She looks up at me. “Thank you for calming me down.”
I need to keep her calm. Keep her mind off the video.
“I used to have them a lot. Panic attacks,” I say.
Her eyes widen like she can’t imagine it.
“Especially when I first joined the army. I wasn’t very good with the others. I upset people very easily. My mum taught me that grounding technique.”
Her knees lower as she shifts a little closer. “Are you and your mum close?”
“We were closer when I was younger. She had me very young, with an alpha I never met. She has a new pack now, with new children.” My fingers trail up and down Revea’s back. “For a long time, it was only me and her.”
“Were you sad when that changed?”
I pause. “I’d joined the army by then, and her pack makes her happy, so no.”
“I guess it was nice to suddenly get siblings.”
“Yes, in a way. But I’m not very good with children. The oldest is eight. They call me uncle rather than brother.
“Aww, Uncle Sylvan.” She smiles, her fingers playing with the fabric of my t-shirt. “I think you’d make a great dad.”
I’ve never imagined myself with children. Ever. But the second Revea says that, I’m picturing it with her. Something in my stomach twists.
I lean closer. “You’ll be an incredible mother.”
Her beautiful smile widens. “Oh yeah?”
I brush my fingers along her cheek. “Do you want that, Revea?” I murmur.
“I...” Her smile drops, eyes racing between mine. “I’ve never really thought about it. It’s always been about the salon, and I’ve never really met anyone I thought I could...” She swallows, her gaze dropping to my lips. “Maybe.”
The urge to kiss and touch Revea is constant, borderline obsessive, so when she leans in slowly, I surge forwards.
She moans into my mouth, and my fingers delve into the waistband of her leggings.
I liked them at first, the way they displayed every delectable curve. But now, as I struggle to find leverage to pull, I hate them.
A soft giggle slows our kiss, and I realise it’s because I’m growling.
“I hate these,” I mumble against her mouth.
“They can stay on,” she murmurs as her lips drag over my jaw, down my throat, making it too hard to concentrate. “But yours can’t.”
My brows pull together as she kisses a path across my collarbones, shifting up until she’s straddling me, her fingers lifting my shirt. I get the hint, pulling it off eagerly, hoping she’ll copy.
I frown when she doesn’t.
But her eyes aren’t on me. Her fingers have stilled over my pectorals, her gaze searching my skin until it finds the scars that tear across my lower stomach, thick, raised trails of silver.
Her fingers graze over one, tracing the raised line softly before she moves again. My breath catches as she lowers, her hot mouth kissing and licking over different sections of skin, making me hiss.
“Take off...” I gasp when her teeth drag over my hip bone and she tugs on my joggers. “…your clothes.”
She ignores me but tugs harder. I comply, lifting up to let her pull them to my shins.
“Now you...” I murmur. My fingers slide up her ribs, but she keeps descending, her hands now inside the waistband of my boxers.
