Through the Ether (Force of Nature Book 5) - Amber Lynn Natusch Page 0,72
you’re so far away.”
He didn’t move, so I slowly walked toward him.
“Mack’s guys were fine. No major injuries for you to deal with,” he said, jaw clenched tight as he spoke.
“That’s good, I guess…”
I kept approaching, and his body went rigid.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, though given the conversation I’d overheard, I had a pretty damn good idea.
“I just…”
“You’re worried.” Pain-filled eyes met mine. “You’re afraid that we’ll lose—that you’ll fail us. Fail me...” He nodded. I stopped right before him. “This power does not own you, Knox. Not when you have your pack to lean on. When you have me—and Merc, too. I know how scary it is to feel like you can’t control it, but you can because you have us.”
His eyes snapped shut and he inhaled sharply. When they opened, a slight golden hue stared back at me.
“It’s not as easy as you think—”
“And it’s not as hard as you assume,” I countered, placing my hand on his chest. I pulled on the tether that bound us and breathed a sense of calm and cooling into it. He exhaled hard, and his muscles loosened. “See? Not so bad.” My hand lingered against the thin cotton of his shirt, and I slowly traced the contours of his chest as I stared into his wolfish eyes.
“That will not help my control,” he said, his voice a low rumble.
At that, I smiled. “I know.”
“This isn’t the time,” Knox said as his hand slid around my back and pulled me closer, his actions in clear conflict with his words. His fingers trailed up my sides, taking the hem of my shirt along with them, and the press of him against my body told me he was more than ready to betray his sentiments.
And I was more than happy to let him.
“It’s the perfect time,” I whispered in his ear. Then I took a fistful of his blond hair and yanked it hard, craning his head back far enough to part us. He fought against my hold, and his warm yellow stare met mine full of hunger.
It was like a match to a powder keg.
It didn’t matter that the end was near, or that shit had gone sideways, or that a war we weren’t sure we could win would begin any minute. That death awaited us with open arms that we might not escape. That everything we’d worked so hard to secure could disappear in the blink of an eye. Because, in that fleeting moment, time stopped.
He tugged my pants down as I ripped his shirt over his head, need overriding any rational thought. We scrambled and clawed and grabbed until my back hit the wall and Knox thrust himself inside me. I cried out with the pressure, but the thick walls soaked up the sound. No echoes of our desire ricocheted through the training room to alert the others.
Or so it seemed.
As I clung to Knox, doing all I could to weather the storm he released, a shadow spilled into the room. One I recognized well. Merc’s silhouette of black-on-black lingered there for a moment, then took a step closer, into the light. My breath caught in my throat and my body went rigid, but Knox continued; whether he knew Merc was there or not was a mystery.
I felt embarrassment rise inside me, but it was dashed in an instant when Merc, in all his regalness, merely stepped further into the light of the room and nodded, that single, slow bob of his head reinforcing the agreement we all had. But it was the small tug at the corner of his mouth—the way he folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall to watch—that really made my insides warm and writhe.
“Do not stop on my account,” he said, voice rich and low and huskier than normal. “I can wait.”
Knox waited a moment longer before burying himself deeper inside of me. I gasped, and my eyes slammed shut as our bodies moved together. But when they opened again, all I could see was Merc staring at me from the far side of the room, hunger in his eyes. I fixed my gaze on him with equal intensity and never looked away. Not as Knox ground me against the wall. Not as he kissed his way down my neck. Not even as he pushed me over the edge and came inside me like a storm cloud opening, thunder rolling through my body like a violent wave.