Page 16 of Drowned By the Dreadnought

He tucks me tighter against him and presses the side of my head to his chest before capturing my wrist and bringing my hand up to his lips. My heart pounds against my sternum and I watch in wonder as his pulse leaps along the side of his neck.

“I didn’t see your mom until after I escaped your father.” He brushes his lips over my swollen knuckles. I close my eyes and enjoy the sensation, but a wave of heat blasts through me and I struggle to hear him through the fire roaring in my veins. “I should have known what had really happened and realized you were in danger.” He waits until I open my eyes to speak. With his breath ghosting over my fingers and his dark brown orbs locked on mine, he reaches deep into my soul and plucks out my pain. “I’m sorry, Morwenna.”

My breath hitches on a sob, but I groan as a cramp steals through my lower abdomen. Liquid fire seeps from my core. Another wave of warmth rises from my toes.

“I know I can’t erase the horrors you’ve faced over the years, but I’ll do anything to make it up to you.”

“Anything?” asks the devil on my shoulder, except she’s no longer stuck hovering over me. She’s in my blood. Infecting my organs. Pulsing through my sex. Filling me with need.

“Almost anything,” he growls.

My heart plummets, but he grips my nape and dips his gaze to my lips before meeting my eyes.

“I won’t leave you. Ever. Expect to be by my side every second of every day for the rest of our lives. You’re mine, little mouse, and I’m never letting you go again.”

He drops his lips to my forehead in a chaste kiss, transporting me back to the day he saved me at the market. It was the last affectionate gesture he showed me before he disappeared from my life. Bittersweet yearning coats my tongue. He pulls back and flexes his fingertips into my nape.

“You don’t have to forgive me right away, but—”

I reach over his shoulder and grab the hair at the base of his skull.

“Do it again,” I demand.

He quirks a brow. I pull him toward me and angle my forehead to his lips. A small smile flits across his face as understanding dawns. He kisses my forehead.

It’s not enough, but I relish his soft lips on my skin and mourn the loss as he pulls back.

“Again,” I say as I tug his hair.

His low growl as he kisses between my eyebrows vibrates straight to my core. Warring sensations wreck my insides. My mind clings to the past, reliving the moments I felt the most cherished, while my body begs for a more carnal touch.

“Again,” I demand.

“For you? My needy, demanding, cute, and sexy little mouse?” he punctuates each word with a kiss to my temples, nose, and chin before whispering against my lips, “I’ll kiss you as many times as you want, anywhere you want. Any time.”

Molten lava gushes from my core and need pulses in my clit as his tongue sweeps over my lips. I may not have the words to tell him, but I’ve already forgiven him. We’ve wasted too much time apart already.

I need him. Tremors run up and down my spine and branch outward from my center. A whimper escapes my throat. My alpha growls before sealing our lips together and dominating my mouth with fervent sweeps of his tongue. Dark delight pulses through me, and I rub my thighs together, seeking relief, but it’s not enough.

When he lifts his face away from mine, a feral snarl rips from my chest and I yank his hair, desperate for more, but he chuckles and tightens his hand around my nape.

“Just be careful what you ask for, little mouse, because I’m already so hungry for you I might devour you in one big bite… and there’s so much more I want to do to you.”

Abandoning my cocoon, I fist the front of his shirt and pull myself upward until our lips connect. I can’t wait anymore.

He’s mine.

We’ll no doubt hurt each other along the way—one conversation can’t cure years of anger, hatred, abuse, and loneliness—but at least if we’re together, we’ll have ample opportunities to correct our mistakes.

Pain rips through my abdomen as my core clenches on nothing. Despite the fear curling through me at the thought of his monstrous cock going anywhere near me, my soul insists he’s the only alpha for me. All the years of suffering under my father’s fists and cruel words weren’t in vain.

My omega self preens in delight. The ease with which she sinks into estrous can only mean one thing.

I’m not broken. There’s nothing wrong with me.

I chose Russt a long, long time ago. The Dreadnought is the only alpha I want.

No one else will do.

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