Obsession: A Rejected Mate Shifter Romance (The Mate Games #1)(45)

“You’re still a cocky asshole, Kingston. Even when I’ve got you beat.”

Kingston’s eyes narrowed, that powerful jaw clenching before he closed his eyes and took a long breath. One tattoo-covered arm lifted, and I tensed, ready to tear him to shreds if he tried anything, but he cupped my cheek gently, making me uneasy. Then his eyes flicked open, and that penetrating gaze of his locked onto me, his wolf talking to mine. I relaxed just a fraction, my nipples doing the opposite, responding to my wolf’s call to take him as hers. His large palm slid down my body, between my breasts, until he rested at the curve of my waist. When he brought up the other hand and rested them both on my hips, I couldn’t help but take in a sharp breath.

“That’s it,” he whispered encouragingly. “Focus on my wolf. You don’t want to hurt us, Sunshine.”

He was right. The haze of rage and the need to fight began trickling out of me. But I still couldn’t let him win.

Kingston must have read it in my body language. A shudder ran through him, as if he’d reached a decision he wasn’t entirely sure about. Then, still holding my gaze, he slowly tipped his chin up, baring his throat to me in submission.

My heart fluttered, frantic and wild. He’d submitted. Wait. He’d submitted? Holy shit.

“Only for you, Sunday.” His words were breathy, as though this had cost him everything.

“What the hell just happened?” Alek asked, his voice low and cautious. “You just let her dominate you? You’re an Alpha. I’ve never seen it done.”

Kingston looked over my shoulder at Alek, a growl working its way up his throat. “You can leave now. I don’t have to explain anything to you.”

Alek hesitated behind me. I could still feel his presence looming.

“It’s okay,” I told him. “We’ll be fine.”

The weight of Kingston’s hands on me, the way his fingers dug into my flesh, paired with the obvious erection in his jeans, had me wondering if what I’d just said was true. Would we be fine? Or would I do something I’d regret?

“If you’re sure . . .”

“He won’t hurt me.”

Emotion flickered in Kingston’s eyes, there and then gone. “I would never hurt you, Sunday. You’re my mate. All I’ve ever wanted to do was protect you.”

Why did that strike such a chord inside me? I hadn’t ever let the idea of him as my mate take hold because it wasn’t going to happen. I was damaged goods, and once he realized it, he’d send me away. Replaced and disgraced. But now? Every word he’d just said rang with absolute truth and honesty.

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words escaped. I was too swept up in my confusion.

Alek must have realized he was definitely intruding on something more than wolf dynamics because I heard his footsteps as he walked off. “I’ll check in on you later,” he called. But it felt more like a warning for Kingston than a promise to me.

“Alone at last,” Kingston murmured, rolling his hips a fraction.

I was ashamed to admit how much my wolf wanted to respond, to let him claim me as his mate.

“As much as I enjoy the experience of you on top of me, maybe you could do something about those claws? I have plenty of body piercings already.”

Glancing down to where my fingers were dug into his chest, I gasped at the sight of his blood seeping through the thin gray Henley he wore. How the hell had I done that?

I pulled my hands away, my heart racing when instead of fingers I saw long, sharp claws.

“What the fuck?”

“You know what it means. Only Alphas can partially shift.”

No. I wasn’t an Alpha. While I’d been born a beta, I’d been treated as little more than breeding stock and political fodder once my wolf refused to appear. “But I didn’t know I was doing it.”

He sat up, me still straddled across his lap, one arm around my waist, holding me close.

“Doesn’t matter. Your wolf knew what she was doing. She’s trying to come out. You need to free her. She wants me to help her . . . to make her mine.”

He leaned in and ran his nose along the side of my neck, pulling a shiver through me. Those lips brushed my skin, followed by the flick of his tongue and a distinctly round metal ball which had to be one of the piercings he’d mentioned.

“You want it too, Sunday. Just give in. Why are you fighting it?” A low growl escaped him on the last word. “Why toy with the vampire’s emotions? You’re wasting his time. You belong to me. You’ve always belonged to me.”

He was rocking us back and forth, his hand now knotted in my hair, teeth grazing my shoulder as he ground his hard cock against my crotch. Thank God I was wearing pants, or he’d know what he was doing to me.

“Say. You’re. Mine.” That fucking growl again.

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

My protest was weak even to my own ears, my wolf begging for what she wanted.

“Just give in. You know I’ll make it good for you. I’ll take care of you.”

He nipped my neck, right where he’d give me a mating mark if I’d let him. I nearly came on the spot. Damn pheromones. They were clouding my judgment.

“I don’t need you to take care of me. I can make it good on my own.”

He licked his way up my neck to my ear. “Think about how much better it’d feel if I were buried inside you. Giving you my knot.”