Page 33 of The Alpha’s Chosen Mate

Chapter Seventeen

HARRISON

21 Years Old, July 10th 1993

As soon as I make my confession, I tilt Emily’s face up and brush my lips against hers. It’s soft at first. A ghost of a kiss. But she makes this sweet little sound—a mix of surprise and pleasure—and then I’m a goner.

My mouth captures hers in a kiss filled with every ounce of passion and desire within me. I pull her close, one hand cradling her face, the other wrapped around her waist. She melts into me, her hands sliding up my chest as she matches me kiss for kiss, breath for breath, touch for touch.

“Emily.” My voice is a rough, impassioned rasp deep in my chest, my mouth barely leaving hers. “Don’t you dare run away from me again.”

It’s both a command and a plea from a desperate male, one who’s been starved of her for far too long.

I can’t do it anymore. Pretend she doesn’t matter to me. Pretend her absence wasn’t killing me.

“I have no intention of running. Not this time.” She presses her lips to mine again.

I groan and tangle my fingers in her hair. I can’t get close enough to her. I gave her space when she ran from me on her birthday, but she ran farther than I ever expected, all but disappearing completely. She was gone for so long, and now that she’s here? I’m never letting her go. Never again.

“I thought about that kiss every damn day you were gone. Wanting more. Needing more.” My grip tightens on her strands, tugging them with gentle force so her eyes meet mine. “I swear to the Goddess, Em, if you ever leave me again, I will hunt you down. My patience only extends so far.”

Emily smiles and drapes an arm around my neck. “Maybe I want you to hunt me down, Alpha.”

“I’m sure you do.” I chuckle, low and dark, amused and aroused by the tempting picture painted by her teasing. Someday I’ll chase her through this forest so I can catch her and take her against a tree. But not tonight. Tonight I’m going to take my time. “There’s just one problem with your proposal.”

“What’s that?”

“I’ve already caught you.”

Her eyes widen, and she backs away, but before she can get far, I lift her off the ground and slam my lips against hers once more. Her platform sandals drop to the grass with two soft thuds as she wraps her legs around my waist. Our kisses turn frantic—insistent. No less passionate than before, but now, there’s an urgency in them. Now that we know our feelings are reciprocated, neither of us is holding back.

We cling to each other, lips tangling in a feverish dance. I carry her to the blanket and lower us, using one hand for balance as I set her down beneath me. Her silk slip dress is a flimsy barrier between us, wrinkling under my touch. As I kiss down her neck and across her shoulder, a strap falls to her elbow. She arches into me with every press of my lips against her smooth skin, hips rolling and pulsing as she strokes my chest and slips her hands beneath my shirt.

I lean back on my heels and let her pull it up and over my head. Her hands trail down my torso, tracing every muscle, following the path with her eyes. Heat flares to life in her gaze alongside ardent admiration. I’ve never felt more desired than I do when she stares at me like this, and I’ve never wanted anyone but her to look at me with this much longing.

My head rolls back when she reaches the waistband of my jeans, and I inhale sharply as her fingers trace my V-lines.

“Fuck.” The expletive escapes through my teeth at the electric sensation of her touch.

Her hands fumble with the button of my pants, drawing my attention back to her trembling fingers.

Pink stains her cheeks. “I don’t… I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve never done this before.”

I lift her chin with my thumb. “Neither have I.” Satisfaction ripples through me when realization dawns in her eyes—that I’ve never been with anyone. Ever. That she’ll be my first. And, if my instincts are right, my only. “But everything you’re doing feels…shit, Emily. It feels so fucking good.”

I slide my hands up her legs until her dress bunches high on her thighs. Her chest heaves, air passing through her kiss-swollen, parted lips, and the fallen strap of her dress leaves most of her breast exposed. With each breath, the fabric slips lower. It’s only a matter of seconds before it reveals her nipple too.

“Fuck, you’re so beautiful, Em.” I push her skirt higher until I spot the nude lace thong between her thighs. My thumb brushes over the center, and I groan at the soaking-wet fabric. “Is all this for me?”

A gorgeous gasp falls from her half-open mouth. Emily’s hips pulse forward, meeting my thumb as I tease her. She curls her fingers into my waistband, nails scratching my skin.

I trail kisses from her neck to the strap on her other shoulder, then tug it down with my teeth until her breasts spill free. My lips brush over the soft swell, making her shiver as goosebumps dance across her skin. Her pretty pink nipples harden into stiff points. I flick my tongue over one while slipping my digit inside her thong and swiping it through her pussy.

Emily tilts her head back with a sweet moan, exposing her throat. She’s soft beneath my hands and mouth, pliant and willing. Her arms slip free of the straps, and then her hands are back at my jeans, working to undo the button.

But this all feels too fucking good. If she gets her hands on my dick, I won’t last long. And as much as I want her hands on me, I want—no, need—her to come apart first. I want to see it, feel it, and taste it before I finally sink inside her and bring euphoria to us both.

I grab her wrists with one hand. “Lie down.” The command comes out rougher than I intended, my voice thick and raspy with the effort it’s taking for me not to blow my load right now.