“I want only you, Esme, just you. You’ve been here.” He points to his heart with a sense of desperation and my vision blurs with unshed tears. “I’ve carried you with me since the moment I laid eyes on you when you arrived at HellNight Academy. I’m not perfect and I blame myself for not being brave enough to make myself known to you. I should have staked my claim because you are mine. I didn’t save you that night in the forest and it will forever haunt me deep down in my soul. I feel unworthy of you. I feel like the biggest asshole for what I’m about to say, but I need us, if there’s a chance for us still, to begin in truth. I don’t deserve you. This is part of the reason why I remained in my Wolf form, with the loss of most of my pack, I couldn’t bear to lose you too. But I am a Wolf, Esme. You’re it for me, baby. My fated Mate, my once in a lifetime, my forever.”
He presses his forehead against mine once more and I can feel my tears as they slide down my cheeks, his next words are a direct hit to my chest.
“I don’t want to share you, Esme. I don’t know if I can. I would rather you walk away from me now than lie to myself and you. I don’t want to ask you to choose. It’s not fair. You’ve already Tethered yourself to Micah. I can accept that, logically. I know in a way you had to. But I ask that you choose me. Be with me, please. Only me.” He blows out a shuddering breath. “I can’t. . . I’m sorry. . . I can’t take this further,” he mutters as he picks me up and sits me on the bed. I watch him stand. The red glow of the Underworld makes his tan skin look olive toned and his bare chest appears darker as he takes a step away from me. The muscles of his stomach tense and flexes as my eyes travel down to his black joggers that sit low on his hips and my throat constricts. I can’t breathe. I’ve already lost so much in my life. I scramble to my knees on the bed.
“Please, Sam,” I plead. My heart and my head are at war with each other. He wants me to choose. I close my eyes and search for my Tether with Micah, but it’s not there, just an empty space, but regardless, she’s emblazoned on my heart. She is mine. But she is also, Ty’s , Trys’s, Rodyn’s, Rook’s, and Lyrik’s. I let my tears fall because I can’t let him walk away. It would break my heart in two and fracture my soul beyond repair, I know that. I will always be Tethered to Micah, but Sam. . .no. “I can’t lose you, Sam.” I wipe away my tears and climb out of the bed. He steps back further into the room, his sad eyes tracking my every move as I follow him.
I do the only thing I know how to do, I cut open my chest and let myself bleed. “You’ve been in my heart too. I didn’t know what I was feeling. I wish I had. I could have been braver for the both of us, even when all I wanted to do was make myself small amongst the crowd. I forgave you for what happened in the forest. I don’t understand what it means to be a Wolf and have a pack, but I want to learn. I know it was hard for you to stand in the way, to attempt to protect me and go against Patrick’s command. If you want to make it right then don’t walk away, believe me, we can have a lifetime of you making it up to me.” I try to laugh but it comes out as a choked sob. “I have never had anything to call my own. I was taken away from my mother, tossed away by my Coven like a dirty secret. For the first time in my life I’ve been given something precious, you, solely for myself.”
Sam tilts his head, his own eyes brimming with tears, and it’s the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. “I can’t choose between the two of you. I know that I can’t, because when Micah wakes, I will still be Tethered to her, Sam. Or at least, I think.” I shrug and blow out a breath, hastily wiping away more stray tears.
“What are you saying, Esme?” Sam asks, his question barely audible over the loud pounding of my heart and my blood swishing around rapidly in my ears.
I shift from foot to foot, knowing that I’m making the right decision. Micah’s words come to me in a rush as if she’s saying them right next to me.“Esme, if you want Sam or both of us in whatever capacity, it’s your decision.”
“I want to be with you. Only you,” I say with a watery smile. I watch Sam’s mouth part as he takes a step and then pauses. I don’t know if he thought my words would somehow make the world implode but I don’t waste another second. I pull my tank top over my head and toss it to the floor.
“Esme?” he says my name, his mouth drops open at the sight of my naked body in surprise. I wait for a question that never comes from him as I slide my shorts down my legs and kick them across the room.
“Kiss me, Sam. I am yours.”
ChapterFive
SAM
"Esme?" My lips part as I stare at my Mate. Yes, my Mate. She's mine. I watched her pour out her heart to me, eyes pleading for me to understand. Understand that regardless of whether she is tied to another, she is willing to be mine. Solely mine. I know I've asked a lot. She is Tethered to Micah, but the Wolf wants what he wants. The moment I backed away from her, he battered at my rib cage, acid, bile, and heart burn were shooting pains to my chest and throat from the brutality of his internal attack. He is pissed. She is not just a Mate, she is our chosen, fated. Wolves spend their entire lives never knowing, never finding their fated Mate. It was said that we all had one, that we had to be in the right place at the right time to find them. Well, I found my beautiful little Witch and if I have to have a piece of her heart I will take it, place it in a gilded cage and swallow the fucking key.
My mouth waters as she boldly strips out of her tank top, dark brown skin, smooth and delicate, revealing ample breasts, nipples already stiff peaks begging for my tongue, plump kissable lips and white even teeth. I track her hands; her gray eyes are locked on mine until she bends and slides her shorts down over her curvy hips and thighs. My little Witch straightens and gives me the full view of her body, my new world. My hands tingle, needing to map out each plane, dip, and contour of her body, she is mine to learn. I fall further for her in this moment, she doesn't shy away from me as she watches me decide what to say, what to do.
My eyes widen in shock. One minute Esme is standing in front of me, the next she is running straight to me. Before we collide, she jumps and I catch her, my hands grip her ass as I haul her up my body as her lips find mine. I hold her close as she wraps her legs around my waist. You would think we would crash together in a frenzy of limbs. The lust between us thick and potent only moments ago, is now a slow simmer.
She kisses me with a hungry, desperate longing that I return in equal measure. I get lost in the taste of her lips, sucking her tongue hard until she whimpers beautifully. Esme cradles my head in her hands, holding me as if I am the most precious thing she's ever held, and my heart pounds at her reverence. As our passion builds, her hands find my hair, gripping it hard between her fingers, she snaps my head back and breaks our kiss.
"I need you Sam. But I'm—"
I kiss her hard, all of my emotions, my regret, my apology go into one brutal collision. This time it is me who loses all composure, my Wolf eager to bite, to claim, Mate with her, bond her to me forever. I hold her up with one hand whilst dragging my joggers down hurriedly with the other.
Her pussy leaves a wet trail down my stomach, and it only makes me harder as she slides up and down my torso, seeking the friction she desperately needs. I find the nearest wall and turn us so that I take the force of the impact. I'm not gentle when I grab her hips, my fingers bruising her skin as I lift her, positioning her pussy over my cock, I thrust into her wet heat, until I'm met with resistance.
"Sam! Ah!” Esme whimpers then cries out in pain, her grip on my shoulders punishing as she uses her legs to lift herself up slightly, she winces uncomfortably, but she doesn't tell me to stop. I pause, alarmed with her reaction. It's then that I realize.
I grip her hips to stop her from moving. "Esme, am I the first man in this pretty pussy?” I ask with a soft smile, that I swear in this moment will only be preserved for her, and she gives me a tiny nod. “Why didn’t you tell me? I don’t want to hurt you," I say feeling crass for not considering that she might be untouched. I kiss her lips and press my forehead to her crescent moon tattoo. A reminder that she's been sheltered, kept hidden away by her Coven and then shipped to HellNight Academy. The beast in me is excited, thrilled to know that I'm the only one, but my Humanity cries out for her lack of experience in life. It’s not fair. I want to give her everything, but I can't bond with her for the first time like this, not when she's basically a virgin.
She casts her eyes down and I’m having none of that. “Esme, look at me,” I finally say when she doesn’t answer me right away. I wait patiently, not moving an inch, until she slowly raises her head, her eyes beseeching mine.
“I was going to tell you, but you kissed me, and I got lost in the moment.” She pouts, her voice small as she adjusts her hips around my waist, opening herself up further, taking more of me inside of her. “Sam.” She moans my name and I immediately move us toward the bed, wobbling like a fucking penguin with my joggers around my ankles. Laying her gently on the bed, her silver hair fans out around her head to form an angelic halo. My Angel, my gift from the Heavens. I lean down and kiss her as I ease out of her and my dick weeps, bereft at the loss of contact. I need to take this slow. Kicking my joggers off, I wrap my hands around her thighs and pull her to the edge of the bed.
"Sam, why—"
"Shhh. I don't get to fuck you like an animal against the wall, not yet anyway.” I wink and she smiles, reaching out for me and I can’t resist her touch as I lean over her once more. “You deserve for this to be done right, thoroughly." I pepper kisses over her neck and shoulder, loving how receptive she is as she squirms beneath me from my lips alone. I plant a final kiss between her breasts, revelling in the feel of her silky skin against my open-mouthed kisses. Getting lost in the lingering scent of cocoa butter, my mouth waters, before I drop to my knees.
Spreading her legs apart, the scent of her arousal and blood makes my nostrils flare. My Wolf stirs, unhappy with the prospect of hurting her in any way, needing, no, desiring to take care of his Mate. I surge forward, my fingers part her slick folds and I dive in, lapping up every drop of her sweet nectar and blood with my tongue. I lick tenderly, soothing away the pain that I caused, kissing it all better. I groan against her clit, taking it between my lips, I suck hard on her sensitive flesh.
"Sam! Oh, fuck. Sam!" The sound of her shouting as she bucks off the bed is like music to my ears. Esme’s hands are wrapped around my hair so tight, I'm sure I've lost a few strands, but I don’t care. She can ride my face like a cowgirl riding a bucking bronco or scalp me and I would take it any day to hear her scream my name.
"Cum for me, Angel." I flick her clit once more as she cries out, rewarding me with her release, thrashing wildly against my face. I lick and suck her as she rides out her orgasm until she’s whimpering and pleading for me to give her sensitive flesh a reprieve.
"Please, Sam." She pants heavily as I stand and grab one of her legs, wrapping it around my waist. "I need you. I need all of you."