Shameful by May Dawson
25
Legacy
That night,I climbed into the enormous, four poster bed, and tried to go to sleep, knowing I might be two doors down from a murder scene. The suitcase that someone had packed for me was open at the foot of the bed. I wondered who. I didn’t think it was my mom, because there was a pair of jeans in there that didn’t fit me anymore—I kept them in my drawer because hope springs eternal—and a random assortment of clothes, not my favorites. It bothered me to think of someone in my house, in my room, packing my things while my family was at the meeting with the alpha.
I couldn’t get to sleep. I couldn’t stop re-living what happened to me that night when I ran into the vampire. No wonder some people became ghosts. If I’d died that night, maybe I still couldn’t have stopped obsessing about what he did to me, about what he might do to my family.
He’d mentioned Lucas as his motive. But what if that wasn’t true? What if he went after my family, after Tania? What if they were in danger because the pack didn’t believeme?
When I finally managed to fall asleep, I jolted awake when a phantom grip pressed against myskin.
My eyes flew open as my body began to rock, desire pulsing between my thighs.
Lucas was having sex. Again.
With pain turning my legs to putty and the same hollow ache between my thighs, I stumbled out into the hallway.
I hit the wall harder than I’d expected. The impact must have been echoed down the hall, because a moment later, Rhett stumbled from his room, bleary-eyed.
“Hey,” he said, his face worried as he came toward me. His strong arms caught me as I stumbled.
“Lucas is at it again,” I muttered.
“Fuck that guy,” Rhettsaid.
“I still love him. If I didn’t, it wouldn’t hurt, wouldit?”
Rhett didn’t answer, but I knew it was true. Why couldn’t I just stop loving Lucas? After the way he’d treated me, he obviously didn’t care. Feeling so pathetic only made the hurt worse.
“I don’t want to be with him anymore,” I said, but something deep in me—the wolf—whined at those words. “Would it help if I shifted, do you think?”
“No,” Rhett said urgently. “The last thing we need is a lovesick wolf trying to swim her way home. You’ll befine.”
My hand fisted in his shirt, and I realized the material was damp already from my tears. I’d be embarrassed later about sobbing all over Rhett, but right now I didn’tcare.
I whispered, “I don’t feel fine, Rhett.”
“Not yet,” hesaid.
Then he was carrying me somewhere. The dark wooden walls, hung with art, were a blur as he carried me into his bedroom.
He laid me down on the bed and started trying to talk to me, trying to talk me through touching myself like I had the night before.
But I kept seeing flashes through Lucas’s eyes, of another girl, of her smiling as he touchedher…
“Please, Rhett…” I whispered.
He hesitated, then gently ran his fingertips over my cheekbone, down to my chin. Just that touch seemed to ease the pain, just a little. I turned my face to his, studying his high cheekbones, his emerald-blue eyes under a high forehead.
He studied me, then leaned forward uncertainly.
I raised my chin, pressing my lips to his hungrily. I wanted this, wanted him. I didn’t have any doubts.
His lips pressed back against mine, soft and warm. His lower lip was lusher than his narrow upper lip. I wrapped my fingers around the hard muscle of his bicep and pulled him closer, my lips parting againsthis.
The visions of Lucas receded, but not the hollow ache between my thighs. I hoped Lucas could feel me kissing Rhett. I hoped it hurt him like it hurtme.
“More,” I breathed into his mouth.
“Greedy,” he whispered, but I could feel his hesitation. He’d worried that I would have sex with him because I was desperate to escape the pain, that it wouldn’t really be my choice.
“For you,” I whispered, hoping that he would realize I wasn’t going to have regrets.
That seemed to break him. He kissed me again, more deeply. As we were trading kisses, he grasped my hips and pulled me on top of him. I straddled him, feeling his cock press against my aching core through our layers of clothes.
My hair brushed over his shoulders as I leaned forward, our lips meeting urgently over and over. He ran his hands down my sides, his gentle touch still setting me on fire, until he reached the waistband of my panties. I wiggled my hips, wanting more of him, only for him to trace his hands back up, ruching my shirt as he went. I thought he was going to touch my bare skin, but then he straightened out my t-shirt.
“God damn it, Rhett, why are you such a gentleman?” I whispered.
He threw back his head and laughed, the sound surprising in the night. I grinned back at him. His laugh was infectious. But then another spasm of pain, an ache of lust between my thighs so intense that it felt like I was going to burn up, another glimpse of Lucas’s eyes in the night…
“Legacy. Look at me. You’re here with me,” Rhett said, and I opened my eyes to meet his. He tucked my hair behind my ear, and I realized for the first time the strands were stuck to my face with sweat. Rhett probably didn’t want to have sex with me in the throes of my fever, when I was sick with desire for anotherman.
“I’m sorry,” I said, pulling away from him. “I shouldn’t be trying to get you to make me better—I should be able to handle it on myown—”
I rolled away across the bed. I was at the door when I felt him behindme.
“Legacy,” he said, his voice low and urgent. I turned to find him right behind me, although he hesitated, not touching me. “You aren’t making me do anything. And you don’t have to handle it on your own. If you want to go back to your own bed, that’s okay. I’ll still respect you, like you, want you in the morning. But I don’t want you to think you should.”
I stared at his face, trying to decide if he was just being kind to me or if part of him genuinely desiredme.
“You should do whatever the hell you want,” he finished.
“I shouldn’t need you. I shouldn’t need anyone.” If I hadn’t gotten so close to Lucas, would I be experiencing pain like I was now from the breaking of the mating bond? Surely getting close to Rhett was inviting morepain.
“They already exiled us,” he said. “We don’t have to worry anymore about anyone else’s should.”
If I was going to be in pain anyway, I might as well also have my pleasure.
I stepped forward, slipping my arms around his neck. He bent forward and kissed me. His lips were soft and gentle but his arms felt solid when they wrapped my waist, drawing me back with him toward thebed.
The wave of pain and desire came again, and I groaned against his shoulder, tossing myhead.
“It seems like you can’t survive very long without someone kissing you,” he murmured in my ear, tilting my chin up to him, his lips claimingmine.
“I need more than kisses, Rhett.” Lucas was certainly doing a hell of a lot more than kissing.
He groaned as if he wanted it too, then spun with me. The back of my knees hit the bed and I let myselffall.
I writhed across the bed, my fingers snaking through my hair, trying to escape the phantom ache between my thighs that sent pain burning through mybody.
Then Rhett was between my legs, his fingers stroking across my thighs as he pulled my panties down. My sleep shirt worked its way up as I writhed, exposing my narrow waist; I didn’t have it in me to pull it backdown.
Rhett leaned over me, his fingers gliding between my thighs, finding the slick, wet heat there. He teased against my clit and my hips bucked again. He watched my face until my lips met his, and then he kissed me slowly as he worked my clit, his fingers gliding over me until the pain of rejection faded.
This time when my hips began to buck, when pleasure flowed hot and languid through my veins, it was a thousand times more satisfying than when I was alone. His bright eyes watched me as my hips jerked, and he anchored one arm around my lower legs, holding me close so my hips couldn’t escape. His mouth pulsed against my clit until I came, ripping the sheets off the mattress.
He watched me for a moment, kissed my thigh tenderly, moved to lie beside me. When I looked up at him, his lips covered mine in a tender kiss. I kissed him back, feeling how soft and warm his lips were, finding an unfamiliar smoky taste on his tongue. He kissed me slowly, making it easier to mimic his movements and try to please him than it had been with Lucas.
He pulled back with his eyes bright and full of mischief, as if he might be laughing at me. That faint smile reminded me of Lucas’s condescending pleasure at my clumsy kisses.
“Sorry I’m such a bad kisser,” Isaid.
“Why do you think that?” He played with my hair, stroking a few strands back. “I happen to like the way you kiss me very much, Legacy Quinn.”
“Well,” I felt a playful smile dart over my lips, even though my chest glowed at his words. I didn’t quite believe him, though. “It has been a long time since you’ve had anyone tokiss.”
“True, but irrelevant,” he said, and maybe he was lying, but I kissed him anyway.
The door flew open, and I scrambled up, panic flaring in my chest.
West stood in the doorway. His eyes widened when he saw us, then his jaw tightened, his face resolving into his usual surly expression.
He snapped, “If you two can take a fucking break. We’ve got a ghost problem.”