**Thalia’s POV**
I leaned back, and he immediately followed, letting his weight press into me as he relaxed into the kiss.
The edge of his wooden desk hit the back of my thighs, and I blindly grabbed it for support.
Noticing my struggle to stand, his palms moved from my waist to my hips as he effortlessly cupped my ass before placing me on top of the desk.
His movements were definitely rough and eager, but he wasn’t aggressive.
His tongue clashed against mine in a way that made my legs turn to water.
I could feel heat rising in places I thought were dead.
Adonis hadn’t touched me in a long time; even before his coronation I had been starved of affection, touch-deprived and desperately needy, especially during my heat cycles.
Now being kissed like this on a random Tuesday by an extremely gorgeous Alpha was sending signals to my brain.
“Thalia…” he groaned softly into my mouth.
I shifted, pressing my knee firmly against his manhood.
He hissed as the friction caught him off guard, his grip tightening.
With my legs wrapped around his waist, his hands began to roam my whole body like he was trying to memorize every curve and contour.
I couldn’t hold back anymore; my moans began to fill the room.
Every inch of my skin was on fire.
Why didn’t Adonis touch me like this?
Why wasn’t I loved like this?
The thought suddenly spiraled into something darker.
Dion never said he loved me either.
He had just spent the last hour pining over the ex-mate who betrayed him.
A cold splash of reality hit me.
I was just a placeholder, a distraction to pass the time.
That immediately cooled down whatever heat had been growing in between my legs.
Before his hands could slip beneath my top, I caught his wrist and slowly pushed him away.
He looked up, searching my face, but the sudden weight of my own insecurities was too heavy.
I couldn’t bring myself to meet his eyes, so I snapped my gaze away, staring at the floor.
“What’s wrong?
Did I…
I couldn’t tell him the truth.
I couldn’t admit I was terrified of being a temporary bandage for his broken heart.
So I lied.
“I’m tired,” I mumbled, gently pressing my palms against his chest to push him back as I slid off the desk.
“I need to rest for field duties tomorrow.”
”I don’t want you to leave,” he murmured just as my hand found the brass doorknob.
“Would you just stay?
Just…
next to me?”
There wasn’t any authority to his tone.
In fact, he stood there like a sick child calling out for his mother.
I could have easily walked out that door, closed it behind me, and kept playing our game of pretense.
But the truth was, I was completely tired of it all.
I nodded and walked back inside his chambers.
Avoiding the desk, I walked over to his chair, sank into it, and stared blankly at the crackling fireplace.
My lips still tingled from the kiss, and I didn’t want to wipe the sensation away.
Dion walked over, and for a second I thought he’d try to kiss me again, but instead he sat next to me and rested his head on my shoulder.
His body heat felt perfect next to mine, like the space was always meant for him.
I knew that by morning, everything would probably reset.
He’d put his cold mask back on, and we’d pretend tonight never happened.
So I leaned into him.
I rested my head on top of his red hair, breathing in his scent.
I could still hear the sound of the drums and flute outside.
I knew Natalie was probably searching every corner of the village for me, but I couldn’t bring myself to move.
Not when Dion fell asleep against me, not when I drifted off myself, and not even when I heard Dion’s chamber doors open and close later in the night.
I let the darkness wrap me, and while I slept, I could have sworn I heard Dion saying things, but I was too sleepy to understand anything he said. Read this novel at novelping.com for the best experience.
**DION’S POV**
I shouldn’t have touched her.
I don’t know what the fuck came over me.
I should have pushed her away and stood my ground.
She probably felt nothing but pity for me and kissed me just to shut my whining ass up.
“Dion, you stupid fool,” I muttered under my breath, drowning in self-loathing.
I turned toward the bed, where she was now curled up asleep.
The light from the moon flooded my room through the window and sat on her face.
She looked extremely peaceful as she slept, the complete opposite of how she was when she opened her annoying mouth.
That same mouth I had just devoured against mine.
My mind kept replaying that kiss like a broken disk.
I had no idea how I was supposed to act around her now.
I wanted to avoid her like I had done before, but I couldn’t, or rather, I didn’t want to.
I wanted to be beside her every damn second of the day.
I wanted to rest my head on her shoulder again and inhale her scent until it was the only thing my brain remembered.
“Fuck…” I swore under my breath.
This was exactly what I had tried to avoid.
This was what I feared most.
I was becoming weak and foolish all over again.
What if she didn’t want to be my second-chance mate?
What if she only kissed me out of pity?
What if her heart already belonged to someone else back in her home pack?
These questions surrounded my head every single time I thought about her, but that wasn’t even the part that scared me most.
It wasn’t the fact that I was already falling for her or that there was every possibility that she’d reject me.
The part that scared me was the fact that I was becoming territorial, angry, and upset when another male stood too close to her.
The real problem was that when the time finally came for her to leave this territory and go back where she belonged…
I wasn’t sure I’d have the strength to let her walk away.