Mistletoe and the Alpha's Sin

CHAPTER 4: HALFWAY ACROSS THE WORLD

LEV

I was drowning in her again, soft skin beneath my palms, her mouth parting against mine, breathy and desperate as she whispered my name. “Lev…”

My heart hammered as I pressed her closer, her fingers tangling in my hair. Heat burned through my veins as she trembled and gave in to me. “I love you-” I groaned against her lips, but instead of her voice came another that instantly dragged me out of the blissful haze.

My eyes snapped open to a blurred room, light filtering through the windows before my vision sharpened to find Wanda, my fiancé, looking at me with her bottom lip tucked between her teeth, a knowing smirk on her face.

“Are you-” she began, her gaze flickering to my bulge, but I didn’t let her finish. I stood and almost bolted to the bathroom, the familiar shame coiling in my stomach. “I need to take a leak.”

I didn’t wait for her reply and slammed the door shut behind me. Leaning over the sink, I turned the faucet and splashed water on my face, feeling it wasn’t cold enough. My pulse was still racing, my body continuing to overheat while the echo of the dream clung to my skin.

The doctor called it Lycanic Thermoregulatory Dysfunction, some abnormality in my autonomic system that caused episodic hyperthermia waves. But to me, it just meant hell.

“Damn it,” I muttered, stumbling toward the medicine cabinet. My hands shook as I yanked it open, pill bottles clattering to the sink. I didn’t bother with water. I threw two pills into my mouth and swallowed them dry.

They scraped the back of my throat, bitter and chalky, and I braced against the counter, chest heaving. The pills wouldn’t work fast enough. I needed an ice bath. But there was no time for that. I had a meeting in fifteen, plus I couldn’t move yet. Not until I wrestled the image out of my head, her face, her skin, the way she whispered my name.

She was the only trigger. The doctor said stress or emotions caused the episodes, but he was wrong. It was always Iva. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to force her away. But how could I, when she was also the only one who could calm my storm?

I was diagnosed with this weird condition shortly after turning eighteen, and whenever I'd be having an episode, all she had to do was walk into the room, and the burning would vanish.

My pulse would steady, and my lungs would unlock without her even touching me; just being near her calmed everything inside me. However, if she went away for too long, the episodes would start again the moment I began to miss her. She was my trigger and cure at the same time, which made no sense, just like everything else about us.

The bathroom door opened, snapping me out of the haze I was falling back into despite trying to fight it. I couldn’t move as soft, rushed footsteps approached. Wanda grabbed my arm and spun me around, her lips crashed into mine, hot, insistent, and hungry. I kissed her back. But it was hollow. Because it wasn’t her I wanted. It never was.

Still, this was my fault. So I played along. “I have a meeting in fifteen minutes,” I muttered against her lips, and she groaned in protest, forehead pressing to mine, as she whispered. “I’ll be quick.”

Of course, she wouldn’t listen. Her lips found mine, her hands moving hastily as she unbuttoned my pants before her knees connected with the cold tiles.

My back hit the wall as she took my c**k in her hands, her eyes finding mine with that familiar heat I'd gotten used to. Slowly, her lips wrapped around my c**k, and a throaty grunt tore from my chest as my fingers laced in her hair.

My eyes fluttered shut, and she disappeared as the face I had been trying to get rid of came flooding back like a dark reel… her lips… her breath.

A shaky breath tore through my throat, and my head tilted against the wall. Her desperate, choked breaths echoed against the tiles as I rammed her throat over and over, causing her to grip my thighs as she held on for dear life.

Another grunt vibrated across my chest as I emptied myself down her throat. But I wasn’t done, and neither was she. She was up on shaky knees in a frenzy, her lips still coated with my seed, crashing into mine. The sound of tearing fabric drowned her desperate moans as I ripped her dress open.

Bending her over, I rammed into her hard and fast, my hand firmly wrapping around her throat, causing her to gasp for air.

“f**k!” A growl ripped through my throat as I took her earlobe in my mouth, and it wasn't long before her body convulsed and an orgasm emptied her lungs. But I still wasn’t done and continued to f**k her into the wall she desperately clung to. Curses, grunts, moans, and the sound of skin colliding with skin filled the room as she met my thrusts halfway.

She was a panting, breathless mess as another orgasm ripped through her body. "I love you!" she exclaimed, head tilting as I fisted her hair and pulled her upright. Her back pressed against my chest, and my arm wrapped around her waist to hold her in place while her words brushed past me like ghosts.

I was still with Iva, her juices coating my c**k.

“f**k! I’m close.” Cursing through clenched teeth, I pushed her down again, ramming into her even harder, and it was as I exploded inside her that I returned… and I hated myself. My mind escaped to the first time Wanda caught me dreaming about Iva to remind me once more that I had created this.

I had been deep in sleep. In the dream, Iva was beneath me, her eyes glassy with need, breathless as I moved inside her. Everything felt too real, too good, and I’d whispered her name. The next thing I felt ware hands shaking me or rather hitting me.

FLASHBACK

“Lev! Lev, wake up!”

My eyes flew open to Wanda staring at me with horror and confusion. Her eyes weren’t on my face, though. They were on the undeniable evidence beneath the sheets.

“You called… Iva’s name. Why would-”

My heart stopped, and my throat closed as shame drowned me, but I didn't let her finish.

“It-it wasn’t like that,” I stammered for the first time in my life. “I was dreaming about you. You and I were making out…. and Iva walked in… that’s why I said her name. Because she interrupted us.”

She froze, and for a moment, I sat terrified she wouldn't believe me. But then she nodded, face softening.

END OF FLASHBACK

She believed me, but I couldn’t look at her for days after that, and since that day, the dreams never stopped. Only now, my mind was careful, as if it had learned the consequences.

I still dreamed of Iva, I still loved her in the dark, but I didn’t say her name anymore. My body did, though, and now, every time Wanda caught me like that, she wanted me. And I had to give in to conceal my sin.

I felt horrible because she didn’t deserve that. She was good to me, and she deserves my heart in return. But how could I give it to her when there was a gaping hole where it used to be?

Giggling, she turned to face me with that bright, familiar glow in her eyes, sweat beading along her hairline. Grabbing me by the shirt, she pulled me down into a slow kiss. “That was amazing," she whispered before kissing me again. “I love you,” she whispered into my mouth.

“I love you too,” I heard myself reply, my lips still pressed against hers. She pulled back just enough to brush a damp strand of hair off my forehead, her smile now crooked. “I’ll call your assistant,” she murmured. “Tell him to let Mr. Linden know you're on your way.”

“f**k!” Her words snapped me back, and I pressed a quick kiss to her lips before rushing into the adjoining bedroom. My office floor had a bedroom, not for comfort but for escape on nights I couldn’t go home. I'd work until I dropped and then crawl into bed… the perfect excuse.

Tossing my clothes aside, I jumped into the shower. I toweled off quickly and moved to the closet, pulling out a tux. My fingers flew over the buttons, guided by muscle memory, and just then, my phone started ringing on the dresser.

Before I could reach it, Wanda swept into the room and grabbed it.

“It’s your mom,” she said, looking at the caller ID.

“Please, answer it?” I muttered, and she put the phone on speaker. I only half listened until my mother's next words froze me in place. She said she was flying to Greysands.

My head snapped toward the phone.

Greysands? That was halfway across the world. And we had no business there. Why would she go there?