Coming in from the garage, I used my elbow to flick the kitchen lights on as my hands were full with grocery bags. Cole followed close behind me carrying the rest of them though, which saved me having to make two more trips at least.

The brothers had been walking back up the driveway when I’d pulled in with the groceries, and Vali had gone upstairs to shower. He was dripping wet and muddied and neither him nor Cole had looked particularly happy, so my guess was that their dragon session had ended in an argument of some sort.

“So what happened, mate?” I asked Cole as we placed the bags on the counter and began unpacking them. “You push him in a muddy lake or something?”

Cole just grunted, but a small smile pulled at his mouth. “Something like that.”

My mouth tightened, and I considered whether to laugh or chastise him. If it had been warranted, I would have been all for the little scuffles he and Vali had been getting into while Kit wasn’t watching, but that was the problem. They weren’t warranted. Vali, for all his faults, really seemed to be trying, and Cole was having a bloody hard time accepting his brother back into his life.

“You’re going to have to give it up sooner or later, Drake.” I folded my arms and stared him down. “Like it or not, he’s been chosen by Kit as a dianoch. If he accepts the bonding, which we both know he will, then you two are going to be around each other for a very long time to come.”

“He might not accept,” Cole muttered, his face like a thunderstorm and his voice like gravel.

“Don’t be bloody stupid, mate. He’s in love with her just the same as the rest of us. Are you really so blinded by your old hatred that you can’t see that?” I resisted the urge to whack him around the head, but sometimes I swore he was being deliberately obtuse.

“He might not be,” my friend stubbornly replied. “He hasn’t made any attempts to make a move on her romantically.”

“Fuck, you’re dumb sometimes,” I told him with a glare. “I couldn’t say for sure, but I’d hazard a guess that he’s holding out until the two of you are okay again.”

Turning away from my bullheaded team member, I took the commercial-sized bag of coffee over to the machine and paused when I saw what was going on outside.

Bleeding Christ.

At twenty-six years old, I was no blushing virgin, but I couldn’t remember ever being so quick to arousal as I had been since meeting Kit. I was hard in a matter of seconds, watching her perched on the edge of the hot tub with Wesley’s blond head buried between her thighs.

“Fuck,” Cole swore, seeing exactly what I was seeing. “Lucky fucker.”

I snorted a laugh, adjusting myself so I wasn’t standing there with a damn tent in my slacks, then winked at Cole when he needed to do the same.

For a long moment, neither one of us spoke.

Kit was seated on the corner of the hot tub, her back leaning on a pillar so she was facing us directly. Not that she’d noticed though, as her eyes were firmly fixed on Caleb, who was in the opposite corner with his own dick in hand.

Fuck.

Arousal surged hotter inside me, and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself from going out there and joining in. Shit, if it had been Cole or even Cal with his fingers inside my Kitten’s cunt, his lips on her clit, I wouldn’t have spared a second’s indecision. But it was Wes, and he had never participated in a threesome... to my knowledge. Let alone any more than a threesome.

So instead, we stood inside the kitchen and watched like hungry wolves.

When she came, screaming her release with her taut breasts heaving and glistening, it was only with my carefully practiced control that I was able to maintain my dignity.

“Fuck this,” Cole muttered. “This is torture far worse than anything I’ve done in the past. I’m going to bed to beat one out. See you in the morning, Alpha.”

He clapped me on the shoulder as he left the kitchen, but I couldn’t tear my attention away from the scene in the hot tub. I always had been a bit of a voyeur, so this was nothing new for me. My only twinge of guilt was that Wesley might object to me watching, but as he and Kit switched positions, he clearly saw me.

I tensed—preparing to leave—but after a moment, his head dropped back against the pillar in ecstasy while his erect dick disappeared into Kit’s perfect mouth.

Bloody hell, that’s hot.

Why I did this to myself, I had no idea. I was constantly testing the limits of my own control, always pushing the line to reaffirm my grip.

Contrary to what I suspected Kit thought, I truly had no idea what I would become after she changed me. But I knew it was something wild, ferocious, and above all, fucking straight-up dangerous. It had always been with me in the back of my mind for as long as I could remember.

As a child, my control had been weak, and I’d let it guide my actions, which had landed me in military school in the first place. A blessing in disguise, as that was where I’d met Cole, but also where I’d perfected the mental cage that I kept it captive inside.

Control was my only constant. It was my salvation from myself, and I was terrified to consider what might happen if—when—Kit finally broke that cage apart.

So there I stood torturing myself in the most exquisite way, forcing myself to hold control while I watched my girl suck my teammate’s cock, working him into a frenzy then swallowing his load.

Shit.

The creature in my mind threw itself at its bars over and over, demanding to be let out, as it had been doing more and more often lately. I knew I couldn’t hold him forever, but I could appease him—and me—for a little while.

Turning away from the scene in the hot tub, I meticulously unpacked the rest of the groceries and prepped the coffee machine for the morning. Through the house, I heard the sounds of Kit, Wesley, and Caleb coming in from the hot tub, laughing and joking with one another as they made their way to their separate bedrooms to dry off and change.

The one good thing about this mansion that we were hiding in was that there were plenty of bedrooms, so no need to try and coordinate who would be sharing Kit’s bed every night. On the downside, it meant there was no convenient excuse to sleep in her bed.

“River.” Her sensual, husky voice pulled my attention to the doorframe where she stood in nothing but a small towel. I bloody loved her voice. It was pitched low, not like the breathy, girly voices of so many women I’d been with before. She was confident, intelligent, and downright the sexiest thing I’d ever laid eyes on.

“Kitten,” I replied, leaning my butt against the counter and folding my arms over my chest while I took her in. The scrap of towel just barely covered both her breasts and cunt, and I couldn’t wait to tear it off her.

“I figured it was probably you in here.” She smirked at me with hungry eyes, and I mentally thanked whatever higher power there was that she’d chosen me. She was my equal in every way imaginable. My perfect match.

“Cole was too, but it all got a bit much for him,” I told her in the interest of full disclosure. One thing I was very firm about with my team, and even more so now that Kit was sexually involved, we didn’t keep secrets. The twins infraction, keeping their knowledge of magic hidden, had been a serious one, and they both understood the thin ground they walked now.

“Hmm,” she murmured, padding closer to me on wet feet. “So, what do you want to do now... sir?”

It took everything in me not to grin. Fuck, I was in love with this woman. She knew perfectly well what it did to me, hearing her call me sir. She did it often, too, teasingly. But tonight she was playing with fire...

Narrowing my eyes, I mentally cursed myself for not wearing a tie today. I’d spent a long time undercover in a Fortune 500 company prior to Alpha Team being assembled and fallen in love with suits, however, a tie was a bit much when we were literally in the middle of nowhere.

“Go to my room and get on the bed,” I ordered her in a quiet, no-nonsense tone. “Face up, legs spread.” My face was carefully held in a blank expression born of years of practice, but inside, my gut was flaring hot with excitement and anticipation.

She barely hesitated a split second before nodding. “Yes, sir,” she replied, dropping her towel right there on the floor and sauntering stark, bloody naked through the house to my room.

Bugger. She really was going to test me. So much more than I’d ever tested myself.

The bedroom I’d claimed for myself was on the ground floor, right next door to Cole’s, and I chuckled to myself knowing he’d be hearing Kit’s moans of pleasure very soon. It was a little cruel, yes, but also pretty funny.

Guess his hand is getting a solid workout tonight.

I’d sent her to my room for two reasons. One, to maintain the balance of power. She was in my domain, and I was in charge. But two, for the slatted headboard of my bed.

Taking my time, I poured a small glass of scotch and sipped it while I looked out at the full moon shining over the still lake. Kit needed to sweat for a bit, let the anticipation drive her nuts, and in the meantime I needed to shore up my defenses against my mental beast.

Sex with Kit always tested me, and this was no time to slip.

Downing the last sip of my whiskey, I placed the crystal glass into the sink and made my way slowly through to my bedroom. Anticipation was riding me so hard I could practically taste it, so when I paused in the open doorway to my bedroom and found my Kitten exactly as I’d told her to be, my breath caught.

My teeth grabbed hold of the inside of my lip, biting down hard to regain composure before speaking. She didn’t move a muscle while she waited, even though she knew I was there watching her.

“Good girl,” I finally praised her, stepping farther into the room, kicking the door shut behind me, and pausing beside the bed to look down at her. As directed, she was on her back with her legs spread wide, offering me an unobstructed view of her cunt. Her hands rested on her naked belly, and she looked up at me with eyes alight with excitement.

Dirty bird really is my perfect match. I haven’t even tied her down, and she’s already so turned on she could probably come without me even touching her. Maybe something to try another day.

Giving her a look that told her quite clearly not to move, I opened my bedside drawer and pulled out the handful of black silk scarves I’d stashed there for this very reason.

“Give my your wrist,” I commanded, and she complied. As I tied her wrist to the slatted headboard using a basic column tie, she shivered. Her nipples tightened to sharp points, and the skin of her breasts puckered with light gooseflesh. It wasn’t cold in my room at all, so it could only have been from excitement—or fear. But Kit’s gaze was heavy with desire, and I knew there wasn’t a single drop of fear in her when she was with any of us... even Austin.

Not speaking, I moved around the bed and repeated the tie on her other wrist, then leaned over her and kissed her lightly on the lips before tying another scarf over her eyes.

“But—” she began to protest as I obliterated her view, but I clicked my tongue at her in warning.

“Hush, Kitten,” I murmured. “Just relax.” A sigh gusted from her perfect lips, and I allowed myself a grin now that she couldn’t see me. “And don’t speak unless I ask you a question. Understood?”

Her lips tightened, and I saw her fight back her natural reaction to tell me to go screw myself. Instead, she uttered two perfect words. “Yes, sir.”

My dick got even harder, if that was even possible, and I took a moment to control my breathing once more. Stepping back around to the foot of the bed, I admired the view before me. I’d not bothered tying her ankles because I was about damn ready to explode if I didn’t have her soon.

There was plenty of time to build her into this sort of game anyway. After all, once she did change me, we would have eternity together.

My fingers worked the buttons of my shirt loose, one at a time, then I folded the garment and laid it over a chair. Next was my belt, and I watched as Kit’s pussy clenched at the sound of my buckle.

Shit. Hurry the hell up, you bleeding fool. You’re about to blow it in your trousers like a gawky thirteen-year-old.

Hastened by my sage thoughts, I finished stripping and placed my knees on the foot of the bed, watching Kit’s breath catch as she felt my weight on the mattress.

Sweet gods, this woman is perfect.

I dipped my head low to kiss up the inside of her thigh, inhaling the sweet scent of her arousal as I went. My breath feathered across her waiting pussy before I moved further up the bed to rub my hard length against her scorching groin.

She gasped in the most delicious way as my tip pressed against her wet heat, and I palmed one of her perfect tits. Half of this game I was playing tonight was about the anticipation, but even I could admit when I was in over my head.

And I was. Way over my head.