Page 23 of Dark Auctioned Mate

His lips curved into a smile. “Yes, oh.” Then he took a step back. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up before someone walks in.”

Chapter 10 - Alanis

It was still early in the morning when Alanis sat on the porch of the cottage belonging to Sara, with a mug of tea in her hands, which softened the chill in the air. Elle was seated to her left, in a chair with her own cup, and Sara sat on the railing, swinging her legs back and forth and talking enthusiastically about the next harvest festival.

“—then Javi attempted to persuade all of them that we should have a bonfire competition, and whoever constructs the biggest fire wins, and Silas had to point out to him that we were in a forest and that was how you burnt down an entire territory.”

Elle snorted, shaking her head. “Sounds just like something Javi would say.”

“Right?” Sara grinned. “I think sometimes he just likes to see Silas put on the spot.”

Alanis smiled despite the soreness her body felt. The heat had died down after yesterday—after Rael had his fingers inside of her on the kitchen counter. But she could still feel it lurking under her skin, a reminder that it was not over.

She sipped her tea and endeavored to listen to what Sara said without thinking about what had happened in that kitchen. She couldn’t stop.

The memory was repeating itself in graphic, embarrassing detail. How she had pleaded with him to touch her. The whining, the whimpers, how she laid on his counter, how needy she was. How she begged.

That wasn’t her. Alanis Hester didn’t beg. She didn’t lose control. She sure as hell did not moan the name of any man loudly enough that anybody in the house could hear as his fingers were lodged in her.

It was the heat. The heat must have been the reason. This is what she kept telling herself. The heat, coupled with their bond, had made her some sort of sex-crazed woman incapable of thinking straight.

“Stop,” she thought to herself. “Do not think about it.”

But her treasonous heart would not comply. Rather, it conveniently provided an in-depth re-enactment: the sensation of his fingers slipping into her, filling her in such a manner that it had made her whole body arch off the counter. How he had curled them, discovering her g-spot and the dirty talk from his mouth: “Fuck my fingers, Alanis. Take what you need.”

Never had a man spoken to her in such a way during sex—rough, dominant, and reverent all at the same time. The one-night stands she had over the years had been fast, business-like, and short-lived. It was not like what she had with Rael.

She could still feel his thumb on her clit and hear the wet squelch sound of her pussy at the moment she orgasmed. She came so hard, she had seen stars.

Then he’d withdrawn his fingers slowly, torturously, and brought them to his mouth. Maintaining eye contact, he licked them clean, his eyes full of hunger. “Delicious,” he said.

Alanis shifted on the porch, trying to suppress the new surge of arousal. This was precisely the issue. She could not stop thinking about what happened and how good it felt to allow him to take care of her.

And that was bad, because it was not just physical. If it were purely physical, she might have been able to chalk it up to her body’s reaction to heat. But the way he looked at her afterward, the way he touched her softly—it was all different.

“I want you to be sure. Not just because you’re in heat, not just because we’re bonded. I want you to want this—want me—for the right reasons.”

What were the right reasons? She didn’t know anymore. It was all mixed up—the heat, the bond, the way in which he made her feel safe, frustrated, and wanted all at the same time. She could not distinguish what she felt due to the bond and heat, and what she felt purely because of him.

And she despised not possessing that lucidity. She loathed the fact that she literally came onto him in his own kitchen like some desperate—

“Alanis?”

She pulled her head back into the moment and saw that both Sara and Elle were staring at her, concerned.

“Sorry, what?”

“I asked whether you were okay,” Elle said, a slight frown forming on her face. “You have been staring at your tea for the last five minutes without drinking it.”

“I’m fine.”

Sara narrowed her eyes a little, but didn’t push. She instead jumped off the railing and sat down on the porch, right next to Alanis. “You see, when something is bothering you, come and speak to us; we are not going to judge.”

Alanis stared at her, then at Elle, then a strange sensation that she had never felt before popped in her chest. These ladies were being kind to her with no ulterior motives or conditions.

It had been a long time since she’d had female friends. Or friends in general.

“It is nothing serious. Just adapting to everything. The pack, the territory, the... bond.”