Chapter 14 YOU TASTE LIKE TROUBLE
SEBASTIAN'S POV
Alpha Ragnar’s fingers are warm.
His hand is calloused but they hold my jaw firm.
There is unmistakable pressure in the way he's holding me enough to remind me of who he is. An Alpha.
My Alpha.
His thumb brushes under my chin, tilting my face further into the light.
I freeze at his stare.
Every instinct in me goes still immediately. Like a wolf staring at his prey and in this instance, me.
My instincts are caught between flight and awe.
Alpha Ragnar is touching me.
Alisander is quiet too. Thank the moon goddess the noise maker knows better than to speak right now. We're both wondering what he wants to do.
The blood on my lips has already cooled. I could feel it crack whenever I swallow.
Alpha Ragnar leans in closer.
Not in a rush this time. He leans in slowly this time.
His nose flares as he breathes me in, deep and deliberate, like he is enjoying all of this. I wonder what I smelt like to him.
Blood, fear and definitely pain.
He growls a low sound when he sees I'm in a daze. A low, almost inaudible sound coming from his throat causes me to squirm.
A growl.
Oh dear Moon goddess that's all it takes!
A simple growl from him and I'm about to jump his bones.
My heart kicks hard against my ribs.
He traces the bruise on my jaw with his thumb a little bit gentler now.
“Ssst.” I hiss softly without meaning to. His eyes flicker to my mouth almost instantly.
“Don’t,” he said quietly.
The word wasn’t a warning, at least not for me.
I nod because I didn’t trust my voice.
The last thing I want to happen would be Alisander moaning through me.
Alpha Ragnar’s gaze linger on my face for a while.
His pupils were full-blown wide and dark enough that his irises have almost disappeared.
For a moment, I forget where I am.
I forget the pain, the training, Beta Ava and even Trevor.
All I'm thinking is: this is what it would look like if he finally let himself see me.
I’ve painted him like this a thousand times in my head.
Not the touching, that’s a bonus but this, this look. Focused. Hungry. And looking only at me.
His hand slides from my chin to the side of my neck, thumb resting right over my jumping pulse. He feels it too and his jaw tightens.
“You smell like trouble,” he muttered.
“I-” I started.
He cut me off by leaning in.
Alpha Ragnar’s tongue sweeps over my split lip.
I gasp.
The sound is embarrassingly soft, more breath than noise, but his shoulders tense like it's the same.
His tongue is warm and rough, dragging slowly over the cut, then the corner of my mouth, tasting the blood there.
My knees nearly buckle.
Every nerve in my body lights up at the same time.
My wolf surge forward, pressing against the inside of my skin like he wanted to come out and roll over for Alpha Ragnar.
Pathetic.
Alisander purrs so loudly in my head it almost hurts.
“Mate. Mate. Mate…”
Alpha Ragnar makes a low sound in his chest, sounding pleased.
He licks again, this time slower having to hoist me up with his second hand on my waist.
A grooming motion that feels intimate.
My hands curl into fists at my sides to stop myself from grabbing him and turning this into a kiss.
The world narrows to his heat, his tongue and the pressure of his mouth.
His breath fans my skin as his tongue traces the bruise on my jaw, then dips to the split again, his saliva spreading and soaking into the wound.
Something warm spreads beneath his touch.
The pain fades.
I blink still feeling and looking disoriented.
His saliva was thick but not unpleasant.
Who am I kidding?
I feel it sink under my skin, stitching muscle and flesh together with an ease that makes me envious.
The ache in my jaw dulls. The swelling eases and the sting on my lip fades into memory.
Alpha Ragnar releases me and pulls back sharply.
Just like that, the heat is gone.
He straightens, turning away like he hasn’t just been tonguing and licking me. His back is rigid again with his shoulders squared.
Alpha again.
Distant and composed.
“Stay out of trouble,” he says curtly. “I won’t repeat myself.”
The words land like a slap.
“Alpha-” I said without thinking.
He doesn’t turn back.
“You’re dismissed.”
Then he walks away.
I stand there stunned, my heart is alive and it feels like it's about to escape from my chest.
My breathing is hard and it's not the only thing that's hard at this moment.
My face feels… fine. Too fine if I think about it. I raise my hand slowly and touch my jaw.
Smooth.
No swelling. No pain. Even the split on my lip is gone.
Healed.
Completely.
What sort of sorcery is this?
I know about Alphas superior healing but this was just witchcraft.
Inside my head, Alisander is losing his mind.
“Did you feel that?!” he demands, sounding like a fan girl. “He groomed us, he healed us, he… he tasted us. That was a claiming action, Sebastian!”
“He also just told me to stay out of trouble like I’m a misbehaving pup,” I snapped mentally.
“He’s fighting it,” Alisander insists. “You saw him, you basically felt him. He wants us.”
“Then why walk away?” I shoot back. “Why act like I’m a problem one second and his responsibility the next?”
“Because Alphas are stupid,” Alisander says cheerfully.
I drag a hand down my face and let out a shaky breath.
My body is still reacting like Alpha Ragnar had licked me all over even though his mouth barely left my face.
I wonder how it would feel if he licks me all….
No!
My wolf is practically vibrating, basking in what just happened.
“Mine,” Alisander hummed. “Ours.”
“He didn’t say that,” I mutter under my breath.
“Not with words,” Alisander reply smugly. “But wolves don’t lie with their tongues.”
I hate that he is right. And also that he just made a pun.
I turn and leave Alpha Ragnar’s quarters with legs that still feel unsteady and my mind replaying the moment again and again.
The way he’d healed me without hesitation.
As I walked down the corridor, I clenched and unclenched my jaw.
I”ve survived worse than mixed signals from an Alpha who can't decide what he wants.
And Moon goddess help him,
If he ever licks me like that and walks away again?
I'm jumping him.