“Goodn—” she started, but Moses was already pulling her through the door. He closed it and tugged her to Theodore’s door instead, but he didn’t open it. He took her by the shoulders and backed her into it.
“I’m not very good at doing things out of the goodness of my heart,” he admitted lowly, planting his hands either side of her head on the door. He dipped forward, leaning his forearms on the door, bending until his lips hovered over hers. “Aren’t you curious? Don’t you want to know if our second kiss will feel like our first?”
She licked her lips, too nervous to speak, before shaking her head.
“Did you just lie to me?” he breathed out, his stormy eyes darkening.
Slowly, she nodded.
“Come to me,” he demanded in a whisper, refusing to press his lips against hers.
“No,” she whispered back.
He smiled, his breath misting her lips. “What colour if I make you, Carter?”
She didn’t want to admit it.
His lips skimmed her cheek, brushing against her ear. “Just nod,” he murmured.
She jerked her head down, heat flooding her cheeks, and he rumbled with a groan, his body pressing into hers.
“Come to me,” he repeated, this time in Alpha voice.
It was such a relief to press up on her toes and fit her lips to his. Moses made her feel alive. He filled her with fiery emotion and demanded she rise to meet him with every interaction, but he also made her dizzyingly nervous. She didn’t want to come between him and Theodore, but the ten-foot wall they had propped between them had crumbled, leaving her to face the fact that there was a burning attraction between them demanding to be acknowledged.
He cupped her face, one of his hands falling to her neck as his tongue slipped into her mouth. The kiss was slow, heady, exploratory. It cut her open and left her bleeding and confused, reeling with so many conflicting thoughts that she quickly tore her mouth away.
“R-Red,” she gasped.
He didn’t even look shocked.
That made it worse.
His thumb stroked across her jaw, his expression unreadable. “Night, Isobel.”
She turned away, fumbled for the door, and disappeared into Theodore’s room. He was sitting up in bed, staring at the door, his brow deeply furrowed.
“He likes you” was the first thing he said, and Isobel stopped short, her breath sawing in and out of her chest. Theodore’s gaze travelled over her, coming to a rest on her face, his jaw tight and flexed. “He likes you and I can’t even blame him.”
“I think I messed up,” she whispered. “I …”
“No,” he interrupted. “You’ve just been your sweet, wonderful self. You haven’t done anything wrong.” He patted the bed beside him, and she dragged her feet all the way there, flopping down beside him.
“I’ve been thinking,” he murmured, shifting down to lay beside her. He opened his arm and she curled into his side immediately. “If you weren’t showing any interest in them, we might have ended up with a far bigger problem. I think your openness is the glue keeping us all in check right now. Oscar was so smug today, he might as well have been skipping along and singing with the fucking birds. I’ve never seen him so … relaxed. He needed to know that you would accept his claim, and then he immediately backed off.”
She stared at the ceiling, quietly listening to him vocalising his thoughts. “Are you upset? Everyone expects you to overreact and I think it’s making me think the same way.”
“I want to rip off their hands every time they touch you,” he admitted calmly. “But I think it would be worse if you were unhappy.”
“You make me happy.”
“I know.” He rolled his head to the side, looking at her. “As amazing as you smell when you’re turned on, you also smell a lot like my brother, and it’s really off-putting right now.”
“Oh.” She shook herself around on his sheets, making him crack a smile. “Better?”
“No,” he grunted, tugging her on top of his hips. He sat up, pulling his shirt over his head, and then he tugged off her shirt, tossing it away from his bed before pulling his over her head, never once letting his eyes stray from her face. She thought he would be happy with that, but then he stood, picking her up in the same motion as he dragged her shorts down her legs. He tossed those, and dropped back to the bed, sitting her back on his hips, the hem of his over-large shirt pooling in her lap.
“Better.” He squeezed her waist. “You can borrow my shirts too, you know.”
“Really?” She felt her smile pushing into her cheeks.
“Yeah.” He ran his hands down her thighs, and then up again, slipping beneath the shirt to lightly circle her hips. “Fuck. You look good.” He quickly shifted her off, dropping her back to the mattress. “I’m glad you’re here, Illy.” He turned her around, tugging the blanket around him as he pressed close behind her, his arm wrapping around her front.
Maybe there was something wrong with her, because all she could think about was how amazing he smelled and how much she desperately wanted him to touch her the same way he did the night she was released from the hospital.
“I’m glad I’m here too.” She hugged his arm, feeling a persistent nudge of fear against her chest. She wasn’t even sure if it was his or hers, but she was suddenly terrified that she might have to leave him the next day.
She wasn’t sure if she could.
“Don’t worry.” He nuzzled into her neck, his warmth spreading through her body. “I’ll apply to visit whatever settlement you’re in if you’re not with me. I won’t leave you.”
She sucked in a shaky breath, and then turned around, his arm lifting to allow the movement before resettling over her.
“What if I have feelings?” she whispered, already wanting to take the words back. Or cry. Or throw up.
His eyes flicked between hers, his jaw flexing. “What kind of feelings?”
She pulled his hand to her chest, pressing it over her pounding heart. “Would that be okay?”
“Yeah, pretty. I think that would be fucking fine.” His voice was a growl, his Alpha ring growing bigger, making his eyes appear darker. “Ah, fuck the rules.” He grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her mouth to his, his tongue staking an immediate claim.
After the turmoil of everything that had happened that day, kissing Theodore was like coming home, and a sob built up in the back of her throat, quickly swallowed by him as he eased her backward, rolling on top of her, his knee kicking one of her legs wide before he settled his hips to hers, rocking his erection against her.
His kiss grew more demanding, his hands tearing his shirt off her body before she even realised what was happening. He paused, his forehead notched against hers, his body vibrating as he pulled in a few deep breaths.
“You okay?” she whispered, touching his jaw.
“Better.” He kissed her again and then trailed kisses down her neck. “Just pent up. Don’t want to lose control. Not going to fuck you tonight.”
“Why not?” she asked, her mind full of his scent and the feel of his hands dragging down her sides.