Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted - Chapter 478

Chapter 478: Ava: Against the Door (I)
The impact of him inside me knocks the breath from my body, but not the fight. Each thrust grinds me against the door, pain mingling with pleasure as Clayton waits outside, clueless. I dig my nails into Lucas’s shoulder, sharp enough to hurt.

“This isn’t over, Lucas. Is this supposed to shut me up?”

His response is another thrust, and it makes my toes curl. My body’s a traitor—soaked and ready while my mind rages.

“You want an answer?” His voice is a low growl against my throat.

Then everything shifts. He pulls out with a hiss, spins me so fast I almost trip over my feet, and slams me chest-first against the door.

I probably shouldn’t admit how hot that is.

His lips burn a path down my neck, his breath hot against my ear. “Listen to me when I say I can’t lose you.”

His words strike somewhere deep, raw, and far too vulnerable. Not lust, not even anger, but somewhere with the sharp edge of fear. It tightens in my ribs and twists behind my heart, a thread pulled taut by the weight of everything he’s afraid to lose.

Our bond pulses, all-in on the emotions and his touch.

“You’re not going to lose me,” I whisper, pressing my forehead to the door. My frustration fades a little, though I’m still not willing to give in. “That’s not what this is about.”

He doesn’t answer. Just pulls back—and then slides into me again, slower this time. Measured. Controlled. Like he’s trying to prove something with every inch. The stretch is different like this, deeper, and the angle’s so good, I can’t help but make a small groan.

Another sharp, polite knock on the door.

He shoves me harder against it, both hands gripping my hips a little too hard. “You think I’m holding you back because I don’t believe in you?”

I bite my lip, trying not to moan again. “Aren’t you?”

“Fuck, Ava.” He pulls nearly all the way out before driving back in, setting a brisk rhythm as he keeps hitting some place deep inside, almost painful but so fucking good. “You think I haven’t seen what you can do?”

I try to answer, but all that escapes is a gasp. His hand slides into my hair, fisting gently at the base of my skull. Just enough to control me, even as I rebel.

Though, to be fair, most of my rebellion is in my head. My body’s already putty in his hands.

Clayton’s muffled voice comes through the door again. He’s talking to someone out there. “Are you sure Luna Ava is in here?”

“Yes. You may have to wait.”

Fuck. He isn’t going to leave?

Lucas’ voice drops into a wicked whisper. “Do you want to drop the ward, Ava?” His hips snap forward. “Let him hear the sounds you make when I’m the one inside you?”

Heat pools in my belly. My face burns, even as my body clenches around Lucas like it wants him to say more.

“Don’t be an ass,” I pant, trying to sound in control and failing miserably.

He lets out a low, breathless laugh. “Fine. But stop pretending I don’t love you more than life.”

It’s not the words that undo me—it’s how he says them. Rough, like they were torn straight from his chest. I fall apart a little, melting against the door as he drives into me again, steady and deep.

“You think I care more about a battle?” he rasps. “You think I can focus if you get hurt? If you’re bleeding? Fuck, Ava, if I smell even a drop of your blood—”

The rhythm he’s set loses its grace with each word as he pounds harder.

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out except another broken moan. His scent is everywhere. His body surrounds mine, all muscle and dominance and desperate devotion.

And I want it. I want all of it and more.

His hand slides from my hair to my throat. He doesn’t squeeze—just holds me there, grounding me in place. His thumb strokes over the frantic flutter of my pulse.

“You feel that?” he whispers. “How fast it’s beating?” A pause. “Mine’s the same. For you.”

Knock knock knock.

Clayton’s voice drifts in, muffled but insistent. “Luna Ava, are you all right?”

I tense instinctively, mortified—but Lucas doesn’t so much as blink.

He lets go of my throat just long enough to bring his hand down hard against my ass. The sound cracks through our home, sharp and impossible to ignore. I jolt, my hips twitching, my pussy fluttering around his cock.

Shit.

He does it again.

“Don’t think about him. Only me.”

His order should infuriate me, and it doesn’t. Not even close.

“Lucas—” My voice cuts off as he drives into me again, deeper, sharper. The door rattles with every movement, the sound too loud, too unmistakable.

Fuck. Our scent’s probably going to go through this door any minute, and Clayton will know.

I’m not sure if I’m turned on or mortified. Maybe both.

“He can’t hear you,” he murmurs against my shoulder. “But I can. And I need to.”

“The smell isn’t—”

He grabs at my hands where they’re braced on the door and pulls them back, crossing my wrists at the base of my spine and holding them there.

I can’t move. Can’t resist. Don’t really want to.

Wasn’t I mad at him?

My whole body pulses and shivers, each clench and flutter I make dragging a growl from his throat.

“Say it,” Lucas grits out, thrusting harder now. “Tell me you aren’t going.”

My legs tremble as I spread them wider, fighting for balance. The door presses hard against my breasts, my cheek mashed against the wood as he continues to hold my wrists captive.

His grip is firm. Unyielding. Immovable. Like his stubborn, overprotective mind.

Another thrust pushes me up on my toes. I’m dizzy with pleasure, but I still have enough of my wits to remember again why I’m furious.

“No,” I gasp, the word ragged and breathless. “I won’t say it.”

He snarls, his rhythm turning punishing. Each slam of his hips drives me against the door, the wood creaking in protest. I’m caught between his body and the unyielding surface in a delicious trap of his making.

“I want you safe,” he snarls, his voice raw with enough desperation I almost—almost—yield. “I need you safe, Ava.”

I shake my head, strands of hair sticking to my sweat-slick face. I can’t even shove them out of the way.

His cock hits something deep inside me, and I grit my teeth against the pleasure as he does it again. And again.

I won’t be distracted. Not this time.

Sex is not the answer here.

Not that I’m fighting it much.

“I don’t need to be safe,” I pant, each word punctuated by another of his thrusts. “I need to protect my people. They’re my responsibility too, Lucas.”

His hand comes down hard on my ass again. The sting blooms hot across my skin, somewhere between punishment and temptation. I clench tight, drawing him deeper.

So much deeper.

“Stubborn,” Lucas growls, his mouth at my ear. “So fucking stubborn, my mate.”

“Look who’s talking,” I shoot back, though the defiance in my voice is undermined by the moan following.

Clayton knocks again, louder this time. “Luna Ava? We have some questions… Hey, are you sure she’s in here?”

“Yes, Alpha Shadowpine.”

God, Goddess, and everything divine, he’s still there. How can he not know why this door is rattling?!

Lucas doesn’t even pause. His fingers dig into the flesh of my hip, leaving marks I’ll feel for hours. His free hand slides from my ass to between my legs, finding the slick, sensitive bundle of nerves there.

“Tell me you’re staying here,” my mate demands, circling his fingers just the way he knows drives me crazy. “Tell me you’ll let me handle this.”