Now acutely aware of our foreplay, a blush crept up Aidan’s face as he backed toward the exit.
“I’ll leave you two to it then.”
“You’re a prick,” I hissed, barely waiting for the door to close behind Aidan.
Saying nothing, he stood, lifting me off him and leaving me empty and positively debauched. Air rushed back into my lungs. My bare feet landed on the lush carpet, and before I got my bearings, Kaelen splayed a hand between my shoulders and shoved my breasts into his desk.
“I love it when you’re feisty,” he whispered, covering my body with his own as he hiked up my dress around my waist.
“Maybe stop talking and start f?—”
A sharp sting bloomed across my ass, rushing to my clit, turning my threats into moans. His rough palm rubbed soothing strokes over the spot he had slapped. Warm lips pressed to my pulse, sucking.
Almost too slowly, he filled me in one intoxicating thrust thatmade me forget why I was mad at him.
“Fuck,” he hissed, wrapping a hand in my hair and tugging enough to send a pleasant pressure over my scalp. “You’re like the finest aged whisky. Smooth, fiery, and leaving me wanting more. I’m addicted to you, Willow.”
A million thoughts raced through my mind, but I was too drunk on the feeling of him to make any sense of it. My hips knocked into the desk with every punishing thrust. Bruises had already formed, but I didn’t care as my orgasm rushed to the surface.
Long fingers collared my throat in the gentlest of caresses. A contented moan rose inside me at the feeling, leaning into the grounding touch.
Those three words lingered on the tip of my tongue. Irefusedto blurt out that I loved him like some teenager with a crush while he fucked me. Pressure built as a delicious feeling vibrated in my veins.
“Kaelen,” I breathed, sending his papers flying off his desk. “Please.”
“I love my name on your tongue,” he groaned, struggling to form the words as his knot swelled and caught with each stroke of his hips. “Choking my cock with this tight cunt of yours.”
This wasn’t the reverent lovemaking of the previous night. This was passionate. Primal. Claiming. Kaelen fucked me within an inch of my sanity.
A wave of heat tore through me, catching fire until I was screaming his name, begging my alpha to knot me. And soon, he was, his knot locking us together as he spilled inside me. My legs gave out, and I was thankful for the expensive mahogany desk supporting me.
Strong arms encircled my waist, carefully pulling me onto his lap as he lowered our joined bodies into his chair.
“Sorry about your contracts,” I murmured, limp against his sweaty frame.
“Fuck ‘em,” he said, rubbing his cheek against mine and scenting me.
Twenty-Six
WILLOW
My omega settled enough over the next few days that I didn’t whine whenever Kaelen left. Despite that, he still stayed close by. Instead of traveling in and out of the city to complete business, he worked mostly through Aidan and Liam, doing what he could from his office.
We established a routine, one that included Kaelen waking me up with his face between my thighs and his tongue buried inside me until I came, screaming his name.
I dragged myself out of my nest, smiling at Shadow curled on our mattress. She stretched out, splaying her paws in the blankets, completely ignoring the massive, fluffy bed Kaelen got her.
After getting dressed, she followed me down the halls and into one of the sitting rooms. I plopped onto an overstuffed armchair, grinning when Shadow crawled into my lap. It wouldn’t be long before she couldn’t do this anymore. She was getting big.
My nails scratched through her fur, running her tail throughmy palm and lingering on the burned section on the tip. At the vet the other day, they confirmed Shadow was overall healthy, but the burn might never heal and that the nerves were dead.
For some reason, it stung like a knife to the chest. I hugged Shadow closer. Kaelen stroked my hair, whispering soothing words to me in between talking to the vet. Kaelen got a second opinion, and that vet told us the same thing.
I felt like I had let Shadow down, leaving her with a constant reminder of the pain she had suffered. My hand paused, aimlessly petting a spot on her belly. Now we both were marked with burns that would never go away.
Maybe I secretly hoped that if I healed her, in a way, it would fix that part of me I always thought was broken.
Fidgeting, I turned on a movie and moved to the couch, Shadow following me. I dozed in and out of sleep, plagued by my thoughts of Shadow and the looming dinner with my parents.
