In a primal world that favors the strong and punishes the weak, Aria knew that her family's pack would not survive long when her father's health began to fail. Her fears come to life when the Intonat Nocte Pack attacks, demanding that they surrender...
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| ARIA |
My mind reeled. Heat scorched my neck, my cheeks.
Moments ago, Malik stormed past me and shut himself behind the sliding barn door across the room, but I still couldn't move. I felt my heartbeat in every corner and chasm of my body— thumping between my ears, pounding against my ribcage, pulsing at the apex of my thighs...
I clamped my eyes shut, and the image of my mate standing naked in the doorway played in my mind.
Malik was beautiful.
Not in the conventional standard. Not like the boys I'd entertained feelings for throughout my adolescence, with perfect hair and finely cut, picturesque muscles.
No, Malik couldn't be compared to those boys.
He looked like a god. One of the great warriors that served the Moon Goddess—that warmed her bed and tore cities down in her name. He could've been plucked from the heavens, and I wouldn't have blinked an eye.
He reminded me of a grizzly bear in stature. The sheer size of him—all of him-- should've frightened me. Instead, my blood raced with pride and possession and need.
Dark hair dusted his impossibly long legs, padded in thick muscle that stretched and shifted with each movement. In fact, muscle covered every inch of his body, from the bulk of his shoulders to the ridges lining his torso, although his stomach held a natural softness, too. His muscle had been earned in battle. It was real.
And the rest of him...
I hadn't allowed myself to study the rest of him. Not like I truly wanted to.
I almost groaned at the memory of that part of him. Dark hair trailing down from his navel. A thick rod hanging half-limp from his groin, lengthening and stiffening with every passing second. A darker, bulbous head bobbing up and down as he strode past me.
A fresh wave of arousal rushed to my center, and I clenched my thighs tight.
Goddess, I'd never felt anything like it but recognized it as my body's natural response to its fated partner. I wanted more. Wanted relief for the liquid heat that pooled at my apex. But Malik was gone. Shut away behind that sliding door, and I didn't have the courage to follow.
Then, as if summoned by my thoughts alone, the door flew open. It rattled, the walls shaking from the force.
I gasped, then my lungs stopped functioning properly as Malik prowled toward me once again. His one functioning pupil expanded, and electricity prickled down my spine. This male was a predator, far more formidable than any other I'd faced, but I knew in my gut that I was safe.
I barely had time to register the large swell within the confines of his gray sweatpants before his hands landed on my waist. Hard. Unrelenting.
One moment, I stood in the center of his kitchen. The next, he had me hoisted up against the white countertop, pushing my legs open to stand between them. Like instinct, my thighs parted to accommodate him, and a solid mass pressed hot against the seam of my denim. I steadied myself with my hands on the cool marble, bracing against the weight of him.
