Chapter 21 Lost in desires
~Sage~
His words hung between us, raw and dangerous. My robe felt too thin, too revealing, and I was acutely aware that I wore almost nothing underneath. Just sleep shorts and a tank top, both still clinging to my overheated skin.
"You don't know that's what I was doing," I managed, though my voice came out breathy.
Keith's laugh was dark, strained. "Your scent is all over this room, Cinderella. On your sheets, on your skin. Sweet and needy and—" He cut himself off, running a hand through his hair roughly. "Christ, you're killing me."
"I didn't mean to—"
"I know." He was across the room in two strides, backing me against the wall beside my bed. Not touching, but caging me in with his arms on either side. "That's what makes it worse. You have no idea what you do to me, do you? No idea that I've been hard since the moment I knocked on your door."
My eyes dropped involuntarily to his crotch, and yes, I could see the huge evidence straining against his jeans. The sight made my mouth go dry.
What in the hell was that giant in those jeans?
"My turn," I whispered, feeling bold despite my racing heart. "Do you think about me?"
His forehead dropped to mine. "Every. Fucking. Night."
"What do you think about?"
"Sage—"
"Tell me." My hands came up to rest on his chest, feeling his heart pounding as fast as mine. "If we can't do anything, at least tell me. I want to know."
He groaned, his hands flexing against the wall. "I think about kissing you until you can't breathe. About marking that spot on your neck that makes you shiver – yeah, that one," he said when I gasped. "I think about the sounds you'd make if I touched you the way you were touching yourself this morning. I think about how you'd feel if I eventually bury myself inside of your warm, untouched pussy."
"Keith," his name came out as a moan.
"Is that how you say it when you're alone?" His mouth was at my ear now, not kissing, just breathing. "When you're thinking about me?"
"Yes," I admitted, past the point of embarrassment. “I moan it like that when I try to think about the things you'd do to me.”
His control snapped then. His mouth crashed into mine, hungry and desperate. I melted against him, my hands fisting in his shirt, pulling him closer. He kissed me like he was drowning and I was air, like he could consume me through touch alone.
His hands slid down to my waist, gripping hard enough to bruise, then lifted me. I wrapped my legs around his waist instinctively, gasping at the friction when he pressed me harder against the wall.
"The things I want to do to you," he growled against my mouth, grinding his hips against mine in a slow roll that made me see stars. "You have no idea how hard it's been, watching you at dinner, in training, knowing what you taste like, what you feel like."
"Show me," I begged, past caring about consequences. "Please, Keith."
He carried me to the bed, laying me down with surprising gentleness despite the fire in his eyes. He stood over me for a moment, just looking, his chest heaving.
"You're so fucking beautiful," he said roughly. "Do you know that? Do you know that every male in this pack wants you?"
"I don't care about them."
"No?" He knelt on the bed, crawling over me until he was hovering above, weight on his forearms. "Who do you care about?"
"You know who."
“Say it.”
“You.”
“Say my name.”
“Keith.”
His mouth found my throat, kissing and sucking at the sensitive skin. Not hard enough to leave marks; we couldn't risk that but enough to make me arch beneath him. My robe had fallen open, and his hand slid inside, skimming along my ribs.
"Is this okay?" he asked, his thumb brushing just under my breast through my thin tank top.
"God, yes. Please, continue."
His hand moved up, cupping me through the fabric, thumb finding my peaked nipple. I moaned, my hips bucking up involuntarily, seeking friction against his thigh between mine.
"So responsive," he murmured against my neck. "I've barely touched you and you're already shaking."
"I've wanted this for so long," I admitted.
He pulled back to look at me, something vulnerable flashing in his eyes. "Yeah?"
"Since that first dinner. You looked at me like... like you saw me. Not the future Luna, not the king's bride. Just me."
He kissed me again, slower this time, deeper. His hand slid to my nipples, skin against skin, and I gasped into his mouth. He explored slowly, mapping every inch, while his thigh pressed harder between my legs, giving me the friction I desperately needed.
"That's it," he encouraged when I started moving against him. "Take what you need."
"Keith, I'm—"
"I know, baby. I can smell how close you are." His hand slid down my stomach, stopping just at the waistband of my shorts. "Can I?"
I nodded frantically, beyond words.
His fingers dipped just inside the elastic, not going further, just teasing. "Have you still…?"
"No," I gasped. "Never. Just... just by myself."
He groaned, his control visibly fraying. "You're going to be the death of me." His fingers moved lower, over the fabric of my shorts, finding where I was wet and aching. "Fuck, Sage. You're fucking soaked."
"Please," I begged, not even sure what I was begging for.
He rubbed slow circles through the fabric, the pressure perfect and not nearly enough. My hands clutched at his shoulders, his back, needing something to anchor me.
"I want to taste you," he said roughly. "Want to make you come on my tongue. Want to watch you fall apart."
"Keith—"
A sharp knock at the door made us both freeze.
"Sage?" Natalie's voice. "Are you awake? We need to start early today."
Keith was off the bed in an instant, adjusting himself with a pained expression. I sat up, frantically fixing my robe, trying to smooth my hair.
"Just – just getting dressed!" I called, my voice too high.
"I'll wait in the sitting room," Natalie said. "Don't take too long."
We heard her footsteps moving away, and Keith swore creatively under his breath.
"Bathroom," I whispered urgently. "She always checks my room first."
He grabbed the breakfast tray; our cover story, and slipped into my bathroom just as Natalie's footsteps returned.
"Actually, Sage, I forgot my training materials. I'll be back in fifteen minutes. Be ready."
"Of course!"
We waited until her footsteps faded completely before Keith emerged from the bathroom. His hair was mussed, lips swollen from kissing, and the bulge in his jeans was still obvious.
"Tonight," he said, moving toward the window. "Garden maze. Midnight."
"Keith, we should stop this. If we get caught—"
He was across the room in seconds, kissing me hard and fast. "Tonight," he repeated against my lips. "Wear something easy to take off."
Then he was gone through the window, leaving me flushed and aching and counting the minutes until midnight.
I pressed my fingers to my lips, still feeling him there, still tasting him. My body hummed with unfulfilled need, and I knew tonight would either satisfy it or drive me completely insane.
Natalie would be back any moment. I needed to shower, to wash his scent off me, to pretend I hadn't just been writhing beneath the Alpha King's son, begging him to touch me.
But first, I brought his pillow to my face, breathing him in, letting myself have one more moment of weakness.
Tonight. Midnight. The maze. I'd have another stolen moment of weakness.
God help me, I was already lost.