Page 26 of Kept
Above him, Kade was falling apart. All control abandoned. Pure animal.
"Can't—watching you—fuck?—!"
One final slam forward, grinding deep, and Kade was coming.
The first pulse of heat made Eli's eyes fly wide. But it didn't stop. Kept coming, flooding into him. He could feel it painting his insides, claiming him from within, and still it kept coming.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Kade snarled with each pulse.
The knot ensured nothing escaped. Eli felt himself filling up, stomach beginning to round. Should have been alarming. Instead it sent aftershocks through him. He was being bred. Marked. Claimed so thoroughly it felt like he'd never be empty of Kade again.
When it finally stopped, they were both destroyed. Kade collapsed forward, barely catching himself. Harsh pants against Eli's neck. Aftershock groans.
"Never came that hard," Kade muttered, voice wrecked.
Eli could only make weak sounds. Every part of him was claimed—stretched around Kade's knot, filled with his come, marked inside and out. His body thrummed with oversensitivity, every heartbeat making the knot pulse inside him.
Twenty minutes at least. That's how long they'd be locked together. Twenty minutes of this overwhelming fullness, overwhelming tenderness. The thought should have terrified him. Instead, it made him clench again, drawing a groan from Kade.
Kade's hand cupped his face with impossible care. The contrast—that gentle touch while his knot kept them locked in the most primal way—made Eli's chest tight with emotion he wasn't ready to name.
"Look at me, baby," Kade murmured.
Eli's eyes fluttered open. The expression on Kade's face stole his breath. Wonder. Possessiveness. And underneath, something that looked dangerously close to forever.
Their lips met soft and slow. Nothing like before. This was Kade's tongue sliding against his with devastating care, tastingtheir combined wildness but offering something more. A promise.
The knot pulsed between them. Every shift sent aftershocks through Eli's system. Kade swallowed each moan like they were precious, like he'd never get enough.
Outside, wolves howled their triumph. The wild night continued rolling on.
But here, locked together in the most intimate way possible, Eli had found exactly where he belonged.
12
Eli pushed openthe front door, inhaling lemon polish and fabric softener. The house looked pristine as always—vacuum lines fresh in the carpet, family photos arranged perfectly on the mantle. Anyone passing by would only see suburban normalcy at its finest.
His fingers traced the smooth bannister. How many times had he gripped it white-knuckled, fleeing upstairs? The wood bore no marks. Scott had always been careful about appearances.
A smile tugged at his lips. The fear that once lived in his bones had melted away, replaced by something warm and unshakeable. The bite mark on his neck pulsed gently—constant reminder that he belonged somewhere now.
With someone.
He climbed the stairs, each step lighter than memory suggested possible. His old bedroom door opened silently on well-oiled hinges. Navy bedspread tucked with military precision. Desk cleared of everything but a lamp. Like a museum exhibit of a life lived in careful quietness.
Eli knelt by the closet, pulling out the shoebox hidden behind winter boots. Inside lay his real treasures—grandfather's pocket watch, a few photos from before everything went wrong. Things small enough to hide, precious enough to risk keeping.
The house felt empty. His mother's car wasn't in the driveway—probably at her book club or coffee meetup, one of those carefully scheduled activities that kept her out of the house when things got difficult. She'd perfected the art of casually being absent.
Part of him had wondered if she'd be here. If maybe she'd want to see him, to say something. But her absence felt right somehow. The goodbye between them had been said across years of turned backs and deaf ears, of "you know how your stepfather gets" and "if you'd just try harder not to upset him…”
Heavy footsteps echoed through the house. The front door closed with controlled force.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Scott's voice carried up the stairs, sharp with that particular edge of a man whose authority had been challenged. Twenty years out of the military, but still acting like everyone should snap to attention when he walked in a room.
Eli continued transferring items to his backpack, movements calm and unhurried. His heartbeat stayed steady even as the footsteps approached.
