Ava You’re mine, Ava. The words play on r epeat in my mind as they have for the last week since finding the body by the Southern border. Though there was no tone to accompany those words, it resonated with me on another level. As if I had heard them spoken before. And in the same sinister tone conveyed by having them written on a dead body in the deceased’s own blood. Braiden had lost control, shifting and growling before letting out a howl that would remain with me forever. My wolf had strutted proudly, understanding that howl at an intrinsic level I could not. Braiden then circled me protectively, his large black wolf body bristling, teeth bared, and his paws tapping the ground restlessly. I knew it was the mate bond, but in that moment, I felt safe—especially given the circumstances and the clear message conveyed. Someone else was in the picture, and they wanted me. The words felt like a threat, a warning, and a premonition that I feared. “Stop, Ava. You’re driving yourself mad. Braiden has tripled the security at the borders with round-the-clock patrols. No one will get in here.” Nick's words are like a broken record. Stuck on one script. He was busy rifling through my closet, pulling out dresses, and throwing his choices on the bed while I milled around in my gown. When Braiden wasn’t around, either he or Samuel was. When I went out to the rehabilitation center, I had five guards. Five. It seemed insane, but I could tell Braiden was just worried, so I let it slide. But it couldn’t continue indefinitely. His men could be better used elsewhere than following me around. “Why are you pulling out such fancy clothes? Is this what is normally worn to a pack dinner?” I pick up the black dress that is lying on our bed. A bed that hasn’t seen Braiden and me in it together since the body was found. Braiden was doubling his efforts to crack down on the head of The Underground, which meant he often returned late and then sl ept on the couch, or he didn’t return at all. I knew he was around as we couldn’t go far with the mate bond in place. “The whole pack knows you are coming with the King tonight. Even neighboring pack r epresentatives will be here.” These words ring alarm bells. “What? I thought this was a stock standard pack dinner.” My heart is beating fast as panic rises. “No, I told you yesterday. This is a formal royal event, Ava. Were you not listening to me?” Nick scolds as he holds up a bright yellow dress and a blue dress, his hand shaking each one as he prompts me to make a choice. “No,” I say, with my hands on my hips as I look from the two dresses to Nick, my no applying to all of it. I was unpr epared for tonight, and while that was mainly my fault for not paying attention to what Nick was saying, it seemed bizarre that the King and I should appear together tonight when we had barely seen each other for the last week. “Why didn’t the King,” I emphasize, dragging the words out, “ask me himself?” “I don’t see why I should attend when he clearly doesn’t even want me.”
A growl from the door to our room draws my attention, my hands falling to my side as I see Braiden standing in the doorway. “Out.” Nick throws me an ‘I told you so’ look and disappears out of the room. Out. That one word is spoken ferociously. Low and with a warning in it. All it does is grate against an invisible button that makes my pussy clench. Aside from all the bad dreams that had plagued me, which were only absent when he sl ept near me, there were the other dreams. The dreams of Braiden smacking my ass. Kissing me until I am delirious. His fingers all over my body. Inside me. These dreams k ept me on the edge of fulfillment, and when I tried relieving myself, I couldn’t—leaving me perpetually unsatisfied and horny. It was bordering on irrational. “Wow. So you have decided to grace me with your presence,” I say, my hands back on my hips. The anger I feel is ludicrous, but other things fuel it. I miss Braiden when he is not around. So much. Not knowing if he feels the same is driving me crazy. Like I am being now. But surely, if he felt the same, he would be around me. Even just briefly. I’ve come to enjoy his presence—even the banter. And then there's our bed. The one I am sharing alone. It is too large without him in it. I ke ep to the edge of my side, unable to sle ep properly as he is not there. He cr ept up on me and made himself part of my life, and just these few days of his absence made me realize just how much. And it scares me. Because what if something happens? To him. To me. To us? I wouldn’t recover. It makes me afraid. Now, here we are, in this awkward situation where I am unable to vocalize any of this and am instead being childish. “I’m not going with you tonight. You can find someone else. Someone whose company you enjoy. Clearly, mine is not missed by you.” I spin on my heel, ready to retreat to the bathroom. I don’t make it even one st ep when Braiden is on me, his arm circling my waist and his hand around my throat, his body flush against mine. The large erection pressing against my lower back sends desire flooding through my body, opening a tap to the pent-up sexual frustration that has been building over the week. “Can you feel how much I want you, Ava?” He grinds his hard-on against me, the size of it still astonishing me and prompting visions of me slowly lowering myself onto his length as it stretches me wide. It doesn’t scare me. I crave it. The visuals pull a moan from my d epths. “If you let me mark you, you could feel all the other ways I need you.” His head dips to my neck as he nuzzles the spot just above my clavicle, the sparks from his touch on my neck zinging through my entire body until I feel like a live wire. Every cell is awake and oscillating. Buzzing faster and faster towards a release only Braiden can give me. I want him so much. In every way. “I want you so much that I have been afraid to be around you.” His words shock me as if he has pulled them from my mind.
“Afraid I would sink my teeth into your neck before you are ready. It has taken every restraint I have not to tear through the house every day, find you, mark you, and then fuck you until all that you see is me. All that you feel is me. Because that’s how I feel about you, Ava. You consume me to a point beyond reason.” A whine es capes me as Braiden's hand loosens the tie holding my gown closed, his hand parting the fabric before cupping a tit and squeezing my nipple, his words and that action making me buck against him. “Did you miss me, little minx?” I nod my head. “Tell me,” he demands, his thumb and forefinger gently squeezing my throat while his other hand alternates between my breasts, lavishing them with the attention they crave. His mouth is close to my ear as he waits for me to answer, nipping my earlobe as he prompts me to speak. “Yes. I missed you, Braiden. I missed your presence. I missed your voice. I missed you in the bed next to me.” He growls, spinning me around before taking a couple of st eps forward and pushing me up against the wall. Our lips meet. It's savage and rough—our desire translating into an almost feverish kiss that has me hanging from his shoulders. He drops to his feet, placing my legs over his shoulders while the wall ke eps me upright. He laps at my pussy, a man starved. And a man who knows what he is doing. I don’t last long. Not after this week's frustration. As soon as his mouth latches onto my clit, I topple over the edge, my body jerking as Braiden laps up every last drop. Gently, he lowers me to my feet, his gaze dragging across my naked body, blazing a trail that makes me shiver. He moves to st ep back, but I’m not done. I pull him back, our lips meeting again. I can taste myself, and it makes me feel primal. My wolf and I, for once, share a feeling that makes me feel whole. In sync. Before embarrassment can take over, I drop to my knees. My hands fumble with his belt, but he places his hands over mine, stopping my progress. “You don’t have to, Ava.” His voice is husky and strained. He wants this, but is trying to be a gentleman. I don’t need a gentleman right now. I need Braiden, the animal. “I want to. Let me.” He hesitates and then releases my hands. Feeling more confident, I loosen his belt and pull on the zip. I torture him by pulling them down slowly, my nails raking his thighs and his legs before I let them fall to the floor. His erection tents his jocks, and while I look at him, I drag the material down. Fuck. Braiden is huge. I have seen a dick before, but this is something else. It stands confidently at attention, and a ripple of pride flows through me. I made him like this. He wants me. “If you carry on looking at it like that, I might just come all over your face, Ava.” I smile at the restrain evident in his voice. Gently, I grasp him, my fingers not meeting due to his girth. It sends a thrill through me, my juices flowing at the thought of this cock filling me. Grinding into me. Destroying me.
That thought propels me forward, and my mouth engulfs the large head, Braiden groaning at the action. “Fuck, Ava. I have dreamed about this. Jerked myself off every day to thoughts of you. Your mouth around my cock like it is now.” His filthy words cause a throbbing between my legs, and I squeeze my thighs together, trying to ease the need already building there. I never thought that my giving him pleasure would turn me on this much. He grabs my hair, wrapping it around his hand while I ease more of his cock into my mouth, stopping when his tip touches my throat. My eyes are watering as I pull back and then take him into my mouth again, my tongue lapping him up. My other hand circles the remainder of his length as I find a rhythm, my hand and mouth speeding up as Braiden grunts, these little sounds telling me how he likes it. My eyes meet with his, and in them, I can see the desire and adoration I have seen many times before, exc ept now it is dark, unhinged, unleashed. “Fuck, I’m close. You are so goddam perfect. Those lips stretched around my cock, your mouth fucking me. You are in control here, Ava. I am yours.” Geezus, this is hot. With him so close, his words make my core clench. I drop my hand to my clit while Braiden puts both hands on my head. I try and take more of him in, stopping only when my gag reflex kicks in. His hands quicken the pace as his head falls back, the twitch of his cock telling me he is close. “I’m going to come. Must I move?” he asks, my head shaking no as my gaze locks with his. I want this. His pace quickens as does my hand, and then he explodes, his come filling my mouth and the taste setting off my own orgasm as I fall apart seconds later. Minutes tick by as we gather ourselves, and then, without warning, he scoops me up like I weigh nothing and carries me to the bathroom, placing me on the basin ledge before starting the shower. “It’s warm,” he says, smiling when I raise an eyebrow at him. I have pulled my gown closed, feeling self-conscious after what we have done and under the bright light of the bathroom. “Don’t worry. I’ll hop in after.” He smirks, giving me space and leaving the bathroom as I quickly shower. Again. When I am done and have a towel wrapped around my body, Braiden appears again, his bottom half covered while the top is displayed. This is the first time I have seen him without his shirt on. This is the first time I am properly seeing him without his shirt on. The last time was when I was swimming at the indoor pool at his house, but the lighting there was so dim that it left much to the imagination. Under the bright bathroom light, there is no guesswork. He is magnificent. All hard, ridged muscle, with a slight speckle of hair on his chest. But it is not the muscles that make me gasp out in surprise. No. It’s the numerous gashes across not only his chest but all along his back, which I can see in the mirror behind him. His eyes meet mine, and in them, I recognize something I have seen in many of the survivors that are in the rehabilitation center and even in my own when I look at the scars on my body. Pain. Trauma. And then it clicks. Braiden's passion and sheer determination to bring down The Underground. This was personal for him.