SERENITY

There was no reason for my hands to be shaking, but they were. The warm cookies were barely staying stacked with on the plate. It was dark. And I’d just seen Genesis get in a car with the twins and Ethan and just leave; they had bags as if they were moving, but this was Ethan’s house. My confusion only mounted when Cassius had whispered something to Alex that had him grabbing Hope by the arm the minute she’d reached the bottom of the stairs and pulling her toward the garage.

“Everything okay?” I’d asked Stephanie.

She’d only shrugged and had given me a funny look.

Cassius swept back into the room. “Remember what I said.”

And that was it.

The house was dark.

And I was holding a stupid plate of cookies as if that was going to calm the beast in the upstairs bedroom — as if that was going to make him want me.

If your own parents don’t love you enough to stay…

What makes you think that a plate of cookies is going to help an immortal king want to mate you?

That was the question I asked after every step.

After each breath.

What makes you so different?

Nothing.

Nothing at all.

Insecurity had a way of seeping into every crevice of my brain, making it impossible for me to come up with a scenario that had Mason choosing me, choosing us.

He barely knew me.

But his blood…

I briefly closed my eyes.

That wolf was made for me in ways I couldn’t even begin to comprehend. Just thinking about him had my teeth aching, my body craving more.

I’d felt sick ever since the grocery store, and now I just wanted relief, relief only he could bring.

Mason.

The door was open.

I quietly walked in. Moonlight shone through the open window as cool night air filled the empty space between me and his massive body.

His breathing was slow.

His naked chest rose and fell with an easy cadence that immediately calmed me down.

I took a deep breath and then approached.

I didn’t even have time to speak before his hand snaked out and gripped my free hand.

“What…” He leaned up on his elbow. “…is that smell?”

I cleared my throat. “Cookies.”

“Cookies.” His icy gaze locked on me.

“Chocolate chip cookies.” I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his, from the way they penetrated every defense without asking permission to do so. His eyes stripped me bare without a thought.

I let them.

My body heated.

He dropped my hand and reached for a cookie. “I haven’t had a cookie in…”

“Years?” I offered.

His mouth curved into a sultry smile. “Hundreds.”

“That’s some hardcore self-control,” I joked.

His smile was tense. The room swirled. It pulsed with electricity, with blood that pounded my body, begging for release, begging to be joined with his.

White teeth bit into the cookie slowly. My eyes followed as his tongue snaked out and licked a bit of chocolate that had the honor of grazing his perfect, plump lower lip. My mouth buzzed with jealousy. I would probably slit someone’s throat to be that piece of chocolate.

Mason closed his eyes and let out a guttural groan before reaching for another cookie.

Repeating the process.

While I died a thousand deaths imaging those teeth biting into my soft flesh, licking me dry.

He reached for another.

And another.

The plate was empty.

Mason popped one final piece in his mouth then slowly sucked each finger dry. A piece of chocolate was on the corner of his mouth. The temptation was too much. Without asking permission, I leaned forward and swiped my tongue across the spot, tasting him, tasting the chocolate.

He stilled.

I whispered against his mouth. “Did you want milk?”

His hands gripped my waist.

It was a heartbeat, the second of indecision on his face warring with his duty, with his self-control, and just like that, I saw him finally give in, finally just…

Combust.

“I have a better idea,” he growled.

Thank God.

My jeans scratched my skin as he roughly shoved them down to my ankles like going slow was never a first option.

Only one speed.

One way to claim.

My heart raced as his rough hands ran down my bare legs. I stepped out of the jeans and kicked them to the side.

His mouth pressed a kiss to my thigh. His hands dug into my skin as if he was afraid I was going to run away.

“I won’t know how to stop,” he said in a gruff, animalistic voice I recognized as his wolf — the animal inside him. It didn’t terrify me.

It made me crave.

“Then don’t,” I encouraged as he picked me up and threw me against the bed as if I weighed a pound, when I knew vampires weren’t known for being light or easy to throw.

I was a feather.

Putty in his hands.

He grinned down at me. And then started a full-on assault with his mouth as he licked and sucked my tongue until my only choice was to use his air for survival and cling to him with my hands.

His heart skipped a beat when I kissed him back, and when my tongue touched his, I could have sworn I heard his heart stop all together as blood rushed through his body hardening against me, making me squirm beneath him with primal need.

“Mine.” I gripped his ass through his jeans then tried to shove them down.

He growled against my neck, his muscles strained as he held himself above me. His eyes went so light blue I could almost see my reflection in them. I squeezed him with my hands, pressing another kiss to his open mouth, cutting his lip on my fang.

He jerked back and then shuddered as what looked like an orgasm ran through his body, and then I felt it, what he was feeling, this insane need…

To feed.

Slowly, I turned my head to the side and moved my hair.

“Damn it, Serenity—”

“Take it,” I begged. “Take me.”

His breathing slowed, and then his hand was on my neck, more claw than fingers.

I wasn’t afraid.

His eyes flickered from blue to black, over and over again as he watched me move beneath him. A war raged inside my mate’s body.

“Let me set you free,” I pleaded.

He let out a roar so ear-piercing that the house shook with it.

I almost looked away but then remembered Cassius’ words as Mason’s fangs descended like sharp swords coming from his mouth.

They were longer than mine, menacing.

I waited for him to strike — to take.

He didn’t.

He watched me watch him.

I tried my best not to blink to show him I wasn’t afraid, to be worthy of both man and beast.

His length strained against my thigh, and I moved beneath him. His eyes were crazed as he lowered his head between my legs and nuzzled, as if he was going to take a really arousing nap.

My thighs clenched while he ran his nose along every bare inch of me, his tongue outlining and pulsing with increased movements. He kept his claw on my neck, making it impossible to move.

He trailed slow dangerous circles with his tongue, only to stop as my body pleaded for release. I tried to move with him, but every time I did, he would stop what he was doing. Since I needed him to keep going, since it felt like my life depended on his touch, his every lick, I closed my eyes and let the rapture of his mouth fill my body.

His appetite seemed to only increase the more my body gave way as hot waves of pleasure shot through my core.

The process would repeat as he licked me up again and again. With a hungry growl, he feasted and then stopped as a pinch of pain hit my inner thigh.

The world stilled.

Silence.

His heavy breathing…

My stuttered heart…

The claw holding me still dug into my flesh.

I whimpered at the contact and felt his tongue lick the wound dry before he returned his attention to me.

My mouth…

My neck…

His eyes darted from my skin to my lips as if he wasn’t sure which he should taste first, as if it was the hardest choice he’d ever made in his entire life.

The struggle was still there, but I could see logic return to his expression as he tried to calm himself down.

But I didn’t want him calm.

That wasn’t Mason.

Mason was all beast.

And I wanted him to know that I wanted both beast and man.

How could I not?

I met his gaze and then pushed his claw into my neck, piercing my own flesh enough for blood to trail down my white skin.

And realized too late…

That I’d just unleashed the beast.

And thrown away the key.