Chapter 32: 32: Last String Of Sanity [E]
His lips were basically a hair’s breadth away from mine now. If I even so much as breathed, they would touch. My limbs felt as though there was lead shoved into them, and I couldn’t move them even an inch.
’Wake up, Briar!’ Warning bells blared in my head. ’Soren and his brothers are married. Not only that, they have just married your sister’s best friend. They hate you. They think you killed Willow, even though there’s a lack of evidence.’
I had to repeat those words over and over again in my head like a mantra, in fear that I would do yet another thing that I would regret in the future. This wasn’t a good idea― the Hadeon brothers were not a good idea.
They were married― and they weren’t married to me, even though I was their fated mate. But nevertheless, they had already chosen their partner, and it wasn’t me.
"What are you doing?" I asked, my voice breathy. I didn’t even dare to breathe. "This is wrong. I... Maybe you should leave."
"I don’t want to," Soren said.
His eyes darkened, but not in the same way Cassian’s eyes darkened in hatred, or the way Rowan’s eyes darkened in lust when he was affected by my sudden heat. There was lust in it for sure, but there was also something else I couldn’t quite name.
"You will end up regretting this, Alpha Soren," I said, trying to stabilize my voice as best as I could.
Mustering every bit of strength in my body, I darted out and away from Soren, scrambling onto my feet as I backed away from the bed. Soren’s shoulders seemed to slump, and he remained at the same spot for a few seconds, while I panted heavily.
A familiar heat was starting to crawl through my stomach, and I immediately pinched my lips tightly together.
I had to control it. I wasn’t sure if this was the start of yet another random heat, but I couldn’t let it happen. If anything, the lesson with Rowan was enough.
Soren sat back, tilting his head to the side as his shoulders slumped with a long, heavy exhale. I watched him from my little corner, my chest rising and falling in rapid succession as I waited for his next move.
Maybe I should just dart out the door while he wasn’t looking. Leaving seemed like the best choice right now. I couldn’t remain in the same room as Soren if I wished to maintain the last slivers of my sanity.
With that decision made, I reached for the doorknob. However, before I could even twist the handle, Soren had already come up behind me. I felt his presence behind my back, and his hand slammed against the door, pressing it closed.
Both his arms were positioned right next to my head, trapping me between them. Just like that, I was caged again, and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention.
"If you’re not leaving, then with all due respect, I will," I said. I refused to turn back to look him in the eye, but I could feel his gaze searing through the back of my head.
"Turn around and tell me that to my face," Soren said.
I couldn’t deduce his emotions just by the sound of his voice. It sounded deeper than usual, but it was not because of anger.
Taking a deep breath, I squeezed my eyes shut and prepared myself before finally turning around. I had to grit my teeth tightly together, fighting against every muscle in my body. Every inch of me wanted to close the distance between us.
Soren’s eyes were like those of a swinging pocketwatch, attempting to hypnotize me. I felt my lower stomach churn with want, and a blend of arousal and embarrassment shot through me at the realization of my own desire.
"I need to leave," I said, my voice turning less and less convincing with every word I said. Soren was slowly wearing me down, chipping at my resilience. "And you... You need to return to your bride―"
Before I could finish the sentence, Soren leaned down. He did what I desperately tried to avoid and closed the distance between us.
Our lips smashed together, and I gasped against him instinctively. His hands, on the other hand, left the door to hold me― one hand went to the small of my back, while the other cupped the back of my head to deepen the kiss.
"Soren..." I gasped in between the kisses, but every time I tried to say a word, Soren would just steal my breath away.
His touch was electrifying, and if Rowan’s touch felt like setting fireworks across my skin due to the heat that took charge of our rationality, then Soren’s fingers worked magic against every inch of me. Even through the fabric, it felt as though he was about to burn me alive, and I all but wished to revel in these flames of hell.
"Briar..." The way Soren murmured my name against my lips made me moan, gasping when his hand reached down my waist, along the curve of my butt, and towards my thighs.
I was already barely dressed as is, and he ripped the flimsy towel that was wrapped around me in one swift motion. The sudden breeze caused me to stiffen, arching against him, but his hands dug deeper into the flesh of my thigh to hold me in place.
"Wait... Soren... Don’t―"
My words were cut off when his fingers brushed against my entrance, gliding across. I jerked in response, causing him to chuckle. The vibrations of his laughter all but tickled my lips, and I forcefully peeled my lips away, burrowing into the crook of his neck.
I didn’t know why, but every inch of my body felt more sensitive than it had ever been before. One mere touch gave me an explosion of pleasure, and when he rubbed the bud of nerves between my thighs, I could only bite down on my bottom lip to stifle my own moans of delight.
"You’re so fucking wet, Briar," he cooed, his fingers drawing circles and loops around my sensitive nerves.
I was pressed so firmly against him that I could feel his growing arousal pressing against my lower stomach. His member had already hardened, standing to attention even within the tight confines of his trousers.
"Stop..." I said, though it sounded more like a mewl than anything. "We shouldn’t... We shouldn’t be doing this."
His fingers worked magic against me, and I felt myself quickly climbing the hill of pleasure. Pressure was starting to build in my lower regions, and I arched my back, subconsciously pressing myself firmly against him so that I could chase that climax.
"Stop?" he echoed. All of a sudden, he pulled his finger away, and my eyes snapped open. I was so close. Just a couple of seconds more and I would’ve come undone.
Soren raised his hand, his fingers still coated with a thin sheen of my slick. Just the sight of it made me blush, but he wasn’t done.
He placed his finger right next to his lips. My eyes widened into the size of saucers as I witnessed his tongue dart from his lips, licking the length of his finger.
