Again, Maddox must have sensed her unease. "You can take it," he assured her.
His tone was more determined than soothing, but still, Hope couldn't help but believe it. She gave a shaky nod.
"That's right," Maddox growled, guiding her down with painfully slow deliberateness. "Give me every part of you."
"Yes," Hope moaned as the tip of his cock broke through her cherry-tight hole.
Sharp and shocking sensation—part pleasure, part pain—lit up every nerve ending. She couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. All Hope could do was feel as Maddox pushed further and deeper inside of her.
Fullness like she'd never experienced before grew inside her. Every emotion and sensation was overwhelming. Hope couldn't make sense of any of them. All she could do was hold tight around her alpha's neck as her body stretched to take him further.
Once he was all the way in, and Hope was seated back down on his lap, something strange happened. The tension eased. Her body accepted him completely. Fully.
And, fuck, it felt good.
"More," she whispered.
Maddox gave her what she wanted.
True to his word, he didn't hold back. He took her just as hard and just as fast as ever.
His fingers coaxed orgasm after orgasm from her pussy as his cock drove her to new heights of pleasure. With every stroke, Hope strayed further from reason, until the last of her inhibitions fell away, rational thought replaced by pure sensation.
She couldn't say how long it went on, but eventually, she felt the familiar pressure of his knot pressing her to new limits.
Hope cried out, the echoes of her release carrying far down the Central Road.
Maddox was right behind her. He came with a deafening bellow, the truck heaving with his weight.
His knot locked tight inside her, and Hope accepted every last inch of him—mind, body, and soul.
Chapter Fourteen
Maddox needed to get moving.
It was late. A hell of a lot later than he wanted it to be.
But that's what he got for wasting time on the side of the road with his omega.
No. Maddox couldn't pretend that any time he spent with Hope—especially not time that ended with his knot locking them together—was wasted. He couldn't pretend any longer that there was anything more important than that.
But that didn't change the fact that the sun was already slipping down below the horizon, bathing the hills around him in a warm gold glow. In another half an hour, that glow would be gone, and then there would be nothing but darkness.
And Maddox would be stuck with a house full of alphas.
His brothers.
Maddox's chest rumbled in displeasure as he stomped through the forest. Brothers. God, he hated that word.
Growing up, it had been synonymous with pain and suffering, both his and everyone else's. Being with his brothers meant being constantly on his guard. It meant innocent people were about to get hurt.
But his alpha brothers weren't his biological ones. They were coming to help him. They were coming to help Hope.
They didn't have to. There was nothing in it for them. But they were coming anyway.
Maybe it was time for Maddox to rethink his definition of the word.
Maybe…
Maddox smacked his palms against the side of his thighs as he trudged up the steep hill. These were thoughts for another day. When he had a mountain of wood to plane and all the time in the world to philosophize for hours on end.
Now was the time for action. For saving his omega's life once and for all.
He spotted the crash site from earlier that morning the second he crested the hill. Both bodies were still there, splayed out on the ground, though they weren't fully intact. Even now, buzzards were pecking mercilessly at the corpse trapped beneath the mangled ATV. They waited until Maddox was only a few steps away before taking to the sky.
And it was clear they weren't the only scavengers that had been there. Missing chunks of flesh revealed white bone and stringy sinew. What was left was riddled with maggots. The animals of Maddox's forest were having a hell of a feast today.
That was fine by him. It was perfect justice for these pieces of shit.
Maddox wasn't about to deny the worms their dinner. All he needed from these bastards was a scrap of their clothes.
He bent down and grabbed the collar of the headless man's black shirt. With one quick yank, he ripped it off the torso. Then he turned and headed back home.
He made it back just as the gold light was giving way to midnight blue.
As he climbed the stairs to his front door, he caught the sound of truck engines turning off the Central Road and on to his land and suppressed a shudder.
All these people on his property—it made his teeth grind. But Maddox could endure it. He would endure it for Hope.
He draped the bloody, matted shirt over the porch rail before heading inside to wash his hands. He was guessing Hope wouldn't want it in the house.
He found her standing next to the sink, scrubbing a plate that already looked clean. She turned to face him as he stepped through the door. A cloud of nervous anxiety filled the room, the scent of it heavy and suffocating.
"You're back," she said. The relief in her voice was temporary. Her hands went right back to scrubbing the second the words were out.
"I'll always come back," Maddox assured her, moving to her side. "Always."
She nodded, a slight smile flickering over her lips. He could tell she wanted to believe him, but her concern for his safety was just too strong.
Maddox understood that fear completely. He felt the exact same way for her.
He plunged his hands into the warm, soapy water, washing every bit of filth from his skin before lifting them out. As gently as he could, Maddox wrapped his fingers around Hope's wrists, stilling her frantic movements.
She felt so fragile in his hands. So precious.
"I won't let those beta bastards take you from me," he told her. "That's
