Defying the Rogue Alpha

His hands, large and warm, slid reverently over her body, caressing the soft swell of her now heavier breasts. He handled her like she was something rare and sacred. His touch was achingly gentle, almost worshipful, sending shivers chasing down her spine. Slowly, cautiously, Lucas’s hand drifted lower, between her thighs, pausing there like a man on the edge of a cliff unsure if he should jump. Even though he missed her so badly it felt like bleeding, he refused to rush, refused to risk frightening her.

But when Ava let out a soft, desperate moan against his mouth, Lucas’s restraint crumbled. That sound — her sound — was the sweetest magic he had ever heard. He grinned against her lips, relief flooding him so fast it made him dizzy.

Then, to his utter delight, Ava’s hands fumbled boldly for the bulge straining against his pants. She brushed her fingers along the length of him, caressing him through the fabric with tentative but hungry strokes. Lucas’s hips jerked in response, and he might’ve actually whimpered — a very manly whimper, he told himself.

"Easy, sweetheart," he rasped, laughing a little under his breath. "You’re going to break me."

Still chuckling low in his chest, he unfastened his zipper with shaking hands, giving her easier access to his flesh. When her fingers found him skin-to-skin, Lucas threw his head back with a guttural groan. If Kade heard, he honestly didn’t care. Let him listen. Let him take notes.

Ava knew, in the back of her mind, that what they were doing was reckless — dangerous even. If Herod found out, the consequences would be bloody and brutal. But right then, none of that mattered. All she knew was her body wanted Lucas with a fierce, primal hunger she didn’t have words for. She needed him to fill the aching hollow inside her, to stitch the broken pieces of her soul back together.

Ava straddled him without hesitation, throwing one leg over his lap. Lucas’s eyes darkened, his pupils blown wide with need as he watched her. She could feel the slick heat pooling between her thighs, feel the wild thundering of her own pulse.

Slowly, she slid down onto him, gasping as he filled her, stretching her in a way that felt both agonizing and perfect all at once. Lucas groaned, the sound ripped from his throat. His hands gripped her hips, steadying her, but he made no move to control her rhythm. No, he held her like she was a wild thing, too precious to cage.