Page 61 of Assisting the Alpha
He nods.
“I get that. I’d probably feel the same. Who wouldn’t?”
He huffs. “But?”
“None of the team would ever do that to you. I suspect they’ve followed you into hellish situations a few times, right?”
He stares at a point over my shoulder. “Yeah.”
“And have any of them ever baulked? Not just whined or whatever, but actually refused?”
His gaze snaps to mine. “You don’t refuse orders from a commanding officer.”
I roll my eyes. “Of course not. But what about since then? Did you all leave the SAS at the same time?”
When Raj rushed into the kitchen to tell me about the email, Cal made some comment about Kit’s retirement proving they were a pack already, regardless of whatever label Ethan still chose to use. This is my best chance of showing him what everyone acknowledges except him.
He’s quiet for a long time. “When Kit was forced into retirement… we all decided to go with them. We even got matching tattoos.”
Ah, so they do all have the same tattoo. I trace the lines of the wings on Ethan’s shoulder. “Why?”
Ethan frowns like it’s a daft question. “Where one of us goes, we all go.”
Clearly, I need to be the one to state the blindingly obvious here. “Because you’re a pack.”
Ethan stares at me for a long, tense moment before wrapping me up in another tight hug, his body quaking.
I hold him as tight as I can, hoping he can take some comfort from all the love I feel for him, from the knowledge that he has my full support, no matter what.
Wait. I love him.
When did that happen?
Huh. Something to figure out later, maybe. I definitely do though, regardless of how or when I fell for him. There’s literally no doubt in my mind.
“I love you,” I blurt, hoping maybe the words will help him as much as the snuggles. Not that I want to distract him from processing the pack thing, but maybe knowing he has me will make the rest of it easier to accept? And he clearly needs time to work through all his emotions.
He jerks his head back, wet blue eyes searching mine almost desperately. “You do?”
“Of course.” I smile.
He kisses me, hard and intense, then pulls back far too soon. “I love you, too.”
My smile threatens to split my face in two, my grin is so big. “Yeah? That’s awesome.”
He chuckles and kisses me again, this time licking the seam of my mouth. I open eagerly, enjoying the sensation of his tongue stroking mine, familiar and sexy. Ethan has this way of kissing me that makes me feel both treasured and dominated at the same time.
I love it. I love him.
I kiss him harder as my feelings only seem to grow in intensity. My cock grows rapidly too—something I’ve gotten used to around my gorgeous boyfriend whenever we’re alone. One kiss and I’m ready to go. It really doesn’t take much.
Thank goodness I included a visual element to the privacy ward. It’s one thing for Ethan to be naked in front of the enormous windows, but quite another for everyone to see his beautiful cock rising to greet me. Hopefully no one would anyway, what with the summer storm raging outside, but we’re only on the fourth floor.
Just as my neck starts to ache, Ethan picks me up. I wrap my legs around his waist as he carries me to the nearest window and presses me against it, somehow holding me up one-handed as the other fiddles with my shirt buttons.
“Ayo,” he mumbles against my mouth, still kissing me.
“Mmm?”
