"You need to leave." Even as I say it, I'm moving toward him.
"I know." He doesn't move. Doesn't look away. His chest rises and falls with heavy breaths. "Tell me to go, Nova. Send me away right now and I'll leave. I'll climb back out that window and I won't come back."
I open my mouth but the words won't come, and I realize I can't send him away because my body won't let me.
"Then I'm not leaving," he growls, and the Alpha command in his voice makes my knees weak.
He crosses the small room in two strides and I back up until my legs hit the edge of my bed. This close, I can smell him. Cedar and smoke, Alpha musk that makes my wolf keen with recognition and desperate need.
Mate.
"I can help," he says, voice rough and strained. "Without claiming you. Without completing the bond. Not yet. Not when you're not in control of yourself."
"I don't want your help." The lie is obvious. We both know it.
"Yes, you do." His nose traces along my throat, breathing me in deeply. I feel him shudder against me. "You're burning up. Aching everywhere. Your fingers aren't enough, are they? Can't give you what you really need."
My breath hitches. "Caspian..."
"I can give you what you need." His lips brush my ear, making me shiver. "Make the ache go away. Just for a while. Give you relief without taking anything you're not ready to give. No claiming. No bond completion. Just pleasure."
"That's not how heat works." I'm trembling now, caught between his body and the window. "It won't be enough. Touch won't satisfy it. I'll just want more."
"Then I'll give you more." He pulls back enough to meet my eyes. "As much as you can take. Until morning comes and you're thinking clearly again."
"And then what?"
"Then I leave." Something fierce and possessive crosses his face. "When I claim you, it won't be because you're in heat and desperate. It'll be because you came to me with a clear head.Chose me. Wanted me specifically, not just any Alpha who could end the burning."
The words break something inside me. I surge forward and close the distance between us, my hands fisting in his shirt as I pull him down to me. Our lips crash together and he responds instantly, a growl rumbling deep in his chest. His mouth claims mine, tongue sliding past my lips to taste me. I moan into the kiss and he swallows the sound greedily, one hand sliding into my hair to hold me exactly where he wants me. His hands move to my waist and lift me effortlessly off my feet. I wrap my legs around him and he carries me to the bed.
We fall onto the mattress together, his weight pressing me into the sheets. He braces himself above me, jaw tight, gaze searching my flushed face.
"Tell me to stop," he says, giving me one last chance.
I think about Sera. About her slap still burning on my cheek. About her claim on him, the arranged marriage, how she looked at me like I was stealing something that belonged to her. I should say no just to spite her, should send him away to prove I'm not what she thinks I am.
But then I look at him and none of that matters. This is my choice. Not Sera's. Not some family arrangement made when they were children. Mine.
"Don't you dare stop."
His lips crash against mine again, harder than before, all pretense of gentleness gone. He kisses me like he's claiming me, like he's marking his territory, tongue demanding entrance. I give it eagerly. One hand slides under my tank top and his rough palm finds my breast, thumb brushing over my nipple until it hardens beneath his touch. I arch into him and he makes a satisfied sound deep in his throat.
"So responsive," he says against my mouth, voice rough. "So perfect for me."
His hand slides lower, tracing down my stomach. Under the waistband of my shorts. Finding me already wet and ready, slick with need.
"Fuck, Nova." The curse is reverent, awed. "You're soaked. All this for me?"
"Please." I don't even know what I'm begging for anymore. Just need more of whatever he's willing to give. "Please, Cas, I need..."
"I know what you need." His fingers circle slowly, teasingly light. I grind against his hand and he chuckles darkly. "Patience, little wolf."
"I don't want patience. I want you inside me."
"You have me." He slides one finger inside and I cry out at the invasion. "Right here. Exactly where you need me."
Then two fingers, stretching me. I'm so wet they slide in easily but it's still not enough. The heat demands more. Demands to be filled completely, claimed thoroughly, bonded permanently.
