“I’m aware. I was there.” I smile, running my fingers over her heel.
“And now you’re… giving me a bubble bath and massaging my feet?”
“Would you rather I were edging you again?” I kiss her ankle bone while looking at her.
Her cheeks are beautifully flushed, her bright eyes glassy, struggling to stay open. I leave my lips against her skin as I wait.
Her response is to sink lower into the water, shaking her head.
I smile against her ankle, pushing my thumbs in circular motions into the ball of her foot.She groans.
“We’ve never done that before,” I murmur as I work, watching her eyes fall shut. “Not together, at least.”
“Well, you’re very good at it,” she whispers.
“You took it well.” I lower her foot, kissing her knee as it peeks up through the bubbles.
“Well?” She arches a brow. She’s exhausted, yet still full of attitude. “I took it like… like an expert.”
I try to hide my smirk. “Did you learn your lesson?”
She swallows, swollen lips parting as she gently shakes her head.
“Fuck,” I hiss against her knee, inhaling her sweet scent. “I was worried we went too far, but... clearly not far enough.”
She shakes her head again. “No, I’ve learnt, it’s just...” She wets her lips. “I… I really enjoyed it, alpha.”
“Jesus, Revea.” I reach down for her other foot, needing the distraction. “You’re turning us into feral alphas, you know that, right? I let Sylvan knot you because he seemed the most restrained. Then you… I’ve never seen him like that.”
Her scent strengthens, tongue darting out to wet her lips.
“Imagine what we’ll be like during your heat,” I murmur, then bite her calf to stop my thoughts.
She gasps, muscle tensing in my hand before I slowly pull away, admiring the indents of my teeth. I run my thumb over them as my alpha rumbles his approval.
“All my thoughts are consumed by you.” My eyes stay locked on that bite mark, watching the water lap against it. “It’s never been like this.”
There’s a quiet moment.
“Me neither,” she whispers, eyes drawn to the same mark. “It’s... it’s a little terrifying.”
I frown, not liking that at all.
I lower her foot, tilting my head. “Come.”
Not a bark, but she moves without hesitation. I reach out, drawing her closer quicker, placing her back against my chest.
My nose falls to her throat, breathing her in. Her scent’s been mixing with ours over the last few days, remnants of us clinging to her skin.
She’s never smelled better.
“When my dad died,” she says quietly, suddenly, her fingers curling over my arm, “I was fourteen. I don’t really remember the funeral, but I remember after. I remember my mum crying at night. I remember needing to sleep in mybrothers’ room. I remember my funny dad not being around anymore and my mum laughing less. And it stuck with me that…” Her voice wavers. “That’s what happens when someone you love dies.”
Her grip tightens.
“I was terrified every day that it would happen again. To my other dads, my mum, my brothers. Terrified we’d have to go through it all again. The loss. The grief…”
I run my hand up her arm and over her shoulder, drawing her damp hair aside before pressing a kiss to her throat.
