Chapter 5 Virgin?

KAEL

It had been wrong in every sense of the word, but god, she had felt so damn right.

Our lips had intertwined, and I had deepened the kiss, letting myself taste her, feel her, want her. For once, I didn’t fight it. I should have. I knew that. Especially since I had just left her mother’s bed only hours before.

The guilt burned somewhere in the back of my mind, but it was no match for the heat raging inside me. Everything about her was driving me mad, and even with the self-control I prided myself on, I hadn’t known how much longer I could take it. My wolf had yearned for her day and night, and not just him. Me too.

I had wanted to know why this omega, this fragile, unshifted, trembling creature, could unravel every piece of control I had spent years mastering. It had to be more than a mate bond. It felt like more. And even now, with her legs wrapped tight around my torso, her body slick from the water and moonlight kissing her skin, all I could think of was her.

Not my duty as Alpha.

Not her mother.

Not the pack.

Not my damn morals, because fuck them.

I had wanted to do things to her that would make her call my name over and over. I had wanted her to be mine, to occupy her thoughts, her body, her soul. Every breath she took should have belonged to me.

Something in me had cracked when I realized she had run out of the house trying to escape me, only to run straight into me. Fate was cruel like that. I was her mate, the one who should have protected her, yet I was the only thing she feared enough to run from. The sight of her jumping into the water had almost broken me.

I had broken the kiss then, staring at her through the shimmer of the water, and for a moment, the world had gone still. The moon had painted her in silver, her hair clinging to her skin like liquid fire. She was breathtaking and infuriating, cute, stupid, and completely mine.

“You shouldn’t have kissed me,” I had said, my voice rough and low, laced with a hunger I couldn’t disguise.

“You shouldn’t have been here,” she shot back, her tone trembling. “I wasn’t running to you. I was running away from you.”

The words had hit harder than a knife to the chest. But I couldn’t say anything, not to scold her or reassure her, because she was right. I had made this mess. I was the one who had decided it was safer to stay away from her, to treat her like a curse instead of a bond.

I had refused to reject her when she had begged me to. I had told myself I was protecting her. But all I had done was abandon her.

And still, she came to me.

I was supposed to be her mate. I was supposed to protect her, cherish her, please her. Yet even now, standing half-submerged with her in the lake, I couldn’t bring myself to step away.

The connection between us was dangerous. It was like holding a lit torch in a room full of gasoline, one wrong move and everything would burn.

But she’s ours, my wolf growled. Our right. Our mate.

I had clenched my jaw and ignored him, taking a step back. Her legs slipped from around my torso, the loss of contact making my chest ache. Confusion shadowed her face, the shimmer of the light highlighting her parted lips.

We were still waist-deep in the water when I turned to leave. Then she stopped me.

“Kael.”

Her voice. Just that single word stopped me cold. Even her mother still called me Alpha, but hearing my name fall from Lira’s lips, almost breathless, soft, pleading, sent shivers crawling down my spine. It sounded too right. Too dangerous. It felt like she would call my name and I would walk through the thickest wall just to do whatever she wanted.

The right thing to do would have been to tell her to go home, to take care of herself, to forget this night. But when she spoke again, pleading through the tremor in her voice, reason shattered.

“The water isn’t helping,” she had said, breathing hard. “I feel like I’m going to explode. I’m throbbing and I don’t know what to do.”

She was in heat. There was no mistaking it. The scent of her arousal was intoxicating, exciting, even my wolf was hanging on by a thread, trying to relish the thought of having her in every way possible.

The more I tried to mask my desire and muster every bit of self control I could, the more the scent lingered in the air, wrapping around me like a drug. My instincts screamed to claim her. To end her suffering, and mine as well.

I shut my eyes and clenched my fists. Images began to cloud my mind, her body trembling beneath mine, her lips parting to welcome my ravenous tongue, her voice crying out my name, all the faces and noises she would make, writhing with pleasure when she’s underneath me, flooded my mind. I was already so hard it hurt.

“Kael,” she whispered again, and that sound undid me completely.

Before I could think, my body moved on its own. My wolf surged forward, ripping control from me.

“Come here,” I rasped, my voice barely human as I reached out and grabbed her neck, guiding her toward me. My other hand found her waist, pulling her flush against me.

Her eyes met mine, wide and glimmering, a storm of desire swirling in them. Her chest heaved, the water dripping down her collarbone, and I caught a glimpse of her nipples through the soaked fabric of her nightgown. “Fuck!” I whispered. How is one able to drive me completely mad with desire?

They were pink and hard, calling to me.

My breath hitched. My cock twitched painfully against the thin barrier of my pants.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked, even though I already knew. I wanted to hear her say it, to damn us both with her words.

Lira bit her lip, trembling, but she didn’t look away. She swallowed, voice breaking as she whispered, “I… I want you to help me.”

A dark chuckle escaped my throat. “Help you?”

The air around us pulsed, thick with lust and power. The moonlight reflected in her eyes, making her look like something divine, something I shouldn’t touch but would die wanting.

She leaned closer, her courage surprising me, her voice dropping to a sinful whisper. “Kael… I want you to fuck me.”

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

That was it. Every wall I had built came crashing down.

I crashed my lips against hers in a hungry kiss, devouring her mouth as my hands gripped her thighs. I lifted her effortlessly, her legs locking around my hips as I squeezed her ass to anchor her. She gasped into my mouth when I turned and carried her out of the water.

The night air hit her wet skin, making her shiver. The scent of her heat, the sound of her quickened breaths, it was all too much. When she reached down and pulled the drenched silk of her nightgown over her head, I nearly lost my mind.

Her breasts were full and perfect, nipples pebbled in the cold air. I lowered her onto the grass and caught one between my lips, groaning as I tasted her skin, salt, water, and pure sin.

She moaned my name, her fingers sliding into my hair, tugging, pleading. The sound drove me insane.

I sucked harder, my tongue circling her nipple, then switched to the other, watching her back arch in response. I wanted to mark every inch of her, so I trailed my lips up her neck and sucked until a red bloom of possession stained her skin. Mine.

“Kael, please,” she begged, her voice trembling. “I need you.”

At this point, I needed her just as badly. My cock strained painfully as I stripped off my pants and tossed them aside.

“Lift your hips, Lira,” I rasped. She obeyed immediately, her breath shallow and shaky. Good girl.

I positioned myself, the heat between us like a living thing, and was about to thrust into her when a thought slammed into my brain, halting me mid-motion.

“Lira…” I breathed out, my heart hammering. “Are you a virgin?”