Page 70 of Alpha Rising (Secrets of the Northland Shifters)

He bent over the mattress, not breaking the kiss and somehow still holding me tight against his body.

I squeezed my thighs around his hips and kept my ankles locked as he lowered us, together, onto the bed.

His kiss moved to my neck, just under my jaw, then traveled south. He pushed up my shirt and pulled down one of the lace cups of my bra, sucking my nipple greedily before repeating the move on the other side.

I curled my fingers into the feather comforter and arched my neck, preparing for the “punishment” he thought best suited my crimes.

“You’re too perfect,” he murmured against my skin, halfway to my navel. “Too beautiful for words. To think I might have…”

His words trailed off as he nipped and kissed a path down to the waistband of my jeans.

He slipped the button open, then slowly teased the zipper down.

My breath was coming in short pants, and I lifted my hips.

I heard him chuckle as he maneuvered off the end of the bed, adopting a kneeling position on the floor, but the sound of his approval was drowned out by my gasp when he grabbed the denim in both hands and yanked.

My jeans were down around my thighs at that point. With another tug, they were over my ankles and tossed aside.

Reese teased the edge of my lace panties with his finger for an agonizingly long time before they too were gone.

I pulled my knees up, and he grabbed my hips, sliding me closer to the edge of the mattress. Then, from his knees, the alpha made me pay the price for my insolence.

If he thought it would make me behave better in the future, he was sadly mistaken. I was already plotting how to tempt danger again.

22

SARAH

Sunlight streamed through my bedroom window. Groaning, I rolled over to check the time, then sat up so quickly my head spun. It was nearly one o’clock in the afternoon. How on earth had I slept so late?

Then I remembered the nightmares. It had been a particularly bad night, except for the part about having Reese there to soothe me back to sleep. I could still hear the worried tone of his voice every time I drifted off again into the same dark scenes—women being shoved into the back of a truck; me, sitting alone in darkness; Carmine DaBruzzi calling my name in that sing-song voice…

I turned toward the other side of the bed. Reese was gone, and by the cool feel of the sheets, he’d been gone for a while.

Had he kissed me before he left? Or, despite our make-up sex, was he still mad at me for putting myself at risk?

Only one way to find out. Dressing in a black cotton dress with peek-a-boo shoulders that I knew he liked, I went out to face Reese and the day that was already half gone.

Except Reese wasn’t in his office.

I headed for the cafeteria, but he wasn’t there either. In fact, the lunch crowd had cleared and the room was completely empty.

I left and knocked on Reese’s bedroom door. No response.

Pulling my phone from my pocket, I called him and got voicemail.

Sam emerged from the stairwell that led to the second floor, and he headed my direction with an annoyed expression on his face. “Hey.”

“Hey, Sam.” I still felt sheepish about dragging him into the drama last night. “Sorry about…everything.”

Sam let out a breath and looked at the wall. “Yeah…well… As much as I hated that it happened, I’m glad you called me before going in there alone.”

“It was stupid of me.”

“Not going to argue.”

I pressed my lips together. I’d hoped for a little less honesty. “Have you seen Reese?”

---