Page 49 of Shades of Scars

She starts to call after me, but I flip her off over my shoulder without looking back. “See yourself out, Raven. You are not going to ruin the day I have planned.” I slam the door of my office shut with that, flicking the lock for good measure.

Hopefully, by the time I cool off and come back out, she’ll be gone and Caito will be here with our beautiful omega. It’s the only thing that will ever matter to me. It’s about damn time that I accept that.

No matter how much it hurts.

30

Scarlett

Slowly, my eyelids flutter with the soft brush of warm, calloused fingers against my brow. At first, I didn’t want to wake up. I’m warm, cocooned by the scent of an irresistible alpha. Winter Evergreen and rich, dark chocolate. It’s tantalizing enough that it makes my stomach grumble.

“Open those beautiful eyes,mo chroí. I miss you.” The sexy rumble of his sleep drenched voice is everything I didn’t know I’d been missing. I’ve been waking up alone for longer than I can remember. Even back then…henever let himself or the others stay with me longer than necessary.

Not that I’d wanted them to.

I squeeze my eyes closed tighter against the assault of memories, sucking in sharp breaths of air to help steady my racing pulse. Caito is patient with me. So damn patient. He continues to stroke my brow, my cheeks, my jaw, until the grip my anxiety holds on my heart ebbed. It will never truly vanish. I’ll never really be free. If, somehow, these alphas do manage to break the bond that’s held me prisoner for longer than I care to admit, I’m not sure that will be the end.

Sometimes, the scars we carry are just far too deep to heal.

I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to be the omega they all deserve.

“I’m OK.” I assure him, but I say the words for me, too. Finally, I open my eyes. Dark, raw uncut emeralds glint back at me under the soft light coming in through the window above my nest. We’re wrapped up in each other. He’s sprawled back comfortably against my mass of Pack Madden gifted stuffed animals, and I am tucked up against his chest on my belly.

“You are perfect.” The manner in which he says those words makes me ache in all the best ways.

“And you are still here.” I can’t help myself. I press a kiss to his scarred, chiseled chest. A fine dusting of hair a tad bit darker than the strands on his head and beard, tickle my cheeks when I nuzzle against him. He’s like a work of art, scars and all. My finger tip traces the scar he showed me the day before, but he doesn’t flinch like I’d half expected him to.

So, I move on. I explore, my fingers dancing over every blemish and mark that decorates his body. Some are cleverly hidden by swirls of colorful ink, while others are older and far too faded to make out, unless you’re paying attention.

With every new scar I discover, I feel that all too familiar emotion clogging my throat. He’s absolutely beautiful. Stunning in every way. If a man like Caito Archer can withstand the brutality clearly etched across his skin, I feel like I owe it to myself to do the same. I want to overcome every dark moment that has defined my life up until this point.

“I want to be happy.” I murmur softly, looking back up to find him watching me. He’s so damn relaxed. There isn’t an ounce of shame or hurry in his expression as his gaze holds mine. “I want to be free.”

He doesn’t say anything. Instead, he tangles his fingers in my wild, bed rumpled hair, and pulls me up until our lips collide. The kiss is everything. He uses his lips and tongue to tell me all the things my heart yearns to hear.You are free. You are mine. I am yours. Together, we are invincible.It’s like his soul ischanting those words back to me. We are dancing together over an open pit of molten lava. One wrong move, and it could mean the end of us.

This is what freedom feels like. This is what it feels like to be loved. I know it now more than I’ve ever known anything.

We pull apart, and it’s much too soon. The rough pad of his thumb brushes against the corner of my kiss swollen mouth. I can taste him on my tongue. Like the best damn scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream I’ve ever had. I wonder if he’ll let me suck his dick dry until I’m full on the flavor of his hot cum.

I start to do just that, reaching for the front of his boxers where he’s already straining for me, but he stops me by wrapping his free hand around my wrist. “As much as I want to keep you in this nest all day, making you scream my name until the entire neighborhood knows who you belong to, we have other plans. The surprise.” I know he’s exercising all of his will power right now to keep me from touching him. It’s just as much a shock to me as it is to him, I think.

For the first time in my life, I pout. In a decidedlyveryomega move, I puff out my bottom lip and give him my best puppy dog eyes. Seriously, I probably look deranged, but I damn near died when he tips his head back and laughs.

Fuck, he looks like an angel wreathed in a fiery halo. The sunlight from the window catches in the strands of his hair and highlights the fine dusting of it along his jaw.Ethereal.

I want to spend the rest of my life listening to that laugh.

“Do it again.” I breathe, lifting my hand and brushing it against the hard lines of his face when he looks back down at me. I prop myself up so I can get a better look at him, and those emerald irises darken further when my breasts bounce free from the sheet I have wrapped around me.

Yeah. I’m completely naked.Whoops.

“You are going to be the death of me, omega.” He growls, and then he’s tugging his boxers down, freeing his massive cock from the confines of the tight fabric. His scent swirls stronger in the nest around us, my perfume exploding out to join in the mix when I get an eyeful of the glorious knot he’s sporting for me already.

I can already feel the burn of the stretch when I slide down his length, and I haven’t even gotten there yet. Before he can grab me to haul me up to his mouth like I know he wants to, I dive for his dick like an omega possessed. “Fuuuuck.” He hisses out the word right as I latch onto him.

I groan in ecstasy while lapping up the bit of pre-cum that coats the tip of his cock. My tongue swirls and slips between the slit, making sure I get every last drop. There is a frenzy in me now. One that is quickly becoming hard to handle the more I get of him on my tongue.

He doesn’t have time to say or do anything else before I swallow him down, all the way to his knot. I groan again when my lips touch his pulsing knot, my teeth scraping against the edges of it dangerously. He curses again, his hips jerking up in shock. I love the feel of him stretching my throat. I fucking love the way his hips buck erratically with each glide of tongue and teeth against all the sensitive parts of him.

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