Prologue
I woke to warmth pressed against my side.
For a few seconds, I stayed still.
Morning light slipped through the narrow gap between the curtains, pale and gray, cutting across the foot of the bed and catching on the black dress crumpled near the chair. Lenora’s heels were somewhere farther across the room. One of them lay on its side near the door.
Her clothes had come off in stages last night.
I remembered every one of them.
I turned my head.
Lenora lay beside me on her stomach, one arm tucked beneath the pillow, her dark hair spilling across the white sheets. The blanket had slipped low enough to leave most of her back uncovered.
Beautiful.
Controlled even when she slept.
I leaned over her and pressed my mouth to her shoulder.
She stirred.
Another kiss, slower this time.
Her skin warmed beneath my lips.
“Mmm.”
The sound was sleepy, satisfied.
Lenora shifted onto her back and opened her eyes.
“There you are.”
Her voice was rough from sleep.
“Where else would I be?”
“With you?” A faint smile curved her mouth. “Impossible to know.”
I almost rolled my eyes.
Instead, she reached up and looped both arms around my shoulders.
Then she pulled me down.
Her mouth met mine before I could say anything else.
The kiss wasn’t gentle.
Lenora never bothered pretending to be shy with me.
Her lips parted beneath mine, and I braced one hand beside her head as she drew me closer. Her fingers slid into my hair, holding me there while her other hand moved down my back.
I kissed her harder.
She made a pleased little sound against my mouth.
Then her hand slipped lower.
My breath caught when her fingers wrapped around me.
“Lenora.”
“What?”
She looked entirely too innocent.
“You know what.”
“I know several things.”
Her hand moved again.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Heat tightened through my body immediately.
She watched my face while she touched me, her smile deepening when my jaw tightened.
“Still impatient,” she murmured.
I caught her wrist.
“You started this.”
“And?”
“And don’t act surprised when I finish it.”
She laughed softly.
I moved over her.
Her thighs parted beneath me without hesitation, and I settled between them, kissing her again.
She tasted faintly like the wine we’d been drinking downstairs hours earlier.
Her nails dragged lightly down my shoulders.
I kissed along her jaw, then down her throat.
Lenora tipped her head back against the pillow.
“Again?”
“You complaining?”
“Never.”
My mouth moved lower.
She arched beneath me when I kissed the curve of her breast, then caught her nipple between my lips.
Her fingers tightened in my hair.
“Dax.”
I liked hearing my name like that.
Not spoken carefully.
Not followed by Alpha.
Just mine.
I moved to the other breast, taking my time until her breathing changed.
Her knee slid along my side.
“Stop teasing me.”
I lifted my head.
“That’s rich.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“Do you want me to beg?”
“No.”
“Good.”
I kissed her stomach.
Lower.
Lenora inhaled sharply when my mouth moved between her thighs.
Her fingers twisted into the sheets.
I held her hips still as I tasted her, slow at first, then more deliberately when her body began responding.
“Dax.”
I ignored the warning in her voice.
Her legs tightened around me.
I kept going.
She cursed under her breath.
That made me smile against her.
“Don’t you dare.”
I lifted my head just enough to look at her.
“Don’t what?”
“Look pleased with yourself.”
“I am pleased with myself.”
She stared at me for half a second before grabbing my shoulder and trying to drag me back up.
I let her.
She kissed me hard.
Her teeth caught my lower lip.
Then her hand found me again.
I groaned.
“You’re insufferable,” she whispered.
“So you’ve said.”
“And yet here I am.”
That was the thing about Lenora.
She stayed.
She never flinched from what I was. Never asked me to soften my voice or rethink a decision because someone’s feelings might get hurt. She understood that I knew what I wanted.
And she had never made me feel guilty for wanting it.
I reached between us.
She was already wet.
Her breath hitched when my fingers slid over her.
“Dax.”
This time, my name was softer.
I pushed one finger inside her.
Then another.
Her hips lifted immediately.
I watched her face.
Lenora hated losing composure.
That made watching it happen even better.
“Look at me,” I said.
Her eyes opened.
I curled my fingers.
Her lips parted.
“Still think I’m impatient?”
“Yes.”
I did it again.
Her answer broke apart into a gasp.
I smiled.
“Thought so.”
She grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me down.
“Enough.”
“Bossy.”
“Dax.”
I withdrew my hand.
Then I positioned myself between her legs.
Her hands moved over my shoulders, her expression changing as I pressed against her.
For a second, neither of us spoke.
Then I pushed inside.
Lenora exhaled sharply.
Her nails bit into my back.
I gave her a moment, more out of habit than patience.
Then I moved.
Her legs wrapped around my hips.
The room narrowed to heat, breath, the quiet sound of skin against skin.
I kept one hand braced beside her head and the other on her hip.
She matched every thrust.
No hesitation.
No uncertainty.
Exactly the way I liked her.
“Dax.”
I kissed her.
She moaned into my mouth.
My control started slipping after that.
I drove into her harder.
Her fingers dug into my shoulders.
“Yes.”
The word was barely audible.
I lowered my forehead to hers.
Her breathing came fast now.
So did mine.
She tightened around me, and I swore under my breath.
“Again,” she whispered.
I did.
Harder.
Her body arched beneath me.
I felt the moment she came apart.
Her head tipped back.
Her thighs tightened around me.
My name left her mouth like something between a plea and a curse.
That did it.
I buried myself deep and came with a low groan, my entire body going rigid above her.
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Then I lowered myself carefully beside her.
Lenora turned toward me almost immediately.
She rested one hand on my chest.
Satisfied.
Comfortable.
Certain.
I stared at the ceiling.
This was what I wanted.
Not prophecy.
Not some ancient instinct deciding who belonged beside me.
Choice.
Mine.
I turned my head toward Lenora.
She was watching me.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re staring.”
“I like looking at you.”
“You’ve had ample opportunity.”
Her mouth curved.
“And I plan to continue.”
I reached up and brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
She leaned into my hand without thinking.
Easy.
Familiar.
Chosen.
Mine.
Whatever becoming Alpha changed, this wouldn’t.
I had already decided who would stand beside me.
Nothing was going to take that decision away.
