Captive Mate - Eliot Grayson Page 0,39

for a second before he looked back at me. My mouth opened to retort, but he beat me to it. “And maybe I’m doing a shitty job, okay? But I’m trying.”

Trying? He was trying? Fucking awesome. That and five bucks would get me a latte.

My hands were still on his chest, my fingers digging in. He hissed in pain as my rage started to trigger my shift and my claws came out, puncturing his shirt and drawing beads of blood from his skin.

“Don’t push me,” he growled, leaning in until his lips were a breath away from mine. “I’m sorry you didn’t have anywhere to go but the Kimballs. I’m sorry you — none of what Taft did to you was your fault, even remotely. But Nate never did half the shit you did, even when he didn’t have any good choices to make. The only person he hurt was himself.”

I shoved again, twisting my body to try to throw him off, and he lunged forward, pinning me to the wall with his hips. He was hard again. Fuck, it seemed like he was always hard when he was pressed against me.

And this time, I wasn’t afraid of him — I was furious, my pulse racing and my blood pumping through me and making me ready to fight or to fuck. Every inch of me lit up, my cock pushing up to meet his. Fuck, I hated alphas. I forced my claws in deeper, blood dripping down his chest — and he closed the tiny gap between our mouths, slamming his down over mine.

This time it didn’t hurt. It didn’t feel wrong. It felt like he was drawing out every one of my secrets, every one of my fears, and swallowing them down, leaving nothing but longing and need in their place.

One of his hands came up to wrap around the back of my neck and he held me still, thrusting his tongue into my mouth and devouring me. His alpha heat was almost too much, searing me from the inside, like his cock would if he threw me down on the bed or the floor, or turned me and shoved me face-first against the wall and took me then and there…

And if he had, right then I wouldn’t have wanted to stop him.

I wrenched my head to the side, breaking the kiss with the last of my willpower. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t give in to this, take the path of least resistance, let my frustration and my body’s weakness and need take over like this. I knew what happened when an alpha took what he wanted.

“Stop,” I gasped, even as my hips surged up to meet his. “I’m not doing this. You’ll take — everything. I didn’t escape Parker to end up like this.”

He froze in place, like I’d turned him to stone with a particularly fucked-up bit of magic. The hand on my waist gripped me so hard I knew I’d have bruises.

“I’m not him,” he said, very low. I felt the brush of his lips against my cheek as he spoke, and those feather-light touches sent shivers all the way down to my toes. “I’m not — fuck. I want you. And I want what’s best for my pack. But that’s not why he — I’m not him.” Matthew pulled back, only his hands still on me. He was breathing hard, his lips parted and his face still flushed. But he pulled back. “Arik, let me show you I’m not him.”

“You said you’d enjoy it. Fuck, Matthew, you — you said you’d enjoy it,” I repeated desperately, as the hand behind my neck tangled in my hair, tugging with enough force to hold me, but not enough to hurt me. “You’d enjoy — mating me whether I wanted it or not.”

I squirmed in his grasp, and he let out a helpless moan and bent to press his lips to my neck, worrying a tiny bit of my flesh between his lips. My head tipped back against my will. I was baring myself to him — submitting to him, and I couldn’t seem to stop myself.

“I like the way you say my name.” He moved an inch to the left, latching on and flicking my skin with his tongue. He pressed kisses along my collarbone and then lifted his head, looking me in the eyes. His were dilated, glowing faintly, and — completely sane.

He was in control, and that maybe scared me more than insanity would