Page 53 of Queen of Diamonds

I froze, goosebumps rising across my body as I felt his touch slide lower, to the place where waist met hips and my top ended.

His skin on mine was like a shot of relief I wasn’t expecting. My heart rate slowed, my breathing coming easier, rage draining away.

The pain of old scars and aching wounds, ones I’d carried so long it was hard to imagine a world without them, now dulled. Instincts, warped and desperate, dissipated at the touch of an Alpha. Not just any Alpha. It mattered that he was my mate.

I knew that as surely as I hated it.

He shifted again, a frown creasing his face in the almost non-existent light my eyes had adjusted to. His hand curled around my waist possessively, as if… as if he wanted to hold me.

I lay still for a long time, half my mind drowning in a long buried want, the other trying to gather the strength to give him that kick he sorely deserved.

My breath caught as he shifted again, hand closing tighter as if he was trying to tug me toward him. Well, his cuffs meant I wouldn’t be budging.

Fucker.

Only, instead, he shifted again on the bed, and—to my shock—drew closer, both arms adjusting to pull me into what felt like… oh. Shit.

Was he trying to hug me?

I froze, mind spiralling, panic taking hold. I didn’t even know why. He shifted closer again, and suddenly I was in his arms.

This was… I swallowed. This was great. He was exactly where I wanted him. I would make sure he woke up to agony (and the news he would never have kids).

Instead, tears burned my eyes, and I had to bite down on my lip to try to stop them.

Fuck.

I had to get a grip, but the low forest scent of snow santal unwinding my sanity without mercy.

I needed to?—

My thought died a sudden death at the vibration that rumbled through him. I frowned, but with his next exhale, a purr as loud as a motorbike rumbled to life, sending shockwaves down my spine. It was like he’d just reached into my chest and swaddled my heart in cotton wool.

I tried to claw back hot, wet escapees from my eyelashes, because Zed fucking Maverick could not be the one to free them with the flick of a stupid Alpha-purring switch.

I sniffled, trying to figure out what to do, but then he drew me tighter to his chest and—to my horror—I melted against him with a little whine.

If I wasn’t cuffed, I’d have clamped a hand over my mouth, silently screaming into it with frustration.

No.

My Omega side needed to sort herself out.

Heat was two weeks away, right?

Two.

Two weeks.

Not tonight.

It wasn’t until Zed buried his face in my neck that I realised my distress was making this worse. Actually, it was possible my distress was the cause in the first place. The more frustrated I got, the more he reacted.

Now he was purring, and I was unwinding beneath him with disgusting speed.

I took a breath, trying to calm myself. Well, uncalm myself since he was calming me. He wasn’t allowed to calm me.

Fuck.

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