C16 Sixteen

Selena's POV

I whipped my head around as quickly as I could but... that scent, I knew it was him before I turned.

Something in the air had shifted.. heat where there should've been cold, presence where there should've been emptiness.

His breath ghosted over my shoulder, sending a current through me so sharp that my mind blanked.

"Adrian?" I whispered as I turned to face the owner of those warm fingers.

His name came out thin, weak, nothing like how I had wanted it to sound.

His chest was pressed into my back, warm and unyielding, and my body reacted instantly.. like instinct or more like recognition.

My lungs forgot how to work properly as water lapped at our bodies, but I barely felt it.

Then his fingers moved again .

Slow and deliberate.

Dragging up the swell of m u y boobs until he reached the thin barrier of my bra lace. He didn't hesitate as his fingers pressed down again in a claiming way.. and the shock of it jolted through me.

It wasn't gentle.

It was consuming, it was predatory, it was claiming.

"Mmmhhhh" I moaned out as I felt my nipples getting babied at his touch.

And then he pinched me.. hard.

A strangled sound escaped my throat at the same time my back curved into him.

I hated the way my body betrayed me and I hated how natural it felt.

"Look at me," his voice rasped, close enough that his lips nearly touched my ear. "Sel, look at me"

That voice.. it was low, strained and heavy with something he refused to name but it sent goosebumps across my arms.

I turned halfway..

And it was barely enough.

Our mouths immediately collided.

The kiss was nothing sort of civilized, it was nothing sort of restrained.

It was war.. it was a war of resentment, denial, bitterness and they were all crashing into one violent, consuming point of contact.

He didn't kiss me for softness or the thrill of it.

He kissed me like he wanted to erase the space that had ever existed between us.

My palms flattened against his chest, and his reaction hit me like a physical blow.

He inhaled sharply, breath catching, chest tightening beneath my hands.

"Mm" He groaned as his muscles flexed under my fingertips.

Heat rolled off him and into my body as he pulled me further into him..

And I felt him.

Hard.

Solid.

Hot.

His monster cock was throbbing and pressed into my lower torso, unmistakable even through water.

My knees weakened.

"Adr.." My voice broke.

He didn't let me finish.

"Don't say my name like that," he said against my mouth, his voice jagged. "You don't get to.."

He cut himself off.

Then quickly kissed me again.

His hands slid back down to my waist, pulling me flat against him. No space. No air. Just heat and his cock under my panties, between my thighs.

Our bodies aligned, and every breath I tried to take trembled out of me.

"You drive me insane," he breathed against my lips.

Wait.

He wasn't insulting me.

Or trying to annoy me.

He was confessing.

His forehead was pressed against mine, our breaths were clashing, and the water kept rolling over us like a rhythmic hush.

My hands moved.. without thought as if they were being controlled by someone else.

Over his chest, down the lines of muscle carved there, memorizing texture and warmth.

His jaw clenched, his breath faltered.

"Stop me," he whispered.

But his hands tightened.

"Just.. stop me." He said again but he wasn't stepping back and I wasn't pushing him.

And something about that felt more dangerous than anything physical interaction we've ever done.

Because he wasn't pissed off and I wasn't drunk.

The lake reacted again.. light rippling across the surface, illuminating us from beneath, as if the water was alive. As if it understood.

As if it wanted this... as if it wanted us.

My lips parted to speak, but his head dipped, and his mouth grazed the side of my cheek not quite a kiss, but enough to claim something beneath my skin.

The breath that escaped me made him stiffen.

"Se..le..na" He growled my name and it came out broken but something raw lived behind it.

That was what finally undid me.

Not his body.

Not his grip.

Not the heat of him.

But that sound he made while calling my name.

Before I could think, my hands were in his hair, tugging, grounding myself against something that felt too right.

He sucked in a breath.. not controlled, not Alpha-smooth.. just human.. an affected horny human that wanted more.

"Adrian," I whispered again, but softer this time, asking nothing, promising nothing.

He exhaled shakily.

"We shouldn't.."

"I know."

"We're not.."

"We're not anything," I whispered back as his cock slid between my thighs sending electric shocks up my body.

"But you feel it too," he groaned quietly his eyelids half close while his grip around my waist tightened.

No accusation.

No denial.

Truth.

His other hand rose.. just one-up my rib cage, slow, steady, until it rested right over my heartbeat. My skin pulsed beneath his palm.

"Why does it feel like this?" he muttered, looking almost lost as he continued slow humping me.

"Because we're mates," I whispered in ecstasy.

Fuck! I could smell my own arousal..

He shook his head.

"You're not my mate," he said, but the way he said it betrayed him. "You can't be."

"You don't get to choose fate," I said.

The breeze shifted.

The moon looked like it had dipped lower as though it wanted to watch us.

The water glowed brighter.

"Selena..." he whispered again.. like a warning, like a plea.

I leaned forward.

Just a fraction.

And he met me there.

Our lips brushed.. not the way they had moments ago.. but slower, more excruciating.

Like neither of us knew how to do gentle, but both were trying for the sake of the other.

My hands slid down his chest, stopping at his waist. His breathing stuttered. His forehead dropped to mine.

"I hate that this feels right," he whispered, voice nearly shaking as his thrust slowly increased.

"You're allowed to hate it," I breathed knowing fully well I was already on the edge.. and he wasn't even inside me yet.

"You're not making this easy."

"I'm not trying to."

His jaw tightened.

His thumb lifted and brushed my lower lip.

"Selena..." he murmured again.

But he didn't finish.

Instead, his body leaned into mine again.. close enough that my entire spine felt electrified. He wasn't just moving, he was literally holding me so close that our heartbeats almost synced.

One tiny shift in the fabric between us would ruin both of us.

"You need to step back," I whispered even though I didn't want him to.

"You first," he answered.

Neither of us moved.

Seconds stretched into something dangerous. The lake glistened like liquid moonlight, silence wrapping around us thick and heavy.

Then..

He finally stepped back.

A single step It should've been nothing.

But the place where he had been felt so cold.

I gasped before I could stop myself.

His eyes closed as if that sound physically affected him.

"No," he said quietly. "We can't do this."

"Okay," I replied.

His gaze snapped open.

Sharp. Cutting. Unprotected.

He dragged his hand down his face.

"I don't want you," he said stiffly.

"You don't have to want me," I said.

"But you.. "

"I didn't ask for anything."

"You kissed me back."

"And you kissed me first," I countered.

He didn't deny it.

Silence stretched again, but this time it was thick as the water we were in.

Finally, he whispered, voice low and wrecked:

"This wasn't real."

"That doesn't make it less real."

He looked at me like he wished I hadn't said that.

Like my truth was the one thing he couldn't fight.

His voice came out careful. Controlled.

"You are still my father's wife and I hate you."

"Not anymore.. I don't belong to him."

His throat tightened.

And then.. His voice bottomed out to something raw:

"I hate that it feels like you belong to me.. the moon goddess needs to correct the mistake she made."

"Good," I whispered.

He blinked, stunned.

"Because I refuse to belong to any man again."

The statement hit him.

Hard..

His eyes softened..only for a moment.. before the cold walls went up again.

"We leave now," he said quietly.

"Fine."