“I’m afraid not, but you already look spectacular. Did Astrid make that for you?”
“Uh huh,” Halley enthused. In a markedly more subdued tone, she added, “Oh, hi Uncle Erik.”
Astrid’s fingers froze in midair, and suddenly she could feel eyes boring into her back. She had to remind herself to breathe, and then to breathe normally so that no one would notice how much she was freaking out. All she could hear was the sound of blood pounding in her ears.
“Go.” Erik’s voice cut through all ambient sound, as if he’d spoken right into her mind.
Go where?
“Come on, Halley,” Sten said, sounding annoyed.
“Bye, Aunt Astrid.”
Astrid blinked several times. Erik had been telling them to go, not her. Which meant…they were alone.
She stood, her back still to him. For two weeks, she’d been awaiting his return in earnest, but with each day that passed, she had become more anxious about what would happen when they were finally back together. Would it be awkward? They were, after all, practically strangers who only shared a bizarre and twisted attraction to one another. And worse still, what if Sten was wrong? What if, now that the thrall had passed and she was pregnant, that elemental pull that had drawn them together had become frayed?
Only one way to find out.
She turned to find Erik leaning in the doorway. He was so much bigger than she remembered, and his towering form filled half of the large entrance. There was a casual air about him, as though he’d never left and had been there all along, waiting for her to notice him.
But when she looked past the surface, she could see the lines of fatigue on his face, particularly around his tired eyes. His posture was slumped, and she realized that he wasn’t leaning in the doorway, he was leaning on it for support.
For a moment, his expression was maddeningly inscrutable, and then he smiled, a small slanting of the lips, but it was all she needed. At once, she felt herself being drawn back into his orbit. Her feet began moving of their own accord and she was going to him, her giddiness making her feel nothing like a woman fast approaching thirty, but rather a schoolgirl, seeing her idol in the flesh.
“You’re back,” she said as she threw her arms around his neck. She had really wanted to say, “I missed you so, so, so much” but the vulnerability in that statement was enough to deter her.
Erik’s strong arms enveloped her, and she welded herself to his chest while he bent to nuzzle the top of her head, the only part her short body that he could reach without being an acrobat. He made that strange and delightful purring sound. It sent a shock of tiny shivers through her body, and for the first time in weeks, they were the hot kind of shivers, the kind that made her body tingle in all of the right places.
She wanted him to say something, anything so that she could hear his voice again. But he was silent as he hooked his hands under her bottom to hoist her up, and then carried her into the room. She nearly protested as he laid her down in Sten’s bed, but as soon as he was on top of her, she could feel his hard length beneath the pelts he wore, pressing against her with urgent need and her body liquefied.
Erik leaned down, and she thought for a second that he might kiss her, but his head went to her neck. He opened his mouth to hook his canines onto the marks that were now permanently embedded in her flesh, much the same way he was now an inexorable part of her. She expected—almost anticipated—him to bite her, but he only gave her skin a small tug before swiping the region with his tongue.
His mouth moved on, tasting and sucking other parts of her neck and leaving small marks wherever he went. And as he lavished her neck, his hands worked to strip her of the clothes she’d been wearing. When she was fully naked beneath him, her hands moved to take off the supple black pelt that he was wearing. Erik nipped at her, a gentle warning to stop, and her fingers fluttered back up to lace in his thick hair.
She figured he wanted to undress himself, rather than deal with her fumbling over how to remove the massive pelt. But seconds later, he had pulled his bulging erection from the mass of black fur and was rubbing it against her, his blue eyes glazed with lust. A needy sound escaped her lips as the tip of him brushed against her clitoris. He responded with a soft, almost pained growl as he nudged the head of his cock against her slick entrance.
Her fingers tightened in his hair as she braced herself for the onslaught that would come. But once again, he surprised her. This time, he entered her slowly, and she saw his lips part and his eyes close as he sunk into her, inch by hard, thick inch. It turned out to be a great relief, because in the weeks that he was gone, her body had seemed to have repaired itself from the damage he’d done, and in spite of how wet she was, it burned as her sensitive flesh stretched to accommodate him.
Even after he was deep inside of her, he continued his slow pace. They had sex like this once before, but it had seemed to require a great deal of restraint on the alpha’s part and after a few minutes, he’d reverted back to his hard and fast ways. But this felt different, and she knew that he wasn’t going to suddenly start slamming into her. It seemed as though he was savoring every stroke and relishing each second inside of her.
His body lay over hers as he moved inside of her, leaving just enough space between them for her to breathe. The fur on his pelt was constantly rubbing against her, each soft hair activating a corresponding nerve ending. It felt particularly good against her breasts, and had brought her nipples to stiff peaks. She ran her hands across his fur-encased chest, experiencing a flash of exuberance as she was reminded what he was: a wolf, and not her boyfriend, lover, or husband—he was her mate.
Now she felt stupid for ever thinking that things would be awkward between them, or that he would outright reject her. She realized that while she didn’t know his past, she was part of his present and would be a part of his future as well. She may not have known where he’d been, or the events that had made him the alpha he’d become, but she knew how he made her feel, and for now, that was enough.
For once, when she came, it wasn’t like falling off Mount Everest. Pleasure came to her in slow, rich waves, deepened by emotion and closeness between them. A great shudder ran through Erik as he climaxed, but before she could see his expression, he’d buried his face in the top of her head.
After a few moments with nothing but the sound of their heavy breathing, Erik slumped to the side. Only his hand remained on her, and it was pressed flat against her midsection. The giddiness returned, and she waited for him to say something, anything, but her utter disappointment, the only sound that escaped him was soft snoring.
Lips twisted by displeasure, she glanced over at him. Her sour expression faded as she took in his face in repose. Finally resting, some of the weariness and all of the tension had vanished. He looked perfectly content, and so damn gorgeous.
With the tip of her finger, she traced his strong brow and prominent nose, and then her fingers curved along his striking cheekbones, down to run along his hard jawline. She tried to imagine what their child would look like, but each time she mashed her features together with his, she kept coming up with a tiny version of Erik, perhaps with slightly darker skin and a bit of curl to its hair. He was such a dominant figure that she thought even his genes would overpower hers, and she kind of hoped they would. That was, so long as their children inherited her temperament.
Children?
In the early days, before her infertility had had her praying “Just one child, and I’ll never ask for anything else, God, please”, she’d imagine herself having three kids, all daughters that looked just like her, except with her husband’s perfectly straight hair.
She didn’t dare hope for more children now, not when one was already complicated enough, and said child wasn’t even considered a fetus yet. She kept her thoughts on having a single, healthy baby, even if it was a chubby little girl with bushy hair and a fiery temper.
***
To Erik, the advantages of having a mate did not seem t
o outweigh the detriments. He had a weak and vulnerable female to constantly be responsible for, and soon, an even weaker, and even more vulnerable pup to match. And she constantly fucked with his head. He hadn’t been himself since the night they’d met, and it had all gone downhill from the moment he’d first stuck his cock inside of her. But all of that felt more like a challenge than anything else—the ultimate test of his capabilities as an alpha. There was something else about having a mate that drove him to the brink of insanity.
But this morning, he wasn’t thinking of that. He was thinking that if there was one advantage to having a mate that was entirely unique to him, it was that she was rapidly turning him into a light sleeper.
Erik could tell by the still-fresh scent of their mating that it had only been a short while since they’d fallen asleep. His tired eyes glanced towards his mate, expecting to find her awake and urging him to get up. But she was still asleep, her body damp with cold sweat. Unsure what had woken him up, he unfastened his pelt and pulled it over her chilled body and then pulled her close.
She gave a strange cry. Her mouth never opened, but he still heard the cry ring out from somewhere inside her chest. Brows drawing together, he put a hand between her breasts and gave her a gentle shake.
“Astrid. Wake up.”
She was asleep, wasn’t she? Her eyes were closed, but she was still making sounds, now pained whimpers, and her body kept twisting in his hold. He recognized that she was having a nightmare, but no matter how hard he shook her or how loudly he called for her, she wouldn’t rouse.
He glanced around the room for some water to douse her with, but found nothing. After shaking her once more and to no avail, Erik grasped a handful of her hair and forced her head to the side. He lowered his mouth to her neck and bit her.
It was hard enough to draw blood, but he’d sunk his teeth into her farther on several occasions. Still, she awoke with a sharp scream, and he felt hot pain slash the side of his arm. He jerked back to find that she’d also drawn blood and had left four red lines across his forearm. Her fingernails were stained, and as she rubbed her eyes, they left red smudges on her face.
He knew that she was going to start complaining, and he was already preparing his retort when she sat up and threw her arms around him, burying her head in his chest. His arms closed around her reflexively, and her small body trembled in his hold.
“I keep having these horrible dreams,” she said against his chest.
Erik remained silent, not wanting to indulge her too much. It felt strange comforting a grown female over a bad dream, but he decided that he should just be thankful that she wasn’t crying. Besides, holding her was his own indulgence, something that he enjoyed far more than he’d ever admit.
“I know they’re only dreams,” she said. “But they feel so real.” She noticed her fingers, and then gasped. “I’m bleeding!”
Erik closed a hand over hers and lowered it. Flatly, he said, “It’s not your blood.”
She pulled away from him, her eyes assessing his body. When she spied the scratch on his forearm, her mouth dropped open. Then, her chin began to tremble, and Erik felt something inside of him sink.
“I’m fine,” he said quickly.
But it was too late. She started to sob.
“I could have…could have h-hurt you.”
That almost made him laugh. “If I ever die in my sleep, it will not be by your small, ineffectual hands.”
He thought that might cheer her up, or make her angry, but she didn’t seem to hear him over the sound of her own crying. With each second after that, Erik grew more and more uncomfortable, as the need to soothe her built up inside of him.
This was the worst part of having a mate. With any other female that was behaving like this, or having a problem that he didn’t care to solve, he could simply walk away. And with Astrid, he often did walk away—but he could never stay away. No matter what, he was always drawn back to her, over and over, like a dog returning to its master. He hated that, and he hated how nothing else in his life now gave him the sense of fulfillment that she did.
“I really think there’s something wrong with me, Erik.” Her sobs had subsided now, but there were still tears rolling out each time she blinked.
“There’s nothing wrong with you.” Aside from how emotional you’re being right now.
She wiped at her face. “You have no idea what I was like before all of this happened. I haven’t been right since the night…the night at the camp. I thought I was doing better, but after what happened with Sabine, I just… I feel like I’m not in control of anything and I’m afraid all the time.”
“Stop crying,” he ordered, pulling her back against his chest. In a gentler voice, he added, “You have nothing to be afraid of. I’m here, and I won’t leave you alone again.”
He had already decided that while on the run to the den, and that was before he’d known about the pup. Now he couldn’t possibly leave her alone again, and it wasn’t just an instinctual urge to be by her side. He didn’t want her out of his sight again. From now on, she would go everywhere he went, and if she protested, he’d find a way to chain them together.
She turned her head to the side, so that her cheek was against his chest. “Maybe it’s hormones messing with my head.” Her eyes appeared bigger than usual as she looked up at him. “You still haven’t said anything about me being pregnant. Are you happy?”
Happiness was not an emotion Erik often associated with himself, but he was definitely something close to that. He had been wondering whether she’d conceived since the night he’d left the den, and had been managing his expectations ever since. He’d briefly forgotten about it after finding out about Sabine’s assault on his mate, and by the time they’d arrived back at the den, he’d assumed that Sten would have already told him if it were the case.
When he’d first caught his mate’s scent, it had felt as though he’d stepped into a different reality, and in many ways he had. He was going to be a father, and he began to understand what his brother had meant when he’d said that things would never be as they were before. And no, that was not such a bad thing.
After some consideration, wherein his mate looked increasingly anxious, he said, “I’m pleased. How do you feel?”
He asked more because he sensed that she wanted to talk more, and that was fine by him. He would talk about anything with her, so long as she didn’t cry again.
“I’m happy,” she said, but then shook her head. “I’m deliriously happy, but that’s another reason why I’m so scared.”
“You’re scared because you are happy?” he repeated dryly. That had to be one of the dumber things she’d said.
“Haven’t you ever been so happy, had so many good things in your life, that you feel like something bad could happen at any moment? It’s almost like the more you have, the more you have to lose.”
“That’s absurd,” he said, his hold on her unconsciously tightening.
She kept babbling. “I mean, this could be my only shot at motherhood. What if I lose the baby? And then other times I think, what if I have the baby? When I pictured being a mom, it wasn’t anything like this. Your world is so dangerous.”
Erik lay back down and brought her with him, resting his mate in the crook of his arm. “If you lost this one, I would give you another. I would do it as many times as it took until you got your pup. And once that pup is here, I will make sure that nothing happens to it.”
Because much like his mate, he would not let that pup out of his sight.
“I already told you,” he said. “You have nothing to be afraid of. I will never leave you again.”
PART SEVEN
Erik is determined to protect his pack and his mate, by any means necessary. When Astrid finds out that he plans to do this by sacrificing her sister, she realizes she’s finally going to have to stand up and assert her dominance over the alpha.
Coming December 15th
***
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Enslaved by the Alpha: Part Six Page 5