Aria
My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as Lyall crashed his lips onto mine. My brain went into overdrive and it took a couple of seconds to process what was going on and when I finally did, I let out a gasp and shoved him away from me, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
“You can't do that, Lyall. I'm filthy!”
He rolled his eyes which had been darkened with desire and I shivered at the intensity. “I don't care. I want you now.”
He growled and my body instantly responded to him. But I resisted firmly. I couldn't let him touch me when I felt disgusting.
“Lyall–”
“I don't care if you rolled in the stables or in a pigsty, I would still desire you no matter what,” His green eyes never left mine and their intensity sent shivers down my spine.
I hissed under my breath, moving my face away from him. There was no way he expected me to believe that garbage. He cupped my chin, making me look at him.
“Believe me, Aria.” He said, as if sensing my thoughts and nothing but sincerity shone in his eyes.
“I believe you,” I said, leaning forward and gently kissing him. He responded eagerly, moving his lips against mine as his fingers traced lines across my chin.
I threw my hands around his neck and pushed my body against him, eager for more body contact. He grabbed my waist, pulling me into his lap and I began to grind on him, smirking as his groin hardened against me.
My fingers tugged on his hair and he let out a moan. I raised an eyebrow. Who knew that the big bad Alpha liked his hair being pulled? I tugged harder and his moans got louder.
My heart thumped in exhilaration. Momentarily, it felt like I was in control but suddenly, Lyall flipped our positions and I was lying flat on my back with him hovering on top of me.
“You thought you were in control, huh?” He mocked and his husky voice nearly drove me insane. “Silly little pup.” He clicked his tongue and I flushed red.
“I am not a pup!”
“Sure you aren't.” He smirked, pinning my arms in place. I struggled against him, trying to regain control but all my efforts were futile. The man didn't budge. I let out a sigh and went limp against him.
“You done?” He asked and I glowered at the amusement in his voice. How dare he mock me?
“For now,” I answered reluctantly and he let out a beautiful laugh.
“Good, because I'm not done with you.” He said and once again crashed his lips onto mine. I didn't hesitate this time as I wrapped my hands around his neck, pulling him against me.
He smiled through the kiss and I confidently slipped my tongue into his mouth. He devoured my mouth and I shivered as a wave of pleasure shot through my entire body. Heat pooled between my thighs and I wrapped my legs around him trembling with need.
As if sensing my need, he untangled my legs and pulled off my dress in one swift motion, flinging it to a corner of the room. A light breeze caressed my skin as it tingled with pleasure.
“Look at how beautiful you are.” Lyall moaned, attaching his lips to my neck. He nipped and sucked and the fire in between my legs intensified. I tugged at his clothes impatiently. I wanted more. I needed to feel him completely bare— chest-to-chest— skin-to-skin.
“Patience, sweetheart.” He purred and I narrowed my eyes at him, growling in reply.
He began taking off his shirt and the process was so painstakingly slow, I almost cried in frustration.
“Lyall!” I cried and he chuckled wickedly, his green eyes never leaving mine. I couldn't take the torture anymore and tore the shirt off his body.
“Hmm, feisty. I like it.” His eyes twinkled with excitement and mischief as he slowly unbuckled his pants at the same slow pace.
“Oh, for goodness sake.” I rolled my eyes, tearing the pants off him. He chuckled, eyeing the undergarments still on my body.
“Your turn,” He tore my undergarments off, leaving my naked body on display. His eyes raked my body hungrily and my skin tingled under his intense gaze. His lips found mine and he kissed me intensely. His mouth wandered to my neck and finally settled on my breasts.
“Oh goddess, you're so addictive, Aria. I can't get enough of you.” Lyall moaned and I was too delirious with pleasure to respond. He sucked on my nipple while caressing my other breast and I let out a loud moan.
“Lyall, please.” I didn't know what I was begging for but I knew it was only fitting at that moment.
“I know, sweetheart. I know.” He cooed. Beads of sweat had begun to gather on his forehead but it didn't seem to deter him one bit. He kissed my breasts all the way down to my belly before settling in between my thighs.
His tongue found my clit and my body jerked in surprise and pleasure. He smirked, running his tongue over it without mercy.
“Oh, Lyall!” I cried as he licked ruthlessly, lapping like a dog. My eyes rolled behind my head as a wave of pleasure began to build in my lower region. I thrashed against Lyall as the sensation increased and he held me down, sucking furiously.
“Oh, goddess!” I screamed as my body shuddered with release. I let out a gasp, not recovering fast enough from the earth-shattering orgasm.
“Ly…all.” I rasped, looking at him through my lashes. The corners of his lips lifted in a smirk and he kissed the top of my head.
“I'm not done with you yet.”
“Wait, wha—” The rest of my words were cut off as he slipped his length into me. “Oh, fuck.” I moaned, my eyes fluttering shut.
“Look at me, Aria. I want you to watch as I fuck the daylights out of you.” He whispered in my ear and my heart thumped hard against my chest. Lyall was going to be the death of me. I just knew it.
He slowly began to move inside me and I savored every stroke with glee. His lips found mine as his movement became faster. Sounds of our moans and skin slapping against skin filled the room and soon Lyall's movement became frantic. Blood rushed to my ears and I let out a scream as he ruthlessly pounded into me.
He was too deep inside me and waves of pleasure coursed through my entire body to a point of overload. Soon, another wave of orgasm shattered through just as Lyall trembled with release, spilling his seed inside me. We collapsed against each other, breathing heavily and coming down from our high.
I was so exhausted that I could barely keep my eyes open.
“That was—” Lyall started.
“Incredible.” I cut him off and he nodded.
“We should take a shower. We're really filthy now.”
“Fine. Give me an hour.” I said, already feeling my eyes snapping shut.
“Nope.” He said and my eyes widened as he hauled me over his shoulder, carrying me straight to the bathroom.
“What the hell are you doing? Put me down!” I yelled, slightly annoyed at the fact that he felt he could just pick me up and carry me around like I weighed nothing.
“What does it look like? We're taking a shower together, sweetheart.”
“I don't want to shower with you, prick!” I flared, turning red.
He shrugged, unperturbed. “Since we’re here, we might as well shower.”
“Leave! You'll come in when I'm done.”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “You seem to have forgotten that I'm your Alpha and besides, this is my cabin.”
“I'll leave then—”
“Dammit, Aria. Just shower already. Do you have to be so stubborn?” He said in an exasperated tone and I rolled my eyes, grumbling under my breath.
“Fine.”
I turned away from him and began lathering myself with soap. I felt his eyes bore holes into my back but I ignored him and kept bathing. When we were done, we wordlessly left the bathroom and as soon as my eyes landed on our clothes, I realized our mistake.
“We really should have thought it through before ripping up our clothes,” I held the shredded clothes in my hands with a look of dismay on my face. “There's no way we can go back to the palace wearing these.”
“We don’t have a choice. There's nothing else to wear.” Lyall said, looking unbothered.
“But—”
“We'll worry about that in the morning. Just come to bed with me.” He said as his eyes raked all over my body. I blushed red suddenly remembering that I was stark naked— and so was he. Resisting the urge to run my hands across his finely-sculpted body, I fished for my own clothes, covering myself up.
“There’s no need to be shy, love. I've seen all of you.” He chuckled.
“Shut up.” My blush deepened and I stormed over to the bed, tidying it up before collapsing on top of it. I settled under the blankets and he joined me later, enveloping me in a warm embrace.
He placed me against his chest and I listened to his heartbeat as we lay in silence. His fingers stroked my hair and I breathed his enticing scent. I inhaled blissfully. I wanted to lie in his arms forever.
“Lyall?” I reluctantly broke the silence.
“Yes, sweetheart?” He answered and I blushed at the endearing nickname.
“Why did you destroy this place?”
His fingers stilled and he stayed silent for a while. I clamped my mouth shut, already regretting asking the question. I shouldn't have overstepped my boundaries. What in the world was I thinking? Just when I thought he wouldn't answer, his fingers resumed stroking my hair and he cleared his throat.
“Do you really want me to answer that?”
“Look, I didn’t mean to pry. I was just curious. You don't have to answer.”
“I destroyed this place in a fit of rage,” He said quietly and I could hear the raw pain in her voice. “I felt guilty because of what I did to Sheila.”
I sighed deeply. I knew that much. Of course, the guilt of his actions affected him. I mean this was his wife we were talking about. No matter how much of a horrible person she was, she didn't deserve to be choked by her husband.
I raised my head to look at him and my heart clenched at the amount of agony on his face. I tilted his chin to look at me, caressing his face in the process.
“I'm sorry, Lyall. This is all my fault. If you didn't see the marks on my neck, all these would never have happened.”
He shook his head. “None of this was your fault. She hurt you first and it is my job as your mate to protect you no matter what. I just wish I had gone about it another way. I should not have been violent with her no matter what. At the end of the day, she's still my wife,”
A twinge of jealousy tugged at my chest at how fondly he talked about Sheila but I swallowed it down. My main priority was to comfort Lyall and showing any form of jealousy would only make things worse.
“I don't know if I can ever face her again. I don't know if I can ever make things right. I mean, how does one come back from this, Aria? I should be the protector, not the abuser,” His eyes shone with unshed tears and my heart bled for him.
“I saw the look in your eyes that day. You were terrified of me. I mean, she was in pain and I kept squeezing, not letting go and I didn't even feel an ounce of regret. What kind of Alpha does that make me? Am I even fit to be Alpha?”