Filed to story: Claimed by My Ex’s Alpha Brother
His hand slid up, tangling in my hair, pulling me back slightly so he could trail kisses down my neck. I arched into him, inhaling his familiar earthy scent, the hint of his spicy cologne mingling with the warmth radiating from his body. It engulfed me in a heady sense of comfort and the desire for more.
We melted into a blissful bubble of intimacy, suspended high above the city, and a thrill charged through me, my want climbing higher-desire spiraling, beckoning me to cross a line we’d come so close to in the elevator.
His fingers dug into my waist, grazing the hem of my shirt, igniting a fire that made me gasp. Without consciously meaning to, I leaned in, my heart pounding, and pulled him back against me, reveling in the delicious weight of him pinning me to the couch.
I pulled his shirt out of his waistband, my greedy hands already wanting to explore the strong muscles of his back, moaning into his mouth as the feel of his hardness pressed against my stomach. I remembered how I’d watched the footage of our kiss, touching myself as I’d imagined it was him. At the thought, my hips were already grinding against his, my core aching with need.
“Can I touch you?” Stephen growled into my ear, sucking my earlobe into his mouth and making me arch again.
That was exactly what I wanted. “Yes. Please,” I ground out huskily, already feeling out of my mind with need.
In a moment, he undid my trousers and pushed aside the fabric of my knickers, sliding his finger between my legs. I gasped as a delicious heat rushed through me. His appreciative groan mingled with my own, each caress making me tremble with pleasure that shot right to my core.
He explored slowly, teasingly, his finger gliding through the slickness he coaxed from me. Each stroke was measured and deliberate, an effort to sustain control as if he still couldn’t let go of the discipline he always wore.
I want to shatter it.
I nibbled at his ear, sucking it, nipping and nibbling my way down his neck as I arched my back, encouraging him to go deeper until he pushed two fingers inside me.
“God, Lina,” he murmured against my neck. “You’re so perfect.” The sincerity in his voice made my insides flutter, but his words stirred an old memory, tangling around my heart.
Yet, the thrill of desire was swiftly followed by a wave of fear. I was thrust back to that dark motel room when I’d been in his arms, just as I was now, feeling safe as if everything was going to be all right, but it hadn’t turned out that way.
As pleasurable sensations blurred my thoughts, memories of our past-of his silence, his rejection, those agonizing moments when he had refused to protect me-flooded my mind, constricting around me like a vise.
“Wait,” I gasped.
Worry filled his eyes. “Are you okay?” He drew his hand out of my knickers.
“Yes-No-” I said, shaking my head as I moved back on the couch, away from him. “I can’t do this again,” I explained, feeling my stomach clench.
Stephen’s expression fell, longing still bright in his gaze. He let out a breath. “Lina, I’m sorry for what happened years ago,” he began, urgency creeping into his tone. “I did everything wrong. I wish things had been different-“
“But they weren’t,” I choked out. My voice shook as reality struck. Stephen had walked away from me then. “You say I’m perfect, but you said that back then, too.” My heart thumped with urgency as the pain welled up. “Then you rejected me and refused to protect me.” My own words brought to mind how he’d spoken up against the Omega Breeding Program. It was why I’d been feeling so unsettled about it every time he mentioned it. He had spoken up for his packmates to save them from an unwanted mate bond, but he hadn’t done that for his own mate.
“You don’t understand-” Stephen began, his hands running through his hair in frustration.
“I do,” I exclaimed, backing away from the temptation he represented. “You care about the Blackthorn Pack above anything else. You care about it enough to stop omegas from unwanted mate bonds that would see them yoked against their will. But you didn’t care enough about me to do the same. And like you say, I deserve so much more,” I said. Everything in me was still crying out for his touch, and my wolf felt like she was angrily biting at my insides, but I delivered those last three words with iron resolve.
I fumbled to fasten my trousers, a healthy distance growing between us as I stalked to my desk. I couldn’t let my feelings for Stephen cloud my judgment.
Focus.
My mother depended on me. My own freedom depended on keeping my head in the game. I needed to focus on my plan to marry Magnus-that was going to lead me to attain true freedom for all of my family, not this mess between Stephen and me that only ever ended in heartache.
“Lina, please, wait. Can we talk about this?” Stephen called out from behind me.
Grabbing my bag and coat, I hurried out of the office, ignoring him and trying to keep the cracks Stephen had caused all those years ago from shattering my heart again.
Lina
I didn’t sleep well that night. Despite knowing that shutting down what was happening between Stephen and me was the right call, I returned late that night to Blackthorn Villa, feeling unsatisfied and agitated. Most of the night, I tossed and turned, haunted by how good and right it had felt to be so close to Stephen again. All night long, I kept trying to find a way to dismiss my feelings.
It’s my wolf. It’s the mate bond. When I finally managed to sleep, it wasn’t for long. I woke in a cold sweat from a nightmare: Magnus had uncovered our intimacy through a hidden camera in our office. It took me ages to reassure myself that I’d thoroughly searched our office for surveillance equipment in the first few days of working at Blackthorn Corporation.
Early that morning, I woke to a dull, pounding headache and a hollow feeling gnawing at me.
Sitting up in bed, I looked at my mobile and groaned: it was only 6:00 a.m. I longed to talk to Emily and Matthew again. It was Saturday, and by 8:00 a.m., Betty’s usual waking time, I’d be able to give them a call.
I remembered what I’d confided to Stephen. “She kept me grounded.” Of course, Em and Matt had been a grounding influence these past few years, but as I’d opened up to him, I’d been thinking about Betty. She was my anchor, my reason for being. Indirectly, I’d told him about her. I shouldn’t have opened up to him like that. I was already on dangerous ground trying to protect my real reason for being here-to rescue my mother. The last thing I needed was for Stephen to be getting in my head.
God, I need my friends.
As if Emily’s ears were burning, her name suddenly flashed up on my screen. Worry pounded through me. Since I’d been away the last month, neither Emily nor Matthew had called this early, not once.
“Em?” I picked up, “What’s wrong?”
“Lina, Betty’s been up all night with a fever. We didn’t want to worry you. We thought it would get better by the morning, but she’s agitated and keeps asking for you-“
“I’m on my way,” I exclaimed. “Keep me posted if anything changes,” I added, already climbing out of bed.
In a moment, I was dressed and out the door. Luckily, at this time, Magnus hadn’t risen yet, and I was able to sneak out of the house and into my car without any questions-something I was immensely relieved about, given that the only thought in my mind was Betty. I didn’t think I’d be able to keep the worry tearing at me from showing.
Yet, even as I drove away from the Hamptons and into New York, I kept my eyes peeled for any sign of Magnus’s men. They’d tailed me the first few times I’d come into New York on the weekend to go to Macy’s, but today, this early, there was no sign of them.
Once out of New York, I settled into the drive, feeling both anxious about my little one and relieved as I’d finally get to hold her after so long. Four hours later, when I pulled up outside my villa, with only a text from Emily to say that there wasn’t any change in Betty’s fever, I felt as if I’d been driving for days.
Emily was at the door as I arrived, her face a picture of relief as she shut the door. “She’s been asking for you all morning.”
My chest ached, and I hurried up the stairs to Betty’s room before I’d even shucked off my boots. Matt was bathing Betty’s forehead with a washcloth.
He glanced at me with a smile and said, “She’s been a little trooper.”
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?