Page 69 of Scapegoat

“No one,” I growled at her, at the whole fucking world, if that’s what it took to keep her safe. I stalked closer, my feet eating up the distance between us, half hoping she’d turn tail and run again, my wolf loving the prospect of the chase. I was secretly glad when she didn’t, though. Because, when I held her in my arms, the only fucking woman I’d ever love, everything seemed right with the world. It was a struggle to remember what I’d been worrying about, something she noted with a sly smile. “You little minx—”

“No one can hurt me when you’re around. No one will fuck with me. Would you rather I go back to work at the roadhouse—?” My growl made clear what both my wolf and I thought of that. “And anyway, I’m far stronger than Ned or any of his mates. If any of them tried anything, I’d snap their fucking wrist.”

OK, now I was grinning openly. Kaia would never have said anything like that, seeming to disregard her own strength, seeing only others’. But now? Strong Kai was a sexy Kai and I told her that.

“Oh, so that’s what it takes to get you going?” she said, wrapping her arms around my waist. “Threats of blood and violence.”

“You,” I corrected, kissing the tip of her nose. “You’re what gets me going. Stories of bringing down arseholes and causing them all the pain they deserve? Well, that just takes it to another level.”

“And that’s why we’re here, isn’t it?” Some of that cocky bullshit in her faded then as Kai went to pull away. I held her tight, not willing to let her slip through my fingers, even if it was just for a second. “You want to take things to another level.”

“I want what I’ve always wanted, Kai,” I told her as honestly as I could, all the bullshit facade I tried to maintain, like most other blokes, falling away. “You. I should’ve had you up on that stage beside me the minute I was recognised as heir to the alphas. I needed you near me, your scent in my nose.” She shivered as I gripped her tighter, burying my face in her hair. “I need my bite mark on your neck, claiming you as mine for the whole fucking world to see.”

“Humans don’t understand mating marks.” Her voice was muffled by my chest and I just smiled.

“They do on some level. They’ll know you belong to me and that any one of them that tries to get close to you will do so at their fucking peril.” My arms flexed around her. “I can’t let you go, Kai.”

But she forced me to, so she could look up at me, the dying rays of the sun turning her coloured hair brighter purple, and I could tolerate that small distance as long as she looked at me. My girl. I wanted all of her looks, her smiles, her sighs. I wanted to smooth the small line forming between her brows with my thumb. I wanted to kiss those swollen lips. I wanted—

“I know what you want,” Kai said, making me think I’d said all of that aloud, forcing me to smile sheepishly. But she tilted her head to one side, her hair falling away from the unmarked skin. “And I offered you all of it.”

I just blinked, my throat feeling too swollen, my fangs aching in my gums. Take her, the wolf howled. Take her! He couldn’t endure the pain of being separated from her for so long, demanded we remove all obstacles between us.

But not yet.

That’s what I told my wolf, told my Kai, as I led her back to the bike, grabbing one of the swags that was rolled up on the back and then flicking it out. We’d lounge upon the hilltop and eat like kings, if the weight of the bag was anything to go by. I carried it over, flopping down beside Kai on the swag, and then started pulling the treasures Vicki had gifted out.

“Oh my god…” Kai gasped as I opened up the Tupperware containers.

Because there was roast lamb, still warm, pink and tender, along with containers of perfect roast vegetables all with crispy skins. There was a bowl full of salad, rabbit food I thought with disgust, before shoving it to one side. There were bread rolls, fresh from the oven, the yeasty scent filling our noses, and butter and a pot of gravy and… My mouth watered for the food, but most of all, for her.

“What do you feel like first?” I asked her.

“I don’t know where to start,” she said, grabbing a fork, but I plucked it from her fingers. She shot me a dark look, but it quickly transformed when I cut off a chunk of meat and offered it to her.

“We would’ve done this after we mated you,” I said. “Once we crawled out of bed after all that sex.”

“God, Jay, shut up!” Kai gave me a shove.

“Mum sat up all night baking things you liked, sure you were the one. It was all ready…” I shook my head and forced myself to smile. I didn’t want to keep going back to that moment, yet I kept finding myself drawn into it. “My mum didn’t make this, but I think Vicki cooks with just as much love.” I twisted my fork, drawing her attention back to it.

When she shifted closer, my heart rate picked up and when her lips parted, I remembered the way they’d done that around my cock, the remembered sensation like a punch to the guts. But one I craved. Then when she took the meat from the fork, I felt a stupid, instinctual sense of satisfaction I had to explain to her.

“You were always strong enough to feed yourself,” I told her as she chewed. “You cook a whole lot better than we do, which was probably why Mum did the cooking that day, but…” I brushed a strand of purple hair back. “It’s the symbolism of it. You take food from my hand, take the things you need from me and—”

“And what if I need more?”

She moved then, more wolf than woman, climbing onto my lap and then pushing me back to straddle my hips. I groaned as I felt her hips shift, her denim covered cunt grinding down on my cock.

This was what I wanted, what I needed, my every fucking step bringing me here. When Ned proposed his stupid fucking race, I took him up on his offer, wanting to show off, show Kai what kind of mate I’d be. One that would provide for her, look after her, even if I did dumb shit on the regular. That despite all of that, I’d never let her down deliberately. So I moved, picking her up and laying her down on the swag as I loomed over her. I wanted to block out the sun, the rising moon, even the stars, to focus her whole attention on me.

“I’m going to give you everything tonight, Kai. You know that. I’m done fucking waiting. But you’ve had a hard day—”

“I hear orgasms are really good therapy for sore muscles,” she said with a wicked grin.

“Fucking hell…” I grabbed her then, unzipping her jeans and pulling them and her boots off before she could protest, then pulled down my own fly, jerking my own dick before easing her down on it.

My cock didn’t slide right into her. She was plenty wet, wetter when I teased her clit, but with no foreplay, it was a shock. But Kai recovered quickly, rocking back and forth until I was buried in her to the hilt.

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