Page 6 of Star-crossed Betas

“Truth.”

“Hmmm…..” He hesitates as if he’s thinking fastidiously about his question. “Have you ever thought about kissin’ me?” His question catches me off guard; I wasn’t expecting him to be quite so direct. His eyes hold mine, though, not faltering even for a second. Swallowing loudly even to my own ears, I take a deep breath.

“Yes, I thought about kissing you the day we met. Honestly, I’ve probably thought about it more than I should have since.” Okay, so maybe my 'truth' borders on oversharing, but it’s out there now.

“Interestin'.” His smile becomes smug.

“Interesting? All you have to say to that is, 'interesting'?”

“Yes, very interestin',” he says, full-on smirking at me. I huff in response, splashing him with water again. Cee lets out an evil cackle at my expense.

“Wanker.” I try to keep a straight face, but I’m fighting back a smile as I say it.

After I’ve gathered myself, I ask, “Truth or Dare?”

“Dare.” He steps closer to me while answering. The air between us is charged with tension as I gather my courage.

“I dare you to kiss me howyou’vepictured it.” My stomach is filled with butterflies as I wait for his response.

“I never saidI’dpictured it.” He tilts his head playfully.

“Well then, I guess if you’ve never pictured it, then you don’t need to kiss me,” I counter, calling his bluff.

His tongue darts out and licks his bottom lip lightly before he tugs it between his teeth in a way that makes my dick twitch below the surface of the water. The heated look in his eyes makes me feel akin to prey when I’ve only ever been a predator.

He glides towards me, closing the final distance between us. Standing so near, I have to tilt my chin to look down into his eyes. He’s several inches shorter than me; I’d guess five foot ten to my six foot two. His pupils are completely blown out, almost eclipsing his mossy green irises.

With one hand, he reaches up, cupping the side of my face, and the other squeezes the back of my neck, tugging my face down to him. My pulse is a loud heartbeat in my ears, and I’m worried if he nudges his hips any closer to me, it’s going to be very obvious quite how into this I am.

He pauses for a moment, the briefest look of vulnerability flashing across his eyes; if I’d blinked, I would have missed it. He comes across so confident, but I think maybe some of that is forshow. Not wanting him to doubt even for a second how much I want this, I lean down and press my lips to his.

We kiss tentatively at first, tasting each other and gently exploring. Still, it lights up every nerve ending in my body. When his tongue tangles with mine, I release an uncontainable groan into his mouth, and he deepens the kiss in response. I’m insatiable; I could keep doing this for hours and never tire of it. The hunger in my belly is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.

My hands wander down his chest, and I brush my thumb gently over his hard nipple. A small gasp escapes his mouth in response. My hands roam all over his body, seeking to touch him everywhere at once. My brain catalogues every minuscule sound he makes; the breath he sucks in when I gently brush my fingertips down his rib cage and the small whimper when I dig my fingernails into his strong, muscled back.

Our mouths are feverish, stoking the fire building inside us. When I’m so close to the edge that a light breeze on my cock could make me come, I pull away and gaze down at him as I try to catch my breath.

We’re both panting as though we’ve been running for our lives, and Cee's lips look pink, swollen, and devourable. I feel like I’ve been struck by lightning, and a small hysterical laugh bubbles out of me at the irony. I knew that lightning scent of his spelled trouble. My skin feels so overheated I half expect steam to start rising from the water’s surface, and it takes me longer than it should to get my heart rate to return to its steady beat.

Cee appears to get his bearings back much quicker than I do. He tips his head to the sky, where the moon now sits low. His voice is raspier than usual when he speaks.

“I better head back,” he says, sounding disappointed to be bringing the night to a close. The thought pleases me more than it should. With a deep sigh, he turns, making his way back outof the water. Before he gets too far, I grab his wrist, pulling him back into me to kiss his soft pink lips one last time. We say goodbye for another week. Seven days never seemed very long to me before, but each week since I met Cee, seems to drag on for an eternity.

“Goodnight, Cee,” I whisper into his slightly parted mouth.

“Night, Fee,” he replies before walking out of the water. I catch a brief glimpse of the sexy dimples at the bottom of his back before he shifts. Despite Cee being several inches shorter than me, his wolf form is enormous and domineering. His fur isn’t quite as dark as his jet-black hair, more of a charcoal shade of grey.

Cee's large body blends into the dark treeline, but I spot two big green eyes looking back at me before he sets off to run home. I rub the heel of my palm into my chest, not understanding why I feel the loss of him so acutely.

“Get a grip,” I tell myself, shaking my head to try and knock some sense into my brain.

I’ve no idea what the time is when I finally make it home, but I close my bedroom door as stealthily as possible behind me, and I nearly jump out of my skin.

“Fuck.” I whisper shout. “You almost scared me half to death,” I say quietly to Jasper. He’s leaning against my window in the dark room.

“Where have you been?” he asks me in a low voice. Jasper and his wife Jade have been staying here while their house gets renovated, and I’ve come to realise I definitely love my brother with more distance between us than a paper-thin wall.

“None of your business, Jas. Why are you even awake?” I reply, my buzz from earlier dissipating in an instant. He stepstowards me, and I step back, trying to give him a wide enough birth so he doesn’t scent another wolf on me.

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