Grabbing his arse, I hoisted him up, groaning when he wrapped his legs around me.
“Bed,” Gabriel ordered, and I’d never been so eager to do as I was told. He smiled into my shoulder as I easily carried him across the room, hands stroking up and down my back. “I’d forgotten how strong you are.”
I laughed. I was so much stronger now that I was an alpha. A lot had changed since we’d last been together like this. I was no longer the skinny, inexperienced young shifter I’d once been, and I was about to show him.
“This?” I said, smirking and lowering him to the bed with one arm. “This is nothing.”
GABRIEL
I wanted him.
So much that it hurt not to have his skin touching mine. Scooting back on the bed, I grabbed his arm and tugged. “Come here.”
Rys grinned, teeth this side of too sharp and eyes so dark they were almost black. No one had ever looked at me the way he did.
I’d tried to forget about him. Spent years forcing his memory to the back of my mind, but having him here in my house, my bed, everything came flooding back.
And now I knew why.
Soulmates.
I could never understand why his absence left an ache I felt in my bones. But now I knew. My fae blood would’ve recognised it for what it was. I realised it now, but back then I’d avoided anything to do with my non-human side.
Foolish.
Not that it would’ve changed anything if I’d known. Rys would still have blocked me out of his life, but I’d have had an explanation for why I felt the way I did.
“Hey.” He palmed my jaw, snapping me out of my thoughts and bringing me back to the present. “We don’t have to do this,” he said, voice soft as he stroked a thumb over my cheek.
Every ounce of him screamed strong and fierce, someone you wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of, but the way he looked at me now revealed a vulnerability I remembered.
One I thought I’d never get to see again.
“We do.” I tugged on his shoulders, spread my legs wide, and guided him down on top of me. My hands roamed his back, fingertips grazing over hard muscle, making my mouth water. He ground against me, sending a jolt of heat through my body that made my toes curl and my breath catch. And that was through layers of clothing that had no right being there.
Feeling him skin to skin was going to kill me.
“Take these off.” I patted his jeans-clad arse, laughing in surprise as he jumped up so fast, he was almost a blur. In a matter of seconds, he’d rid himself of both jeans and underwear, and I was helpless to do anything but stare.
He was so beautiful.
Bathed in the moonlight shining through my bedroom window, there was no mistaking him for anything other than the alpha that he was.
He raised an eyebrow at my lack of movement and I hurried to get naked. When I arrived here to aid with the investigation, I’d wondered what would happen when I eventually ran into Rys.
This?
This had never even entered my head, but it felt so natural, soright, it was hard to believe I’d ever doubted it.
I watched him stalk towards me, licking my lips at the perfection that was an alpha wolf.
My alpha wolf.
I couldn’t wrap my head around what that meant for us, and now wasn’t the time to try. Instead, I shuffled back until my head hit the pillows and laid myself out for him to do what he liked.
He started at my ankles, strong fingers stroking their way up my calves, my thighs, all the time keeping his gaze locked with mine.
Being the sole focus of his attention was a heady feeling I wasn’t quite prepared for. My heart raced, blood pounding through my veins, and my cock was so hard it ached, desperate for his touch.
