LILLY
She dropped her clutch and peeled off the dress, kicking it away. Then she took off the bra and let it go. She didn't think he was embarrassed by his need for her. Or the way he'd given her pleasure in the garage—without taking any for himself. He was amazing. Beautiful.
Hers.
She stood before him, naked and vulnerable. He studied her thoroughly, his eyes dark, his body radiating tension. She felt as though his control might snap, and he'd devour her on the spot. His gaze captured hers. "You're magnificent."
She knew he meant it.
She walked toward him. She had her own confidence, her own pride.
Lilly pushed off his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt. She kissed his firm chest, enjoying the ridges of muscles, the smoothness of skin, and the curls of brown hair that coalesced into a point hidden inside those bothersome pants. She unbuckled his belt, and he stepped back so he could divest himself of clothes.
He was gorgeous. He was taller than her by more than six inches, at least. Kade wore his hair on the short side, the top tousled and sexy. His body was carved with muscle. Solid. Beautiful. Sexy.
She fanned her fingers over his pectorals, her thumbs brushing his tiny, brown nipples.
"Bed," he said in a hoarse voice.
She crawled onto the thick, comfortable mattress, and settled onto her backside, her open arms waiting for him.
He crawled on top of her and nuzzled her neck. Then he started his sensual torments on her breasts, plumping her C cups before setting to serious work on her nipples. He sucked them until they were hard, aching. While he squeezed one breast and tweaked the nipple, he cupped the other one and suckled the peak.
Then he switched.
Heat coiled between her thighs and soon became throb of need so overwhelming it took her breath away.
She reached between them to stroke his cock, but he demanded, "Hands at your sides. Don't touch me until I tell you."
When he talked her like that, she felt like melting into a puddle. No one dared to boss her around, much less someone nine years her junior. But the alpha, oh, he made her tremble.
He drifted down her stomach, kissing the quivering flesh of her soft belly. He lifted her thighs, so they draped his shoulders, and then he gazed at her most intimate feminine part as though he planned to render artwork of it.
Kade proceeded to make her squirm by touching…squeezing…stroking. Her body hummed with need. Desire swept through her, leaving her quaking with expectation, aching for fulfillment. And after he'd made her want him so badly she fucking hurt…
He settled that talented mouth on her sex and brought her to an earth-shattering orgasm.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The frenetic tone issuing from Kade's cell phone was a splash of cold reality on her hot desire. What the hell?
"Damn." Kade rolled over and grabbed the phone from the nightstand. "I'm sorry, Lilly. I set the emergency tone for my beta's texts. He would never interrupt unless it was urgent."
"Of course." Lilly melted into the bed. "I'll just lay here and recover."
He offered her a toothy grin. "We've barely started." He turned his attention to the phone and read the text message. Whatever he'd read had him growling and heaving himself off the bed. He punched a button and put the phone to his ear.
"What the fuck is going on, Matt?" He listened, his expression getting fiercer and fiercer. "This is bullshit. No, we haven't mated—and a good thing, too, or this situation would be worse. Yes. Okay. I'll be there in twenty."
He ended the call and tossed the phone onto the nightstand. "Nicole has lodged protest against you as my mate."
"What?" Lilly scrambled to a sitting position. "Why?"
"Because she hates to fucking lose. And she's a petty, moronic bitch."
Lilly's heart turned over in her chest. "It's a tribunal then?"
"Yes. It convenes in three days." He growled low in his throat.
"Does she have a chance?"
"She has something," said Kade, "or she wouldn't pull this crap." He looked at her. "You were married to Saul and you still hold esteem in our pack. There's nothing she can pin on you, right?"
Lilly cast her eyes down and felt her heart skip a beat. It hadn't mattered when she married Saul because he was a beta. Betas had a little more leeway in choosing mates, even ones the pack might consider flawed. She'd never kept secrets from Saul—but he had kept one for her.
She swallowed heavily. "I got pregnant when I was nineteen. It was about a year after my parents died and I was struggling. The boyfriend was a drug addict, an asshole. I didn't have the mental capacity or the financial stability to raise a child. A very nice couple adopted the baby. Not long after that, I started working toward getting back on my feet—and I met Saul."
Kade had gone stock still. His gaze bore into her with the same painful accuracy as a newly sharpened drill bit. "You gave up a child."
"Yes. I wasn't part of the Moon Pack. Hell, I didn't know werewolves existed, much less their arcane laws about family."
"Saul knew?"
"Of course he knew."
"Damn it! I'm the alpha. You didn't think it was important to tell me you committed one of the most grievous pack sins? A werewolf who abandons its child is subject to expulsion. In some cases, it merits a death sentence."
"In case you missed it the first time: I was not a pack member."
"The tribunal may not judge you for giving up your child—they will take into consideration that you made that choice from a human perspective in a human world. But they will wonder about your commitment to motherhood, to the pack, to me because you were capable of abandoning your baby."