Page 63 of Twisted Mates

I ignore his call and continue to march out to the nearly empty boardwalk. It’s a chilly night, and most tourists are tucked inside for the evening. I pick up my pace and keep going toward the sand, the salty night air hitting my lungs. The stars and moon dance on the waves in the distance, luring me toward them. My feet hit the sand, and I keep going toward the water, only stopping just before the tide hits my shoes.

I hate what I’m doing—running away from this instead of facing it. But if I stay, let Xander hold me and touch me and treat me the way he wants to... the way Idesperatelywant to be treated, then I’ll lose control. And if I lose control, we could be found out by the wrong person. For the past almost two weeks, we have been far too impetuous. Fucking around like we have right underneath Clayton’s nose. It has to stop, even if it hurts like hell.

Just when I think he’s given up and is going to let it go, I hear footsteps on the tightly packed sand behind me. I know without even looking that it’s him. “Alexia, please,” he calls. “Don’t do this.”

I whirl around and tears spring to my eyes. “Xander, you’re making this so hard for me. I am trying to protect you! I don’t want to watch them slice your head from your neck, knowing it was my fault!” My voice cracks, and I roll my lips together, looking down at my feet.

“What?” he breathlessly asks, stopping directly in front of me, our toes practically touching.

I raise my voice so he can hear me over the waves. “I heard what Clayton said to you. It doesn’t matter if Kai left or not, he will use this against you. And I refuse to give him the power to take you from this world.”

He cups my cheeks in his hands and lifts my face until our eyes meet. “Don’t you get it? You are worth that risk for me.”

“No,” I say, trying to wiggle away, but he holds me firm.

“Yes. For the first time in years, I feel a sense of peace and happiness. The moment you’re gone—the second Kai comes to his senses—I have to let you go. I would rather know that when that day happens, I got to call you mine for this short span of time.”

Tears stream down my face as I say, “We’ve only been back in each other’s lives for less than two weeks. You can’t believe that I’m worth all that.” That scientific and logical part of my brain that has always been strongest is telling me that this isn’t possible. But ever since Xander came back into my life—since I learned who hereallyis, I’ve come to realize that logic and what I thought was the truth sometimes doesn’t quite add up.

He sweeps his thumbs through the wet trails on my cheeks, the ocean breeze whipping his hair around his face. “For decades, there has been a deep dark hole inside of me. Nothing I’ve done has filled it. In fact, it’s started eating away at me as I’ve gotten older. It hurt so fucking much. Then the night of your ceremony, you...” He shakes his head, and his chest expands as he takes in a deep breath. “Just seeing you changed all that. And when I found you on the porch after that first night, I realized that something about you soothed that ache in my soul. Every day with you, I’ve felt that chasm inside me getting smaller and smaller. I know you’re not my mate, but you are the perfect fit for that missing piece of me.”

“Xander.” My voice cracks on his name.

“Understand when I tell you that I would rather have this minuscule moment in time with you and meet my end, than live a lifetime without knowing what it’s like to make you mine.”

This.This is what it’s supposed to feel like. This is what I’d always imagined ever since I was a little girl. This declaration of adoration, of... well, he didn’t say the wordlove, but to be honest, the emotion he just showed, the laying bare of his soul...that felt like more than love. It felt like everything I’ve ever wanted.

I’ve been feeling something for Xander since that first time he stood up for me when no one else did. First, I tried to push it away because I’m mated to his brother, then I tried to convince myself it was only physical, and now I’m trying to deny it because of the precarious situation we’re in.

But I can’t. I can’t deny the way I feel about him any more than I can stop the shift when the beams of a full moon hit the earth. And Kai isnotcoming back for me; I don’t want him to.

I want Xander. I want everything with him, even if it’s only for one night.

“Alexia, say something,” he pleads, sliding one hand to the back of my neck and gripping it tightly as the other slides down to my waist.

“I give up,” I whisper, moving closer to him so there’s barely an inch between us. “You win. But you have to promise he won’t find out. Because I cannot lose you. You mean too much to me, Xander Slade.” I slide one hand up his chest and the other around his waist. “Promise me.”

“I will fight for you until you tell me to stop. And even then, I will kill anyone who means you harm, even if you are not mine. Because I willalwaysbe yours.”

Without another word, I rise to my tiptoes and wrap my arms around his neck, pressing my lips to his. Immediately, he parts my lips with his tongue, both of us releasing low growls from deep within us. He slides his hands under my ass and lifts me off the ground as if I’m weightless and I wrap my legs around his waist.

When we pull back for a breath, chests heaving, I press my forehead to his. “Take me home, Xander,” I murmur against his mouth.

"Yes, little wolf.”

Xander puts me on my feet but holds tightly to my hand as we make our way to the back entrance of his building. His grip on me is like an anchor. It is the only thing that keeps me from losing control, and by the look on his face, I’m doing the same for him. We weave through the back walkways until we reach the elevator. The floors slowly tick by as we travel all the way to the top where the doors open to a spacious hallway with a door at each end. We turn to the right and Xander presses his finger to a digital lock. It clicks open and we are greeted by a dimly lit living room. Everything is black—the floors, the furniture, the walls. The only pops of color come from the panoramic window overlooking the Atlantic and the brightly painted art hanging on the walls.

I don’t get a chance to admire the pieces. Xander wraps his arms around me, pulling my back to his front. His hand slips into my pants and I squeal, making him chuckle low against my ear. “I know you aren’t surprised I can’t keep my hands off you another second,” he whispers, sliding two fingers inside me as his thumb works my clit.

“No, but I—” I gasp when he thrusts a third finger inside. “I thought you were going to fuck me.”

He spins me around and hoists me up onto his front like I weigh nothing, and my legs wrap around his waist. Hooking my ankles behind him, I lean back so I can see his face as he says, “You are so impatient.”

“You’re the one who couldn’t keep your hand out of my pants,” I tease with a raised eyebrow.

“I still can’t.” He walks to the window, the cold glass biting into my back as he presses me against it. “All I want is to be buried deep inside of you.” He does some magical move where he holds me up while pulling off my shirt. His head drops and he licks across my collarbone. I stretch my neck back to give him more room to work and he takes advantage of the space,pulling down the black lace cups of my bra. The sensation of his tongue dragging over my nipple has me squeezing his waist with my thighs. This is what I’ve been craving, the raw need that resonates between us finally unleashed.

Xander slips one hand behind my back and unfastens my bra, letting it fall to the floor. “These tits are so fucking perfect,” he groans, palming one while he sucks on the other.

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