True Alpha

by Alisa Woods

  “Please say something,” Mia said, hands still on his face. “Tell me you’re going to live.”

  He gave her a pained smile. “I’m going to live.” He was saying it to himself as much as her, but part of him doubted it was true. A very large part.

  She dropped her hands and took a step back, creating a space between them. He ached to bring her back. A small frown came to rest on her forehead. He wanted to touch it and make it disappear. But he didn’t have a right to that, either.

  She bit her lip. “I should… I mean, I wanted to thank you—”

  “You don’t need to thank me.” God, he wanted to kiss her so badly.

  She frowned. “That’s what Colin said, too.”

  He winced. Colin’s name on her lips. Lucas wasn’t sure he could do this. He sucked in some air and breathed through the pain in his chest. “Mia.”

  She peered up at him, lovely and waiting. He had to say it. Then he would leave. Forget Colin—he wouldn’t waste any time there. He would just get out and get thoroughly drunk with Lev.

  “I had something I needed to tell you,” he started, then was suddenly unsure how to make the words come out right. He took another breath and reminded himself of all the courage she had shown. And all he had put her through.

  Her frown grew a little deeper. “You don’t have to tell me any—”

  “But I do,” he cut her off. Then he couldn’t help it, he had to touch her. A strand of her hair was mussed from their hug. He reached out and tucked it behind her ear. Her big eyes just watched him as she waited. Patient. He’d made her wait too long. Probably the biggest mistake he would ever make.

  “I was in such a dark place for so long,” he said quietly, dipping his head a little to peer into her gorgeous eyes. “I was dead. Dead to my family, dead to my pack… even dead to myself. And then this… girl came into my life, and suddenly I was doing things, feeling things, that I hadn’t since… since I lost Tila.”

  Her eyes went a little wider, but that only made them softer, more beautiful.

  He shook his head a little and gave a small laugh. “Mind you, I didn’t want to feel those things. I pushed you away, because… well, I just couldn’t face it. But you made me feel alive, Mia. You made me want something. Protecting you was the only decent thing I’ve done in a long time. From the moment you came into my life, you challenged me to be better. A better man. A better wolf. A true alpha, not some broken excuse for…” He paused, his throat thick.

  She seemed distressed by what he was saying. “Lucas, you’re a good man.”

  “I’m a better man with you.” He choked on those words and the simple truth in them. A truth he’d figured out just a little too late.

  She reached for him, then stopped. She seemed on the verge of saying something, so he pushed on, trying to get the last out before the fact that he was too late overwhelmed him.

  “Before I go,” he said, “I just wanted to thank you for… all of it. Every single minute.”

  She pulled back, and tears glassed the corners of her eyes. He could barely stand the sight of it.

  “Before you go?” Her voice hiked up. “Where are you going?”

  He hadn’t really thought about that. But it didn’t matter. “I can’t really stay around while you…”

  “While I what?” Her alarm had stepped up another notch, and her hands were wringing one another. Her distress almost forced him to touch her again, soothe her, but he held back.

  “Mia, I understand. And I know it’s my fault. I waited too long. I’m an idiot.”

  She flung her clenched hands to the side. “Dammit, Lucas, what are you talking about!”

  He gritted his teeth. She was going to force him to say it. “Mia, I know. I saw you with Colin. I’m sorry, I just can’t stick around and watch that.”

  “What?” She grabbed his shoulders in frustration, like she was going to shake him. “Lucas, I told him no.”

  “You… wait, what?” A rush of exhilaration in his brain left him uncertain, like the world had moved under his feet.

  “He asked me to be his mate. I told him no.”

  “You’re not going to mate with him?” His mouth gaped open. Did he hear her right? Was his mind spinning tricks, making him misunderstand?

  “Lucas.” She was smiling. At the same time tiny tears, leaked from the corners of her eyes and leaked down her cheeks. “I already told you: I want to be with you.”

  All the rush in his brain washed down and forced the air out of his lungs in one long huff. He wasn’t too late. Colin had tried… and failed. Because she wanted him.

  “Mia.” He barely got the word out before his hands were on her. He slid them around her back and crushed her to his chest. His lips found hers and devoured them. His hands slid up the silkiness of her shirt and wound into her hair until he was holding her head with both hands, angling it so he could plunge deeper into her mouth and claim her with his kiss. His tongue warred with hers, then he pulled back to taste her lips again, a flurry of hungry kisses that he simply couldn’t hold back.

  His wolf roared inside him, a triumph so complete in that one kiss that he couldn’t imagine anything better… short of actually claiming her.

  Claiming her.

  He pulled back, breathing hard. Her eyes were half-lidded, and her lips were swollen with his kiss. He’d never seen anything so damn sexy in his life.

  He still held her head in his hands, breathing hard. “Mia.” He waited for her to open her eyes. “I want you. Now and forever. I want to make you mine.”

  Her smile was tremulous, like she wasn’t sure he was really saying it.

  He wanted to make her sure. He wanted her to know exactly how much he wanted her. He slid one hand down her back, feeling every curve along the way, then he grabbed her by the bottom and pulled her hard against him. She pulled in a short gasp, but he was just getting started. He held her tight against him as he walked her backward and pinned her to the translucent office door. His one hand was still in her hair, holding her head, but now with his body pressed flush against hers, his other hand was free to work its way up her side, making clear that this was what he wanted: all of her. Every inch, every curve, every thought and feeling, all of it, belonging to him and only him.

  Mine, his wolf growled.

  Lucas’s hand reached her throat, and he stroked his fingers up her silky soft skin to her face. He lingered there a moment, relishing the ability to touch her like this, then trailed his fingers slowly back down to her chest. He shoved aside the flimsy cloth of her blouse to reveal her bare shoulder. Her breast lay just below his hand, pressed between their bodies, and bulging up in a way that made his mouth water. He painted a line across her creamy skin with his finger. This was where he would bite her. This is where he would mark her and forever make her his.

  She let out a small moan.

  He dragged his gaze back up to her eyes. “I want you to understand exactly what I’m going to do to you.” His voice was husky with need, and his cock was swollen and hard against the deep softness of her body. Even through their clothes, he could feel her heat. He brushed his lips against hers, but didn’t kiss her. He whispered against them instead. “If you say yes, I’m going to take you, now and every day for the rest of your life. I’m going to claim your body with my love and with my bite, and you will forever be mine, Mia. You’ll be forever bound to me, and I will forever protect and care for you. If you say yes to me now, Mia, I won’t stop until we’re mated.” He was breathing hard against her, his chest heaving with hers. He wouldn’t be able to stop. He knew this. Nor did he have any desire to.

  “Yes.” Her lips barely moved with the word. It was as soft as a feather-light kiss and like a trumpet blaring to every instinct inside him. His wolf growled for him to take her now, right up against the translucent door where he was sure everyone in the common room could see exactly what they were doing. He would be lucky if they made it to somewhere with any kind of privacy.

  His wolf�
�s growl worked up into his throat as he kissed her again and again. Then he worked his way down her throat, bending to reach the delicate bones of her shoulder and chest. He trailed his tongue across her skin, tasting her, relishing the thought of the claiming to come and what it would mean. How it would make him whole. How it would make her his.

  “Oh god, Mia,” he breathed against her skin. “I need you right now.”

  Her hands were in his hair, kneading through and encouraging him to go lower. One hand still in her hair, he clenched it tight and held her up against the wall as his other hand slid under her bra, freeing her breast for his mouth to enjoy. He cupped it in his hand while his tongue roamed the hard bud of her nipple. He nipped at it with his teeth, and her moan went straight to his cock. Which was seriously in need of contact with her. His canines were already coming out, and his mouth was watering, but he would hold back that part. The claiming was too special—she was too special—to take her hard against the door as his body was aching to do.

  He straightened and smoothed her clothes back into place. “We need to go.”

  Lucas smiled as Mia’s face flushed a beautiful pink.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “My apartment,” he said, releasing her hair and grabbing her hand instead. He pulled her from where he had pinned her against her office door and gave her a tiny space in which to straighten her clothes. “I think don’t think the boss will mind if we take the rest of the day off.”

  She blushed even more furiously, her eyes going wide. “You’re not going to tell him…!”

  He held back his chuckle for her sake. “If we make a run for it, maybe he won’t notice.” He knew that was a lie—if he dragged Mia from her office while he sported a raging hard-on, every wolf in SparkTech would know exactly what he was intending to do with her. The only question they would have was what took him so long.

  Mia smoothed down her hair, as if that would give them away, not the pink in her cheeks. “Maybe you should go first. I’ll meet you down stairs.”

  He pulled her against him with their joined hands. “No way in hell am I letting you out of my sight, Mia Fiore.” He grinned as her cheeks pinked up even more. “Now be a good girl and come with me.”

  He didn’t wait for her assent, just spun her around and towed her toward the door. Besides, it would be easier for her if they went quickly: she’d be less likely to notice the stares. He strode quickly through the mostly empty common room with Mia right behind him. The stares followed them, but he made no attempt to hide. They pushed through the entrance doors, only to find Lena and Lev whispering over her desk in the reception area. Lev’s eyebrows almost flew off his face, they were hiked so high. Lucas gave him a nod but didn’t slow on their way to the front doors and the elevator beyond. Mia ducked her head, and he wasn’t sure if she even made eye contact with Lev, but they were out the door before anyone could say anything.

  Lucas punched the elevator button and pulled Mia into his arms.

  She buried her face in his chest while they waited. “Oh my god, they totally know, don’t they?”

  He chuckled. The feel of her hands gripping his shirt and hiding her face against him was only feeding his hard-on. “Oh yeah.”

  She groaned her embarrassment, but he didn’t want her to feel that way. Not about this. Not about being with him. He slid a hand up to her face and lifted her chin. “I want them to know. I want every wolf at SparkTech to know you belong to me.”

  That seemed to relax her a little, because she melted against him and peered at him with those big blue eyes. He bent to kiss her. She tasted like sweetness and musk, and the perfume of her arousal was heating up again, making his wolf growl his need for her. He was just getting serious about exploring her mouth when the elevator dinged. Fortunately, it was empty. He pulled her inside, hit the button for the parking garage, and even before the doors were closed, he had her up against the smooth stainless of the wall, his body welded to hers, his mouth claiming her again.

  His hands slid down her sides, over the curve of her hips and down to the back of her knee. He slipped his hand under her skirt and hiked it up. She hooked her leg over his hip and strained against him, grinding against his rock-hard cock. He gripped her soft bottom, pulling her tight to him. Her moan sent a shiver of want through his body. He palmed her breast with his other hand, relishing the weight of it and anticipating the moment when there would be no clothes between them. She arched her back as he nipped at her neck.

  “God, Mia,” he whispered into her sweet-tasting skin. “This is how I should have had you from the beginning. So much wasted time…”

  “Lucas.” She was already whispering his name and digging her hands into his back. It sent his wolf into a small frenzy. He shifted his body until his cock pressed between her legs, grinding her into the elevator wall until he made the contact she was craving. Even with clothes between them, it must have hit the right spot because she arched even more and let loose one of those delicious moans.

  “I want to make up for all that lost time,” he panted against her neck. “All of it.”

  She slid her hands up to his head, gripping his hair and pulling his face up from feasting on her throat. The look in her eyes—filled with love and lust and understanding far beyond anything he deserved—went straight to his core. He needed this beautiful woman more than he needed air to breathe.

  “Lucas,” she said, her breath short. “I’ve never wanted anything the way I want you. The way I want this.” And he knew she meant all of it: him, their bodies entwined, the forever bond that would come soon… and not soon enough for him.

  His lips found hers and gently brushed against them. Their bodies were gripped tight, but their lips were free to say the things that needed saying. The things he should have been saying all along.

  “I could give you everything I have, my whole heart and soul, Mia, and it wouldn’t be enough.” His words were close and whispered and just for her. “It would never be enough to repay what you’ve already given me.” He slid his hand up from exploring her body to cupping the back of her head. He kissed her thoroughly and with everything he had.

  When they paused for air, she whispered, “You don’t owe me anything. You saved me.”

  He smiled and kissed her again. “That’s where you’re wrong, sweet Mia of mine,” he whispered. “But that’s all right. You just keep thinking that. I’m going to spend the rest of my life trying to find new ways to pay you back.”

  Just as he dove in for another deep kiss, the elevator lurched to a stop. He reluctantly released her, and she hastened to smooth out her clothes, but there was no one in the parking garage when the doors opened.

  Hands clasped, they dashed down the line of cars, her heels clacking against the cement, his shoes pounding his impatience to get her to his apartment. He was caught up in her secret grins and flushed cheeks, and was only absently scanning for his car, when they came upon the SparkTech van they had used the night before in the rescue. He pulled up short—he had forgotten he had driven it into work with his father and brother. Fortunately, he still had the keys in his pocket.

  He clicked it unlocked, then opened the front cab passenger door for her. The cab seat was one long bench, and it was high off the ground. Mia’s heels and tight skirt made it difficult for her to negotiate a way into the truck. She tried stepping up a few different ways, but finally just climbed up on her hands and knees, leaving him with a dangerously nice view of her rear end as she summited the bench seat.

  It was far too tempting, and he was done resisting anything when it came to Mia Fiore. She belonged to him now, and he would have her whenever and wherever and however he desired. He climbed into the van cab after her, his only question being whether or not making Mia come in the parking garage would pink up her cheeks with embarrassment in that delightful way again. He skimmed his hand over her delicious rear and closed the door behind him.

  She squeaked with surprise. “What are you doing?”
She had a hard time turning in that tight skirt and was momentarily at the mercy of his hands cupping her bottom.

  He sat on the seat, grabbed hold of her hips, and pulled her down to sit on his lap, facing forward. He moaned as her bottom hit his cock. To make matters worse, she squirmed on him, twisting around to see what he was doing.

  “Lucas, what in the—”

  Her words cut off as he slid both his hands up her skirt. He groaned again as she squirmed some more, turning in time to see his hands slip under her panties and find her sex.

  “Oh!” she said in surprise, but it quickly changed to a gasp as he sunk his fingers into her already-dripping core. He pumped fast, no desire to take anything slow. Her gasps quickly turned to moans. With one hand pumping inside her, and the other working the sensitive, slick bud of her sex, the kinds of protests she was making weren’t protests at all.

  “Lucas… Oh god…” Her head tipped back against him. His hands kept working her, slowly increasing his pace. The way she was moving against him, grinding her hot bottom against his cock, writhing and moaning in his arms, it was everything he could do to keep his own climax from coming way too soon. Her head rested against his shoulder, her heaving breaths coming harder and faster. He tipped his head in to nuzzle and nip at her earlobe and cheeks and neck as she writhed in his lap.

  “Mia, baby, come for me,” he whispered. His hands pumped faster and circled harder, making her back arch more. Then he felt her body squeezing down on his fingers. He held her tight as she bucked and came and moaned his name. It was insanely beautiful and erotic to hold her this way, to feel her coming undone in his arms. He could hardly breathe.

  As soon as it seemed that she was starting to come down, he withdrew his hands from inside her, lifted her bottom, and slipped her panties down her legs. She was still gasping, still reeling from her orgasm, but he had already decided there was no way he could wait until they got back to his apartment. He needed to be inside her now.