfish as it is, I just can’t.
Chapter 21
Jason
Ahowl splits the darkness.
Sharp.
High.
Panicked.
It knifes straight through my half-dreaming brain and drags me into consciousness, like I’ve been ripped out of my own body. I jerk upright in Violet’s bed, heart slamming hard enough to bruise bone, breath already coming fast because that sound is wrong. It’s not a warning howl or a territorial call. It’s not a roll-call yip or a where-the-hell-are-you bark.
It’s a howl that gives fear life.
