Page 84 of Claimed By Blood

I know he’s back to his normal self when he flings himself across the bed in his haste to get away from me.

Sothisis how he hurt Finn. Not with the sex, but with the rejection afterwards.

I get it now.

The alpha’s eyes rove over my body, cataloguing the bruises, so I make sure to keep my face disinterested as I sit up and stare at him expectantly.

“A towel would be nice,” I say, my voice surprisingly calm, even after the spine-breaking orgasms he just put me through.

The words jolt him into action and he heads into the bathroom, returning a second later with a damp towel. He chucks it at me, and I busy myself with wiping the traces of our combined cum from between my legs.

His eyes track the swipes of the cloth, burning with something that almost looks like possessiveness before he blinks it away.

“You didn’t… you never used your safe word.” He sounds a little broken by the fact.

I shrug. “I told you I liked rough sex. Sure, I can see that you’re going to be a bit of a mess afterwards, but I enjoyed myself more than I thought I would. Could’ve warned me about whateverthatwas, though…”

I wave at his cock, which has returned to its normal—still mildly terrifying—size. I almost wonder if I imagined the whole thing, but the ache in my lower body isn’t fictional.

I keep my words cold and clinical because I can tell he’s expecting an emotional outburst. He’s braced for it, so I can only assume that Finn—

Oh my God, Finn.

I reach for his bond, expecting to feel his anger, or even sadness. I know he gave me his blessing for this, but still, he must havefelthow much I loved that.

Yet, instead of the resentment or anger I’m expecting, there’s only a sense of relief. I dig deeper as I clean myself, searching for any hint of discomfort.

If I find it, then no matter what I promised Gideon, this is over.

I won’t be the cause of any more drama between them.

Thankfully, Finn ishappywith the situation. I can’t even find a hint of jealousy lingering in the back of his psyche. I allow myself one tiny internal sigh of relief before I release the bond and turn my focus back to the lycan in the room with me.

He’s still tense, but I try not to let that bother me as I finish cleaning up. As soon as I’m clean, I chuck the towel at the bathroom door and pull the covers over myself.

“It’s a knot,” Gideon says, abruptly. “Alphas have them, but if you don’t like it, I’ll pull out next time.”

I snort. “Don’t you dare.”

The poor man’s eyes will bulge out of his head if he stares at me any harder.

“You can get in bed now, you know. I’ll only bite if you ask me to.”

He hesitates, and I roll over to give him my back, cracking a small smile once I’m certain he won’t see it.

“If you don’t believe that I’m fine, drop the damned wall and check the thrall bond.”

Given his reticence about the entire situation, I’m almost certain he won’t do it. But I should know better than to assume I know what the alpha is thinking.

Having the wall drop between us is like a dam breaking. It’s not a full bond—we’re not even close to that yet—but his emotions are so loud that they cross the distance, anyway. His own self-loathing hits me first, followed by his complete disbelief and certainty that I must be lying.

Then, after a few seconds of processing all of that, he notes how calm and unbothered I am by the entire experience.

“I hurt you.”

I shrug, not turning over. “I actually enjoyed my orgasms, thank you very much. I can see how you fucked things up with Finn, though. Being treated like a leper right afterwards definitely kills the mood.”

The bed dips, and I wait patiently for him to slam his wall back up.

---