Chapter 67 : Westwood Lineage 2

Karenina

To be honest, Rylan looks more like their father than Xavier. Moreover, unlike the other portraits, their father has an expression of warmth and kindness. This can be seen in the golden yellow of his eyes as well. Somehow the artist captured not only Alaric Westwood's strong will, but also the heart she already knew he had.

He has Rylan's eyes, she thought with mixed feelings, her heart saddened. He never had the chance to know his father, and his father never had the chance to see his youngest son grow up.

As she thought of the Alpha who was standing silently next to her, she knew that Rylan wasn't the only one who was suffering from his loss. Unable to ask Lord Alpha such a personal question, she met the eyes of a woman who looked very much like Xavier and blinked in surprise.

"And this..." she whispered in awe, raising her hand to the graceful she-wolf's face.

"This is my mother."

"Is she... dead?" she tried to ask as gently as possible.

"She's still alive." The tone of Xavier's voice was the same as always, as if seeing a picture of his parents was no special event.

Sometimes she didn't understand this man, but there was one thing she knew. Staring back at his mother's face, seeing her obvious resemblance to him, solidified her previous misunderstandings.

Then she turned to Xavier, staring directly into his golden eyes, and felt grateful for his efforts to ease her previously melancholy mind, to erase her earlier misjudgment.

"Thank you," she whispered.

She reached out and took his hand in hers. "You're doing this for me, aren't you? You know how upset I am about your family dynamics. From what you told me, I was afraid I wouldn't get a chance to pass my genes on to our children, that I wouldn't be an active participant beyond being a womb for them. Now I know I was wrong. Thank you for considering how I felt, Xavier, for making me see this." She gestured around the room without taking her eyes off him.

Seeing how thoughtful he was, he almost seemed to care in his attempts to reassure her. She smiled, glad that he seemed to care a little about her feelings, not even realizing that she had made it sound like having a child with Xavier was a foregone conclusion.

******

Xavier

But in fact it was. Although her words pleased him, they also left him speechless. Did she think he had gone out of his way to make her feel better?

Then his expression changed to a more cautious one. He knew then that he would never be able to tell her the true reason why he had shown her this place - to ease her worries so that she would have no reason to reject his mating proposal for misunderstood reasons.

If it made her look at him with a gentle expression, an expression she had never given him, then he would not correct her mistaken impression. In fact, he was pleased to see her look at him like that, without the suspicion and wariness she usually wore around him.

Although she had smiled at him several times, never before had her expression been so carefree, so open and relaxed.

Why he should care about the way Karen looked at him, he didn't know, but he couldn't deny it.

And then he nodded his head at her in thanks before he lifted a hand to place his knuckles under her chin to hold her face up as he bent her upper body so that he could impulsively plant a passionate kiss on her lips.

Normally, she could have turned her face to the side if she wanted to, but - damn it - she missed his kisses and his touch. Unable to resist, she pressed her lips harder against his.

Just one kiss, she told herself.

He was surprised she didn't push him away, since that seemed to be all she ever did. Excited, not wanting to miss this small opportunity to taste her again, Xavier tilted his head to the side to press his mouth deeper against her luscious lips.

Then he deepened the kiss and she was right there with him, opening her mouth to receive the touch of his tongue and allowing him to enter.

Then he moved his hand to cupping her cheek and stepped closer to her. He moved his hand further to cupping the back of her head while his mouth moved to hers, their tongues dancing.

It was the first time she had allowed him to kiss her without him using an excuse to give her his energy aura. Now that hers had finally awakened, Xavier no longer needed to give her his aura. Now that she was healing on her own, all he had to do was encourage her wolf energy to grow.

So how can he convince her to let him do that without telling her everything? She has already shown her unwillingness to let the wolf within her grow stronger. Just telling her of his intentions would only be met with rejection.

But for now, he already had it, the soft, almost desperate smacking of her lips, her small moans echoing in his ears, and her hands clutching his shirt to his chest, holding him close.

Raising one hand to her right shoulder, the other still anchored in her hair, Xavier pushed her sideways and back against the wall between the portraits and the sword, pinning her in place as he devoured her mouth.

******

Karenina

All the while, she barely noticed that she was being moved, that she was being pressed against the wall. All she could do was enjoy his kiss. All this time she had denied herself, refused to acknowledge the longing, the physical attraction she felt for Xavier, but this one kiss - what a kiss - broke down all her walls. It left her open and wanting more.

Her breasts grew heavy, her nipples hardened and her center heated with desire.

Every time she inhaled desperately, she breathed in him, breathed in his scent, breathed in the air he breathed. She felt dizzy with desire.

Later, he pressed his chest against hers, wanting to feel her soft, padded breasts against his chest, but her clothes prevented him from doing so. He mentally cursed their very existence as he felt his cock swell to quite a size, then her hips curl against his groin until it was fully erect.

He moaned into her mouth when Xavier knew he couldn't go any further without making her angry with him. Even if he kept her at that stage, the chances of her regretting their time together were high, even if she had accepted his kisses in the first place.

With difficulty, he forced his hands to let go of hers, placing his palms on the wall on either side of her head before he was tempted to explore her body, whatever the consequences. But he couldn't stop kissing her, not yet.

He felt his cock burning and unconsciously rubbed his hips against her belly to ease the pain.

She went wild as she felt the proof of his passion, too far gone to think, just to react. She couldn't help herself as she impatiently slid her hands into his shirt, unfastening it quickly and expertly until she finally felt the warm skin.

She explored his chest, her fingers moving greedily along his chest and pectoral muscles. When she found his nipple, she scraped her nails over it before rolling it with her thumb as he kissed her lustfully.

******

Xavier

Suddenly he grabbed her wrist, stopping her teasing fingers by pulling her hand out of his shirt and breaking the kiss with a heavy exhale. His breath caught in his throat as he moved his upper body away from Karen while still keeping her pinned to the wall with his hips.

While she tried to follow him, not wanting to end this pleasurable game, he kept his mouth shut. So, still very horny, she lowered her lips to his chest. Kissing the exposed body parts as she partially opened his chest, she tasted his skin, her tongue exploring his chest and collarbone.

He squeezed her wrist almost painfully.

"Karenina, you have to stop," he shouted, making no move to carry out his order.

She ignored him, not really hearing him, and bit down on his chest.

Silently he growled at the pleasure she gave him, his cock swelling even more, aching for attention. But he couldn't go on, not when she would probably blame him for taking advantage of her later.

"If you want me to keep my promise, then stop, Karen," he growled at her, reluctantly pulling away from her.

Immediately she sucked in air, her chest heaving with her ragged breathing, her face flushed with desire. She leaned back against the wall, her knees slightly bent, her arms flat behind her to keep her upright as her legs nearly gave out.

Slowly, they both regained their breath as they stood a few feet apart, gazing longingly at each other.

******

Karenina

She was finally able to think clearly, but she wasn't sure if that was a blessing or not. There was no way she could blame him for this and lay the blame at his feet this time. Xavier had not forced his kiss on her. Instead, she had encouraged him to deepen the kiss. He hadn't touched her in any way other than pressing her against the wall, taking no liberties during their heated kiss. But he did. She was the one who pressed her hands against his chest to tease his nipples, then placed her mouth and tongue on them.

Immediately, she felt ashamed for being too open, for being so easily swept away by him. No, this time she couldn't blame him. In fact, he had kept his promise not to touch her intimately without getting to know each other first. She was grateful to him for keeping his promise, even though she had pushed him to take the next step and was disappointed that he had stopped their activities.

Her whole body still throbbed with pent-up desire. And she knew that he felt it, too. The erection he couldn't hide was proof. Seeing his interest made it difficult for her not to close the distance between them and continue what they had been doing, regardless of her rejection.

But she persisted. Denied the temptation. Barely.

******

Xavier

He could still see the desire in her eyes, the hesitation. And he could smell the scent of her desire, an intoxicating scent he longed to respond to. He was tempted to make up his mind and take her, but he held back. If he wanted to earn her trust and consent to be his, he had to keep his word, even if she didn't want him to. Xavier was smart enough to realize that having sex with her didn't mean she agreed to his claims. That's a shame. At the same time, he was very happy to see more proof that she wanted him, at least his body, if nothing else.

Hopefully she would soon put him out of his misery and allow him to take her, not only her body but also as his mate, because there was no way he would stop at just getting her consent to fuck her.

All Xavier wants is more and he will get it.

Needing to do something to relieve his sexual tension, he says, his voice still rough from sexual hunger, "I have other business to attend to, Karenina."

And she nods as she straightens up, glad she hasn't fallen over and trying to hide her disappointment.

Without thinking how nosy she was, she asked, a little breathlessly, "Oh? Where are you going?"

Surprised, he replied. "To my private training hall."

Unsure of the welcome, yet curious, she asked hesitantly, "Can I come?"

He caught his breath at her unintentionally provocative words.

At the same time, she held her breath, waiting for his answer, then grinned as she saw his nod and stepped toward him.