Page 80 of Star-crossed Betas

“This place is stunning, where’s Noah?” Fee asks.

“He’s gone home.”

“This isn’t his place?” I take a deep breath and then blow it out in a rush before answering.

“This isourplace.” His eyes go wide as he scans the space again.

“Um, babe, how much smoke didyouinhale in that fire? Because this is not our place.” He sounds incredulous, and I can’t really blame him. I’m suddenly questioning my decision to keep this a secret all this time.

“You know that secret work project I wouldn’t tell you anythin’ about? Well, this is that,” I say to him, gesticulating at our surroundings.

“I’m going to need you to fill in a lot more gaps.”

“Firepower. Trend. Blog.” His brown eyes stretch wide like saucers as the recognition sets in. He opens his mouth to speak and closes it again several times. “I came here in early May. I’m not sure why. I think I just wanted the nostalgia trip, and I saw a for sale sign on the land. When I got in touch, they said the barn and roughly five acres of land, includin' the woods, were for sale, with plannin’ permission already granted for a barn conversion. I’d sold my half of the business to Mikey, and I still had the money from my mum’s life insurance sittin’ there, so I made them an offer. The sale only officially went through in July, but we were able to put an agreement in place for me to start work on it.” I realise I’ve been staring at a spot on the floor as I explain, so I lift my gaze up to see Fee’s reaction. He’s just sitting there, slow-blinking at me with his eyebrows almost at his hairline.

“You did this? This is really our place?” he asks, and I nod. He gets up from the stool he’s been sitting on and walks towards me. His hands tightly cup my face as he presses his lips to mine. “I can’t believe you did this,” he mumbles against my mouth, and I smile in relief that I obviously didn’t fuck this up.

“Couldn’t exactly have anyone else shaggin’ in our barn, could we?” I say before returning the kiss. His tongue sweeps inside my mouth, tasting me before he pulls away and looks down into my eyes. He licks his bottom lip and gives me a questioning look.

“That smell from before; you taste different. What’s going on?” In fairness, I think I would react far worse if Fee suddenly smelled and tasted different. I gulp, knowing when I tell him this, it will change everything.

“When I pulled you from the fire, you were in your human form. Your pulse was weak, and you were so badly burned.” I scrunch my eyes closed, desperately trying to keep the images at bay. “You weren’t healin' quickly enough. You couldn’t shift because you were unconscious, and I kept beggin' you to shift. It’s like my brain knew it was the only way to save you, and it triggered my Alpha gene. You woke up for a second and shifted, but the Alpha Order I gave you… It changed me.” I look up into his eyes, trying to show him how much I never wanted this for us. Fee and I have always been equals, and I hate how this changes things, but I wouldn’t take it back. “I didn’t mean to, but I can’t be sorry because it saved you, and I will always do whatever it takes to save you.”

Fee looks surprised, not that I blame him. Since he woke up, I’ve bombarded him with huge life-changing information, and he’s taken it all in stride so far. I’m not sure what I expected, but a bellow of laughter was not it.

“I won’t lie; there’s a small part of me that thinks I’m in a coma or something somewhere, and this is all a dream,” he says once he’s gathered himself. “But in all seriousness, there’s nobody I would rather have as my Alpha than you, my bossy little bottom.” He chuckles again at the ridiculousness of all of this.

“We’re still equals,” I try to tell him, but he interrupts me with a quick kiss.

“We aren’t, but that’s okay. In our pack, you’re my Alpha now, and I’ll always defer to you. But in our marriage, we’re still just me and you. I know you won’t ever abuse this power. I trust you.”

Fee's words are a balm. I don’t know how he does that, but he always seems to know exactly what to say to soothe all of my concerns at once. Until this point, I’d been so focused on Fee healing I hadn’t even realised how worried I was about how he’d take this news, but I should have known better. Fee has always been my steady rock; reliable, consistent, and always so measured.

Over the years, there have been times when I doubted if Fee felt as strongly for me as I did him, but I know that’s my own insecurities. Now, with all the facts laid bare, I can see clearly how much Fee’s love for meneverfaltered. Even in the year I wouldn’t speak to him, he always tried to reach out, letting me know in his own way that he hadn’t forgotten me.

He kisses me again—leisurely—like we have all the time in the world, and I guess we do. His warm tongue laps at the seam of my lips, seeking permission to taste me fully. I gladly oblige and open my mouth for him. As his tongue meets mine, my skin heats all over with a rush of want and need. As his big hands grip my face tighter, his fingers dig into the back of my neck, and I moan into his mouth at how good it feels.

Fee's hands travel down my body, and in one quick motion, he grabs the backs of my thighs and lifts me so I’m sitting on the kitchen counter. I’m marginally higher than him now, and he presses kisses adoringly along my jaw and down my neck, nipping and sucking at my tender, sensitive skin.

“I’m not going to do it today, but one day soon, I’m going to finally sink my teeth into this spot right here,” he licks the delicate skin where my shoulder and neck connect. “And everyone will know that you belong to me. Everyone will know what I’ve known for years: that you’re my mate and that you’re mine.” He speaks the last part quietly into my ear before sucking my earlobe into his mouth, grazing his teeth on it as he lets it go.I groan as my cock thickens behind my jeans, and I arch towards him, seeking friction that isn’t there.

Fee's thumb rubs gently on the sliver of skin he’s exposed above my jeans, and he presses his hand up underneath my t-shirt, tweaking my already stiff nipple between his finger and thumb. The sensation makes me gasp, loving the fine line between pain and pleasure that Fee always manages to keep me balanced on.

Reaching behind his head to tug his t-shirt off, I’m once again blown away with relief at seeing his beautiful, smooth skin that hardly shows any signs of the horrific burns that marred it just a few days ago.

Leaning down, I pepper kisses along his collarbone in appreciation of having him before me—whole and well. When his arms lift again to remove my t-shirt, I lean into his underarm and inhale deeply; he smells fresh and clean from his shower, but the earthy lavender scent that’s all him—is an aphrodisiac like no other.

Since I became an Alpha, I’ve found myself frequently overwhelmed with the need to smell him. I want to rub myself all over him until our scents are so blended you can’t even tell where he ends, and I begin.

Fee pulls on my hips, and I wrap my legs around his waist. He carries me into the living room as though I'm not an eighty-kilogram man before gently lowering me to the rug next to the sofa.

Our lips are fused together, and I suck on his tongue, enjoying the rumbling sound he lets out in response. When he undoes the button on my jeans, I lift my hips so he can tug them off.

Starting at the inside of my ankle, Fee peppers kisses along my leg. When he reaches my inner thigh, he grazes his teeth on the soft skin there, and I whimper in response. Ignoring my erection that's tenting my boxers, he continues up my body, kissing andlicking up my stomach until he takes my nipple into his mouth and sucks, swirling his tongue around the hard bud. I try to buck my hips to demand his attention where I want it, but Fee drops his weight between my thighs, pinning me to the rug.

Fee comes willingly when I tug on his face, needing his lips against my own. Needing to taste him and savour the feel of him so alive under my fingertips. His tongue sweeps into my mouth, and he grinds his hips. The feel of his stiff cock pressing into me is incredible, but I want more. I reach into his joggers and take him in my hand, excitement and want bubbles beneath my skin as I anticipate having him inside me.

When he pulls away momentarily to remove the rest of his clothes, I quickly take off my boxers and give my cock a few tugs to provide a morsel of relief.

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