17 Smoking S’mores

Ember

There’s no more talking. Everything that needed to be said was said. Every worry I had laid out, and Onyx soothed all of them. He’s willing to give up his life for me. Together we will rebuild my pack until it’s a wonderful place to live. But thoughts of planning and strategy will have to wait, because Onyx is undressing me.

He tosses my shirt over his shoulder and reclaims my wrists in his left hand, keeping me upright against the cool wood of the bedroom door.

I struggle against his hold, wanting to touch him, but he grins and resumes kissing me. The world falls away as he coaxes my mouth open. The feel of his tongue against mine sends heat flooding my body, flowing from my fingertips to my toes and gathering low in my stomach.

This man makes kissing an artform. The slow brush of our lips, the way his teeth nip at my skin as he moves down my throat and lowers his mouth to my breasts. No amount of twisting deters him. His hand only tightens and pushes my wrists up, until I’m desperate, drawn out and panting.

His head comes back up, a wicked grin on his face. “I’m going to bite you,” he says, “Right here.” He gives a demonstration, fangs pressing into the crook of my neck hard enough to sting but not break the skin. This time, I’m confident I want it, and I let out a whimper at the sting.

“I want to claim you, too,” I say, my words breathy. I gasp as he bites a second time, this one harder, as if he is testing the limit. “Do it,” I say.

He lets out a low laugh. “Not yet. You didn’t think I’d go this easy on you?”

I’m not sure if I’m about to melt or burst into flames, but it’s becoming unbearable. As if sensing my impending implosion, he finally releases my wrists.

It’s all the urging I need. I launch myself at him and he grabs my waist, hoisting me up until I’m wrapped around him, my hands threading into his hair. Biting his bottom lip, I drag my nails along his scalp, earning a groan that makes my stomach flip.

He inches backward until we’re falling onto the bed, his arms banded tight around me. My hair splays around us, enclosing his face, nose to nose with mine.

“I love you,” I murmur .

“I’ve loved you for longer,” he responds with a smirk.

“It’s not a competition.”

“No, ‘cause I’d be winning.”

I silence him by biting his neck, not low like a claiming, but high on his throat. He growls at the pain and pleasure as I suck at his skin. “I love when you’re rough with me,” he admits. A shiver runs down my spine.

Electricity buzzing under my skin, I push away until I have room to pull my leggings off. Onyx sheds his own pants and boxers and then helps me tug my leggings over my ankles. He nips at my ankle hard enough to leave a mark, and as I pull back, he hooks a finger into the edge of my panties and draws them down my hip, kissing the side of my thigh as he removes them entirely.

I watch his progress until my gaze strays to his naked body. My breathing goes ragged. He doesn’t stop me or protest as I close my hand over his cock and slowly stroke down.

His eyes close, a look of ecstasy on his face. I stroke up and then back down harder, watching his reaction. He lets out a growl, his eyes opening, glowing a brilliant sapphire. “If you keep doing that, we’ll miss out on other more important activities.”

My hand withdraws, a flush burning from my cheeks to my neck.

“Fuck, that felt good,” he rasps, crawling over me. I lay back, running my hands over the corded muscles in his arms, from his biceps down his forearms .

His mouth goes to my breasts for a short moment before he licks the curve of my stomach. I’m proud of my curves, but I still squirm under him. His fingers sink into the soft skin of my ass and hips, holding me still as he swirls his tongue over my clit. My vision goes white. He repeats the move until I can’t remember my own name. Every muscle tenses, my back arching.

“Holy hell,” I say, my voice trembling.

“You look magnificent,” he whispered as he moves up my body and reaches between us. His cock nudges my entrance, ready for him. Slowly, gently, he pushes in with shallow thrusts, each one slightly deeper until he fills me entirely. My mouth falls open in a silent scream at the feeling of fullness.

“Even better than I imagined,” he murmurs, the words almost inaudible, as if his thoughts are escaping without him realizing.

As he resumes moving, tenderly, attentively. My thighs close over his hips, pressing against him as my head turns sideways and my eyes squeeze shut to block out everything but the feel of him inside of me.

He picks up speed, growing confident at my soft moans as he strokes against my inner walls, sending sparks through my body. I’m so sensitive, and that burning pleasure intensifies.

My hands scramble for a grip on anything stable, my fingers curling around the bottom edge of the wooden headboard. He groans louder. “I’m not going to last long, you feel too good,” he warns, the words broken and slurred .

Feeling my own orgasm looming again, I force my eyes open. His throat is bared to me as he moves against me. I want to kiss, bite, and mark him so bad it takes my breath away.

Releasing the headboard, I reach for him. His pace slows as he lets me pull him closer. Kissing down his neck, I find that juncture with his shoulder where the tendon is taut. It’s tempting, and I lick across the skin. His inhale is audible, encouraging me.

He’s mine, and I’m claiming him.

My sharp teeth close over his skin, tightening until the skin breaks in a dozen tiny wounds. His blood hits over my tongue and the magic hits me.

Adoration, arousal, and possessiveness fill every fiber of my being. I can’t untangle his emotions from mine, and my nails dig into his shoulders as a whimper escapes me. Pleasure barrels over all of it, sweeping me up, and I don’t know if it’s mine or his.

His teeth cut into my skin, the pain nothing compared to the intense onslaught of feeling. It’s as if every emotion is mirrored back, a reflection of a reflection until infinity.

I’m shaking, cursing, tears falling from the corners of my eyes into my hair. His forehead drops to my sternum as he sucks in deep lungfuls of air.

The emotion ebbs, until I can separate his feelings from mine. How does anyone adjust to this? He lifts his head and grins, and happiness soaks into me through our mate bond.

“This is crazy,” I finally manage to say .

“Yeah,” he replies, withdrawing and stretching out on the duvet cover beside me.

Reluctantly, I climb out of the bed and cross to the bathroom. After I clean up, he flips off the lights and tucks the covers around us.

“I can’t believe we did that,” I say with a laugh. “Everyone is going to freak when they find out.”

Onyx brushes my hair back and nuzzles against the nape of my neck. He doesn’t answer for a while, but then he says, “No one is going to be surprised.”

“Will they be happy for you?” I ask tentatively.

Onyx chuckles. “They’ll be thrilled for us .” Affection bubbles up in my chest and this time it’s mine. The hand draped across my waist tenses, and he drags me flush against him. He must have felt the warm fuzzy feelings reflected through our bond.

In the darkness with my mate holding me, I’ve never felt so safe. For once, I don’t fight sleep but let it overtake me. It’s short-lived, because my mate wakes me after a time, and we come together again before falling into a deeper sleep.

Onyx

A trail of smoke wafts from the oven when Ember cracks the door open. She lets out the cutest little squeak and scrambles for oven mitts.

“Everything going okay over there?” I ask, restraining myself from jumping up to help.

“Shush, it’s fine. ”

Propping my chin on my fist, I suppress a smile. She insisted on making a surprise for us and wouldn’t even let me see the ingredients. Teeth biting her bottom lip, she lifts a glass casserole dish out of the oven. The top is golden brown, not blackened, but smoke trails off of it anyway.

“Did you burn something?” Cedar asks, leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed. After three days stuck in a house with us, he is as grumpy as we predicted.

“Not you too!” Ember grumbles. Glass clinks as she dishes up her creation. She spins with a plate in each hand, a bashful smile lighting up her gorgeous features.

“What is it?” Cedar asks.

“S’mores!” she says.

Melted golden marshmallow flows over graham crackers on the dish I accept from my mate. She sinks down beside me and blows on her serving.

“I know you aren’t super familiar with them, but that’s not really how s’mores are supposed to be made,” I tease.

She narrows her eyes in a playful glare. “Well, we don’t exactly have a proper fire, and you said microwave s’mores aren’t acceptable. So here we are.”

Indulging my feisty mate, I pick up the graham cracker and take a bite. The top layer crunches beautifully and chocolate oozes out from under the marshmallow.

“Actually, this is great,” I mumble between sticky bites .

“Are you just being nice?” she asks, eyeing her own s’more like it might poison her.

“No, seriously. Cedar, get one, you’ll love it.”

As Ember takes a tiny, testing bite, she lets out a little moan that has me thinking of carrying her out of the kitchen, but there’s plenty of time for that later.

Cedar loads up two on his own plate and sits opposite us. “Any word from Jasper?” he asks.

“Nothing today,” Ember answers glumly.

“What about from your mom?” he asks.

Ember licks sugar from her fingertips before answering. “She has been making all kinds of new friends over in Ironcrest. I’m a little afraid Zephyr will be my new step-dad.” She looks slightly green at the idea, and I have to agree.

“I doubt it,” my brother answers with a shrug.

“So what if they don’t find a solution?” Ember asks, not for the first time. Through our mate bond, I feel her spike in anxiety. My hand brushes up her forearm. I love the way her emotions settle under my touch.

Instead of offering platitudes about trusting Slate and Jasper, Cedar fidgets with his fork. “I think we all know someone is going to have to challenge Orion for Alpha. I know you guys want to find another solution, but short of invading and taking over the pack, I don’t see any other viable option.”

I could punch him. Ember’s heart starts to beat wildly and her emotions rollercoaster through fear, worry, and anger so quickly my head is spinning.

“Well, fuck,” I mutter. “That’s exactly what Jasper said not to do.”

Ember grabs my hand, her nails pressing into my skin. “Onyx…” she says, seemingly unable to finish her sentence.

‘It’s okay,” I say quietly, wishing my brother would leave. Or at least shut his mouth.

“We know he’s right,” she finally says, tipping her chin up as she regains her composure. I’m so proud of her. Despite being terrified, she’s ready to face the wolf who beat her in a challenge just a few days ago.

I won’t let that happen again.

“We don’t know that,” I argue.

“How long do we wait for another solution, then?” Ember says, barely above a whisper.

“Realistically, you have time. Things can’t get that much worse in Granite Ridge in the next week or two,” Cedar interjects with another shrug.

“See, we can give it time,” I say, threading my fingers through hers and flipping her hand over.

She sighs. “If there was another solution, they would have found it by now.”

“Fine. I’ll challenge him for Alpha. I’m the mate of the pack’s rightful Heir. He can’t deny me.”

“No!” Ember blurts. “I can’t let you do that. What if he hurts you worse?”

I scowl at her. “I resent that. It took three of them and a set of handcuffs to take me down last time.”

Cedar’s mouth presses into a line, but he doesn’t say anything.

“I’ll do it,” she says .

“No,” I say, fisting my hand on the table.

“It’s our only option,” she argues.

“I can take him.”

My brother lets out a dramatic sigh. “I’m not sure either of you can take him on your own, unless you find some advantage over him.”

Ember taps her index finger on the table, her nail making a hollow clicking noise. Her lips purse to the side, looking adorable while she contemplates taking over a pack.

“Let’s say we can find a way to defeat him in a challenge,” Ember turns to me, reluctance written all over her face. “But would they respect us? Even if we beat him - what if they all just followed him anyways?”

“They’ll follow you. Especially if Jasper supports your claim.”

That’s one thing I’m sure of. She is Ferris’s daughter, so even if the pack has turned on Sienna, they have to bow to Ember if she claims her birthright.

“Not everyone will,” Ember says.

“And those are the ones we have to get rid of. We already knew we had to clean house if we wanted to build a healthy pack. This way, we can cut out the worst of them right from the start.”

Cedar stands and clears his throat. “I suggest you call Jasper.”

Ember’s gaze is distant as she turns over scenarios in her head, but her emotions remain calm with a touch of something warm swirling in our bond. Hope ?

“I love when you’re plotting,” I say, pulling her hand to my mouth. Gingerly, I place a kiss over her wrist.

She bites her lip again. “I still don’t like the idea of you fighting Orion.”

My jovial mood falls away. “He dared to put his hands on you. And he tried to take you from me. I’m going to kill him.”

She smiles as if I didn’t just threaten murder. Challenges aren’t supposed to be to the death, but it seems deserved in this case.

“As much as I’d like to see that, I think it needs to be me. I want to prove myself. And the pack won’t respect me if you just swoop in and save the day.”

“Don’t let him land a hit on you or I’ll go fucking crazy,” I threaten, my voice lowering dangerously.

Her eyes are lit with a faint glow, her smile feral.

I love when she is sweet and nurturing, but I also love when she’s feisty and demanding. I love every side of my beautiful mate.

“Are we really going to do this?” she asks, her cheeks flushing.

“We don’t exactly have any other ideas. And I think it could work. But Cedar’s right, we don’t stand a chance unless we have some sort of strategy.”

“Then we better figure it out.” she murmurs, her eyes dropping to my mouth.

We can figure it out right after I take her back to our bedroom.

“You two are gross,” Cedar mutters, dropping his plate in the sink. Shaking his head, he strides out .

“Poor guy,” I say, leaning forward until I can kiss her cheek.

“He’ll be fine.” She wrinkles her nose as I nibble at her ear.

“But we better go back to our room instead of defiling the kitchen.” Her giggles soothe my worries as I brush her hair off her shoulder to kiss over the pale scars that mark her as mine.