I knew what he needed, because I needed it too. He slid his legs beneath mine and I rose up, spreading my legs and curling them around his waist. As he held me steady, he slid me down, sheathing himself deep inside me as I straddled him. Water sluiced off his arm as he raised a hand and gently smoothed back my hair.
We fit.
He throbbed inside of me as the warmth of the bathwater joined with the heated juices between my legs, enveloping us both.
"Abby," he whispered my name against my forehead as he held me close.
This. Just this. Bas impaled deep inside me. There was no urgency. Not yet. Just absolute intimacy as our bodies joined and locked together. He kissed me and placed his hands on the top of my head, smoothing down my hair and gently pulling it away from my face. I tilted my head up toward his, and his eyes shone with desire and affection.
I loved him.
The thought came unbidden, sending a new wave of heat through me. I turned it over in my mind, weighing it, considering. It was simple with Bas when it shouldn't have been. But, there it was. I felt his absence as a physical loss, like a craving. And when he was here, with me, our bodies locked, desire and calm seemed to flood through me. He affected my mood, my pulse, my very being. I brought my hands up, wiping away tiny droplets of water that beaded his forehead. Fully drenched, his hair hung long past his shoulders in thick auburn waves.
I loved him. Simple. Pure. Impossible.
It was on my lips to say it, but something stopped me. Maybe it was the years of drama and upheaval growing up with my mother's bad decisions. Maybe it was the growing conflict between Bas's interests and what I might need for the future I'd worked so hard for. I could say it was common sense, but that wasn't it. Not even close. Because in spite of everything, Bas made sense. He was for me. He was mine. And I felt like his.
Bas's eyes grew inquisitive, he cocked his head. I knew he saw something in my eyes as he held me. But, he didn't ask the question. If he had, I wouldn't have lied. Connected as we were, I think he knew I wasn't ready to tell him. Not yet. So, he lowered his chin and caught my bottom lip between his teeth. Then, slowly, all questions went out of his head and mine as I swayed beneath the water and thrust my hips.
Bas let me set the pace. He held me in place with his broad hands spanning my hips. I began my slow undulation, splashing water over the sides of the tub. The pleasure point deep within me grew, until every cell, every pore cried out for the release only Bas could give me. He let me take it. As he held me steady and kissed me. A starburst of pleasure speared through me as my orgasm hit. Bas was strong and hard and filled me deep. I felt the first jerking tremors inside me as Bas's own crescendo began. But, he had tremendous self-control. He held me as I threw back my head and let the orgasm ripple through me.
As I crested down, he shifted, getting his legs under him. He kept me locked around him as he went up on his knees. I tried to wrap my legs around his hips; my muscles seemed like rubber. Instead, he held me spread wide with one leg over the side of the tub, the other balanced on his hip. From this angle, he could penetrate me even deeper. I clung to him, folding myself around the core of his need. And he spent himself. Hard and hot, spreading me, filling me, completing me as I cried out his name.
Chapter Nineteen
I slept in longer than I had in years. My head was clouded and groggy as I finally rolled over and looked at my phone on the bedside table. It was nearly ten o'clock.
"Good morning, sleepy head," Bas said. He looked like he'd been up for hours. I peeked at him through a vee in my fingers, shielding my eyes against the morning light stabbing through the window blinds. I laid on my stomach, my ass high in the air, the blankets twisted around my legs. We'd made a wreck of them
"It's your fault," I said, my voice scratchy and deep. It was. The bathtub had just been the start. We'd made love over and over, long into the night until early morning. Impossibly, I rose to it each and every time. As my heart began to belong to Bas, so did my body. And he took every opportunity to claim it.
He leaned forward and gave me a playful swat on the ass that sent a wave of stinging pleasure shooting through me. God. If he wanted, I knew I could rise to him yet again. I'd lost count of how many times we'd fucked already.
"You game for an adventure?" he asked, wagging his eyebrow playfully.
"Are you kidding? How much more adventuresome do I have to be? We tried things last night I think would make a porn star blush."
Color flashed in Bas's cheeks. "Hmm. And here I thought I was just getting you warmed up."
He sat on the bed with enough force to make me bounce a little. Leaning down, he kissed the back of my neck. With great effort and aching muscles, I managed to turn to my back. Bas ran a hand up my thigh and reached out to tweak my nipple. Just that tiny touch, a claiming that sent a thrill of excitement through me once again.
"Sort of a road trip, actually. Except, without the roads."
"Huh?"
"The pack needs to move. For a few days at least. Deeper into Wild Lake lands. I've got some business to handle. You up for it?"
I sat up. "Are you kidding? You mean travel with the pack? How does that work? Dogsled?"
Bas narrowed his eyes and gave my nipple a pinch in response to my sarcasm. I squealed and swatted his hand away. He leaned down to kiss me, and all was forgiven.
"Not quite. We'll travel on all fours. You'll have wings . . . er . . . blades, anyway. Ever taken a chopper ride?"
"Uh. No."
"It's a short trip. You'll go up with Callum. You'll literally be up and down. I bet you've never seen Wild Lake from the air."
"Actually, I haven't. But, what's up? Is there trouble?" I didn't want to pry, but I knew something was brewing. Bas wasn't stupid, and Foster was a threat. I felt like an ass keeping quiet about what little I knew, but Bas seemed at peace with it for now.
"Nothing immediate," he said. "Can you be ready in ten minutes? You can take your breakfast to go."
Then, Bas was up. I found the strength to move my stiff muscles and padded to the bathroom. It was still a wreck from last night's adventures with melted candle wax and towels wadded on the floor where we tried to dry everything. I had just a few minutes to scrape the fuzz off my teeth and throw on a pair of jeans and a Wild Lake Outfitters t-shirt before Bas bellowed from downstairs.
It was time to go.
We drove out to a small helicopter pad on the north edge of the property. Callum already had the bird fired up. My blood hummed with excitement. Part of it was the promise of the adventure of the copter ride. But, something else brewed as well. The pack assembled, and I sensed the thrum of anticipation bleeding through them. Bas was anxious to be on the move. He helped me into the waiting helicopter and gave a wave to Callum.
"It's an easy ride," Callum yelled over the roar of the motor. "Strap in and enjoy it. I'm about to show you something special."
Then we rose slowly, leaving Bas and the others below. Callum hovered over the tree line. Bas and the rest of the pack shifted in unison, making me gasp at the violent speed at which they managed it. Callum grinned from ear to ear beside me and I saw the strain on his own muscles as the pack's movements seemed to affect him. A flash of panic went through me as I hoped he could control himself. If he went wolfish in midair, we'd be fucked.
But Callum kept his composure and skillfully maneuvered the copter over the trees, hovering low enough that I could follow the movement of the pack. And then I understood. It wasn't just the novelty of seeing Wild Lake from the air. I was awestruck watching the pack in formation. They moved in a way I didn't expect.
Seth took the lead, setting the pace for the others, and I immediately understood why. At a good thirty years older than Bas, he didn't have the strength and speed his Alpha did. The pack moved only as fast as Seth could so he wouldn't get left behind. Though it had only been a few hours since I met them all at once, I had already begun to recognize them in their wolf form. I wondered if it that was part of the growing preternatural connection I had with their Alpha. Alec, Connor, and Eli formed the outer flank of the group. The youngest and smallest, Aaron and Ben stayed in the center of the pack, the most protected position in case of danger. My heart stuttered thinking about what that danger might be.
Bas took a lone position in the rear and slightly behind the rest of the pack. From there, he could watch the pack as a whole, positioned for ultimate threat assessment.
The pack moved swiftly, through open fields and the denser forest, veering off course just once as Seth caught the scent of a whitetail deer, Callum explained. Callum peeled off as they stalked the deer, careful not to spook it. His wolf eyes flashed and he licked his lips as the pack transmitted their bloodlust to him on some telepathic channel.