I tug at the blanket around my naked body and say, "David, there's something I didn't tell you. Something I asked Tarlo to keep to himself as well. I'm assuming he kept his word and didn't mention anything about a visitor while you were with your father."
I take his silence as a hint to continue. "It was Aurora. She came out of the blue and said she wanted to talk to me. She wanted the truth regarding what happened between Nicodra and me up North."
David questions, "And you told her the truth?"
"Yes. I did. And she wasn't mad about it. She didn't seem surprised at all. Aurora is very aware of how her mate can be." I swallow and say quietly, "He hurts her, David. She showed me a horrible bruise on her arm."
He says something under his breath, a string of curses or a call to the Goddess. I forget about my stupid injury and turn to face him, sliding my knees up and my feet under myself, like a mermaid toweled, fresh out of the ocean. He glances over. "She needs help. S-She asked for my help. If it weren't for the baby, she wouldn't have, I know it. But even then I didn't promise her I would because..." My chest aches. "She wants him dead."
David gives me a look of disbelief as he releases his breath.
"Aurora asked me to help her, and-and I'd be lying if I tell you I didn't think about saying yes. I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about how to do it-to get away with it. She told me she wants to do it when they're here this month."
He gets off of the bed, and for a moment, I think he's going to storm out.
"I know now that I can't. But I also can't leave her and her baby-"
"Don't," he cuts me off, "don't say another word."
I close my lips and move on the bed as he moves around the room.
"You waited, what, a week to tell me this? Damn it, Brigette."
His tone sends a shudder through my body. I frown and panic like a child in trouble, needing to do what I must to avoid another grounding. "I know, okay? I know I should have told you-"
"You know you should have but you didn't, did you? You were considering murdering an Alpha on our land, but you thought it best to keep this from me?"
"David, I-"
"You would have gotten yourself killed. Fuck's sake," he mutters. "You go behind my back to piss him off, and I forgive you, Brigette. I support you with the Union and get you his spot. Now you tell me you planned on getting me in a bigger mess when we haven't even fixed the first one. Do you know the consequences of killing another Alpha like that? Do you? Of course you don't! Because in your mind once he's dead, everyone would be safe, right? Everything is fine except for the fact that you'd be completely fucking me and my pack!"
My teeth grind together so furiously that I think they might crack. I take the ice pack from the comforter and throw it at him, hitting his chest, doing no damage but satisfying the anger bubbling up within me. I get off the bed and storm to the door, jerking away when he comes to stop me. "Don't touch me," I warn, speaking very clearly. I yank the door open and immediately walk out.
Breathing hard enough to pop my lungs, I enter the spare room where most of my clothes are, where my luggage is and my passport and my money. I grab a pair of underwear and pull them on under the blanket, then I drop the dense thing to strap on my bra. My guilt and shame are cured by only one thought: leaving.
David comes to the open doorway and watches as I drag my suitcase into the middle of the floor. "You don't get to leave," he says, no longer yelling, but not any less angry.
I ignore him and finish buttoning my jeans around my waist before tossing my other pairs into the suitcase. I know my duffel bag is in the closet, so I head in and grab it along with my shirts and dresses. I leave the ones I've gotten since being here-some other girl can have them.
I drop the clothes on the others and set the duffel bag on the bed, zipping it open and quickly checking to make sure all my essential information and papers are still inside.
"You aren't leaving," he says again.
I mutter, "You can't talk to me like that."
Everything begins to blur together-taking things from the bathroom, trying to fit everything in the one suitcase. When I realize the suitcase will never work, I give up and shove the bare necessities into my duffel. I hop on one foot as I slip on socks, then a shirt, then my sneakers. David remains at the bedroom door, and when I have nothing left to do but walk out, I turn to him. "Move," I demand, deceptively calm.
"You're not going anywhere, Brigette."
"Get out of the way," I say and stomp up to him, trying to hide my limp. "I said, move. Or I'll go out the window, I don't care."
He stares at my bag. "You were always going to do this, weren't you?"
"Move, David." My voice breaks. "You can't-you can't talk to me like that. You and your pack can go to hell. I'm sure Nicodra will quit his hissy fit when you tell him I left."
"I saw the passport, the birth certificate. Was that always in the closet, all packed up?"
I try to push past him but he doesn't budge. "Is there anything else you want to yell at me for while you have me stuck here? Anything else besides the fact that I'm an idiot?" I bite my lip and drop my bag, turning back to the room and running my hands into my hair. "I never would have gone through with it for one reason. I thought that if I did, you would never look at me the same. And I'll I cared about was what you thought of me. But your opinion of me is very clear now.
"You're right, too. Aren't you? I don't know the consequences. I don't know what it means to try and kill Alpha Nicodra, but you weren't there. You didn't see her and her bruises and her pregnant stomach. She didn't tell you how she just feels that this is what she has to do. And, what, I didn't want her and her baby to die, is that so wrong?
"And the bag," I motion to it at his feet, "burn it. I don't care. I know I'm not going anywhere. Not because you tell me I can't, but because I know I can't. I can't leave you." My tears fall in pairs. "You could beat me like he beats her and I still couldn't. So burn it, throw it away, I don't..."
He leaves the doorway and nears, but I move back.
"You asked me if I would have left that day-the day you caught me, and I kept saying that I didn't know. I always knew I couldn't. From the moment I saw you, I knew I was done, all of that planning and preparing for life out there didn't matter anymore. I knew I could never leave you."
David reaches for me again, saying, "Please. Please come here."
"I'm sorry," I murmur, more tears dripping from my chin as I surrender into his arms. "I wasn't thinking."
I second he has me, it feels as if he'll never let me go.
"I'm sorry I-I gave into my anger, and I shouldn't have. I'm not upset with you-you're just trying to help your friend-I'm just scared that something will happen to you."
"I should have told you sooner."
"You told me; that's all that matters. You have to keep telling me these things, okay?"
I close my eyes. "I'd never want to hurt you or the pack."
"I know. I know," he says, his hand on the back of my head. "You're a good girl, Brigette."
"I would never try to hurt the pack. Never. I just-I don't want anyone getting hurt because of him."
"If Aurora wants help, we can help her without getting ourselves into trouble."
I shake my head. "It's complicated. She said we can't protect her. No one can keep her from him, not when she has his child."
"She's right. It is complicated, but we don't turn to murder for a solution. That's a slippery slope-we don't do that anymore."
I stay with him until the hide tide of chaotic emotion sweeps back out. Obviously, I won't leave, but that tense side of my brain is ready to resort to it when I'm backed into a corner. If this Luna act fails me, then I can always catch myself in my net of cold-blooded solitude. But I don't want to believe that because it isn't true. That net-it's just another trap.
Some chaos remains, and I step on my tippy toes and press my mouth to his, kissing him slowly, carefully so I can soak it in and remember the exact feeling. He holds my jaw and pushes back, wanting something harder. He licks my lip and I open my mouth, letting him do as he pleases. I try to reach higher, so he brings his hands to the back of my thighs and lifts me against his body, gripping me and making me squirm. "Please," I mumble between our kisses. "I know...it's difficult...but-"
"Come on," he says and carries me out of the spare room and down the hall. My fingers intertwine with each other behind his neck, and every couple of steps, he leaves a kiss on my cheek, or my nose, or my lips, so I break his rhythm and kiss him back.
David avoids the melted ice pack on the floor and takes me to the bed. He sets me down and I wait to adapt to his next move, but instead of coming down with me, he grabs the waistband of my jeans and tugs me closer only to unbutton them. I sit up and draw my knees to my chest, not expecting my pants to come off first. He leans over to kiss me, bringing me back to him before saying, "I won't if you don't want me to."
"You won't..." I search his eyes for clarity.
He smiles slightly and draws my shirt off of my body, so I raise my arms and let him. He takes off his shirt after, and my heart thumps relentlessly, hurting. "Can I take your jeans off?" He asks softly, as delicate as his hands.
I nod, so he finishes what he already started. He pulls them off and discards them on the floor along with the other pieces of clothing. I look to his pants, but he raises my chin.
"We have all the time in the world," he reminds me.
I touch my bra and ask, "Will you be okay?"
"I meant it when I said I don't want to lose control, but it's easier said than done, as you know." He strokes my hair then reaches under my arms, undoing the clasp. "Can you be patient with me?"
"Yes," I whisper, and guide the straps off my shoulders. I take it all the way off and place it to the side. David comes to me swiftly, lowering us both to the blankets, moving between my legs. He kisses my mouth but glides down my neck to my collarbone. My stomach rises and drops and jolts as he hovers above me, and the knotting inside worsens when he kisses my breast. I shift and force my head back, watching the ceiling as David gives attention to both. My legs fight to slam together, but instead, they clamp around his body.
One hand settles on my inner thigh, and he loosens my hold on him. I arch my back as he rubs up and down my leg, each round seemingly getting closer to my panties. All my words revert to sound, little moans and gasps and breaths. His mouth leaves my chest as he returns his eyes to mine, but his hand doesn't stop. "Have you touched yourself?" He asks.
I nod and breathe, "Yes."
He draws a finger down the front of my underwear and I melt, pushing my body into the mattress. "When?"
My eyes look to the bathroom and he follows them. "When you were gone."
"In there?"
"In the shower," I admit, showing no shame. How could I when the details interest him so much? "I missed you."
David swallows and breathes in. "Can I talk these off?" He asks, his fingers running just under the thin band. My gut pinches with a tinge of anxiety.
I nod again, slower.
He leans back and does as permitted; David inches my underwear down my legs and my lungs begin to burn. My knees automatically click together like magnets, but he promptly opens them, squeezing tighter until he remembers his strength and how little of it I can take. His hands come to my hips as his forehead drops to my stomach. A stranger may think he's praying over me-worshiping. "David?" I call quietly, unsure of whether or not I should cover myself.
He leaves a kiss below my belly button. "You're so lovely," he says against my skin. "So perfect."
Then he kisses me there, and I immediately push myself up the bed, almost slipping away from him. He peers at me and I relax. Breath by breath I let myself go, and he resumes, keeping a firm grip as I continuously buck and pull. My head tilts down and my eyes watch his fingers as they press into the soft skin of my thighs. His mouth, his tongue-my blood rushes to every corner of my body and my face flushes with heat.
My chest fills and empties with air drenched in our scents, and I release my moans and whines of pleasure until he brings me over the edge and I find myself in a free fall, plummeting off the ladder and landing in a place so euphoric I can't help but smile. Every limb releases its pressure and floats on the duvet beneath me. My hands smooth back his hair as my body begins to calm like startled water.
David returns to me and clears a hair from my face. My lips part but no words come out. "Do you like when I kiss you there?" He asks.
I study his face with big, loving eyes. "Yes," I murmur, "I do."
David moves himself against me, letting me settle on his strength, in his protection. My hand reaches for the blankets to cover myself, but he distracts me when he runs his hand down my bare side. Everything goes quiet as I concentrate on his movements; his fingertips exploring the slope of my hip then sweeping across my back. Chills drive me further into him, and I rest my head on his chest.
"You're mine," he says. "You understand, don't you?"
He's thinking with his Alpha brain. That territorial quality surfaces in his voice, and the butterflies go wild in my gut at the sound of it. "I'm yours," I recite, remembering our promise. "Only yours."
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Ya'll. I have nothing to say.
I regret nothing.
Thanks for reading.