What was she doing? “No? But I’m hot. I need... I don’t know. I want...” She ached and burned, her skin so sensitive it felt like it was on fire. “Help me.”
He moved quicker than she’d ever seen anyone move, and a second later she was in his arms. “Always.”
She whimpered as his hands smoothed over her skin, cool against her forehead as he tucked her hair back away from her face.
“There’s nothing wrong with you,” he murmured, the expression on his face softening. “You’re going into heat.”
“Nooooo,” she moaned, leaning her forehead against his shoulder. She couldn’t bear the thought of it—the need and the pain. “It’s not time yet.”
“Shhh. Being with me has brought it on. You are mine, little omega. Your body knows it.”
“My body is an asshole. I hate this. It hurts and I can’t stop it...” her words rode on the tail end of a snarl she hadn’t intended to utter.
He kept touching her, soothing her. It felt good. Right. “Not this time. No pain, little one. Not with me here.”
“There’s always pain.”
“Savannah.” His voice cracked like a whip, his fingers tugging on her hair and drawing her head up so she was staring at him. “There will be no pain. Only pleasure.”
“Knotting hurts. I’ve heard the screams.”
“Not. With. Me.” He ground out the words, and she noticed the lines of his mouth had changed. Just a little. His eyes were entirely black, and when he spoke, she thought she saw a hint of fang.
Fear hit her, but then it was burned away by a sudden rush of need so hot it consumed her. Without thinking, she reached up and ran her fingers over his mouth. “You’re changing.”
“Because of you.” He bared his teeth to show her his fangs and then dragged her hand down his body to rest on the hard line of his cock. “Teeth to mark you as my mate. My cock will swell and knot, filling you completely. You are mine.”
She moved closer, pressing against him even as fear rolled rampant through her. “I don’t want this. It’ll hurt... so much.”
He snarled, hand in her hair to drag her head back and expose her throat. “I said not. With. Me.” His lips grazed her throat gently, despite his terrifying snarls. “I am your alpha, and I would never hurt you. Have I hurt you yet? Forced you?”
It was hard to think past the fear and desire that clouded her mind, but he was right. He’d never forced her. Not once. Bargained, yes. Cheated? Possibly. But he’d never forced her. Nor hurt her. “No.”
“Then trust me to continue as I have begun. You are going to scream soon, little one, but it will not be in pain. I’m about to teach you the meaning of pleasure, and you will learn it all from me. No one else. Ever.”
She shivered in his arms, her hands clutching at his shoulders. Heat terrified her—a twice-yearly torment she could never escape. It was too soon for it to happen again, barely a few months since her last time, but she knew he was right. Being near him had brought it on.
“Please,” she begged, and she wasn’t sure if it was for him to stop or to carry on.
He snarled, a soft, rumbling sound that should have made her want to run in terror. Instead, she pressed herself against him, that strange sound rising from her throat as another wave of pure fire washed over her.
His fingers caught in her hair, pulling her head back as he kissed her. “I will take care of you, shar’ai. Trust me.” His words were barely more than a whisper against her lips, but she heard them.
“I...” She swallowed, her mouth suddenly parched. “I trust you. You’re my alpha.”
A shudder rolled through him. His next kiss was hard, demanding, the tips of his fangs grazing her lower lip as he plundered her mouth. She clung to him, her body pummeled by the storm of needs and wants that always accompanied the heat.
She needed him. Craved him. And suddenly she wasn’t clinging to him any longer. She was tearing at his clothes, needing to get him naked. To touch him.
His bare skin pressed to hers. The blanket she’d had wrapped around her was cast aside as she purred in relief. Then the need took over again and she pressed against him more urgently. Her body was on fire and he was the water she needed to quench the flames.
Her nails raked down his chest and he hissed at her, rearing back to look down at her with black eyes. She snarled at him, not liking the distance between them, and he smiled.
“See? There she is,” he murmured in satisfaction. “My mate.”
“Yours,” she let the word slip from her mouth with another soft hiss. “Soon. Please?”
“Now.” He flowed toward her like the predator he was, taking her down to the mattress and pinning her there with his body as his mouth ravished hers. Everything he did felt good. So good. She writhed against him, enjoying the way his skin slid across hers.
His kisses were hungry, his touch demanding, and the hard ridge of his cock was like a steel shaft against her belly. Part of her knew she should be afraid of it—so big, so hard, and ridged—but that part was a whisper in a windstorm.
She wrapped herself around him, unwilling to allow even an inch of space between them. Arching up, she demanded his kisses, nipping at his lower lip when he didn’t give her what she needed.
His chuckle of amusement whispered over her skin as his hand tightened in her hair. “Impatient,” he growled, kissing along her jaw with hard, biting little kisses.
She whimpered in need, trying to get a hand between them to touch him. He reached her neck, and she tilted her head to allow him better access. With a grunt of approval, he put space between them to allow her to touch him. With a sigh of relief, she slid her hand between them, reaching that part of him she needed most.
He thrust himself into her hand, a growl of pure need rolling through him as she learned the shape and feel of him. The way the ridges rubbed against her palm. Thick. Hard. Her pussy grew slicker at the thought of having him inside her.
“Tell me what you need, little one.”
“You.”
He nipped her throat gently. “Where?”
“I..” she stammered and had to fight to focus. “Inside. Me.”
“And who do you belong to?”
His hand slipped between them, strong fingers stroking the seam of her pussy as he waited for her answer.
“You. I belong to you.”
His growl of approval against her throat made her gasp, and she rocked her hips against him. Each stroke of his clever fingers made her slicker, increased her need as she touched him. Even the size of him didn’t scare her anymore, not in the face of her need. Something yammered away in the back of her mind, but she ignored it. She needed him. Now.
She parted her thighs wider, trying to get him closer to give her what she needed, but he held himself away. A snarl of frustration tore from her throat but the scrape of his fangs against her collarbone warned her.
“I am your alpha,” he growled against her skin. “Trust me.”
She whimpered, almost sulking as he continued to deny her what she craved. Again, that little voice chattered in the back of her head, but she ignored it. All she could focus on was him, the way his fingers stroked and teased her, the heat of his mouth against her flesh. He was like fire and ice, soothing her needs and setting her ablaze at the same time. It was maddening.