Chapter 4

Molly’s POV

I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest. "Yes," I said, my voice tight with annoyance. "What about it?"

He let out a low chuckle, but there was no humor in it. Just something dark and calculating. "Just... really suspicious that she still ended up with him, don't you think?"

I turned to face him fully, my curiosity piqued despite myself. "What do you mean?"

Ethan's expression softened, something vulnerable flickering in his eyes as he looked out over the moonlit lake. "My mother is dead too," he said quietly. "Lost her to rogues. Just like your dad."

My breath caught in my throat, a sharp pang of guilt lancing through my chest. I knew that pain, that hollow emptiness that came with losing someone you loved. I had carried it for three years, nursed it like a wound that never quite healed. And now, sitting here with this stranger who understood that same grief, I felt an unexpected kinship with him.

Ethan continued, his voice growing rougher with each word. "She was the only one close to my heart. And even before losing her..." He paused, jaw tightening. "My dad had always been flirting. Fucking some lady from another pack. Mom knew. Everyone knew. And finally, after she died, he remarried so quickly. Even happier than he was with my mother.”

"I'm so sorry," I said softly, my voice thick with sympathy and understanding. "I can't imagine how hard it must have been for you, losing your mom like that. And then having your dad... I'm really sorry, Ethan."

Ethan looked down at me, his eyes softening as he covered my hand with his own. "It's not your fault," he said, his thumb brushing over my knuckles in a gentle caress. "You didn't do anything wrong, Molly. Don't feel guilty for someone else's mistakes."

We were silent for a long moment after that, both of us staring up at the moon, lost in our own thoughts. The silence stretched between us, thick and heavy with unspoken words and desires.

I could feel the heat of Ethan's body next to mine, could smell the intoxicating scent of his skin, and it made my heart race in my chest.

Slowly, almost without realizing it, we turned to face each other. Our eyes met, and I felt my breath catch in my throat at the hunger I saw burning in their depths.

His gaze dropped to my lips, and I licked them unconsciously, feeling a sudden desperate need to be kissed, to be touched, to be claimed.

He leaned in closer, his hand coming up to cup my cheek, his calloused fingers rough against my soft skin. I tilted my head back, my eyes fluttering closed as I felt his breath ghosting over my lips. And then, finally, he closed the distance between us, his mouth claiming mine in a hungry, demanding kiss.

I gasped against his lips, my hands coming up to grip the front of his shirt as I kissed him back just as fiercely. He tasted like whiskey and sin, and I couldn't get enough.

His tongue delved into my mouth, stroking along mine, and I arched my back, pressing my body flush against his.

Ethan groaned into my mouth, his hand sliding down to the back of my neck, tangling in my hair as he deepened the kiss even further.

He pushed me back onto the soft grass, his body covering mine, pinning me down with his weight. I could feel every hard inch of him pressed against me, and it made me ache with a need I had never known before.

Ethan's kisses grew more urgent and desperate as he explored my mouth, his hands roaming over my curves.

He nipped at my bottom lip, soothing the sting with his tongue before trailing open-mouthed kisses down the column of my throat.

I tilted my head back, giving him more access as I lost myself in the sensation of his lips on my skin. Suddenly, he sat back and practically ripped his shirt off over his head, tossing it aside carelessly.

I took a moment to admire his toned chest and abs before starting to remove my own dress with trembling fingers. But Ethan was having none of that. He grabbed the fabric and tore it down the middle, baring my body to his hungry gaze.

I gasped as cool air hit my heated skin, my nipples pebbling instantly. Ethan's eyes darkened with lust as he took in the sight of me, laid out like a feast before him.

He shucked off his pants and boxers in record time, freeing his long, thick cock. It was slightly longer than Gerald's, and thicker, the thick head already leaking with arousal.

Ethan settled between my thighs, pushing my skirt up around my waist. He rubbed the head of his cock through my slick folds, coating himself in my juices. I whimpered and arched my back, needing to feel him inside me, stretching me open.

Without warning, he thrust forward, sheathing himself to the hilt in one powerful stroke. I cried out at the sudden intrusion, my pussy clenching and fluttering around his thick length.

The coolness of his skin against my overheated flesh made me gasp, my legs coming up to wrap around his waist.

“Shhhh…” he silenced me with his lips locking on my lips, he released his lips from mine, “don’t let them hear us.”

I forced a low chuckle and he smiled at me in the darkness before moving again inside me, slowly this time as if noticed I’ve never been fucked before.

Ethan groaned to the sensation of his cap inside my walls, his hands gripping my hips tightly as he started to move back and forth a little faster.

He took me hard and fast, the wet sounds of our coupling filling the air. I clung to his shoulders, my nails digging into his skin as he drilled into me, hitting depths I never knew I had.

He fucked me for what felt like hours, grunting and growling as he took his pleasure from my willing body. I could only hold on, moan and take it, my pussy squeezing him like a vice as he used me for his own satisfaction.

Finally, with a roar of completion, Ethan buried himself deep and came hard inside me. I felt the hot spurts of his seed painting my insides, marking me as his. My eyes widened in shock as he filled me up, claiming me in the most primal way possible.

Afterwards, he collapsed next to me, both of us breathing heavily as we came down from our high. He gathered me close, cradling me against his chest as he pressed soft kisses to my face.

"That was... intense," he murmured, his voice rough and sated. "You okay?"

I nodded, a shy smile playing at my lips. "Yeah. That was amazing."

He grinned, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "You're amazing," he countered. "And sexy as hell."

I blushed at the compliment, burying my face against his chest. But I couldn't deny the sense of belonging, of rightness, that settled over me as I lay in his arms. For the first time in a long time, I felt... content.

The morning sun was bright and unforgiving as it filtered through my eyelids, pulling me from a deep, exhausted sleep.

I groaned, trying to turn away from the light, but then I heard it—high, tinkling laughter from somewhere nearby.

"Look at her!" one voice exclaimed, dripping with mockery. "Sleeping naked in the grass like some common—"

"—like a whore," another finished, and they all dissolved into cruel giggles.

My eyes snapped open. I was lying on the cold dewy grass, wrapped in a scratchy wool blanket and nothing else.

The events of last night came flooding back—the moonlight, Ethan's sorrowful eyes, his touch, his kiss, the way he had claimed me so thoroughly on this very spot.

But he was gone.