7. His Place

_Nathan’s POV_

I stood outside Miles’s building longer than I should have. The text with his address was still open on my phone, and every few seconds I considered turning around and walking back to my dorm. My wolf didn’t like that idea at all. It had been restless since the moment I agreed to come.

I finally pressed the buzzer.

Miles opened the door a few seconds later. He was in a black T-shirt and dark sweatpants, hair slightly damp like he’d showered not long ago. He stepped aside without saying anything fancy.

“You came.”

“I said I would.”

I walked in. His place was bigger than I expected — open living room, clean kitchen, large windows. It smelled like him. I hated that I noticed.

Miles closed the door and leaned against it for a moment, watching me.

“You look like you’re already planning your exit,” he said.

“I’m just not used to being here.”

“You’ll get used to it.” He pushed off the door and walked toward the kitchen. “Do you want water or something stronger?”

“Water’s fine.”

He filled a glass and handed it to me. Our fingers brushed. I pretended not to feel it. We stood there in silence for a few seconds before he spoke again.

“The joint media thing is next week,” Miles said. “My father already sent the details. They’re going to make us sit next to each other and smile like the alliance is the best thing that’s ever happened to both packs.”

“I got the same message.”

“And how do you feel about that?”

I set the glass down on the counter. “I feel like every time I think I can put some distance between us, something forces us back into the same room.”

Miles’s mouth twitched. “Is that what you want? Distance?”

“I don’t know what I want.”

He studied me for a long moment. “That’s the most honest thing you’ve said since we got back to campus.”

I didn’t answer. The silence stretched until it started to feel heavy. Miles walked around the counter and stopped in front of me, close but not touching yet.

“You can still leave,” he said quietly. “I’ll walk you to the door and I won’t text you for the rest of the night. But if you stay, I’m not going to keep holding back the way I have been.”

My pulse picked up. “What does that mean?”

“It means I’m done pretending this is something we can turn on and off whenever it’s convenient. You’re here. I’m here. And I’m not interested in another night of almost.”

I should have walked out. Instead I stayed exactly where I was, looking at him. My wolf was pressed so close to the surface that my skin felt too tight.

“I’m tired of fighting it,” I said.

Miles’s eyes darkened. “Then stop."

Miles kissed me harder this time, walking me backward until my legs hit the bed. We went down together. His hands were already under my shirt, pulling it up.

“Off,” he muttered.

I lifted my arms and let him drag it over my head. His own shirt followed. When skin met skin, he exhaled against my neck like he’d been waiting for it.

“You’ve been wound tight all day,” he said. “I could tell.”

“You were watching me during practice.”

“Yeah. I was.” He bit down lightly on the old mark. I hissed. “Still there. Good.”

He pushed me further up the bed and got rid of the rest of our clothes without much finesse. When he wrapped his hand around me, I was already hard. He stroked me slowly, watching my face.

“You always get like this when I touch you,” he said, quieter now. “Even when you try not to.”

I didn’t have a clean answer for that. My hand found the back of his neck and pulled him down into another kiss instead. Miles made a low sound into my mouth and reached for the nightstand. I heard the bottle open. A moment later his fingers pressed against me, slick and steady.

I tensed.

“Breathe,” he said. “I’ve got you.”

He worked me open carefully at first, then deeper once I started pushing back against his hand. By the time he pulled his fingers away, my thighs were shaking.

Miles settled between my legs and looked down at me.

“You still with me?”

“Yes.”

He pushed in slow. The stretch forced a rough sound out of my chest. Miles dropped his forehead against mine and stayed still until I nodded. Then he started moving.

It was deeper than before. Steady. Every thrust knocked another breath out of me. I gripped his shoulders, then his back, trying to ground myself. Miles’s breathing grew heavier against my ear.

“Fuck, you feel—” He cut himself off and adjusted the angle. The next stroke hit something that made my whole body jolt. “There. Yeah. That’s it.”

I couldn’t stay quiet after that. The sounds coming out of me were embarrassing and impossible to stop. Miles kept the same pace, deep and controlled, like he was determined to pull every reaction out of me.

“You’re close,” he said after a while, voice rough. “I can feel it.”

His hand wrapped around me, stroking in time with his hips. That was all it took. The orgasm hit hard enough that my vision blurred. I clenched down around him, shaking, and Miles cursed under his breath before following me over, burying himself deep as he came.

For a long moment neither of us moved. The only sound in the room was our breathing.

Eventually Miles pulled out carefully and dropped onto his side. His hand rested on my stomach, warm and heavy.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” I said. Then, after a second, “I mean it.”

He looked at me for a moment longer, then nodded once.

We stayed locked together for a while, both breathing hard. Eventually Miles pulled out carefully and dropped onto his side next to me. I stared at the ceiling, body still trembling, the new ache in my shoulder pulsing in time with my heartbeat.

Miles’s hand settled on my stomach, warm and heavy.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t sound sure.”

I turned my head to look at him. “I’m sure about what just happened. I’m less sure about everything that comes after.”

Miles was quiet for a moment. Then he said, “You don’t have to figure out the entire future tonight. Just stop running from the part that’s already happening.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. The room felt too quiet. My phone buzzed on the floor where it had fallen out of my pocket earlier. I ignored it at first. It buzzed again.

Miles glanced toward the sound. “You should check that.”

I reached down and grabbed the phone. The screen lit up with a message from a number I didn’t recognize.

*Unknown:*  

Hello, this is Mary from the Golden Pack. King Rowan would like your presence.

I stared at the words until they started to blur.

Miles noticed the change in my expression immediately. He sat up slightly.

“What is it?”

I turned the phone so he could see the screen.

His entire body went still.

“Rowan,” he said, voice flat.

I locked the phone and set it face down on the bed. My pulse was suddenly loud in my ears. The mark on my shoulder throbbed.

Miles looked at me, eyes sharp and serious in a way that had nothing to do with what we’d just done.

“You’re not going alone.”