Rise of the Dark Alpha

~ ZEV ~

Zev took his time drying Sasha, enjoying watching her skin pebble when he discovered another drop of water to lick or suck. She also flushed a pretty pink wherever he rubbed her with the towel. But eventually there were no more excuses to lick her, so he hurriedly used it to dry himself, careful to pat the dressing on his side, frustrated when he realized he'd gotten it wet. He would have to change it before he slept.

But as he lifted his arm to dry underneath it he realized Sasha was watching him, and he slowed his movements, grinning, as her eyes widened scanning his chest and arms.

Like what you see? He asked in her head as he scrubbed his chest with the towel.

Sasha blinked and met his eyes, but her smile was sultry. "Maybe. I'll have to taste it to find out."

His entire body jolted at the tang that entered her scent then, and he growled, tossing the towel aside and reaching for her.

She giggled, but came willingly into his arms, craning her neck back to kiss him, pressing herself into him, and he kissed her soundly, then growled again. "Vixen, you keep distracting me. Stay here."

She watched him trot to the bed to grab a pillow. He returned to kiss her again, unwilling to lose the contact a second longer than he had to, dropping the pillow on the rug behind her even as he cupped her jaw and tasted her sweet mouth again.

Minutes later he had her down on the floor, sinking into the thick, soft fur, her skin pink and damp, her eyes wide as he crawled over her until he knelt between her knees and had a hand braced on either side of her head, looking down on her.

Her eyes roved his chest and shoulders and he smelled her desire rise, which made his belly clench, but he let her look, grinning when her pupils dilated.

Her fingers dragged from his hips, up his abdomen, to his chest and he shuddered, his body twitching in response and he dipped his head, intending to kiss her, just for a moment, then let her go back to her exploration. But she tugged him in, one hand pressing at his back, urging him to settle over her.

"You're too far away," she whispered and opened her eyes. "Come closer."

With a groan he let himself settle between her thighs, resting his weight on his elbows and kissing her deeply.

Sasha smiled, her kisses soft and sweet as she pulled him in, her breath quickening, her hips rolling against him. The temptation was there to just take her, she was ready and willingly, her legs curling together over his back and pulling him against her in a way that made him want to groan again.

But he was determined to learn her. To understand her. To evict all memories of any other female from his head and body—to know her. So after a moment of a deep and heated kiss, he pulled back again, dragging himself down her body, then settling back on his knees to look at her, laid out for him like a banquet.

He shook his head. "You're stunning, Sash."

"Stop saying that, you're embarrassing me."

"It's the simple truth."

"Then why are you pulling away?" she said, a tiny hint of concern in her voice.

Zev put a hand to her stomach and stroked down, following the line of her waist, to her hip, to her soft thigh. "Because I want to learn you," he said, his voice gruff with desire.

"Learn what?" she giggled. "Pretty sure you know all the parts."

He raised an eyebrow at her, but then went back to his stroking, letting his fingers slide up the inside of her thigh, watched her stomach clench when he passed over her on the way back up her stomach.

"I want to learn you, Sash," he rumbled. "I want to know what makes your skin prickle. I want to know what makes your belly clench. I want to know what makes you cry my name."

Her cheeks reddened, but her eyes were sparkling. "Well, isn't the best way to learn that to… in practice?"

Zev chuckled at the way her eyes widened when she said it and he leaned back down to take her mouth, tasting her with his tongue, teasing under her lip before pulling away again. She groaned, but sighed, content to watch him as he stroked down her belly again, down her thigh, to cup a hand under her knee and lift that leg, placing her foot on his chest, and stroking his hands up and down her calf.

Sasha's face went beet red—because she was bared to him—but he made himself focus on her less intimate parts first, until she was comfortable.

"You see," he said a moment later, "now I know that you like the feeling of my hands on the outside of your calf better than the inside."

"How do you know that?!"

"Because the goosebumps on your thigh get taller when I trace the line of the muscle here."

He demonstrated and she bit her lip again.

"And yet," he said, his voice husky, "it's the inside of your thigh that makes you breathe faster."

He proved it by dragging his fingertips down from her knee, down the inside of her thigh, until he brushed the curls that made her breathing stop altogether.

"Please, Zev. I want to touch you too. I want to kiss you, and be close to you. I like that."

Leaving her foot on his chest, he leaned forward, bracing on the fur next to her waist, so her knee was bent back and she was bared to his fingers. He didn't take his eyes from hers, though he yearned to, but used the extra space to explore her, slowly, softly, shuddering when he found her slick with wanting him.

His eyes snapped to meet hers and they stared at each other as he slowly, carefully touched her there, a small whine breaking in his throat. "Fuck, Sash—"

He'd intended to go slowly, to touch and taste her all over. But feeling her there, yearning for him, he groaned and began to explore, stroking, rubbing, watching her face and listening to her breathing as her excitement rose.

"Zev…" she breathed, one hand on his shoulder, trying to pull him down. But he kept her knee bent, her leg pinned and he curled a finger within her as he slid his thumb from her core, up to that little bundle of nerves, shuddering when she clenched.

Sasha's eyes closed and her head dropped back.