The Wolf’s Contract Marriage by Layla Silver

Chapter 8 – Teagan

The following day, as I slowly became aware of my surroundings, I realized that I was curled up against something warm and breathing.

Caelum.

All at once, memories of the night before came rushing back into the forefront of my mind. Like the way Caelum had taken care of me, made sure I'd found my own release before pursuing his own. Or the way he'd insisted I stayed in his bed once we were done.

I was finding it incredibly hard not to begin falling head over heels for this man. I couldn't, though.

Could I?

If I did fall in love with him, would he love me back?

I highly doubted he would since he'd been burned so severely by Camilla.

Then again, though, the heart wanted what it wanted, and hopefully, his would want me.

Don't get your hopes up, kid, I thought to myself. You tried that once before, and look what happened.

It was true. I had put my faith in the wrong man in the past and paid dearly for it. The thing was, though, I didn't get the same impression from Caelum as I had from my ex.

Unfortunately, though, everybody was different, and I knew that most people didn't show their true colors until it was too late to get away from them.

My thoughts were swirling hopelessly, fast enough to make me dizzy, so much so that I very nearly didn't notice when Caelum woke up beside me.

“Morning, beautiful,” he murmured, and his voice was husky from lack of use. “Sleep well?”

I took a few deep, fortifying breaths before I turned over and met his half-open, adorably sleepy gaze. "Yes, I did. How about you?"

“Better than I have in a long time. Having a warm body beside you works wonders for sleeping well, it seems.” His eyes narrowed slightly, and he tilted his head at an awkward angle on the pillow at me. “Are you all right?”

How did he know?

"Yeah, I'm fine." I smiled at him but found it hard to catch his gaze.

“No.” Caelum sat up abruptly, and if I wasn't having a crisis of conscience, the sight of his hair sticking up in messy tufts from his head would've been highly amusing. “No, you're not okay.”

"Look, it's... it's nothing, Caelum." I couldn't rely on him. Not for my emotional well-being, at least. He had more than enough problems of his own; he didn't need mine on top of all that.

I sat up and turned away from him on the mattress before I started looking around fruitlessly for my clothes.

A warm arm snaked out and wrapped itself around my waist before pulling me backward until my back was flush against his front.

I could feel his morning erection poking into my hip and debated internally whether I should do something with it.

"Now we're more comfortable," he purred into my ear before I could make a decision. He trailed a line of red hot kisses down my neck, and I bit my lip on a contented moan, "why don't you tell me what's bothering you?"

I will not get turned on, I will not get turned on, I thought fiercely to myself.

Unsurprisingly, that didn't work at all, and my thighs rubbed together of their own accord as Caelum's hot breath on my collarbone set my skin on fire.

"I can't tell you," I breathed as his hand trailed from my shoulder down to my hip. He gently massaged the skin there while, at the same time, he sucked a hickey onto my neck.

“I have ways to make you tell me.”

I shook my head. "No, you don't."

His fingers trailed sneakily across my hip to trace nonsensical patterns in the light dusting of hair on my mound. "I do believe I do." All movement from him ceased entirely, and I all but whined as the sensations stopped abruptly. "Tell me what's wrong, Teagan," he rumbled in my ear, which did nothing to stop my already raging hormones whipping into an absolute inferno in seconds flat.

"You don't want to hear my problems," I mumbled once the tiny semblance of my logical side fought bravely through the haze of lust in my brain. "You have enough of your own."

"Well, that's the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard," Caelum replied flatly. "I thought we were in this together? That we were compatible?"

"Of course we are. And we're definitely compatible; I don't deny that. But I'm worried about getting too close to you. I'm uneasy about the fact that feelings might get involved."

"Teagan. You don't understand. You're under my protection now. I owe it to you after the mess you've been dumped into. Even if you grow to hate me, I'll still be willing to listen and help you in whatever capacity I can."

My heart melted with every single word he said. “Caelum. That's...”

“I know,” he replied, before his sneaky fingers resumed their ticklish ministrations on my mound. “However, you told me what I wanted to know, so I suppose I should reward you.”

I hummed eagerly in reply as his finger slipped down to trace around my clit. At the same time, his other hand came up to pinch and roll the closest one of my nipples to him.

“Now that I've got you where I want you,” he growled right into my ear, which only intensified how turned on I was feeling, and I had the vaguest idea that he knew it too, “I want to ask you something.”

"F-f-fire away," I stuttered as my hips bucked at their own accord. The pad of Caelum's finger had pressed my clit with the perfect amount of pressure.

“Will you go on a date with me?”

“Huh?” His question had caught me completely off guard, and I found myself craning my neck so that I could stare at him in puzzlement.

“A date,” he continued, while his fingers kept up their delicious ministrations. “You know, when two adults go out to dinner, maybe wear some nice clothes, talk about themselves?”

"I know what a date is, Caelum." I was ashamed to admit that his name came out of my mouth sounding more like a moan than an ordinary word.

“Good. Now that that's cleared up, will you go on one with me?”

“But-but why?” I managed to ask before his finger swirled around my clit one last time. He trailed his digit through my folds to idly trace my slit a few times. I was being driven absolutely wild by this man; I wouldn't have been surprised if a puddle of some sort was forming beneath my ass.

“I like you, Teagan. I'd like to get to know you better.”

"Bullshit." The last half of the word came out louder than the first, as he inserted two fingers into me without warning and started to pump them rapidly in and out of me. The wet, squelching noise of his fingers going in and out only confirmed my theory as to how wet I was.

“Okay, fine. You got me. I like you a lot,Teagan. The fact that dating you would look good to the court is just an added benefit.”

How he was keeping up an entirely rational conversation, like we were sitting at the breakfast table, instead of him fingering me to an earth-shattering orgasm, I would never know.

As it was, I was way too far gone to answer his statement in any kind of comprehensible way. Instead, my back arched, and I felt my inner muscles clench around his fingers. It felt good, but not as good as his length inside me had the night before.

“That's it, Teagan,” he cooed softly before he sucked the nipple he was idly playing with into his mouth, “come for me.” He bit down on my nipple at the same time as he crooked his fingers inside me to hit the spot that had me convulsing while fireworks burst behind my eyelids. “Good girl,” he whispered approvingly as I slowly returned to myself.

“Caelum?” I mumbled once my legs had stopped trembling so badly.

“Hmm?”

“You're going to kill me, you know that?”

As he threw his head back to chuckle throatily, I found that I couldn't take my eyes off of him. "Oh, Teagan. Where would the fun be in that?"

We lay together in an easy silence until my legs no longer felt like jelly, and all the while, Caelum soothingly stroked his fingers over the skin of my arm, even though I could feel his erection still poking me in the hip.

“Thank you for that, Caelum.” I wriggled out of his grip and sat beside him, with my legs crossed. “But I should help you out too.”

He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the loud noise of his alarm going off. "Shit."

"Ignore it. I'm sure Barry won't mind you coming in a little late."

"Sorry, babe, I can't." He leaned over to drop a kiss on my forehead. "Today is one of the last days before the site closes and my job is done."

"You sure I can't help you out?" I looked down at his boner and very slowly licked my lips.

Caelum threw his head back to stare at the ceiling. "You don't know what you do to me, woman." His voice was a low, possessive growl, and I couldn't stop the shiver that ran through me. "But unfortunately, I'm going to have to turn you down. I really have to get ready for work."

“Want me to come with you?”

"You're always welcome to come along." He hesitated for a few moments as he dragged his dark gaze up and down my naked body. "It pains me to say it, but we're going to have to have separate showers; otherwise, I'd spend the whole day at home here fucking you." His tone of voice was so profound that I had no doubt he meant every word.

I nodded and gestured for him to go to the bathroom first. He stared at me longingly for a few more minutes before he got out of bed and disappeared from view.

I collapsed back onto the pillows and stared up at the ceiling, just like Caelum had a few seconds before.

I was so totally screwed.