The Cursed Alpha's Fifth Luna

Rodrigo couldn’t move. He watched Nina cross the last few steps remaining between them, every instinct in his blood urging him to tell her to stop, yet the command never reached his tongue.

She came to a halt so close that the faint, sweet scent of wine caught on her breath washed over him. Her lower lip was caught anxiously between her teeth as she looked up at him with unfocused, impossibly earnest eyes.

She held his gaze for a long, agonizing moment, as though searching for something hidden deep within his features.

Then slowly, her arms slowly slipped around his torso. The scorching, gentle pressure of her body flattening against his bare chest stole the remaining air straight from his lungs. Rodrigo fixed his gaze hard over the top of her head; he knew with terrifying certainty that if he looked down at her now, he wouldn’t be able to stop what came next.

"You’re drunk, Nina." His voice sounded entirely unfamiliar to his own ears—rough, gravelly, and strained to the absolute limit with the effort of keeping it steady. "You’re not in your right mind."

He forced a heavy breath into his chest. It scraped like broken glass on the way down.

"I’m not drunk," she mumbled, lifting her head from his chest to look at him directly.

Rodrigo glanced down, and he regretted it instantly.

Her cheeks were flushed a deep, feverish red, a few loose strands of her blonde hair clinging to her damp skin where the night air had caught them. She blinked up at him, stubborn in that quiet, frustrating way only she could manage, and for a split second, he almost let himself believe her.

Then, slowly, her eyes drifted from his face down to his mouth, lingering there with such raw, open longing that his pulse violently stumbled. He watched the column of her throat move as she swallowed. Against his back, her fingers tightened, digging into his muscles.

Before he could utter another word of warning, she leaned forward.

Rodrigo’s eyes widened as she kissed him.

The contact barely brushed his lips—a fleeting, devastating ghost of a touch that vanished before he even had the chance to respond. His body forgot how to function. She drew back a mere fraction of an inch, lifting her heavy eyes to lock with his again.

"I missed you."

The whisper settled somewhere deep and dangerous inside his chest. He shut his eyes tight. He couldn’t do this. He wasn’t sure what she wanted from him. He didn’t know who had sent her to him, or what her true motives were. He was—

Nina’s hands slid upward slowly, cutting his thoughts dead.

His eyes fluttered open, dark and completely consumed by a sudden, blinding wave of lust. Before he could react, she hooked her fingers around his neck and pulled him down into her, pressing a wet, demanding kiss flat against his mouth.

In an instant, something inside Rodrigo snapped.

A low moan tore from his throat as his hand flew around the back of her neck. In a flash of lethal speed, her back slammed hard against the wall as he took control of the kiss, like a wild animal unleashed from its cage. He parted her lips forcefully with his tongue, invading her mouth and kissing her with a breathless roughness.

A deep, primal sound rumbled violently through Rodrigo’s chest as his wolf surged right beneath his skin, clawing to the surface.

Mine.

His hand tightened at the nape of her neck, pinning her ruthlessly in place as he devoured every single inch of her mouth.

Mine.

Rodrigo’s eyes snapped open at the voice in his head as he tore himself away from her as though her very flesh had burned him.

He panted heavily as he forced air into his lungs. Every muscle in his body trembling violently with agonizing effort. His fangs pressed painfully against his gums, aching to bite.

His wolf paced restlessly—hungry and feral.

If he didn’t stop right now... he wasn’t sure how much of his humanity would remain. He hadn’t mastered his wolf while in heat. He didn’t know how far the beast would go to satisfy its hunger.

"Get back inside." The words came out in a shattered growl. Rodrigo looked away from her, struggling desperately to keep himself grounded.

"What?" Nina’s voice came out as a low, breathless moan.

Against all rational thought, Rodrigo’s eyes lifted to look at her. She was staring at him, her lips swollen, flushed, and thoroughly bruised from his kiss. Her breathing matched his own—uneven, shallow, and heavy as her chest heaved beneath every shaky inhale. A small, confused crease had formed between her brows.

His jaw locked so hard the bone ached. "I said get out. Now."

She did not move an inch. A long, suffocating second of silence passed between them, and then, she took a step toward him.

His wolf growled beneath his skin.

I want her. She is mine.

His fingers curled into tight fists, his knuckles turning white. "If you come any closer..." he growled "...I won’t be able to control myself."

Her eyes searched his face, but there wasn’t a single hint of fear in them. As though his warnings didn’t matter to her at all.

Then, she took another step.

His wolf snarled, pulling him towards her.

"Nina," Rodrigo drawled, his gaze darkening.

"I want you," she whimpered, shaking her head. "I don’t want to go."

A deep vibrating growl tore from the depths of his throat as his eyes darkened a shade of grey she’d never seen.

’’You don’t listen.’’

In a second his hand pulled her towards him before he realized he had moved. His mouth slamming into hers with need.

Nina’s hands instantly flew around his neck as the kiss deepened wildly.

She whimpered, her hands going around his neck as he kissed her roughly like a man starved.

Her legs grew weak, her lungs struggling to take in air.

Rodrigo’s lips left her in a rush and he kissed lower, burying his face in the crook of her neck, leaving a trail of fierce, claiming bite marks down the sensitive skin of her throat and toward her chest.

His eyes dark as his gaze fell on the outline of her dress.

In one swift motion, he pulled the fabric down and away from her body, leaving her completely undone in front of him.