Page 92 of Brutal Reign
“Babygirl,” I growl, retaking the distance I put between us and grabbing her by the chin. I lift it, forcing her to meet my eyes so she can see the truth behind them. “I amsogoddamn attracted to you that it’s unhealthy. You’re the only thing my mind ever wants to think of; the only thing my eyes ever want to look at. But I’ve waited a long time for you, and I’m not about to rush this. When I have you, I want to enjoyEvery. Fucking. Second.”
A deep blush rises to her cheeks, a shallow breath puffing from her lips. The heady scent of her arousal permeates the air as she blinks her long lashes at me, hazel eyes turning molten. “Jesus, Ace. Stop winding me up if you’re not gonna do anything about it,” she grumbles.
I chuckle lowly, banding one arm behind her back and sliding my other hand down the front of her belly. “Who said I wasn’t gonna do anything about it?”
Her breath hitches as I tuck my fingers beneath the waistband of her leggings, slipping past her panties and cruising down to the apex of her thighs. “See, the thing with pretty little wind-up dolls…” I pinch her clit between my fingers, her mouth opening on a sharp gasp. “All they need is a little twisting to let go.” River’s knees buckle when I do exactly that, her arms flying up to cling around my neck.
As if she needs to catch herself.I’m her mate. She’smine, which means I’ll always be here to catch her.
I tighten my hold around her waist, supporting her weight as the fingers of my other hand start toying with her clit, building friction.
“Ace,” she whines needily.
My cheek brushes hers as I lean in. “Let go, babygirl,” I whisper into the shell of her ear.
She buries her face in the crook of my neck, panting against my skin as I work her up into a frenzy. I’m talented with my fingers; foreplay is my forte. It doesn’t take long to bring River right to the edge. Then she shatters beautifully, trembling through her release as I hold on tight, not letting her fall when her legs give out beneath her.
River’s panted breaths warm my skin as she slowly comes back into herself, finding her feet and picking her head up. Our gazes collide, molten copper swirling in her irises. My inner wolf surges to the surface, peeking back at hers through my own.
Slipping my hand out of her leggings, I bring it down in front of her, cupping her mound through the fabric. “Soon,” I promise, jaw clenching at the discomfort of my hard cock straining against the confines of my boxer briefs. “Not yet, but soon.”
She bites her lip coquettishly, dark hair swishing around her face as she nods in agreement.
Shit, I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to hold back.She’s a fucking vision in her post-orgasmic state, face flushed and expression soft.
Her arms slip from my neck as I release my hold on her body and rock back a step, digging a hand into my pocket for my phone and earbuds.
“Let’s sync our phones, listen together while we run,” I suggest.
A disbelieving laugh bubbles from River’s throat, hazel eyes widening on me like I’m insane. “You want torunafter that?”
“Gotta get back to the complex somehow, right?” I mumble, unlocking my phone and pulling up the Spotify app before flickering my gaze back up to hers. “Unless you wanna shift…”
“No, we should run,” she blurts, then snaps her mouth closed, quickly schooling her look of panic. “I mean, I need to condition in human form, not as my wolf,” she adds with a laugh, trying a littletoohard to come off as casual. “She’s got no problem with running, I’m the slow one.”
“Sure thing, babygirl,” I agree, smiling at her as I hand over my phone so she can sync it with hers. “Whatever you want.”
She nods as she takes it from me, seemingly satisfied that I’ve bought her act.
I definitely didn’t, but that’s something I’ll file away for later.
We get our music synced and slip our earbuds in, hitting the trail back to the squad complex. I match my pace to her slow one, the two of us jogging side by side while listening to the band we’ll be seeing together in just a couple days, unbeknownst to her. Keeping secrets can be fun, in the right context.
In others, secrets are dangerous. They can have catastrophic consequences if they reveal themselves in the wrong place at thewrong time. I suspected something was going on with River’s wolf before, but now Iknowshe’s hiding something. And I need to find out what it is before we’re in the wrong place at the wrong time and it blows up in all our faces.
31
“Istill can’t believe you got tickets!” I squeal, practically jumping out of my skin as I sprint ahead of Seb and Ace to round the corner of the building.
To say I’m excited is an understatement. I’ve been obsessing over this band for the past year, and when their only Colorado show sold out in minutes, I was devastated. Since then, I’ve been trying to get my hands on tickets, and where I failed, Ace somehow pulled off the impossible. It’s probably a good thing he waited to tell me until lunchtime today, because my head was anywhere but on the field during our afternoon training session. I was busy mentally planning my outfit and reeling over the fact that I’m actually going to see Audio Whiplash perform live.
Could this day get any better?
I stop in my tracks when the parking lot comes into view, realizing thatyes, yes it could. Because I recognize the shiny black classic Corvette parked in the closest spot, and this surprise is almost as good as the tickets themselves.
“Your dad’s car?” I gasp, whipping a glance at Ace over my shoulder.
“Mycar,” he corrects, a smile curving his lips. “He gave it to me as a present for my eighteenth birthday.”