Shimmer |✓|

//R U S S I A N R O U L E T T E //

Once upon a time, Ethan and I were good together. These days, we were only good in bed.

His car slowed to a halt on the bridge overlooking the river. I touched the window, drawn to the water - a scene rich with memories long abandoned to the current. One by one they came floating back, old and lonely.

Ethan paused, glancing down at his lap. It wasn't like him to be unsure. Normally he could dive into anything, me included. "I'm sorry about Diane--really. I don't know what you're going through, and I won't pretend to, but it must be pretty rough if you're willing to spend time with me. We can talk about it if you want, but you don't have to. Either way, I think it's safe to not hate me for one night."

Outside, it began to rain - a signal of the oncoming storm.

"In order to hate you, that would require feelings in general." I turned back to the window. "You can drive now."

Ten minutes later, we were in the hallway outside his bedroom. From his hard kisses and angry grips, I could tell he was still mad about being treated like shit back in the car--and it was paying off.

"Not here..." I pushed him away, my breath as rapid as his own. The sharp tingles of pain subsided as the scratches beneath my shirt began to heal.

"I forgot. The princess has to be treated like a queen." With a glare as heated as my own, Ethan grabbed my hand and led me through the bedroom door.

Once inside, he whipped me around, ensuring that when I stumbled it was in the direction of the bed. He then kicked the door closed, stripping off his shirt as he approached through the surrounding darkness-a wide, familiar space overcast by night's shadows. 

Ethan hoisted me into the air, kissing with force. I curled my legs and arms around him, thoroughly enjoying being ravished. As he navigated to the foot of the bed, a fork of lightning lit up the darkness; a crash of thunder personified it. Bad weather was my favorite; so was the boy good enough to distract me from it.

The Alpha tossed me on the mattress. I recovered, panting, sitting up and pushing the hair from my face.

He grinned, undoing his jeans. "Wanna play Russian roulette?" The Alpha's favorite game. No limits, no safe words, and most importantly, no condoms.

"Why not? I always win." 

He crossed the mattress, his broad, muscled form molding to my body like he was made just for me. As our clothes scattered to the left and right, my fingers explored his body in between. Everywhere I touched he was hard, a trait exquisitely countered by his lips, soft and wet like the rain, pressing down with the resolve of an inescapable undertow. 

He put his lips to my ear, one hand threaded in my curls as the other gently separated my legs. "I could do this full-time y'know..."

I knew exactly what he meant-and I resented him for even mentioning it at a time like this. "And ruin a good thing? You're a one-trick pony and I've got a one-track mind. That's enough of a relationship, right?"

"Not for much longer, babe..." Is that a promise or a threat? He didn't leave me any time to consider. With a single, delicious thrust, my mind and body were his to command.  

We were never much for foreplay and tonight was no exception. He took me in every way he pleased, pausing only to tell Alexa to play his music when his hand could no longer muffle me.  

As our people weathered the storm in the woods, Ethan and I fought through it our own way. The rain picked up and so did we, driven onward by a combined supply of never-ending stamina. The practice he put in with other girls had given Ethan technique, along with the confidence to excel. He knew me from the outside in, but still withheld the key ingredient to my rising appetition.

At the end of round three, we were back to missionary, his strokes slowing just enough to allow him to kiss and tease. But as all good things are destined to come to an end, so too did Ethan's excitement promise to overcome him. He pulled out quicker than lightning, eyes closed, breathing through his nose. If he came it was over. If he came I would leave him.

"Fuck." Crisis averted, he touched his forehead to mine, lifting my hands to my head. "You kill me, y'know that? I don't know why I miss you--you treat me like shit even when I'm good to you." His fingers squeezed. "You're annoying."

"Geez, what's eating you, Gilbert?"

"How many times have you cum?"

I rolled my eyes at the window.

"See? You're holding back. Admit it--I give you everything you need and you still want him. Why? You can't possibly want more pain than you experienced today." He took my chin, reigning my stubborn gaze with gentle force. "Look, you wanna make me angry? So I channel it until you look as black and blue as you feel? Okay, I gotchu. But he's violent. Don't you get that? He'll hurt you."

"And I'll heal." I pressed my finger to his lips. Shut up and give me what I want. 

He sighed, his head lowering in mute defeat.

How to explain to Ethan that I needed him to do this-to let go for me because I couldn't.

For once, I welcomed the hurt he would bring-pain he wielded like a knight his sword. Tonight, I hoped Ethan's Wolf devoured me for denying him his only wish.

A mate.

Ethan's face lifted, revealing eyes that radiated an internal fire. As their beautiful, golden shine pierced the darkness, his lips curled in a snarl of forewarning. 

"There you are, Cowboy." I smiled, tracing my finger slowly down his cheek. "She misses you. Hurts, don't it?"

If he hadn't missed her too, Ethan's Wolf would've killed me for taunting him. Instead, he saw me through the rest of the storm, hurting me in just the ways I needed.

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