Page 65 of Blood and Trouble

I fucked myself against him, squeezing him, clenching down to bring myself closer. When I hit that precipice, my world shattered. The tether between us, once tiny and nascent, blared to life, roping around my heart, propelling me into this decadent thing with him. He worked me through it, his moans and whispered murmurs of, “So fucking good. Yes, yes. Fuck yes. Take it. You fucking take it so good,” filling my mind.

He kept going, muttering filthy words in between groans and masculine whimpers. The sounds he made were my favorite part. If I could unmake a male this strong, what did that say about me?

He finally froze inside me, painting my cunt with his cum, his knot expanding to lock us into place. That, too, was amazing, a gentle pressure at the front and back of my cunt holding me firmly to him. I collapsed against his chest, and Lycan wrapped his arms around me, kissing any skin he could find.

“Fuck, that was incredible. Are you okay?”

“Perfect,” I managed to say. My throat rasped and ached, but I didn’t mind. In fact, I liked it. I wanted to do it again. He brushed hair out of my face as I leaned in to him, nuzzling against his throat, relishing the echoes of bliss that swam through my blood.

When I looked back at the window, it was empty. Poe had left, and for some reason, that hurt more than I wanted to admit.

CHAPTER 14

Ava

We didn’t see Poe the next day. I didn’t know whether he hid in the woods or found a quiet part of the den to wait for the full moon. After the scene, Lycan helped me to my feet, took me to the bathroom, and washed every inch of my body in the tiny shower before I did the same to him. When we climbed into the tiny bed in the back room, he tucked me close to his chest and ran his fingers through my hair until I fell asleep.

He’d never say it, but I sensed he’d been hurt by Poe’s sudden departure, too. Maybe we should have talked about what this meant for us, how we would deal with Poe when we saw him again, but I was too tired, and Lycan didn’t bring it up. Were we meant to be exclusive? I wouldn’t stand in the way of the two of them, and Lycan had said our arrangement was educational, to satisfy my curiosity.

At twilight the next night, we went to the forest where Thurjin had indicated we could shift without interruption. We’d be protected by the wards and the pack of shifters on the territory. I’d spent most of the day filled with a trepidation that bordered on anxiety. Maeve had told me it would hurt. The pain would be unimaginable. But then, halfway through, it would be explosive and euphoric. She said I might even like it. I doubted it.

“You’re going to be okay, Trouble,” Lycan said, stopping at a clearing. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

I tried to smile, but I didn’t mean it, and Lycan knew it. He stepped closer, cupped my jaw, and lifted my face to his.

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

“Of course,” I said.

Lycan leaned down to kiss me, and my heart tripped over itself at the contact. His lips were so soft, and his calming scent wrapped around me. “Just give in to it, okay?”

Footsteps echoed in the undergrowth behind us, and I stepped back to see Poe walking toward us, his hands in his pockets. He’d changed since yesterday, so he must have gone back to the cabin at some point when we weren’t there, which ached even more. He’d been actively avoiding us.

“Nice of you to show up,” Lycan said. “With the way you ran away twice last night, I figured you’d shift alone.”

Poe pursed his lips and ran a hand over the back of his neck, hesitantly meeting my gaze. That familiar ache in my soul pulsed, nearly tugging me to him.

“Nothing to say for yourself, then?” Lycan scoffed. “Typical.”

“You want to do this here? Now?” Poe snapped. “The moon’s rising. We don’t have time to go over all the ways we’ve disappointed each other.”

“Disappointed?” Lycan stepped closer to him. “What about last night was disappointing to you? You didn’t have to stand outside, looking like a lost pup. If you’d asked nicely, I would have let you in. And if you’d asked very nicely, I would have let you⁠—”

“Let me what?” Poe twisted his features into an angry glower. “Watch you fuck your wife? Watch you mark her until⁠—”

“Enough,” I cut in. “Poe’s right. We’re running out of time. This is my first shift. I don’t need the added pressure of…whatever this is.”

Lycan growled and cracked his neck, shaking his head as he unbuckled his belt and kicked off his boots.

“Let’s just get this over with.” Poe reached behind him to yank off his black T-shirt, and I forced myself to look away. I remembered the fire in my veins last night, how much I liked being controlled by Lycan while Poe watched. It made me wonder what Lycan had been about to say. What would he have done if Poe had asked very nicely?

Ignoring that for now, I unbuttoned my blouse and stepped out of my shoes. My skin itched, and my stomach churned as the nocturnal wildlife awakened around me. Foxes chittered, and owls hooted. The frogs chirped out their mating calls, and far to my left, something heavy ambled through the fallen leaves and leftover brush from winter.

When I was done, I hugged my arms around my torso and told myself not to feel intimidated. Lycan had already seen me naked a dozen times, and I was certain Poe had seen countless women before me. Still, they were formidable males, all defined muscles and strong limbs. And I wasn’t exactly in shape. Lycan rolled his head and shifted his shoulders. Poe dropped down to his knees and put his hands in the dirt.

I was just about to ask how long we’d have to wait before it started when my gaze caught on the moon lifting over the horizon. God, it was beautiful, and this far north, it seemed ten times bigger than it was in Montana. So full. So magnetizing. Had a full moon ever been so gorgeous?

A sharp slice hit me in the spine and cascaded in every direction—down my legs to my toes, up my neck to my scalp, over my arms to my fingertips. Every nerve ending burned like I’d been dropped in a pyre. I groaned and crumpled to the ground, arching my back in sad attempts to alleviate the pain, but it only made it worse.