by Aidy Award
Zara planned for that to be forever, and she wouldn’t take anything less. She licked her lips and, since getting her hands back from him didn’t seem like an option, wiggled her hips. “Let’s not waste a second.”
He grinned. “Is that your way of telling me to hurry up and get your clothes off?”
“Get my clothes off, get me off, you know, all of the above.” She enjoyed flirting with him. It had been such a long time since she’d even had fluttery feelings like this. It was a hell of a lot better than worrying she was going crazy.
Niko wrapped his hands under her butt and carried her across to the bed. He pushed her into the mattress with his body and oh so slowly pulled her shirt up and over her head. His eyes roamed over her chest, following the line of her bra.
She wished for a moment she’d worn something cute and frilly. But it wasn’t like she’d known they were going to get naked when she’d chosen basic black undergarments. He took his own sweet time examining every inch of her and hooked his fingers under the straps, pulling them down her arms. She almost wanted him to rip it off of her, but then she would be left without a bra, and she was not letting her girls run free while all these stupid wolves were around.
His tongue darted out when he licked his lips, and she couldn’t wait for him to get that tongue on her body. Zara unhooked her knees from around his hips, but he grabbed her thighs and dug his fingers in, holding her in place. “Don’t move your legs even an inch.”
He ground his cock against her again. She was going to scream from frustration, which was not what she was promised. She really needed him to get his show on her road. “This would be more fun if we weren’t wearing pants.”
He got a look on his face that was so cocky, it couldn’t help but be toe-curling hot with the promises it made. “Too late to decide you wanted to be in charge.”
To punctuate his declaration, he reached around and popped the clasp of her bra open without even a glance at what he was doing.
For once in her life, she couldn’t wait to not be in charge. It was freaking exhausting to always be on and responsible, to make everything happen the right way. She fully understood that wanting to be a strong, independent woman didn’t have to be at odds with letting her man take charge of her pleasure in the bedroom.
In fact, it was the greatest form of self-care to be able to let go for a little while and be allowed to simply feel and enjoy. That wasn’t anti-feminist; that was smart.
The weight of the world lifted from her chest along with her bra, and, for the first time in years, she could breathe again. “Thank goodness.”
Niko brushed the back of his fingers so softly over her breasts and nipples that they hardened and poked up simply to be closer to him. He bent his head and licked one and then the other, giving it the tiniest tug between his teeth. His hands wandered down her bare sides and to her hips and finally cupped her ass, dragging her body even closer to his. “I’d love to tie you up, lay you across my lap, and spank the hell out of this plush ass for scaring the shit out of me by showing up here.”
Her skin prickled everywhere his skin touched hers. “Nobody is stopping you.”
“I am.” He stared into her eyes, holding her gaze for several breaths. “This may be the only chance we have to be together. I want to do everything with you, but I won’t compromise your safety just to get off.”
At least she wasn’t the one who said they may not live through this. She couldn’t love him any more for understanding that. “Then let’s make this time count.”
His grip on her butt and hips got all possessive. “Grab onto the headboard, and don’t let go unless I tell you to. Understand?”
Why, oh why was Niko telling her what to do so fricking hot? He’d barely even touched her yet and when he finally did get to the clothes removal portion of the night, he was going to find her panties pretty well soaked. Zara reached behind her head and gripped the wood. That position arched her back and thrust her breasts forward, and she became sex on a stick for him.
“If I ever get to bring you home, I’ll take my time finding out exactly how hard I can get those plump little nipples of yours. They’re going to look so good with clamps to decorate and stimulate them. I’m going to spend a very long time with my cock between those tits.” He sucked in a breath between his teeth. “Before I do anything else, I’ve been waiting a very, very long time to lay my mouth on the mark I gave you once again.”
Niko wrapped his fingers into the waistband of her yoga pants and pulled them and her black panties down her hips. She lifted her bum to help him out, and in a second she was naked and laid out for him. Eight years was a long time, and she wasn’t a bright-eyed teenage girl anymore. She didn’t have that body either. A lot of hours in the office with no exercise and crap food coupled with a stupid amount of stress and the fact that she’d already been chubby in high school meant her ass had spread, and she had more than a couple love handles.
“Christ, you’re fucking gorgeous.” His gaze perused its way up and down her body, taking in every lump, bump, flaw, pooch, and sag. Yet not once did he look disappointed or resigned. In fact, with every second that passed, his eyes darkened and sparkled, the lust practically pouring out of them for her. All for her.
“You make me feel beautiful.” He always had, and she’d forgotten that.
She hoped he wouldn’t make her wait too long before she got her chance to touch him and explore his body too. But the way the wolf in him kept flashing a hungry lustful need at her, she wasn’t sure she would be allowed to do much more than wait for his orders.
“Spread your legs for me and let me see it, Zara.”
A shiver of pure desire rolled through her body, and she squeezed the headboard tight. She’d dreamed of this moment with Niko more often than she wanted to admit.
“Let me see the mark I gave you and your sweet, wet cunt.”
Zara let her knees fall open and twisted her right thigh, so the amber moon with the silhouette of a white wolf howling in the center faced up. She’d never understood where it came from, except deep down, she would never admit that it had always made her feel connected to Niko.
A rumble sounded from his chest and his fangs extended down over his lips. She’d never seen him appear so animalistic, and she absolutely loved every bit of this dominating alpha side of him.
Marked by the Alpha
Clear as the most brilliant diamond, the image of a wolf inside a full moon shined up from between Zara’s legs. His mark. He’d given her that symbol of their joined fate eight years ago.
He hadn’t realized it at the time, and he hadn’t meant to bite her. Biting a human was not only strictly forbidden, it was the most taboo act a wolf could do. Niko hadn’t even realized he’d done it until after they’d both come in the most erotic act he’d ever done up to that point.
Laying there with his dick in her mouth, seeing the wound he’d given her, he should have been horrified with himself. He’d drawn blood, and he could already see she would bruise. Instead of the revulsion that should have coursed through him, his dick went instantly hard again.
He licked the bite mark to soothe any sting, but he couldn’t resist licking her sweet pussy too. She’d moaned around his cock, and they’d gone at it again.
Laying together in the back of his car, basking in their afterglow, he’d asked her to marry him. Even though he knew it wasn't what his parents wanted for him or the pack. He hadn't been thinking about the consequences of being the heir to the alpha, only how much he loved her.
That was the last moment the two of them had been happy together. The shitshow started right after that.
Everything had changed after that. Him most of all.
Seeing his mark on her skin now brought something of his old self back. That part of him that thought he and Zara could change the world, make it a better place for both humans and wolves, woke up from its long coma. Maybe if they were together once again, working side by side, they could not only s
ave themselves, but this strange future they’d found themselves in.
His emotions were too overwhelming for him to be able to say the words to her yet. He needed to burn off some of this fierce energy burning through him right now. The best way he knew how to do that was orgasms. Lots and lots of screaming orgasms.
Niko lowered his head and licked the mark on her skin, just as he’d done all those years ago. He could feel the minutely raised flesh of her scarred skin where his teeth had punctured her flesh. She whimpered with the same needy tone he remembered from the many nights he’d replayed the memory of their last night together.
But Zara was no mere teenager anymore. Her body was more lush than before, her breasts were fuller and her hips and ass were perfect for holding tight in his fists when he thrust into her. Later. She would come first. Always.
He’d learned a hell of a lot about how to drive a woman not only crazy with his attention to her body, but he could send even the toughest submissive into subspace when he wanted to. Mik had introduced him to the pleasure of domination and submission in one of the Volkovs’ many clubs. Niko had learned exactly how to dominate anyone with pleasure, pain, denial, and ecstasy.
His wolf had always reveled in this kind of sex play, bringing a whole new aspect to being an alpha. One that he sorely wished to share with Zara.
“Please don’t tease me like this, Niko. Don’t make me wait anymore. I need to feel your mouth on me.”
Sweet Zara was trying so hard to let him take charge, and he’d gotten lost in his own reminisces, like an asshole. “You’ll wait as long as I want. The anticipation makes it all the more delicious when I do this.” He swiped his tongue up one of her pussy lips and down the other, very purposefully avoiding her clit.
She groaned and the headboard creaked as she adjusted her grip on it. He was going to have a lot of fun driving her crazy with lust and need. They had a lot of lost time to make up for.
Niko spread her legs wider and nibbled his way up her thigh, spending plenty of time licking, nipping, and dragging his teeth across her mark. Her pussy glistened with her juices, called to him like the most delicious treat. He licked her vulva again and then pressed the flat of his tongue against the very center of her core, flexing and thrusting against her.
“Oh God, Niko. Holy...” her words became incoherent, and he chuckled, loving that he could make her lose her words with only a touch. His tongue was only the beginning of the pleasure he had in store for them both. He swirled around and around, up and down, and sucked on her tight nub until her legs were shaking and he could feel the flutters of her pussy signaling her impending orgasm. Her breathing was coming in ragged gasps, and he could literally hear her heart racing.
He slipped two fingers into her tight cunt and replaced his tongue with his thumb, pressing down on the quivering bundle of nerves. “This is mine now, malyshka. Your orgasm is mine, your beautiful cunt is mine, and you’ll give me your pleasure when I tell you to. Not a moment before.”
Her eyes were shut and the skin on her thighs, belly, breasts, and cheeks flushed. “Niko... please.”
“Mine, Zara. Your body is mine.” Every cell of his being screamed at him to claim her now, mark her where everyone could see and make her cry out his name as he fucked her. Niko had a lot of experience in denying himself in favor of seeing his partner submit to his will.
She jerkily nodded and pressed her hips against his hand.
“That’s my girl.” She was so much more than a girl, or even a woman, to him. She was his mate. He hadn’t been sure he would get to have a true mate once he’d gone into service for Mik and the Volkovs. He’d given up so much, lost so much, that having Zara here, belonging to him once again body and soul, was a blessing he would have to spend the rest of his pitiful life thanking the Goddess for.
One more reason to make sure they both lived through the challenge.
Something he would worry about tomorrow. Today was theirs no matter what happened.
Zara opened her eyes and stared up at him with so much love in her eyes, every plan he had to dominate her mind and body flew out the window and crashed on the rocks below. If he didn’t get inside of her right now and feel her cunt squeezing his cock as he pumped his seed into her body, he was going to explode, or implode, or maybe just blow his load. None of which he wanted to do.
As much as his own desire raged through his body, he would not give in to his own hedonism unless Zara was with him all the way. He could fuck her right here and now, but unless he let her see all of him, he wasn’t being honest with her. They were fated mates, he knew that to the very core of his soul, but he wouldn’t force her to be with him.
It was her choice if she wanted to hitch her star to someone so broken and damned as he.
“Solnyshka, I want nothing more than to mark and claim you, to fill your body until neither of us knows what it’s like to be apart, but you need to know—“
“Niko.” She lifted her chin. “I know. I know everything there is to know about you. Even if fate or destiny or whatever you want to believe in wasn’t involved, we would still be together. I would still choose you.”
He wanted so much for that to be true. “You don’t know everything. I’ve done things, I’m not the man you think I am.”
“Look into my eyes and listen to me. Nikolai, I know. Neither of us understood at the time, but you gave me a gift. The gift to be with you even when we were apart. I’ve watched almost everything you’ve done for the past eight years as if we were together the whole time.”
Her visions. Holy shit. “Everything?”
Her expression softened. “Not every second of every day, but all the important bits. I thought I was dreaming, or day-dreaming, or hallucinating, and I don’t completely understand everything, but I think I saw most of the important events in your life before they even happened.”
“Even...” He swallowed and looked away. His next words came out as cracked as his soul. “Even Mik’s death?”
Zara let go of the headboard and sat up. She got onto her knees and grabbed his face between her palms. Her gaze flicked back and forth, studying him. His chest tightened until he couldn’t breath.
“I think I’ve seen more about what happened to you and Mikhail than you have.”
It was true that he’d blocked a lot of that night from his memory. He couldn’t bring himself to remember murdering his best friend. Mik’s blood was on his hands. He couldn’t look her in the eyes. His shame was far too great.
“Do you want me to tell you what I saw?” She whispered.
Self-revulsion roiled in his gut. “No,. I can’t.”
“Yet... You can’t face it yet, and I certainly won’t make you." She squeezed his shoulder. "But when you’re ready, we’ll face it together.”
Zara had more faith in him than he did. He hated to continue to ruin it. “There’s more.”
“There isn’t anything you can say that will make me stop loving you.” She laid her cheek against his.
Sure there was. Wait... Love? Did she just say... out loud... that she loved him? Maybe he could face his demons if that were true. What if he didn’t tell her? They could run away together, escaping the Crescent compound wouldn’t be easy, but they could do it. They could leave all of wolfkind behind and never look back.
He would think about that tomorrow.
This time when he thought that, it didn’t give him the same relief as usual. The idea of giving up their real life together because he was scared of facing life as less than a true alpha wolf made his chest hurt.
Time to man up, since he couldn’t wolf up. “I can’t protect you. If you throw in with me, you’re choosing a mate that will never fulfill his duties to keep you safe and give you the life you deserve.”
She took a breath and opened her mouth to interrupt him, but he pressed a finger to her lips. “I can’t shift, Zara. I’ve lost my wolf, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get it back. If I try to fight Crescent in the challenge, he will
tear me apart, and then he’ll claim you. I don’t want to condemn you to a torturous life with a bastard like him.”
Zara tisked. “You’ve gotten really good at lying to yourself.”
He expected anger, but... umm, what? “I’m not lying. I wouldn’t lie to you.”
“Not to me, to yourself. You haven’t lost anything. I’ve been staring into the eyes of your wolf since we kissed. Look.” She turned him toward the mirror he’d caught a glimpse of himself in before.
He’d truly thought the magical glow to his eyes was a momentary fluke, nothing more than a response to their dire situation. Looking into the mirror, with Zara staring back at him over his shoulder, he couldn’t deny that she was correct. Wavering across his own features, in his eyes, but more than that, in his entire being, he could see his white wolf.
Niko closed his eyes and reached inside for the connection to his beast, to the vital part of him that made him who he was and was meant to be. He still received no answer to his plea for the wolf to appear, to make itself known to him again, but the place that used to feel hollow, had changed.
Instead of a dark black hole sucking away his energy, his happiness, and his life, a new power surged there. He didn’t understand what it was or how to access it, only that where he was once shattered pieces, he was whole again.
“Did you do this? Did you somehow heal me?” He couldn't be any more shocked.
Zara giggled and gave him a quick little kiss. “I’ve got some X-men level superpowers, but I don’t think healing is one of them.”
“Maybe not, but whatever this is, it’s because of you, because you love me.” He was incredibly awed just to be near her, for her to allow him into her life, much less love him. His heart was growing three times, more and more, just like the Grinch.
“Love conquers all?”