Chapter 24: Gavin

Chapter 24: Gavin

I got a taste of my own medicine when Billie took off on her own. While I risked my life patrolling the borders, I forced myself to not care about my packmates fretting over me. Still, now that it was Billie out there, I couldn’t stop imagining the worst possible outcome. My saving grace was that Aislin would be out there to keep an eye on her, but what if it wasn’t enough? Dalesbloom and the Inkscales would kill them both if they found them. I just had to hope they’d be smart enough to stay away from the borders.

“I can’t believe my own territory isn’t even safe for my packmates anymore,” I muttered to Muriel after overthinking it.

She clasped a steaming cup of tea in her hands. “David and Lothair will be held accountable for their transgressions,” Muriel assured me.

“It won’t be enough until I’ve crushed their fucking throats.”

With a sigh, Muriel put her hand on my arm. “Gavin, resorting to violence only drags you down to their level. If you take a life you’ll be no better than them.”

My hair rose as she gently chastised me. I wasn’t angry at her for it; mostly I was frustrated with myself. “You’re right. This is why Billie probably hates my guts now.”

“Oh, I don’t think she does. I think she’s overwhelmed… You’re forgetting how wildly out of her element she is. She’s never been away from her family, and now they’re out for her blood. She needs a little compassion… to know that she’s welcome here.”

The matronly counsel from Muriel soothed my frustrations better than I expected, but I imagined her natural aura as a unicorn had something to do with it. Or maybe I just… missed having a mother’s touch. Whatever it was, it made me think back to when Billie had calmly, forgivingly offered me her hand after I terrorized her in the kitchen. I wasn’t the only one that needed compassion. I needed to trust her. Depend on her. But how could I do that, knowing she  intended to leave me?

I sent a grateful glance to Muriel, but she’d only given me more to worry about. Maybe I needed to express what I truly wanted to Billie. I had to open up, even if doing so could be painful.

With my next course of action in mind, I packed some food in a basket, found an old cotton blanket, and waited. The hours ticked by, worsening my fears that something had happened until shortly before sunset, Billie and Aislin finally walked through the door together. I was on my feet in half a second to greet them.

They peered at me like they expected bad news. “Hey,” was all I said.

“Hi,” said Billie. My heart thumped.

Aislin brightened up. “Billie just hunted her first deer all by herself.”

I looked at Billie. “For real?”

She bashfully looked away. “Yeah, it… it felt good.”

“Did you bring it back?”

“No,” she said. “I was hungry.”

Aislin laughed. “Me too. I tore into that thing after like nobody’s business. It was just a little guy, Gav.”

“Oh. That’s fine.” Even though it threw a wrench in my plans. “I was hoping to take you out for something to eat,” I said to Billie.

The uncertain terms between us made her nervous, I could tell. She hesitated to answer. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. We can still go somewhere.” I caught her eye. “If you want to.”

“Yeah, I’d like that. I just don’t have much of an appetite.”

“What, is a 3,000 calorie meal too much for you?” I scoffed in jest. When she gave me only the ghost of a laugh, I grumbled. “I’m just kidding. We don’t have to bring food.” It wasn’t like I was terribly hungry.

Even after we got into my car, the tension lingered. I didn’t want to start a potentially damaging conversation while I was driving, so I let the silence marinate, taking us outside of town and into the mountains. While the road traveled uncomfortably close to Eastpeak territory, it was far enough away that I didn’t think we’d be at risk of running into them. I pulled into a viewing area that was hidden from the main road, but open enough not to be saturated with insects. Stepping out of the car, I brought the blanket only and led Billie to a ledge that overlooked the mountainside. Rolling green hills surrounded us, fading into the dimming red horizon dappled with the patterns of the forest. I spread the blanket out and gestured for her to sit.

She remained standing. “Wow. This is beautiful.”

“It’s one of my favorite spots,” I said.

“Are we safe here?”

I sniffed. “Can’t smell anyone. I doubt Everett would let David’s guys cross through his territory.”

Seemingly satisfied with that, Billie took off her shoes, folded her slender legs and sat on the blanket cushioned by grass. I did the same, settling down beside her.

“If you keep following this road, it’ll lead north close to Dalesbloom borders. It takes you up to this abandoned silver mine. You ever been there?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “But I know about it. David warned us not to get close to it, since there’s still traces of silver ore. He didn’t want us to get poisoned.”

“Me and Cat used to go there and fuck around sometimes,” I mused.

Billie frowned. “That’s so dangerous.”

“Yet I’m still kicking.”

Her frown eased up into a smile. “Takes more than a little silver poisoning to defeat the mighty Alpha Gavin Steele, does it?”

“I’m invincible, baby.” I leaned on my side and grinned up at her.

Billie gazed down at me for long seconds. I found myself lost in the docile verdant colour of her eyes, entranced by her smooth skin and her smile, the late sunlight glinting off her hair. Propping my cheek up on my knuckles, I reached out for her, to touch her—any part of her, it didn’t matter. My fingertips grazed her collar bones.

“I’m sorry again,” I murmured. “About Colt.”

Her expression sobered. “I understand why you did it.”

“You do?”

“I feel your anger,” she said quietly. “Even in my dreams. I know it’s hard for you to control it.”

My hand fell until she gently slid hers underneath my palm, lifting it back up against her skin.

“You feel like you’re carrying the weight of all these hardships alone. And I… I’m sorry if I made you feel that way, too,” said Billie. “I’ve never been good at taking initiative. I always sat back and waited for someone to tell me what to do. But I can’t do that anymore. I don’t want to be that person my entire life, scared and shy, reluctant to draw attention to myself. Ever since I helped Muriel, I felt like that was what I wanted to do. I want to protect people. Her… and you.”

The determination I had seen in Billie before wasn’t just a passing moment of bravery. It always lived inside her, and I saw it coming to fruition before my very eyes. “You want to protect me?”

“From your anger.”

Unfamiliar emotions welled up in my chest. Being with Billie was unlike the three years I spent with Cat; always on the brink of eruption, doubting myself, relenting to chaos. Billie’s care for me was genuine. She wanted better for me than what I was capable of on my own.

“Is that something you’d want too?” she ventured.

It was all I’d ever wanted—to feel at peace.

I sat up, grazing Billie’s temple with my fingers, caressing her jawline. A short, sharp inhalation on her lips was all that was exchanged before I kissed her, savoring this touch of hers again. “I want that and more,” I said between kisses.

Billie’s body relaxed onto the blanket beneath me. Her hands went on the back of my neck, pulling me closer, and I all too readily filled the space between our bodies. “Do you want me?” she murmured.

“Even if you weren’t my fated mate, all I needed was to get to know you.” I laughed a little at how ridiculous that was, but it was true.

She pushed her fingers through my hair. “Do you want me to stay?”

My smile softened. “Yeah.”

The gleam in her eyes suggested she’d been hoping I’d say yes. It made me giddy, my heart beating so fast I thought she’d be able to feel it.

“I’ll stay in Grandbay with you, Gavin.”

“Good. Because I’m not about to let you go any time soon.”

She chuckled and kissed my cheek.

Nobody gave me butterflies like she did. The feeling was indescribable, she had gone from fearing me—making me disgusted in myself for how vicious I was—to laying beneath me, kissing me, reciprocating the subtle rhythm between our hips. There were times I felt I didn’t deserve someone as pure as Billie, even now; but I wanted to prove that I’d be a better person with her. She was my fated mate for a reason. She possessed everything I didn’t: sincerity, grace, tenderness. I never would have admitted it, but I was ready to admit it now, that Billie Jesper complemented me in ways nobody else could. The void in me was always destined to be hers to fill. I hoped desperately that she felt the same way about me.

When my lips wandered to her neck, it struck me that I could mark her. Right here and now, we could undergo the marking ritual where I drew her blood, and she drew mine in the heights of passion, yielding our bodies completely to one another. My teeth dragged across her skin, hungering for it. I sensed she’d be ready, but all too quickly my arousal clouded my thoughts and distracted me; I didn’t think I could pull back, stop, and ask her now. I had a raw desire for her. I craved to feel her body squirm with pleasure. I could mark her later. Right now, I just wanted to make her cum.

My hands fastidiously worked her leggings off her waist and pushed her shirt up until she’d slipped out of it, leaving her clothes scattered on the blanket. The setting sun bathed us in an erotic red glow, casting sensual shadows across her hips, her soft stomach shuddering as I kissed the inside of her thighs. I caught her eye, but she wasn’t apprehensive like the first time I tried to go down on her. She watched me, her hand in my hair, her other hand clutching my wrist. Then she tipped her head back and closed her eyes, surrendering her trust to me. I had complete control of her and  wanted her to know that I would use it to fulfill her in every way.

My tongue zealously stroked her pussy, tasting her sweet ambrosia with its subtle metallic kick. I massaged her clit and suckled on her plump lips, teasing her, relishing the small twitches of her body as I touched her in ways she’d never been touched before. Two fingers slid inside her, probing for her sensitive g-spot. The pressure she exerted when she squeezed made me dizzy with lust. I imagined how she’d feel on my cock and nearly forgot what I was doing, the thought was so enticing, but her quiet moans drew me back in, rewarding me for the pleasure I gave. With my free hand, I gripped her thigh tighter. Her body tensed, and I felt her ecstasy mounting until the climax consumed her all at once, flourishing between us both. Her body arched and I plunged my fingers as deeply as I could, wringing every drop of satisfaction from her.

The seconds that followed left her panting. I pecked her mound before drawing above her, sharing her taste with her in a long, heated kiss, unable to help my desirous groans from slipping free. It surprised me when I felt her hands on my zipper, but I let her take the lead and push my jeans down, liberating my erection already dribbling with excitement. I took off my shirt for her, gorging on how she watched my muscular abdomen. “You like this?”

Billie swallowed and nodded.

I dove back down on her instantly, rubbing my glans between her slick folds. She was wet enough I could push right in, but as I thrust my shaft against her, she gasped and severed the kiss.

“I’ve never done this before,” Billie breathed.

I realized in that moment that I didn’t have a condom, either, and it would be irresponsible of me to subject Billie to the consequences of that. “Sorry. Got carried away.”

“Don’t think I don’t want it. I do,” said Billie. “I just don’t know if I’m ready…”

“I won’t force you.”

She must have understood I still needed release because she sat up and coaxed me onto my back instead. A silent conversation transpired in our quick looks before she wielded her courage to suck me off. It didn’t take long. I had been ready to pop for ten minutes.

Her inexperienced mouth was still better than I expected, and I was a sweaty, sticky mess by the end. So was she. Billie wiped her mouth on the back of her arm, then laid down beside me, easily drawn into my arms. Our naked skin was bared to the last warm rays of sunset as the sun sank behind the western horizon.

All I wanted was to lay with her and kiss her, reveling in our bond. Before long, we would have to return to reality where David was waiting to destroy us, but until then, I cherished every second we spent on the mountainside as if we were the only two people who existed.