Page 48 of Rivers and Roads

I laid everything out, then moved to the front door, sucked in a breath for courage, and opened it. I stepped back, startled when I nearly collided with Zane’s larger form, but he didn’t waste any time gathering me close. His face buried in my neck as he took in deep, shuddering gulps of air, and he walked me back until I was braced against the wall.

“Hey,” I said quietly, dragging fingers along the back of his neck.

He squeezed me tighter. “I’m going to kill him. I have never wanted to be this person—the Wolf who could taste the blood of revenge in the back of my throat, but I…”

“I know,” I told him, holding fast to his shaking body. “I know. And I’m going to be there to clean the blood from your claws and lick your wounds. Metaphorically.”

He chuckled, and I felt a bit of the tension drain out of me when he pulled back and stared into my eyes. His face went serious, though, and I braced myself for what he was about to say. “I’m sorry for shutting you out.”

“Zane…”

He pressed his thumb to my lips, cutting off my words. “I’m terrified that I’m never going to get better. That every time I hear his voice, I’m going to be transported right back there. I’m”—he swallowed thickly—“afraid that I’m going to get the chance to rip his throat out, and I’m going to freeze the moment he speaks to me.”

I bared my teeth. “Then I’ll cut out his tongue.”

Zane’s eyes widened, then he laughed. “Fuck. You’re so…” He trailed off, then leaned in and took my mouth in a powerful kiss. When it was over, he didn’t pull back, instead speaking right against my lips. “I couldn’t do this without you.”

“Yes,” I said, easing him back a little. I wrapped my arms around his waist and let him rock against me, feeling how hard I was just by being near him. “You could do this on your own, but you don’t have to. And it’s not just me who’s got your back, Zane. You will never be alone in this.”

He closed his eyes and bowed his head, nosing along my jaw. “I know.”

“I spoke with Kor,” I told him gently, and when he tried to pull back, I held him fast. “He’ll be here in two days to get us back over the border. He thinks everything’s going to start closing up now that the humans have announced their intentions to merge governments.”

He stiffened, but nodded, and managed to lean back far enough to look at me. “Does it make me a monster for wanting a little bit longer here with you?”

My entire body shuddered with need. We were Alpha and Beta—two Wolves that were never meant to mate, but it was like he was carved into a shape that fit against my own more perfect than anyone else had ever been. “No. And I think when this is all over, we should come back.”

“Here?” he asked, his brows up.

My first instinct was to say no. We should go somewhere nicer, more luxurious. We should go somewhere that people could wait on us, and serve us drinks, and we wouldn’t have to exist on shitty sandwiches and boxed crackers for dinner.

But I didn’t, because this was paradise. It was the first place I realized I was allowed to have the one person I had always wanted, and the one person I never thought I could.

“Yes. Here. I want to come back here with you when it’s all over and do everything all over again.” I leaned in and brushed my lips against his jaw. “Everything.”

He groaned, thrusting against me, then pulled back and sighed. “Forty-eight hours, huh?”

I nodded. “Want to make the best of it?”

He grinned, a little feral, and pulled me down the hall.

Chapter

Twenty

ZANE

My eyes rolled back in my head as Orion’s tongue sank deep inside me. My claws were digging gashes into the wooden bedframe, and I could hear it creaking beneath the weight of us. It would be a miracle if the damn thing survived the last few hours we had together, because a sort of hysteria settled in knowing that within a matter of days, we would be back in Corland and back to our old lives.

I had no idea what would be waiting for me, of course. My brother was missing. I could hear my tormentor’s voice every time I closed my eyes. And Orion wasn’t willing to talk about what would become of us when we left this place.

But for now, I had him.

I spread my legs farther, thrusting back against his face, and he groaned, holding me by the thighs as he ate me like I was his last meal. He pulled back with a wet pop, chuckling at the sound of my groan, then his face moved between my legs, and he sucked my balls into his mouth.

I had never felt anything like this before with a lover. I had spent heats with Omegas in the past—when the situation called for it—but no one set my blood on fire like this Beta. Even without the bond, he existed under my skin, and all I could think about was laying my mark on his neck and being able to see it every day.

“Please,” I managed to growl through my elongated fangs.

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