Page 17 of The Alpha's Forced Bride

That was when I noticed I couldn’t sense the demon anymore. With her fingers still behind my ear, I couldn’t sense it, as if it had suddenly disappeared.

What’s happening to me?

I snarled when her fingers retreated, feeling disappointment sweep over me. Kiara sat up and reached for my ears again, both hands scratching just behind them. Oh, that was just wickedly rude. She didn't have to be that way—she didn't have to do that at all. I knew she was strong. I could tell by how her legs were toned and her torso was fit.

Her tummy was soft and pillowy, although flat. She was beautiful physically, a wonder to behold, and yet there was another part of her I knew was even more gorgeous than the surface—her strength. The scratching continued, turning my thoughts into a jumbled mess. I kept blinking and blinking, lazier and lazier, until my eyes inevitably closed. I felt like a puddle again. How she could make me melt so quickly was almost frightening. I couldn’t control it or turn back into a regular person, and I wasn't sure what to do about it.

I was panting from chasing her, hot breath skirting across her forearm. I knew it because I could feel it bounce right back to me. Her proximity created this cavern between us. A comfortable, almost hollow space that I wanted to keep between us. Little by little, I shifted back into my human form, one of my slowest returns to date. My skin felt clammy, cold, and exposed to the earth in ways that I didn't appreciate. Sunlight struck through the trees like swords made of orange and gold, scaring my face into her bosom, where I tried to hide myself. She cradled me there for a little while, stroking her fingers through my hair, scratching the same area behind my ears that my wolf liked so much.

I could almost feel my leg jiggling just from the satisfaction of her giving me affection. I didn't understand why she wasn't trying to fight me off, why she was trying to comfort me instead. This must have been part of her elaborate plan to escape. Although I had to wonder, if she had run to the beach and hidden in the bushes, then trapped me here with her affection, why wasn't she attempting to make a run for it now? She had me at her beck and call, at the tips of her fingers, caught in her lap with my arms wound around her waist.

“Why?” I hadn’t meant to speak, to break the moment, but I had to know.

She drew in a long breath and exhaled slowly. “It’s pointless. I don’t know where to go.”

I felt like she was lying, but I could relate, nonetheless. “Sometimes I feel the same way.”

“How can you feel that way when you’re alpha?”

I nuzzled deeper into her loving embrace. “Alphas can have a hard time, too, you know.”

“You sound less like a demon and more like a person.”

Her words struck my heart with the kind of affection I’d always desired. Her hourglass figure seemed to fit perfectly in my arms. Now, I could truly feel the proper dimensions of her figure, the voluptuousness of her breasts. Not too large and not too small—just perfect enough to be pillows that cradled me. Her hips were generous and full, and I felt the softness of her stomach. As I kneaded my fingers around her sides to the front of her torso, she tilted my head back. Light invaded my eyes, so I kept them closed. I saw the swirls of color, the orbs dancing behind my eyelids, dotting my vision with different shapes that appeared and disappeared in their own time.

I felt the warmth of her breath crawling across my cheek. She caressed my chin with her hand. Maybe it was her right hand. I couldn't tell at this angle, and I couldn't tell from the way that I gave myself over to it. It was like she was scooping me up into her palms and taking a sip of the melted puddle I had become. Indeed, her lips did touch me. They met my flesh, my mouth, exposing me to something so incredible that I had to show her by kissing her back.

Fierce desire swept through me as I shimmied between her legs, squeezed the back of her neck, and pinned her into the kiss. This was how it was supposed to feel—no fighting, no arguments, and no snappy back and forth. No physical altercations and no curses, just the warmth and comfort of this kind of love all the time. Had it really been that long since someone had taken the time to touch me in this way?

I wanted to break the kiss to ask her, but I couldn't bear the thought of releasing her mouth to the unworthy sound of words, not that her words wouldn't mean anything. Deep down, though, I knew words were useless when touch could say so much more. One touch was enough to tell me a thousand things.

It was the same for her, maybe. At least, I hoped it was. Heat coiled in my center as her hand drifted down my neck to my shoulder. The tips of her nails traced my bicep, the outline of my muscles, and my upper arms, and then the cords of my muscles leading to my forearms. My veins bulged and stood out like lines of braille. It was from adrenaline and also from having to exert so much effort. I felt like I was pulsating, throbbing, and then I felt that feeling transfer south to where I knew she would soon discover that I was far more aroused from this kiss than anything. By the wetness that slicked her center, I knew she was too.

We were both vulnerable now, exposed. Nothing could be hidden between us.

But it didn't seem to matter. She pulled me on top of her and positioned me between her legs. She locked her legs around me, kissing me until it got so sloppy that we were practically gnawing each other. My hands coated her arms with feverish rubs that trailed to her wrists. I pinned them to her hips and delighted in the lustful wiggle that erupted from her hips as she mewled into another long kiss.

She wanted me and I desperately wanted her, too. I wanted nothing more than to plow her into the earth for running away from me. I wanted to mark her so she would never stray. I wanted to chase her all over again, to tackle her to the ground and claim her wherever we landed.

Another round of howls rang through the trees. She gasped out of the kiss. “Fuck.”

My insides flipped as my cock throbbed. “Fuck is right.”

Damn it, I had been gone for too long. I'd gotten lost in her and hadn’t alerted my pack that I’d found her. They must have thought I was in trouble. Although I was ready to admit that maybe I was because Kiara was trouble herself. She was alluring. She was so tempting, I just wanted to say fuck it and have her all to myself.

“Fuck,” I grunted while controlling myself. “That’s for another time.”

She glared up at me. “Who said I was going to let you fuck me?”

“You kissed me first.”

“You kissed me first.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. I could prove her wrong by teasing her and convincing her to give me another kiss. But…

If I took her now, I’d ruin the ritual, destroying any chance of us having a good future. Perhaps she was acting on behalf of my demon, tempting me, trying to get me to fail at my task. My fingers drifted over her breasts, thumbs circling her nipples as more howls reached my ears. Her lower lip twitched as her eyes rolled back.

She whimpered, “We could go somewhere.”

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