Page 8 of Alpha's Arranged Mate

But before they could make it to the basement, Braxton dug his heels into the floor and drew them both to an abrupt halt.

Lottie couldn’t bring herself to release his arm, so she turned to him, her eyebrow raised. The lantern that hung at the very base of the stairs illuminated his face just moments before he lunged for her.

Right when she thought he was going to tear her throat out, right as she was about to scream, she felt his lips caress her flesh. His teeth nibbled her skin as he pressed her back against the cold, dank wall of the corridor.

“Braxton, what are you…” she began, pushing her palms back against his chest in an attempt to stop him. But with every kiss she felt her willpower fading.

“If I am going to die today, I don’t want to die without knowing how it felt to be with you,” Braxton whispered into her ear, brushing back her blonde hair and urging her head sideways to further expose her neck.

Oh, lord! Lottie thought, her mind whirling with the prospect of what he was proposing. She felt his hands grip her hips, urging her pelvis toward him, and a growl rumbled in his throat when she instinctively reached down between their bodies in order to cup his groin.

There she found him rock hard and solid for her. She could practically feel the lust pulsing through his member as he pressed himself into the palm of her hand.

It was in that moment that she realized exactly what it was that had been tugging her down into those dungeons all these weeks. It was need. Not just a need to see him and talk to him, but also a need to be with him, to feel his hands all over her body and to have him bury himself deep inside her.

“Please…” she whispered into the cold air, unsure as to what exactly it was she was pleading him for.

He seemed to know exactly what it was that she needed, and grabbing hold of her chin, he kissed her with such fury it made her head spin all over again.

The next thing she knew, he had ripped the button of her jeans off and was pulling the garment down over her hips. She tore at his belt with her own trembling hands, all too desperate for him to think of anything else.

The thrill of what was to come made her heart race, and when he grabbed her hips again, turning her to face the wall, she pressed her buttocks back against him. His now exposed member brushed smoothly between her thighs, caressing her moist sex even as he slipped his hands around her hips to grip hold of her and pull her back further.

The very moment she felt him slip deep inside her, she gasped.

“Lottie?”

The voice was distant at first, sounding as though she was deep underwater. She barely heard it. “Lottie, are you alright?”

Blinking rapidly, Lottie found herself once more sitting at the table in the basement.

Still sitting opposite her was Cole, but behind him was his mate, Malia. The two of them were staring at Lottie as though she had grown a second head.

“Sorry, I…I think I’m just tired,” Lottie said, struggling to speak past the sudden lump in her throat. Her cheeks grew hot with embarrassment as she suddenly realized that she had been having a damned sex daydream right there on guard shift. Worst of all it, had been about a damn demon wolf!

“All these guard shifts are taking it out of us all,” Cole agreed with a deep sigh, and his mate laid her hand upon his shoulder as if to offer him strength. Lottie felt an odd sense of jealousy at the gesture, wishing she had someone who would do that for her.

“Why don’t you go and get some rest, Lottie?” Malia suggested, cocking her head to one side. Her blue-purple gaze blazed with concern. “Cole and I can hold down the fort here until shift change.”

“Are you sure?” Lottie asked, although the thought of getting as far away from the dungeons as possible was more than welcome.

“Yeah, sure, I can think of worse things than spending time with my beau,” Malia smirked, leaning down over Cole’s shoulder in order to kiss his cheek.

Determined not to stick around for their awkward displays of public affection, Lottie pushed herself quickly to her feet. “Thanks.”

The worst thing that Lottie could have done was go back to her bedroom to rest. It turned out it wasn’t only her daydreams that were being filled with thoughts of Braxton, but also her dreams in general.

No sooner had she fallen asleep than she felt someone slipping into bed behind her. In a sleep-induced daze, Lottie turned her head and rolled her eyes as she asked, "What are you doing?"

A small alarm bell in the back of her mind told her she ought to be worried that someone had slipped an arm over her waist and was pulling her close to them, their torso warm and rippling against her back.

"Lottie…" he whispered deep into her ear, his voice husky and seductive. Her heart hammered and a trembling heat rushed down her spine, pooling in her gut. Moisture soaked between her thighs.

Just as she was leaning back into him, able to feel a rock-hard cock pressed up against the curve just above her buttocks, someone called far more loudly, "Lottie!"

Sitting bolt upright in bed, Lottie ran her fingers through her blonde hair. In the darkness, she glanced at the empty space on the bed beside her, the space where Braxton had been only moments before.

"Fuck!" she snarled deep in her throat, realizing it had been yet another trick of her imagination. Her heart stopped at the realization that he was still far beneath her, trapped in that dark, dank cell, awaiting an alliance or death.

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