The heavy click of the door latch was the only signal Malphas needed. The moment the outsiders were gone, the Alpha’s restraint snapped. He didn't move with the measured grace of Fenris; he moved with the sudden, possessive strike of a predator.
He lunged forward, his massive, scarred arms hooking around Rhiannon’s waist and hauling her flush against his bare chest. Rhiannon gasped as the air was squeezed from her lungs, her hands instinctively flying up to rest against the hard, hot plane of his torso. Malphas didn't care for the "fluidity" of training or the etiquette of the North; he buried his face in the crook of her neck, his nostrils flaring as he inhaled her scent- wildflowers and damp earth, now tainted by the sharp copper of her blood.
Then, he licked.
His tongue, rough an
