Tyler.
I was down to my last bottle of whiskey.
I needed to restock soon, or I would have nothing to keep my sanity intact. Alcohol might not be able to get me drunk but that didn’t mean it didn’t have its effects on me. After downing five bottles in under twelve hours, there was a tingle at the base of my spine, just enough to tell me that if I were human, I would be three shits to the wind already.
I missed her. It had been ten full days. Ten long days of agony and emptiness, ten days of dragging my ass out of bed and to the office because I needed something to keep me busy and take my mind off things. Not that anything had worked. Not the numerous documents that were piling up on my desk or the ridiculous amount of alcohol I’d consumed that could have fallen any normal man.
The thought of sneaking into the elders’ chambers had even occurred to me and once or twice, I’d been discovered and sent away, always with the warning not to come back. And each time, I hadn’t listened. All I wanted was a peek at her face. I just needed to see her, even if I couldn’t hold her. I wanted to see her face again, to see her smile and know that she was okay.
Natalie had been acting as a messenger between Arya and me since she was the only visitor allowed to see her. Complete bullshit, if you asked me. How come the alpha wasn’t allowed in but the Beta’s wife was?
But I knew it was because of the woman in question. If Nate had been alpha and Natalie was being held, then I would’ve probably been allowed in. My woman was the prophetic wolf in question and according to the leader of the elders, she needed to get through her training and not be distracted by me.
Again, bullshit.
The front door opened. I heard the door creak from the kitchen but I didn’t move. It was probably Nate coming to keep me company or Natalie bringing news from Arya. But I swear if it was Lauren and her theatrics again, I really would kill her this time. My hands were itching to do something drastic anyway and it was either her or the leader of the elders and that annoying monotonous voice of his.
“Did you miss me?”
My head snapped up so quickly I feared it would break. “Little One,” I whispered, my eyes taking in the woman standing in front of me. How…? What…? I couldn’t think straight. I had to be imagining it.
“In the flesh.” She smiled, walking towards me. “You haven’t answered my question.”
I lifted from the chair, reaching for her when she got near and ramming her into a tight embrace. Oh, it was really her. Her soft scent filled my nostrils and I inhaled deeply, trying to get as much of it as possible into my lungs just in case she was leaving again.
“Of course, I did.” I pulled away to look at her face. “Did they let you go?”
She nodded. “Apparently, I finished with my training. I would explain it to you but it’s a lot to unpack right now and I just want you to hold me.”
I sucked in a breath as my heart hammered in my chest. I couldn’t believe it. Taking her hand, I led her out of the kitchen and up the stairs to my bedroom. I was going to hold her, but first I had something else in mind.
“You reeked of alcohol, Tyler,” she scrunched up her nose and I laughed, though I wasn’t sure at what. Maybe it was just the feeling of elation at having her with me again. It had just been ten days but it felt like a century. “How much have you had to drink?”
“A lot,” I admitted. “I was going out of my mind wanting to see you and it was the only way I could think to dull the pain.”
“Did it work?”
I gave her a look and her chuckle told me she already knew the answer to that.
“Good. I’m glad it didn’t. I missed you too.”
Music to my ears. I opened the door to my bedroom and led her inside, shutting the door behind me. Immediately, I got to work with removing her clothes. I needed her. I needed to hold her again, to taste her, to feel her.
“Tyler,” Arya said, her eyes widening but she didn’t stop me.
“I want you,” I told her as her shirt came off, before reaching behind her to undo her bra. It came off with a snap, and I flung it somewhere. “I missed you so much.”
Slowly, I peppered kisses around her neck to her shoulders, down to her breasts, my tongue flicking out to taste her hardened peaks. The little moan she let out did all sorts of wicked things to me and wrapping my hands around her waist, I took several steps forward until the back of her knee hit the bed. With one soft push, she fell back, her sandy-brown hair falling around her head like a halo.
“I miss you too, Tyler,” she sighed and that was the exact moment she surrendered herself to me. Within minutes, I’d taken off her shorts and discarded my own clothes, falling to the bed to hover above her. I took her lips in a deep kiss, urging her to open up and when she did, slipping my tongue into her mouth. I tasted the alcohol on my tongue as it mixed with her minty breath, my body burning so hard I had to fight to control myself.
The last thing I wanted was to hurt her in my excitement.
Arya wrapped one hand around my neck as the other rubbed my back, her touch leaving a hot trail on my skin. Days of wishing and hoping disappeared, replaced by a burning need to possess her. To love her. To protect her.
With my mouth still on hers, I hooked one of her legs over my arm, positioned myself and pushed into her. Her gasp was swallowed by my mouth and she went still. I took it as a sign to halt my movements. It felt so good, so fucking good, that it took all of my willpower not to move. It was her second time and I wanted every time with Arya to be special. My little one.
When she nodded, I released a breath I didn’t know I was holding, pulling away completely, then sinking into her again. She tightened around me like a glove, fitting perfectly, like we were meant to be.
She writhed under me, her moans spilling out of my mouth. And when she gripped me hard, I knew she was nearing that cliff. Maintaining my rhythm, I took her closer and closer to it until she let go of her wings and flew.
Screw the moon goddess.
Arya was my goddess and I would worship her until the day I died.
Because now that she was here with me, I was never letting her go again.