LOGINShe turns up at nine the next morning, unannounced, in sunglasses and a trench coat, looking like a woman about to deliver an accusation and open an investigation.Mrs Greene lets her in without a word and looks between us suspiciously. Viv waits until she takes the hint and retreats to the kitchen. I stand with my shoulders curled, looking every bit the guilty woman I am. Vivienne pulls off her sunglasses and points at the bed."Sit.""Viv, I can explain.""I certainly hope so, because I woke up to a picture of your vagina.""Please keep your voice down." I cover my face with my hands, embarrassed. "It was an accident. I was in a hurry, and I... didn't look.""I know it was an accident, Evelyn. We're close, but not 'I need to see your vagina' close." She sits across from me, crosses her legs, and examines me with the narrowed eyes of someone who likes puzzles. "What I want to know is who it was meant for."My stomach flips. "Nobody.""Nobody." She sniffs the air. Her nose wrinkles, t
My phone buzzes against me ten minutes after he hangs up, and I'm so wound up that I almost drop it on my face when I pick it up.It's from the same number I forgot to save. Only one line is written.Lucien: Send me a picture. Show me what you're wearing.My heart skips, then gallops. My thumbs hover over the screen while a very sensible voice in my head tells me every reason why this is a bad idea.I choose to ignore it and text back.Me: Do you really want one?Lucien: I'm begging.A laugh slips out of me, a little choked and breathless. I'm twenty-six, pregnant, and lying in his shirt under my blanket, and I'm about to sext the Alpha I swore I hated.I've never done this before. Well, not since my teenage years. With Thomas, I could never bring myself to.It always felt like handing him a leash to whip me with. He never made me feel good about my body, so why would he have appreciated any of my pictures?With Lucien, it feels nothing like that. This feels like someone asking to be
Her name lights up my phone at half past ten the next morning, and I stare at it so long it nearly goes to voicemail.Celeste.Speaking of bad timing.My thumb is slick with sweat when I finally pick up. "Hello?""There she is!" Her voice spills out of the speaker like sunlight, warm and breathless, with hotel noise somewhere behind it. "I've wanted to call you since yesterday, and then I thought, no, let her rest, the poor thing must be exhausted, carrying a whole person. How are you, Evie? How's my little one?"I feel sick."We're okay," I answer weakly. "We're good.""Good. I missed you." She says it so simply that it stings. "I mean it, Evelyn. This trip was all meetings and dinners with people I don't really like, and I kept thinking how much nicer it would be if you were sitting beside me instead. Just the two of us talking, like we used to."I make a small pained sound that I quickly mask as a laugh. She laughs too."Okay, so I'm flying back soon. In a few days at most. I've bo
Lucien barely lets me go through the night. I can't tell if it's his pre-rut symptoms. Or just him letting go. Either way, by the time he's done with me, I'm depleted.He remains inside me, cradling my back to his chest. We stay like that, the house falling silent around us.I wake to sunlight on my face and an empty bed. His side is cold.For a few seconds I don't remember why that matters, and then I do. And my body remembers it with me: the ache between my thighs, the tender spots on my hips where his hands held on, his scent soaked so deep into the sheets that every breath I take is cedarwood.I reach out without thinking, running my fingers through the sheets. There I find a folded piece of paper. I pick it up and see my name across the front in neat, bold handwriting.Evelyn,I had to leave and I'm currently in a private den. My rut symptoms have gotten worse, and I know it can become aggressive. I won't risk your safety or the baby's by being near you while it does.I'm so sorr
Disclaimer: Explicit ContentLucien lays me on my side.He does it with such care, one hand beneath my head, the other sliding a pillow under my stomach to cradle it while he plants soft kisses on me. It's almost unbearable.When he's done, he smooths the hair from my face."Is that comfortable?"My eyes meet his. "Yes.""Tell me if it isn't. Or if you want me to stop.""I will," I say hoarsely.He kisses my shoulder. Then I feel the mattress dip as he crawls in behind me. His body curves around mine, his chest pressing against my back. I sense the runes burning faintly against my skin like a lit hearth.It makes me tremble.One of his arms slides beneath my neck, his other hand settles on my stomach, big and warm, a protective weight.Something about it stirs deep in my soul. He's holding us both.The thought forms a lump in my throat."May I?"His length rests against my backside, warm and aching. I nod, a little desperately. And heat floods my face the moment I catch myself.His da
He walks us into his room and kicks the door shut behind us.It's dark and warm inside. A lamp on the nightstand is turned low, a small gold pool on the dark linens. The space smells like him, cedar and amber and something hotter.He crosses the floor and sets me on the edge of the bed like I might shatter.Then he stops.For a moment, his gaze only rakes over me like he wants to ruin me, but he's scared he'll be too rough. His chest heaves. His eyes burn. His hands hang at his sides, trembling slightly, like he's holding himself back with an effort that hurts."If you want to stop," he says, "now's the time. I won't be gentle for long.""I don't want to stop," I say without shame or restraint."Evelyn.""Please." My voice shakes, but it holds. "I want this. I want you."Something flickers across his face. Heat, but something more. Something tender.He reaches for me. Then his hands hook onto the hem of my night dress and he strips the fabric from me.I lift my hips to help him and he







