I sigh. He doesn’t get it. He thinks I have some beef with Raphael and I want him to fuck that tension out of the air that’s hovering between us. As I’m lost in thought, Nakoa leans in close, wrapping an arm around my waist. I lean back and lie down beside him, our bodies pressed close together to stay warm. I hug him so tight, Nakoa slaps my back with a laugh. But then he grows silent when I don’t let go.
“I am your home,” I say, hoping to convey even a tiny amount of how much I love him, as a friend, as my pack leader, and most of all, as my brother.
“What does that mean?” he asks.
“It means we’re family,” I say, and he grumbles something like, “Okay, then say that you freak.”
But I don’t press it anymore. Nakoa falls asleep first. He’s rarely a deep sleeper, so I know the rain is doing something to him. It is to me, too, as well as the bone-deep knowing that I’ve found a part of my soul in Grace. To claim her… I never knew I could taste paradise, but I did. And I will, worshiping between her slick thighs for the rest of my days. Now it’s time for Raphael to admit it.
With Faith gone, Grace is barely holding on. She needs to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we will be her family forever now. That her sister didn’t die in vain, becausewewill avenge her.
“We are her home,” I murmur as I fade away. “And she is ours.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
GRACE
Asthestormclears,I work up the courage to start a conversation. We don’t have to be friends, but it sure would be nice to share more between us than stony silence after we made so much progress. The sun rises strong and proud, almost as proud as my alpha as I gaze down at him.
It wasn’t that long ago that I wanted to gouge these pretty eyes out of his head. And now here I am, kissing each eye lid as I coax him back to sleep from a nightmare.
“Ridiculous,” I murmur as I pull away, running from his suffocating scent.
I can’t stand it. I crave it. I don’t want to be forced back into heat.
“Wait!”
Suddenly, he has a vice grip on my wrist. He releases me slowly, turning me gently to face the cliff. Soaking wet, dark strands of hair curtain my vision as he pulls me into his chest.
I’m so tired of trying to piece together why he despises me. I just want to understand.
Why did you bring me here? So I can feel sorry for you? I sneer, glancing at the wreckage of the old airplane.
“I want you to understand me.” he pauses and licks his lips. “I want you to want me too.”
“You’re not the hero of this story, so stop pretending.”
“I don’t have to be. I am the villain. You know this, and I know that too.
“So fall from grace with me, my omega. Be a good girl, and rule this island beside me, beside us, as our queen.”
But as the storm clears, and he kisses me tenderly, I realize my alphas haven’t just taken my body hostage…
He’s taken my heart hostage, too.
I’ll be your shelter from the storm.
Raphael’s words rattle me more than I care to let on. I don’t understand how he has this effect on me. He’s the same monster that trapped me in this inescapable Bond. And yet he’s the same man that saved me from a fate worse than death. The duality of those opposing truths only seem to wreck them themselves themselves when he has his knots, fucking me deep and hard so that all my common sense is gone.
So what excuse do I have right now as he holds me tight to keep me warm in a non-sexual embrace for my heart to flutter. Who or what can I blame for the way I snuggle deeper?
He twirls a soaked strand of my hair around his finger, before cupping my chin. Raphael presses his thumb against my bottom lip until I’m sucking the tip. I twirl my tongue around the edge, reaching up slowly to dig my nails into his wolf cut.
You’re not in heat, he whispers, as if that will stop us or me.
I’m aware, I attempt to joke at the same time he pulls his thumb out and strokes my swollen lip.
His gaze is intoxicating, icy blue eyes melting into something so warm and soft I can’t help but sigh.