Page 75 of Break Me Knot

She throws another punch, then another. Each one stronger than the last. I let her work it out, recognizing the thirst to expel whatever demons drive her. Her scent shifts, anger threading through fear, determination through pain. The sugared lilac turns brittle and sour.

Then something snaps.

The change is instant. Her face contorts with fury and desperation as she launches punch after punch. No technique, no control, just raw emotion pouring out of her small frame. Tears start streaming down her face, but she doesn't stop. Her scent turns acrid. She’s lost in her head with memories I can't see but I can smell them in her terror.

The scream that tears from her throat shreds my heart. It's not just pained. Not just angry. It’sagonized. She's sobbing now, still throwing punches, lost in whatever horror plays behind her eyes. The sound will haunt my dreams.

“Mira,” I try to catch her hands, but she's beyond hearing. “Sweetness, stop. You'll hurt yourself.” The endearment slips out without permission, but she's too far gone to notice. Too lost in whatever nightmare has claimed her.

She's going to damage her hands, even with the gloves. Going to break against me like she's trying to break whatever haunts her. My alpha howls to fix whatever's broken inside her. I do the only thing I can think of, the one thing I've been fighting not to do since she walked into the gym. I catch her face between my hands and crush my mouth to hers.

Her taste explodes across my tongue, salt from tears, sweetness from her essence, and something uniquely Mira that makes me roar. God help me, but Ican't let her go. Not now. Not when she's breaking apart in my arms. Not when she tastes like everything I've been denying.

Not when she feels like coming home.

I kiss her as an intervention. A desperate, necessary way to break through her spiral, but then she makes this small sound against my mouth, something between a whimper and surrender, and everything shifts. Her body melts into mine, hands still trapped between us in those ridiculous gloves. The taste of her tears mingles with omega sweetness as her lips part beneath mine, and fuck, she's perfect.

My hands slide from her face to her neck, her pulse racing under my thumbs. The trust in that simple exposure of her throat makes my alpha howl. She's so fucking responsive, every touch drawing new sounds from her throat, each one more addictive than the last.

I should stop. Should pull back. Should maintain the distance that keeps us both safe, but she rises on her tiptoes, pressing her perfect breasts against my chest and my control shatters.

I don’t know if I’m kissing her to drive out her demons or mine. All I know is I can’t get enough of her. One taste is all it’s taken to drive away any semblance of the control I’ve fought to keep, as though it never existed.

My tongue traces her bottom lip, and she opens for me beautifully, eagerly. The first real taste of her makes my cock throb painfully, my knot swelling so hard I think the skin on my dick is going to split. Her small hands press against my bare chest, and even through the gloves, her touch burns. Marks me. Claims me in ways I shouldn't allow but fuck it, she’s mine. Sweet venom floods my mouth and I’m gone.

Mine.

Mine.

I walk her backward until she hits the wall, caging her with my body. She’s so fucking perfect, small but strong, soft but fierce. When I nip her bottom lip, she mewls, the sound going straight to my groin. Her slick scent spikes sharply, making my mouth water with the need to taste her everywhere. To map everyinch of her skin with my tongue, to learn what other sounds I can draw from her throat.

“Sweetness,” I growl against her mouth, and she shivers. The way she responds to my voice, to my touch, makes my alpha preen with satisfaction. “You have no idea what you do to me.” My hands span her waist, fitting perfectly in my grip.

“I need...” She whimpers against my mouth, and the sound nearly breaks me. Her gloved hands clutch at my shoulders, desperate for anchor.

“Take it,” I growl, nipping at her bottom lip. “Take everything. I'll give it all to you.Everything.” My gloved hands slide to her thighs and, hell on earth, I want to rip off the offending leather, slide my palms along her thighs, but there’s no time. “Wrap your legs around me.”

When I lift her, the heat of her core presses against my cock, and fuck, it's exquisite torture. Her small body clings to mine like she was made for this, made for me.

“Use me. Take what you need.” The words come out darker than intended, rough with promise.

My hips pin her in place and as I grind against her, her head falls back with a gasp that exposes her throat. The scent of her slick soaks through her jeans, making my mouth water, my knot pulse. Her arousal is complex, sweet omega essence layered with desperate longing. Something that calls to my alpha on a cellular level. Something that makes me forget everything except pleasuring this omega.

My scent-matched omega mate.

I’m a fucking idiot.

Finding the perfect angle, I press my cock hard against her core, using my abdomen to create the right pressure. The friction draws the most beautiful sound from her throat, half moan, half sob. Her legs tighten around my waist, pulling me closer, seeking more.

Her mouth falls open, eyes glassy with approaching pleasure. Lost in sensation, in the rhythm I create between us. Her scent spikes sharper, sweeter. She's close.So fucking close. The way she moves against me, chasing her pleasure, makes me want to tear these clothes away and bury myself inside her.

“That's it, Omega,” I growl against her throat, her pulse racing under my lips. “Let go for me. Show me how good this is for you.”

Her hands clutch harder at my shoulders. She's so responsive, so perfect, so fucking beautiful as she comes apart in my arms. Her body goes rigid before she melts against me. She pants against my throat, eyes closed, completely lost in her pleasure. I love watching her like this, all surrender and trust, her body boneless in my arms. My cock still throbs painfully, knot aching, but I don't care.

This is worth any discomfort. The way she fits against me, the perfect weight of her in my arms, the trust she's showing breaks down every wall I've built.

I've been such a fucking fool, thinking I could maintain any defense against her. One taste and I'm lost. One moment of her surrender and I'll never be able to let her go. My alpha recognizes what my human side has been fighting… she'sours. Has been since we found her. Will be until I draw my last breath.

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