Page 39 of Rejected Alpha Mate

It breaks whatever fragile control is left between us. She tilts her head up, eyes dark and defiant, and I’m lost in those chocolate-brown orbs. My hand slides to her jaw, thumb brushing her cheek, and she grabs a fistful of my T-shirt to pull me in, her lips fierce and electric on mine.

The kiss isn’t gentle. It’s a collision, a clash of everything we’ve both been holding back: guilt, desire, regret. Both her hands fist in my shirt now, mine gripping her waist, pulling her closer until her heartbeat drums against mine.

When she finally pulls back, her breathing is uneven, lips swollen and moist from the most passionate kiss we’ve ever shared. “I thought you wanted to give me space,” she whispers.

“Is that what you want?” I ask again.

Her eyes flicker, brows furrowed slightly to show a war between pride and truth. “No.”

That one word undoes me.

My mouth finds hers again, slower this time, deeper as my tongue dips into the cavity of her mouth, until the world fades around us, until all that’s left is her warmth, her breath, and the ache I’ve carried since the day I pushed her away.

And maybe, for the first time in a long while, I let myself believe that this…whatever it is between us…might still have a pulse.

Hope.

It’s what I’ll cling to as strongly as my hands cling to her waist, as strongly as my lips dance with hers.

Chapter 13 - Donna

We almost lost Nicholas.

I almost lost him.

Perhaps that’s why this kiss is so intense, unlocking feelings and sensations I thought I’d buried. But this is even stronger than anything I’ve felt before. Heat rises in my body, about to explode, and I figure it’s because of all the pent-up desire.

Because as much as I hate him, my body burns for him, my soul aches for this union, and I’ll go crazy if I don’t give in. Perhaps I’m still riding the adrenaline from yesterday, but it’s hot and fluid in my veins, sparking flames in every nerve fiber I possess, turning me into nothing but a wanton mess in his arms.

I should have known that marrying him would lead me here, or maybe, despite all my resistance and reservations, I agreed to my brother’s plea simply because I wanted this to happen.

Now that it’s happening, now that Nicholas’s tongue is down my throat, his heavy, guttural groan vibrating into my mouth as he cups my ass cheeks and lifts me onto the counter beside the sink, I realize how much I wanted this…how much I needed this.

Nicholas doesn’t stop kissing me, hungrily devouring my tongue as he continues with rough, possessive caresses that fire up the arousal between my thighs. My legs blossom apart so he’s standing between them, hitching up the hem of my oversized T-shirt until we have to break the kiss so it can be taken over my head.

My breath catches when I meet dark, heady eyes that are usually soft green and welcoming, with just a tinge of mischief sparkling there, raw lust written on his face like an open book with parted, plump lips.

Instinctively lifting my hand to his face, I run the pad of my thumb across his bottom lip, noticing the way his eyes turn slightly soft with quiet yearning, and my heart skips a beat. I remember a time—a few times, actually—when Nicholas and I were on the verge of going all the way, but I’d stop him, and he would respect my wishes.

Right now, with my body aching, pining for him in every possible way, I don’t want us to stop. The small moment of pause only allows me to gaze deeply into his eyes to find the one thing I’m sure of.

Nicholas Bartalow is my fated mate. My body’s response to him attests to that one simple fact, my back already arching to push my chest forward impatiently.

“We don’t have to—” he begins, but I cut him off by sliding my thumb across both lips, applying warning pressure that silences him.

“I want to,” I drawl, breath hot and husky as my voice leaves my lips. Nicholas doesn’t take his eyes off mine, breathing against my finger with quiet calculation, gauging the sincerity in my eyes.

He draws my hand away slowly, his back straightening as he towers over me now.

“There’s no going back after this.” It’s a warning, one last chance to change my mind before making the leap that will change everything.

My body is too awakened to go back now, and that’s why I reach out and slide my fingers to the back of his head, drawing him down and in for a kiss that solidifies my consent.

“I know what I’m getting myself into. I’ve always known, and that’s why I waited,” I admit when I’ve broken the kiss, and a frown flits past Nicholas’s face with realization.

He doesn’t need to say a word for me to know what he’s thinking—the disbelief is written all over his face as a shift takes place, and instead of meeting my lips again, Nicholas picks me up off the counter. He doesn’t stop staring into my soul even as he carries me down the hallway, our souls communicating a language our lips and minds don’t speak.

He’s mulling over something I said—the part about waiting. He knows I’m still a virgin, as I was last summer, because I could never imagine myself opening up to another man.