CHAPTER 36: _ DOING THIS FIRST

Warning: Mature Content Ahead.

Darien climbs off her and doesn’t move at first. He stands there in the dim light, chest rising and falling as if every breath is something he has to wrestle into his control. His shirt cling to his back from the earlier activity, the faint sheen of sweat making it stick to the hard lines of his shoulders. He should turn his back, give her privacy, and walk away.

But he doesn’t.

Instead, he reaches for the buttons of his shirt.

Her eyes are wide and startled. Yet, they follow his fingers. She squirms slightly against the sheets, tugging the blanket higher over herself. The motion is so small, so shy, but Kairos rumbles inside him, "She’s watching. Don’t rush. Make her watch."

So he doesn’t rush.

The first button comes undone, the faint pop loud in the quiet room. Her gaze darts away, but the pill draw it back when the second button falls open. He is conscious, almost cruel in his pace, drawing it out until his chest is bare in the shadows... until the curve of muscle and scar catches the faint gold of the bedside lamp.

He heard the uneven drag of her breathing. It hit his ears like music. First, her eyes drink freely of him. She shamelessly takes in the landscape of plains, tight abs, and masculine fervor before her. In those eyes, Darien sees the raw physical desire only he can appease. Before he can fully savor the pure need in her eyes, her gaze slips to the side.

"Look at me," he commands, boring his gaze into her.

Her throat works in a swallow. "I... I am."

The corner of his mouth lifted just a little. He strips the shirt off one shoulder, letting it hang there for a heartbeat before it slides to the floor. His body feels tight, like a bowstring ready to snap.

No matter how much he and his brothers want to ignore the bond, they can’t run from the physical effects of it. Heidi is theirs to claim... all of her. The sooner they realize this, the better.

Kairos prowls at the edge of his mind. "Closer. Let her scent drown you."

Instead, "Stop squirming," Darien chuckles.

She freezes. "I’m not..."

"You are. You’re twitching like a guilty little thing."

Kairos thunders with approval, and Darien’s gaze darkens. Half-naked now, he climbs onto the bed again and rolls onto his side, facing her fully now. "You think I don’t notice when you’re lying?"

"I’m not lying," she murmurs, still not looking at him.

That does it.

The low growl starts in his chest, vibrating through the bed. Her head snaps toward him at the sound, and the moment her eyes meet his, she goes still... timid now, like a rabbit that’s just realized the wolf is already in the den.

"First, you were ungrateful, then accusatory. And now you can’t even look at me without fidgeting like you’re about to run." He shifts closer, slow enough to make her breath hitch. "Do you want to run, sweetheart?"

Her throat works on a swallow. "No."

"No?" His hand slides to her hip, fingers pressing all around the sloppy curve. "Then why are you shaking?"

"I’m not..."

He cuts her off with a dark chuckle. "Every part of you is screaming, Catch me if you can. And you know what happens when I catch you?"

She shakes her head, the veins in her throat bulging.

"I teach you manners," he coos, dragging the words out until they scrape the air between them. "I’ll make you remember exactly who you belong to. And I don’t let you go until every thought in your head is about me."

Kairos pushes harder now. "Kiss her, Darien. Bite her. She’s ours."

Darien leans in until his mouth is near her ear and his breath is hot against her skin. "I could tell you all the dirty things I want to do to you... But I’d rather show you."

Her reply is a shaky whisper. "Then... show me."

Hell, not in a million years would Darien have imagined her saying that. She actually wants him just as bad. From the looks of it, it might just go beyond the physical.

That’s all it takes.

He cups her neck in both hands and drags her face closer to his. Her lips part, but no words come out. Just a shaky exhale. He drinks it in like it’s fuel.

When his mouth dips to her throat, she jolts. His tongue flicks against her pulse point, slowly tasting the thrum of life beneath it. He let his hands slide down, palms cupping her breasts.

Darien finds himself gasping at how warm, soft, and too perfect they are for his already fraying restraint.

"Darien..." her voice breaks, high and breathless, the sound shooting straight through him.

"Say it again," he orders, voice dark with satisfaction. His thumbs brush over her nipples, coaxing them into hard peaks. She gasps, back arching with chest pressing into his touch.

"Darien..." This time it’s meeker than a whimper.

Ah... if only they were here to hear it. His brothers, if only they could hear how desperate their mate is calling for him. How all of her thoughts have become superfluous except for the one that craves him.

Kairos purrs in his head, utterly undone. "She’s ours. She was made for our hands, our mouth, our..."

Argh, fuck Kairos. He’s only making things worse.

Darien cuts the thought short by lowering his head, sealing his mouth over one breast. Heat floods his senses; the faint salt of her skin, the sweet hint of her scent that’s grown heavier, and richer. He draws her nipple between his teeth and flicks it with his tongue, and she lets out a melancholic sound.

"Take more... take all of me." She cries out, arching her back to let her mounds better accept him.

His other hand is restless, sliding lower, over the dip of her waist, down to the warmth between her thighs. Her legs press together in shock, but he’s stronger, prying them apart with ease.

"You’re not stopping me," he murmurs against her skin, the vibration making her shiver. "You’re opening for me."

Her nails dig into the sheets. "Darien..."

Two fingers slip past the edge of her panties. A breathless gasp escapes Darien at the amount of heat and wetness he finds there. He’s been with a few ladies all his life since he isn’t that much of a romantic, but none—none had ever been this wet and ready for him.

Whatever goes down today, he knows will forever remain imprinted in his mind. Heidi, that little omega slut will forever haunt him.

She gasps, hips twitching, making him growl. He teases her first, slowly stroking along her folds like he has all the time in the world.

"You’re soaked and you’re trying to tell me you don’t want this?"

Her head shakes, but her body betrays her. It’s arching, and pressing into his hand that’s now caressing across her panties. She’s so soaked, one would think she’s leaking underneath. He can’t take it anymore, he pushes a finger inside her. The slick heat wraps around him, and his jaw tightens.

She’s so damn tight. Has she done this before? Darien wonders. But if he doesn’t do it, sooner or later, one of his brothers will. Now that is something he can not stand. He needs to beat them to everything.

It is he who works hard day in and out, not them.

He can picture Amias’s hands on her. He can see her moaning for his brothers, screaming so that they wouldn’t stop thrusting into her.

A groan escapes him as he shakes the foul thoughts away.

Fuck it. He’s doing this.