CHAPTER 42: HEAT

The moment the door clicked shut behind the both of them, the air had changed. It felt more charged with tension and longing.

Valden looked like he was holding his breath and hadn’t moved yet. And then he finally broke the silence.

"You scared the hell out of me in the tunnels." He spoke softly. "You shouldn’t have used your powers still. You knew you couldn’t have handled that."

"I thought the Varcolac got to you."

He sighed. "Don’t ever put yourself in harm’s way again like that even if I’m dying."

"You don’t get to say all of that. You don’t get to act like you care." I looked down at my hands. "You’ve been keeping secrets...too many to count. Too many that everything is telling me not to trust you. Why should I trust you, Valden?"

"I’m here," he said, voice hoarse. "I’m here now. There won’t be any more secrets between us. I can’t lose you again, nothing’s worth that."

The distance between us dissolved in seconds. I was planning to confront him about everything that he’d kept from me but now, I was just tired. I was tired of running and being afraid and trying to find answers to every fucking thing out there. I wanted peace. I wanted...Valden.

Valden saw the look on my face until his too mirrored my own.

One moment, he was standing over the side of my bed, and the next, his face was inches away, his fresh scent wrapping around me and piercing the air.

"I tried to stay away," he whispered. "God, I tried so much. But every time I close my eyes, it’s you. Every time I breathe, it’s you."

The confession shattered all my resolve. My fingers curled into the fabric of his uniform, dragging him closer against me. "Then stop trying to stay away."

This was Valden. He had kept secrets, he had done things I thought I wouldn’t forgive him for but right now, all I felt was that I didn’t want anyone’s hands on me but his. Not ever. Because this was Valden.

His hands framed my face like he was terrified I’d vanish if he let go one more time. His mouth hovered over mine, separated by only a thin sliver of air until all I could hear was my heart pounding in my chest.

And then the space between us burned away as his mouth finally lowered onto mine.

And then we were kissing and it felt like he was the oxygen I craved, that I was dying without. I reached forward until my hands were in his hair, pulling at the short strands, and his were wrapping around my thighs and pulling me closer and closer. We kissed like we hadn’t seen each other in decades, like we’d rather suffocate in it than breathe to stay alive.

His kisses became more urgent as he moved past my lips and down my neck, sucking my skin as if it tasted like honey and milk and it took everything in me not to moan out in pleasure. I was on the verge of losing it, of grabbing him and drowning in his skin until I remembered every single plane of his body that I missed for so long.

My hands were under his shirt now and he pressed them tighter against his chest like it wasn’t enough. No, it wasn’t enough. I wanted his skin against mine, I wanted to feel all the ridges and shapes. Before I thought twice about it, his buttons popped and his shirt split in the middle, revealing bare skin.

"Fuck, Maeve," Valden shuddered as I pulled my shirt off over my head. His eyes raked down, like he was seeing me for the first time and nothing else could exist before I did. I held his hand and guided it down my chest and onto my stomach. My heart was racing and destroying all the self-control I had in my body.

"You have no idea how long I waited for this," he whispered as he traced his lips over the dip between my breasts.

I couldn’t wait any longer. I pulled his face back to me, kissing him until we were both dying and gasping for air. Our pants came off and before I knew it, he had unclasped my plain white bra and pulled down my grey panties until there was nothing else separating us. Skin against skin, raw and hungry with desire.

Both of us were naked, with our legs tangled together and every plane of our bodies rubbing against each other as both of our lips moved fervently. The hardness between his legs pressed against my wet folds and I moaned into his mouth as he parted my legs and dragged me forward, making me gasp loudly.

"Valden, please," I begged.

"Not yet," he said, eyes blazing with his green glow. His wolf was in heat, his scent was heavy and there was little I could do but let out a surprised gasp as he spread my folds and pushed two fingers inside me.

"Take it slow, baby," he whispered as he pushed it in and out slowly and deliberately until I was crying out his name and pleading. I didn’t even realise when he replaced his fingers with his lips until his tongue reached out and lapped up all of my juices like he had never tasted anything better.

"You taste so good, Maeve. You always taste so good." He growled before licking and sucking my bud until my entire world shattered and I saw stars in my eyes. My fingers tangled in his hair and I pushed him closer, my legs spreading wider to give him more access.

My legs trembled as he gripped my thighs and devoured me, fastening the strokes of his tongue until my body convulsed as wave after wave of pleasure hit me like lightning.

I was panting hard as he looked up at me from between my legs, his eyes glowing crazy and his lips glistening with my juices.

"Valden, I need you. I need you so bad," I managed to whimper.

He pulled back up, supporting his hands on my knees and that’s when I saw it. As my eyes dragged down, it widened as it reached past his stomach. It shouldn’t have surprised me but it did.

His cock was hard and veiny and just as big as it was before. It was just as perfect as before, and I knew what it would do to me. I had known very well three years back.

And I knew it was going to make me scream.