Alpha's Solace (Black Moon Saga Book 1)

The Cabin in the Woods - Part 3

After dinner, Kylie searches through the closets and linen chests in both bedrooms and finds all the spare blankets and pillows. Adam carries them out to the family room, and they spread them out on the floor near the fireplace to make a soft, cozy little nest big enough for them both to lie down. Then she goes into the back bedroom and searches through her luggage for her pajamas. She prefers to sleep in soft, lightweight lounge pants and a thin t-shirt with short sleeves, so she owns this same basic outfit in many different colors. This time she selects the black top with purple bottoms and takes them into the bathroom to change. He grabs a pair of simple gray lounge pants from his bag and changes into just those, knowing he is likely to be plenty warm since they will be cuddling in front of the fireplace and it isn’t winter anymore.

 He returns to the family room before she does and decides to work on lighting the fire so that it will be ready when she is. Then he gets comfortable in their blanket nest, lying on his side propped up on one arm to admire the fire.

This is the most romantic thing I’ve ever done in my life, he realizes, smiling to himself as he imagines what the rest of this night will be like and starting to feel the fluttering of butterflies in his belly in anticipation of the possibilities. Then he hears the tap, tap, tap of the rubber tip of Kylie’s crutch against the wood floor and knows she is on her way out to meet him. His heart starts to thunder in his chest, and he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, trying to calm himself. It doesn’t help that he can feel Kieran is just as excited about their first night alone with her. He hears her get as close as several paces away and then pause, but he decides not to open his eyes yet.

She notices Adam already lounging by the fire, and her breath catches as she sees him with the glow of the fire dancing across his face and body. She realizes that this is the first time she has seen him shirtless when she was feeling well enough to appreciate it and takes a moment to admire how large, broad, and defined he is. She was not wrong earlier about how furry he is when she compared him to a bear, either. He has black hair all across his chest and stomach, which she finds to be incredibly sexy. Then she realizes she is just standing around gawking at him when she could be cuddling with him.

She closes the distance and sets her crutch down on the floor beyond their makeshift bed near his head. He opens his eyes and looks up at her, and she gives him a crooked smile. “You seem to be enjoying yourself already,” she observes.

He chuckles and reaches for her. “I am but I need you so I can enjoy myself even more in a moment.”

He helps her down into the blankets and she burrows down into them with him, lying on her side facing him. He scoots closer and positions his arm under her head and pulls her body to him, her cast again being the only barrier between them. Their faces only inches apart, he is fighting the urge to kiss her knowing that lying here with her like this it will quickly lead to more than she is ready for, so he wants to let her set the pace.

She gazes into his eyes, admiring the way the fire is highlighting all the different hues she never noticed before, varying from dark brown to caramel-colored with specks that seem almost golden. She cannot resist the urge to touch his chest and uses her free hand to explore all the soft hair and bare skin she can see. He closes his eyes, enjoying her sensual touch, and she feels his chest rumble as he makes a low gentle growling sound.

He takes a moment to fight back Kieran who is getting a little too eager and frustrated. Then he warns Kylie, “You keep doing that and I might get myself into trouble.”

“Open your eyes,” she commands, and he does as she requests. She makes eye contact with him and smirks. “I want you to get into trouble,” she purrs in a low, sultry tone.

He curses as he closes his eyes again, feeling his last bit of willpower escaping him. He hears her giggle and feels her hand on his face, then opens his eyes and sees she is leaning in for a kiss. He takes control of it before she even reaches him, slamming his lips into hers.

“Oh,” she gasps in surprise, and he uses the opportunity to thrust his tongue in her mouth. He pushes forward with his body to turn her on her back and positions one of his knees between her legs with the other beside her so that he straddles her leg. Mentally, he screams at himself to slow down, but he is so hungry for this that he doesn’t want to. He knows he already has an erection, and she can probably feel it against her leg, but she seems to be enjoying it, meeting his tongue with her own and even attempting to fight him for dominance. She wraps both arms around his neck, being careful with the one in the cast.

He breaks away from the kiss, maintaining eye contact with her, then he grabs her arms and brings them above her head so she doesn’t have to worry about where to put her cast arm. She steals kisses across his chest and abdomen as he leans over her face, which makes him grin.

“You do want to get into trouble,” he comments, stroking her cheek and then moving his thumb across her lips to feel how plump and soft they are. She just smirks again in response, and he leans in to kiss her hungrily once more.

Sensing that she is craving their union as much as he is, he allows himself to relax and just enjoy the moment, not worrying so much about getting carried away or rushing her. Before long he has her clothes off and enjoys touching and tasting all of her. Then he takes a moment to admire her in the glow of the fire. She reaches over to fiddle with the waistband of his lounge pants and he chuckles.

“Impatient, are we?” he teases as he smirks down at her.

“Yeah,” she breathes. “I know it’s only been days that we’ve been together, but it feels like I’ve waited a long time for this.”

“Me too, sweetheart,” he agrees as he leans back and slides his pants off. He hears her gasp as she sees his nakedness and he grins at her reaction. He leans down to position himself between her legs but pauses when he feels her tense and sees panic in her eyes.

“Is this okay?” he asks, concerned that she may have changed her mind.

“Yeah, it’s just, uh, don’t you want to use a condom? I’m not on birth control.”

“Oh,” he acknowledges his oversight. He knows that a werewolf cannot breed with a human, but of course she doesn’t know he isn’t even human. “Well, don’t worry about that. I can’t get you pregnant.”

“Have you had a vasectomy or something?”

“Something like that. Would you feel more comfortable if we used one anyway? I didn’t bring any, but we can get some before we do this.”

“Nah, it’s okay. I trust you. Sorry to spoil the moment, though.”

“It’s not spoiled.” He leans down to feather kisses along the inside of her thigh, spending time to get her relaxed and ready again. Then he gets back into his position between her legs, lifting and draping them over his shoulders. “I’ll be as slow and gentle as possible, but it’s still going to hurt a bit this first time.”

“I know. I’m ready.”

*************************

After their lovemaking, Kylie is exhausted but feels euphoric. She was worried that it would be too much for her and she would be stiff and miserable after, but she is surprised to find that it seems to have alleviated some of her pain for now. Being able to snuggle up to her big teddy-bear boyfriend in front of a cozy fire listening to the soothing sound of the wood crackling doesn’t hurt, either. This is the most content and at peace she has felt in a long time.

Adam holds her to his side with one arm and lazily draws circles around the birthmark on the back of her left shoulder with the other. He is enjoying the feel of her skin against his and the warm tingles that he feels everywhere. Cuddling naked and making love to his true mate is an experience he has never had before, and he feels almost like he is drugged and on his way to becoming an addict.

“What are you thinking about?” she asks, breaking the long and peaceful silence that had fallen between them.

He knows he can’t tell her about mates, so he turns his attention to the birthmark he has been playing with. “I was thinking about this wolf on your shoulder.”

“Wolf? You mean my birthmark?”

“Yes, I think it looks like a wolf. I noticed it a long time ago and thought it then, too.”

“Huh, interesting. I’ve never thought of it like that. To me it’s just a weird brown-ish blob on my skin. I hated it when I was a kid and I still would, except my Mama had one kind of like it and in the same spot, so it’s like a connection I share with her. I guess you could say she gave it to me since I was born with it.”

“That is interesting.” And probably means she really is Kylie’s mother, he thinks to himself. “And it is definitely a wolf. There’s a head with ears and four limbs.”

“If you say so. I’ve never seen it like that, though, and I’ve been looking at it in the mirror my whole life. Maybe you just like wolves since there are so many around here.”

“I do at that. That reminds me, you were telling me about your dream earlier before we left. Was there anything else you wanted to tell me about it?”

“Nah, it was just me talking to Kieran again, like I said. Nothing really happened or anything, we just talked and then I woke up.”

Nice try. I think you’re jealous that it’s me she’s dreaming about and not you, Kieran taunts him in his mind.

Adam ignores his teasing. We should probably let her hang out with you soon and see what happens. Maybe the dreams are trying to tell us something.

I take back every mean thing I ever said about you, is Kieran’s only response to that suggestion. He hasn’t had a chance to be with her in wolf form since she has been back and is excited about that prospect.

Adam turns his attention back to admiring his mate and caressing her skin. She plays with the hair on his chest for a bit until finally she drifts off to sleep. He stays on the floor with her like that until the fire dwindles, then picks her up and carries her to the bedroom to sleep on a comfortable bed which should be easier on her body than sleeping on the floor. He puts out their fire then returns to join her in the bed for what turns out to be the best night of sleep he has had in decades.