He liked that about Van. When she wanted something, she didn’t hesitate to take it.
But he was used to being the alpha in any pack. Ringing her wrists with his fingers, he pulled her hands away, then wrapped them around the handle on the storage bin behind her head.
“Hold on, princess.”
If this was the only time he was going to have Van Cantrell, he was going to make it memorable...for them both.
He spent the next twenty minutes torturing her, not to mention himself. His mouth and hands touched every inch of her body. Her skin was so soft and smooth, fragrant with the understated scent of her perfume and the heady fragrance of her arousal.
When he finally slipped down between her open thighs her skin was flushed and her hips writhed. Her sex glistened with need. And he was hungry to oblige.
He nibbled and teased, swirling his tongue close to her entrance before slipping up to lightly brush across her clit.
“Please, Ty. Please,” Van nearly sobbed. He relished in knowing he could make her beg. Make her forget.
His tongue speared deep inside as his finger found the tight knot of her clit. It barely took anything for her to shoot off.
She clenched around him. Her thighs clamped against his ears. He expected a scream, but her mouth opened on a silent cry as her eyes screwed tight. Her entire body shook with the force of her orgasm.
Satisfaction filled him, even as his dick throbbed painfully behind his zipper. God, he’d never been so turned on in his life.
Reaching into the pocket of his pants, Ty pulled out his wallet and the condom he always had stashed there. It’d been in there for months; he seriously hoped the thing was still good.
Dropping his pants to the floor, he ripped open the packet and rolled on the condom.
Standing above her, he looked down at Van, legs spread wide on the floor at his feet. Her body seemed boneless. He’d done that to her.
She watched him with half-lidded eyes, her gaze eating him up in a way that made him want to give her a repeat performance. But he knew he couldn’t survive another round, not right now, not without losing his mind.
Dropping to his knees, he reached for her, positioning the tip of his cock at her hot, wet entrance.
He waited for her to change her mind, or tell him to fuck off, but she didn’t. Instead, she reached for him. Her hands cupped his ass and pulled him closer, her hips bucking and eager.
She opened her thighs wider, silently inviting him to take whatever he wanted.
God, he wanted it all. Not just now. He wanted anything he could get forever. Pain lanced through his chest, but Ty beat it back. He knew there was nothing more than tonight.
Hell, this could very well be the last time he ever saw her.
That thought sent him into a frenzy. The need to leave his mark on her in some way was so overwhelming he couldn’t logic it away.
His hips slammed against hers, claiming her in one quick, deep thrust.
Van gasped, her lips parting as her head tipped back. Her fingers dug into his ass, urging him to give her more.
“God, you feel so good, Van. Unbelievable.” Ty dropped his forehead against hers. His lips brushed across her temple. Hers found his throat. She kissed him, the soft touch blending into something more when her teeth nipped at his skin.
She sucked, drawing his pounding pulse into her mouth. She was going to leave a mark of her own, but Ty didn’t give a damn.
His hips pistoned against hers in deep, smooth strokes that made the world gray around them. The only thing that felt real was him and her. Together. Finally.
Her labored breaths puffed against his skin, and her mouth found him, licking and leaving rows of tiny teeth marks across his shoulders, throat and collarbone. Each tug sent a jolt straight to his cock.
She was right there with him, meeting him stroke for stroke. He could feel the walls of her sex tightening around him, so close. Ty held on, delaying his own release, which threatened to blind him.
Van whispered mindless, garbled words, but his body recognized exactly what she was asking for.
Reaching between them, Ty found her clit and thrust deep, filling her as he stroked the swollen bundle of nerves.
Her body exploded. This time his name echoed off the wooden walls around them. A surge of satisfaction pounded through him as she clamped down around him. It was more than he could take.
Burying his face in her throat, Ty allowed his release, holding tight to her as a storm raged through him. He thrust hard, drawing out the pleasure as long as he could, selfishly savoring every last drop.
Collapsing to the floor, Ty didn’t notice they were lying on plywood covered with a blanket. He didn’t care that he could hear the faint sounds of people leaving the house, car engines firing.
The only thing that mattered was Van in his arms. He tangled their legs together, tucked her head against his chest and grabbed the other blanket, wrapping it around them.
She didn’t protest. Instead, she curled into him, letting her body melt against his.
Happiness and pain mixed together in his chest. The story of his life. Nothing good ever happened without being accompanied by a kick in the gut.
Van was silent, but not distant. She didn’t pull away. Tonight, he’d take small favors wherever he could get them.
His hand stroked the soft fall of her hair, tangling in the strands as they slipped between his fingers.
“I should probably go back inside, be there to say goodbye to everyone.”
He could tell by her tone that she didn’t really want to. And he didn’t blame her. All day he’d wanted nothing more than to run away from this place...at least, until an hour ago.
“Why bother?”
“Because my parents need me there. Because it’s what I should do.”
“Says who?”
“Every etiquette manual in existence.”
“No one would blame you for disappearing. No one will fault you for needing an escape.”
“But I shouldn’t. It wouldn’t be right.”
Ty shifted, tipping her head back so he could look into her eyes. “No one expects you to do the right thing all the time.”
“I expect it.”
He shook his head. “You’ve always put too much pressure on yourself. Just once, let yourself do something unexpected.”
Her mouth quirked up on one side, not quite a smile. “Pretty sure that’s what we just did.”
Her gaze slipped away from his, focusing on something over his shoulder. He wanted to draw her back. Every instinct inside him yelled that if he wanted anything further this was the moment to push.
But he couldn’t.
As much as it hurt, Ty knew exactly what tonight had been. It wasn’t like he didn’t have plenty of experience carrying around pain, hiding it so no one else could see.
Shifting to get more comfortable, Ty tightened his hold on her. “Go to sleep. In the morning you can blame me for your disappearance. Everyone will believe I was drunk off my ass—” like mother, like son “—and you had to pour me into bed.”
Her body stiffened, but after a few seconds she relaxed, a sigh slipping through her parted lips.
It didn’t