I kiss my way down her body, shifting aside clothing until we can feel skin against skin. Her breath catches as I reach her stomach, my hands gripping her hips, thumbs pressing into the hollows there.
“Weren’t you going to wait?” she breathes, watching me through half-lidded eyes.
I look up at her, letting her see the hunger in my gaze. “No,you’llhave to wait. I’m having my dessert.”
Her laugh turns into a gasp as I yank her pants down her legs, spreading her thighs with firm hands. The scent of her arousal hits me like a physical blow—rich and heady and fucking perfect. I growl low in my throat, unable to help myself.
“Kier—”
I silence her with the first broad lick, and her words dissolve into a broken moan. Her hands fly to my hair, gripping tight enough to hurt, but the pain only sharpens my focus. I work her with my tongue, alternating between slow, deliberate strokes and quick, teasing flicks that make her hips buck.
“Fuck,” she hisses, thighs trembling as I suck her clit between my lips. “Oh gods?—”
I hum against her, the vibration making her jerk, her back arching off our makeshift bed. I slip two fingers inside her, curling them just right to hit that spot that made her come before, and she nearly shatters right then.
“So perfect,” I murmur against her, not letting up for a second. “So fucking beautiful, Lithia.”
She’s close already, wound tight from our earlier play, and when I focus all my attention on her clit, sucking hard while my fingers work inside her, she comes with a sharp cry, her body convulsing under my hands.
I work her through it, gentling my touch but not stopping, riding the waves with her until she collapses back, gasping and boneless.
“Kier,” she manages, her voice wrecked. “That was?—”
A howl cuts through the night—close, too close, and unmistakably wolf.
Lithia bolts upright, instantly alert despite her post-orgasmic haze. I roll off her in one fluid motion, crouching ready for an attack, my wolf rising close to the surface despite the silver restraints.
The howl comes again, louder, and then the undergrowth at the edge of our campsite explodes.
A massive gray wolf bursts into the clearing—silver-streaked and battle-scarred, muscles rippling under thick fur. His lips are pulled back in a snarl, yellow eyes locked on me with murderous intent.
He lunges for my throat, moving faster than anything his size should be able to. I barely manage to throw myself sideways, hitting the ground and rolling to my feet in one desperate movement.
“LEVI! STOP!” Lithia’s voice cracks like a whip.
The wolf freezes mid-leap, paws hitting the ground hard enough to send dirt flying. He skids across the clearing, his massive head swinging toward Lithia, yellow eyes widening in what can only be described as shock.
Lithia stands, half-dressed but utterly commanding, every inch the Beta of Shadowmist. “Stand down.”
The wolf—Levi—snarls again, but it’s halfhearted now, his gaze darting between us. Then, with a ripple of muscle and bone, he shifts. The transformation is fast, fluid, a testament to his power.
Where the wolf stood, a man now crouches—tall, broad-shouldered, with long dark hair and battle scars.
“Lithia,” he says, his voice rough with emotion. “You’re alive.”
“I am,” she confirms, quickly pulling her clothes back into place. “And you just attacked my friend.”
Levi rises to his full height, easily six-foot-four of solid muscle. His yellow eyes—unchanged from his wolf form—narrow as they lock on me.
“Friend,” he repeats, the word dripping with skepticism.
I straighten, fighting the urge to shift and meet his challenge. With the silver restraints, I’d be at a severe disadvantage, but the wolf in me doesn’t care.
Back,he snarls at the newcomer.She’s mine.
“Levi.” Lithia steps between us. “This is Kier. He helped me escape. He saved my life.”
Levi’s gaze doesn’t leave mine. “And now he’s what? Claiming his reward?”
