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“Is this the way you talk to your beloved mate?” A single eyebrow lifts. “I said you were my mate. Not that I loved you.”
Tehee
Koen grunts. His head tips back, showing a strong neck and a working throat. “What the fuck have I done to deserve this?” he mutters.
I’m so slay rn🫣
“She explained what a mate is?” Slowly, I nod. “What Misery is to Lowe, you are to me.” Oh. Oh? Oh. “Is this a, um…terminal diagnosis?” His lips twitch. “No cure, I’m afraid.” “I see.” I clear my throat. “Well, this relationship sure escalated quickly.”
His laugh is a deep, warm chuckle that makes my heart stumble. “You have no idea, kid.” I cross my arms. “Should you be calling me ‘kid,’ given the situation?” “I’m not married to it. What would you prefer?” “Well, there’s always my actual name. But if you insist on a nickname, I’d prefer something with a bit more…” “More?” “More teeth.” His eyebrow rises. “Root canal?” “No. Come on, you know what I mean. Something that inspires fear.” “Real estate market crash.” “Okay, maybe less fear and more…awe. Warrior-like.” His once-over is skeptical. “You’re what? Five feet?” “I’m two and a half inches
...more
“Not sure I can make it anything under NC-17.” “What do you—ooh.” My cheeks flood with heat. After gawking owl-eyed at Koen for a long stretch, I realize that I’m clutching my chest like a Victorian governess and abruptly let go.
“You’re my closest friend’s husb—mate’s closest friend. And I’d love to get along with you. So maybe we could be, you know, friends.” “What about polite acquaintances?” he counters. I cannot tell whether he’s serious, so I nod. “Deal. And you may quietly pine after me, if you must.”
lol some shit I’d do
“I think you owe me an apology.” “For what?” “The way you stared at my tits.” Silence. Then, instead of the I’m sorry or Go to fucking sleep I expect, he says, “I think you owe me an apology.” “For what?” “How spectacular your tits are.”
Cute
“Listen.” She pins me to the mat. Holds me down as she whispers right against my face. “I’m not some jealous woman quivering at the sight of a pretty trophy girlfriend. But you know nothing. Things could get real tough here in the Northwest. Koen could use an adult, instead of a cute little ball and chain combo that only slows him down.”
Eww girl shut the hell up
“The worst part is…” We’re both breathing heavily. Her blue eyes bore into mine as she tries to set up an armbar, this time on me. “I wouldn’t have wished this on him.” “This?” I choke out. “You.”
Eww I don’t like this weird portrayal of women
“Serena, the Alpha of Northwest pack is traditionally asked to honor a celibacy covenant. He’s forbidden by law to engage in any kind of intimate relationships—emotional or physical.”
lol I forgot about that
He told her that he would never touch her because he didn’t want her enough; in truth, he will never touch her because he wants her too much. The make-believe, he thinks, was kinder to both of them.
Self sacrificing asshole
“The pack newsletter let you know that I have a woman—my mate, no less—staying in my cabin as we wait for this new tide of murderous psychos to ebb, and you’re afraid I’m fucking her. Sound about right?”
I swear she’s amping their tension up so good! If she fails to deliver I’m crashing out.
“He’s not,” I say distractedly. “He’s not…?” Anneke asks. “Breaking the covenant. I remain tragically unfucked.”
A pity for us all
“Now that we’ve exchanged friendship bracelets,” Koen says, “can we move on with our day?” He makes to stand, but I push him back down with a firm hand on his shoulder. “Not until I’m done, buddy.” I step around to work on the other half of his face but stop when I notice the way they’re all regarding me. Well, not all. Koen is just his habitual, long-suffering self. The others, though, watch us open-mouthed. I smell a surge of panic. Sudden alert. Sphincters clenched tight enough to make diamonds.
Koen is sooooo cooked
Why am I surprised that Koen is this good at this job?
I get it competence is so hot
His eyes are shadowed. He takes a step forward, bringing inside a tidal wave of his scent that’s safe and clean and healthy and— Oh my God. Sex. It’s so delicious, so indecent, so fundamentally erotic, I want it even more than the cold water. Which I need to survive.
Yes i figured this was heat
Yes!!
He easily resigned himself to a lifetime without her, but… Simply put, he is unwilling to contemplate a universe in which she no longer exists.
Welp🤷🏽♀️
I would give a year of my life, a year I don’t even have, to press a kiss against the corner of his lips. Lower, where the stubble is quickly regrowing. I would do illegal, maybe even unethical things, in exchange for the right to bury my nose in the crook of his throat, where the scent of him is densest.
literally just do it. have a hard time understanding why a staight couple cant be together
He never thought the world was a particularly fair place. Still, it’s a startlingly vile brand of cruelty on fate’s part, to show him her—what he could have had, if only he’d made different choices.
womp womp
He laughs. Rubs his palm against his mouth. “The truth is, if you decide to spend your Heat with someone else, they’ll have to chain me at the bottom of a well and seal its mouth with concrete.”
And then Irene smiles sweetly, and asks, “Out of curiosity, Alpha. How long have you known that you killed her mother?”
this is so unserious (derogatory)
“How do you feel, Eva?” Irene asks, odiously kind. “I don’t know. I…I…” I cannot look at Koen. Don’t want to. “I’m sad. And I’m…I’m so angry, and you don’t even— She was my mother, the only person who ever cared about me, and you don’t even remember if you fucking killed her—” I stop at the noise of something sliding across the mahogany. Blink through the tears. Watch it, incongruously pink and cutesy against the paper of my mother’s letter. It’s the knife. My knife. The one Koen gave me to protect myself. The one I used against Jess. How did it end up here? “How angry are you, Serena?” Irene
...more
this climax is so stupid
I can’t be awake as I clutch the plastic handle and walk around Irene’s chair, dazed but determined. But I know what I must do. I know that it’s right. Someone drags Koen’s chair to the side to give me better access to him. Four hands keep him still, pinned to the chair, but there’s no need. Koen isn’t thrashing or wriggling away. There is no pleading, nor an attempt to convince me that I’m overreacting. He sits quietly, looking up at me like I’m a queen. His life and death are but my decision. He wouldn’t dream of objecting. If I want to carve his heart out of his chest, he’ll crack his rib
...more
this is so stupid. absolutely no tension
“The thing is…We need him, too. The Northwest needs Koen precisely because of everything I just told you. And that’s why I’m not going to tell a soul.” Her lips, I realize, are quivering. “No one will ever know where he’ll spend the next few days. He’ll be yours for a while, Serena. But after, you must return him. So think of it as a loan.” One last, sad smile. “What I always tell my daughter is that all lies come to light. Let’s hope that I’m wrong.”
fuck everyone in this book
His cock starts jerking, and he holds me tighter, groaning against my gland something about his “perfect mate” and her “perfect, tight cunt” that almost sounds like poetry, and his orgasm lasts for…for minutes, I think. “That’s it,” he grits out. “That’s where my come goes.”
eww
“Thank you, Serena,” she tells me. Serious, and uncharacteristically heartfelt. “For what?” “For not taking him from us.” “Oh.” I rub a hand down my jeans. “How do you know that he…?” “I didn’t. Or maybe I did, but not because he told me.
ewww
“You have been de-aunted, I fear.”
thats funny
I’m sick of you shouldering everything like you’re the fucking guy with the stone.” “Sisyphus?” “No—the other guy.” “King Arthur?” “No, the asshole who carries the planet.” “Atlas!” “Yes!”
actually funny
