If Hunter was feeling anything for her, now his mind became numb. Every thought from his head vanished as he looked at her. He sagged on his knees on the rug beside her bed much to her surprise.
“Alpha Hunter,” she said in her babyish husky voice with wide eyes. “Please sit on the bed. Why are you there?” Hunter didn’t know what she was speaking, so he managed to mumble something that even he didn’t understand. River tilted her head, her eyes going round. “Okay…” she said, and Hunter knew that he was saying something incorrigible.
She lifted the cup to her lips and had the coffee. Her face turned red as she held the liquid in her mouth and then eventually gulped it down. She released a hot, ragged breath and said in a meek voice, “It is good. Thank you”
Hunter wasn’t listening to what she said because he was focused on the creamy layer that had formed over her lips. She looked… like a siren, her love song written over her upper lip. He didn’t know why he did that, but he leaned over and then kissed her on her lips, licking away the creamy layer. When he pulled away, he licked his lips as River watched him, frozen at her place, her face flushed.
“There was cream over your lip,” he said, unabashedly. “I thought I should have removed it.”
Tingles spread in her body that went straight to her stomach where a nest of butterflies fluttered wildly. Her breath lodged in her throat. The sensation of his lips on hers was so hot and sensuous that she hadn’t felt like that in all her eighteen years. She should have backed down and felt disgusted, but she found herself saying, “Th- Thank you.” Pleased with himself, he backed away a few inches from her and smiled. “Pleasure is mine.” His eyes went to her neck and then her pulse point where he imagined sinking his fangs and marking her. Just the thought of it made him restless.
What? River was flummoxed. She pursed her lips and lowered her gaze, feeling nervous.
“Won’t you have the remaining coffee?” he said. He had prepared it with so much enthusiasm.
“Y–yes,” she bobbed her head and took another sip. The result was the same. The coffee was a disaster, but how could she break his heart? Slowly she took another sip, gulping it down with an effort.
“I will be sleeping in the adjacent room. If you need me, you can call me, okay?” he said as he got up.
“I will,” she replied politely, thinking that he was leaving. But Hunter turned and then sat on her bed. Taken aback, she said, “Won’t you be going to sleep?”
Hunter raised an eyebrow. After musing for a few seconds, he said, “I am not sleepy. Are you?”
River was sleepy. After the day’s activities, she was both physically and mentally tired. So she answered honestly, “I am.”
“I see,” he said, disappointment flickering over his face. “Have your coffee and then you can go to sleep.”
River nodded, thinking now he would leave, but Hunter continued to sit there and watch her. His gaze raked over her body and she noticed that he crossed his legs, a groan slipping from his mouth. He looked uncomfortable.
She wasn’t used to this kind of attention. She felt very awkward but she focused on having coffee. She couldn’t have more than half of it, so she placed the cup on the bedside table. Smiling, she announced, “I will be sleeping now.”
As if pulled out of his reverie, Hunter jerked his head back. “Oh, okay,” he murmured. He rose to his feet, walked to the door, grabbed its knob and looked back at her. He switched off the lights and now only the soft light of the bedside lamp spread in her room.
When River looked at him, she mouthed a good night. However, she was thunderstruck with what she saw next. Hunter closed the door but he didn’t go outside. He leaned with his arm over it and took a deep breath in. He turned towards her and walked back to the bed. River got up with a jerk and said with terror in her voice, “Won’t you be sleeping in your room?”
He narrowed his eyes. Removing his jacket, he shook his head. “I think you need to be protected. I am not sure of those she Lycans. They can harm you. Soooo…” his voice drawled as he came to the other side of the bed. He sat down and gave her a cocky smile. “So I will be sleeping here.
The truth was that there was no way that the girls had the audacity to come to this side of the castle. He would have ripped them apart.
River was… aghast. She grabbed the blanket and held it around her tightly. She thought of protesting but then held her tongue back. She was, after all, a breeder. How could she think of protesting? But she didn’t like it. What if Alpha
Hunter forced himself on her? She saw him lying on the far end of her bed. And as soon as he hit the pillow, he closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Don’t worry, River,” he said as if he read her mind. “I won’t be doing anything to you until you like it.”
Her cheeks pinkened. She understood the reason why she was here and was expecting ill treatment from the Alpha, but here he was, not even touching her. Feeling relaxed at his assurance, River turned to the other side, pulled up her blanket to her neck and closed her eyes. Even though she was sleeping with a man in the same bed for the first time in her life, she was now feeling protected, even happier. Her mind was too conflicted about the emotions swirling inside her, but they seemed… natural. She wished her wolf was still there inside her. Soon she slumbered off to sleep.
When she fluttered open her eyes the next time, she was surrounded by a delicious cedar smell. The morning light filtered through the curtain of the window and dappled over her face. She closed her eyes again and nuzzled into something hard and warm. She patted her hand over the ‘thing‘ she was lying on and observed that her mattress had turned harder. She picked up her head and stifled a shriek when she found herself looking straight into the sharp green eyes of Alpha Hunter. River was lying over his chest, her legs over his thighs.
“Do you always sleep like that?” he asked, staring at her with a smirk on his face. “And by the way, that coffee was terrible.”
