Tangled
1111 Words
The drive home was a blur. So fast. But slower than my mind.
The exhilaration of my public triumph had curdled into a bitter cocktail of anxiety and confusion. I knew I shouldn't have gone to the pack.
I reached the mansion, rushed through a cold bath, poured myself a glass of water, and collapsed onto Lucian's bed.
Woah!
Everything suddenly felt wrong. Lucian, his bed, his house, the forced intimacy of his touch, the unexpected kiss with Kai – it all felt like a tangled mess of conflicting desires and consequences.
Oh my God!
Kai kissed me... If only I had waited. Maybe then... No. My jealousy had spurred his action, my game had worked.
But Lucian? The thought of his wrath chilled me to the bone. I had seen the rage in his eyes. He could banish his son; he would kill me.
How could I possibly navigate this treacherous path? As a stepmom to Kai, wife to Lucian, mate to Kai? In the same house? The absurdity of it all made me want to laugh and scream simultaneously.
I exhaled a shaky breath and closed my eyes, trying to find some respite from the storm raging within me.
Then, I felt a presence. A weight settlled beside me, its breath ghosting my ear. My mind screamed his name, Kai!
His scent, like wild earth and sun-warmed pine, filled my senses. I kept my eyes closed; if I looked at him, I knew I’d succumb.
My body betrayed my resolve. My thighs tightened, my throat constricted. My cheek flushed in heat. My p***y bulged heavily within as though something wanted to crawl out, or something needed to go in and scratch.
The longing that I had suppressed during my encounter with Lucian now swelled, like a desperate need to surrender. I kept my eyes closed.
"Esme," his voice was a low murmur, barely audible above the pounding of my heart. "Is it not too late?"
I felt his heart beating heavily against my back. He was scared.
I remained silent. My response was caught in my throat, tangled like the emotions warring within me.
“Am I late?” He asked again. This time, personal.
His voice held a hint of desperation, a vulnerability that chipped away at my carefully constructed walls.
"I don't know," I managed to whisper, my voice trembling. I rushed through the words.
"What do you want?" he asked.
Silence. Again.
"I know what I want," he said softly. "I know what my father wants. But what do you want, Esme?"
His words were a mirror reflecting my own indecision. "What do you want, Kai?" I finally managed to ask.
"I want you, Esme," he said in a swift response.
"You want s*x," I retorted. "The same way you took my father’s girlfriends and mistresses."
"This is different, Esme," he said and leaned closer to my ear.
As he leaned in, I felt more than his heart beat, I felt the building force in his pants, carefully positioned between my fleshy back cheeks. I huffed, letting out the heat within me.
"You're my mate, my own, my gift from the Moon Goddess, my queen."
He spoke from the range and his words suddenly became a balm to a wounded soul, soothing the sharp stings of the past rejections and making me want to ignore the conflict of my situation. The pain of his earlier rejection, the icy daggers of his scorn, began to thaw under the warmth of his claim.
I shrugged and he lifted himself. Then I turned, still closing my eyes. I felt him breathing. He was that close.
"I lied this morning," he confessed. "I saw that you didn't want him. You only want to punish me. Please, punish me on your terms, but don't let him imprint on you."
"And what should I do, mate?" I asked.
"Just watch me do my thing. Wait for me," he responded.
"He wants s*x," I whispered, speaking of his father.
“We won't let that happen,” he said.
Now I felt his lips on my nape. His rose tracing my skin to my cheek and finally, his lips met mine in a swift brush.
The world paused around me. He broke away. I thought that was all. Then he leaned in again for another kiss.
I missed the first one. I felt the second. His wet lips, his breadth, his hand on my cheek, the other on the unclothed part of my thigh.
A sudden swift motion, a silent closing of a door. The sound was sharp and absolute in the quiet room.
I lay there, alone. My thoughts went back and forth. Before I met Lucian, before I accepted Lucian's proposal, when I said yes to Kai's mating offer.
Then, "Esme?" Lucian's voice, a low rumble, cut through the tense silence.
Lucian!
I sat up, my heart leapt into my throat. Lucian was back. Was it all a dream? A fleeting fantasy born of desire and confusion? The sound of a hurried retreat outside – the unmistakable sound of Kai's flight – answered the question.
I confirmed that Kai was there.
"Welcome," I said, my voice steadier than I felt.
"Call me Lucian," he said, and even that was strangely difficult.
"Welcome, Lucian," I managed, a tight smile playing on my lips. There should be no penalty. I did what he wanted.
"Yes," he said, his eyes gleaming with primal hunger. Just like it was in the morning. "I want you to be acquainted with it. You will scream my name when we f**k. You'll spell it out. It's been a long time coming for me."
He started to undress. I never imagined he was that… vulgar.
A sudden, cold dread washed over me. The image of Kai with his face contorted with anguish flashed in my mind. This wasn’t a game anymore. That was my life on the line in a chaotic dance of love, betrayal, and lust.
He stripped to his boxers and started to walk toward me.
“Don’t stop me now, baby,” Lucian whispered.
He dipped his fingers in the helm of his boxers, about to pull it down.
My mind screamed a single word: Kai.
I needed him. To do what? I don't know. He told me to watch and wait, that he'd do his thing.
The door opened again in a swift motion.
Kai! My superman. What's the plot this time? I wondered.
Lucian barked. "Son, next time you come between me and my wife, I will kill you."
“Father, Esme is my mate,” Kai shouted.
"I know, son. I don't care.”
- Writer
