Providence

Grateful

Derrick pulled up to the front of a nice-looking hotel, not a dank and dingy drive-in motel like Seren had been worrying over for the last hour or so after the sun had fallen out of sight. The alpha would not risk any danger to his small party in this unknown territory. Her thoughts drifted back to when she had been forced to flee his own land and her terrifying run-in with Donovan's beta, Cairo, in the woods behind that dirty excuse of a building. These images were new to Liam, who pulled her close to him as they approached the desk, more guilt flooding through their connection. 

Enough, Liam. What is done is done. I was not hurt that night. 

His eyes spoke of a different opinion. I still cannot believe his men put you in a cell...

What did you do with your rogues? With me? Though it was not so much as a cell as a storage room. She imagined that Liam was a bit too honorable to put a captured female in an unacceptable place, especially wounded. That thought made him feel only slightly better.

Liam was silent and brooding again as they approached the clean, black-tiled desk with a tidy, albeit sleep-deprived, woman behind. She gladly took their request for two rooms and passed over key cards.  

They walked together down the long hallways of doors, Derrick making remarks about the pool and his desire to get in the hot tub before turning in for the night. This stirred up the briefest of primal thoughts from the alpha, his eyes sliding over to his mate and following the curves of her form. Not even forty-eight hours of pure sprinting would make the man in him too tired to feel lust. 

Seren fixed her gaze on the writhing muscles of his forearm that moved the black ink covering his skin as he pushed the key into the slot.

As soon as the door to the room opened and the scent of store-bought sheets and vacuumed floors assaulted them, Seren was soaring through the air to land face-down on the bed. Liam chuckled, dropping the bags on the floor.

"Tired are we?"

"Mhmph," she agreed, not moving her face from the duvet. 

He flopped down ungracefully beside her and let out a beastly groan, a giant, calloused hand finding the back of her neck. It was cool on her skin and the slow movements of his thumb pad at the base of her scalp was simply wonderful. 

"We cannot go to bed so early, my dear. We are finally away from the pack, no interruptions. It's just you and me," he rumbled, pulling her closer. 

Her body responded immediately to his proximity and their bond thrummed and pulsed with sensations that coiled downwards. "But I told you that I'm on my..."

"Not that. I will wait until you tell me that you want me. One day you will," he whispered, propping himself up to lean over her so that his lips brushed against hers as he spoke. "One day very soon you will decide that you desire for me as much as I desire you. You will be so ready that you won't be able to stand it. I will happily satiate your hunger, little wolf. But know this, I will make you beg me for it first." His grin was predatory and full of promise. 

Seren squirmed against him purposefully, making his eyes go dark. Her fingers folded around the collar of his shirt and she pulled herself up off the bed slightly. "You and I both know that when I'm ready, you will be panting like a dog. I don't think you will be the one in charge of the situation," she boasted. 

With a growl, he took possession of her mouth to show her who was dominant but felt her smirk slightly. 

See? So impatient.

His hand slid to her hips and he quickly rolled to the side, hoisting her on top. Seren leaned back, blinking at him lazily. 

"Show me," he said, his voice like thunder in the distance.