Knot A Trace: Part One

“You’re smiling,” Tammy says gently.

“No, I’m not,” I reply as I sip a cup of tea, forcing myself to frown. I’d prefer espresso instead, but it’s eight in the evening, and I don’t need to be wired until three in the morning.

Especially when I’m officially banned from the café for a week.

“It’s nice to see it again,” Tammy adds. We sit on my sofa, some mindless reality show playing in the background. It feels almost like old times, except April would be in between us, munching on some type of pastry.

“They’re helping us,” I say. “They’re really going to help.”

But my excitement doesn’t spread to April’s mother. Tammy’s face has lost color, and her eyes look haunted.

She looks like she’s in mourning.

It’s barely been two days since April’s car has been recovered, but in that time, Tammy has turned from the surrogate mother I’ve always known into a shell of a person.

It’s horrifying, and the only way to fix it is to bring April back.

Landon and River will do it. I just know it.

“Honey, you can’t guarantee anything,” Tammy says sadly. “I thought we could do this, but the car…”

Her voice breaks, and my heart shatters. I quickly scoot over to her side of the couch and rest my head on her shoulder. Her arm wraps around me and I listen to her sniffle.

“I just don’t know how we’re going to find her,” she whispers. “I don’t know how we’re going to find my baby.”

“We will,” I say with conviction. “They will. They’re the best detectives in the country, Tammy.”

April’s alive. She has to be.

“C’mon, it can’t just be me and you,” I add, trying my best to sound lighthearted. “April’s the happy medium between both of us.”

Tammy chuckles through her tears and plants a kiss on my hair. “I appreciate you, Skylar,” she sniffles. “I’m so proud of you, after everything. You know that, right?”

I swallow and tears spring to my eyes. “I know.”

“You’re my girls,” she says. “I’m so lucky to have you both.”

A moment of silence passes between us as I force the lump in my throat down.

“We’ll find her,” I say again. “I promise.”

An hour later, after Tammy leaves, my phone vibrates.

I smile even before I check, hoping it’s Landon. I’ve never been this giddy over a guy, and somehow, texting him makes my day more tolerable.

Or maybe it’s the concussion, or the mandatory week off work.

April’s still always there, though. Her memory haunts me, and even in my peaceful moments, I never truly forget that a part of me is missing.

But Landon makes me smile, and that’s more than I could have hoped for.

I gasp in surprise when I see the text.

Hey, it’s River. I know it’s short notice, but are you busy tonight?

I frown. I never gave him my number, so he must have gotten it from Landon.

No. Why?

I still feel awkward after our last encounter. I know he knows what I did to his jacket, and when he left with Landon, he didn’t really even say goodbye.

Landon said River would help me, but I can’t help but feel that it might be because he feels obligated to.

Good. Because I’m turning onto your street.

He’s what?

I reread the text; unsure my eyes are working properly.

Nope. He’s definitely turning onto my street, and I’m dressed in nothing but sleep shorts and a thin white tank top.

Practically nothing is left to the imagination—and as tempting as it would be to answer the door like that, I’m not sure what his response would be.

I’m elated but terrified.

I’ll be alone with him again after smearing my slick all over his clothing like an animal.

But if he’s coming over, I’m sure that means he’s here to talk about April, which is a good sign.

It’s exactly what I wanted.

Maybe he won’t even bring the jacket up?

Thankfully, my oversized lavender sweater hangs off the arm of the couch. I toss it on just as there’s a knock at my door.

My stomach flutters and his spicy, rich scent infiltrates my senses as I open the door.

It’s barely been a few days, but I forgot how handsome he was.

His hair is disheveled, as if he’d been running his fingers through it nervously. His eyes are a stunning forest green, and he looks at me with hunger. His eyes rake over my body before he meets my gaze.

“Hi,” he says, his voice low.

He’s also wearing a different jacket. It’s fitted black leather, and combined with his dark jeans, he looks like every dark fantasy I could have conjured.

My throat is dry, and my mating gland throbs under my sweater.

“Hi,” I croak back.

“Can I come in?” he asks. My eyes dart to his lips, and I swallow. Were they always that full?

“Of course,” I answer, stepping aside so he can enter. I watch as he places the laptop he has under his arm onto the counter, and then he turns to me.

There’s an intensity in his eyes. It’s just him and me; there’s no Landon, Ben, or Devyn to protect me from all that is River.

River and his expressive, tired eyes.

“When’s the last time you slept?” I ask him, already knowing the answer.

He tilts his head and raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t respond.

“Don’t tell me it was here,” I say. “That was days ago.”

He crosses his arms across his chest, and I watch as the jacket strains across his muscles. My stomach flutters in anticipation, and my nipples pebble against my tank top.

Throwing that sweater on at the last minute was a great idea.

“When’s the last time you slept?” he counters. “You should be sleeping by now. I almost didn’t drive by, but I had a feeling you were probably once again ignoring doctors’ advice.”

I feel myself blush, and he smirks.

“Just like I thought,” he confirms. “You’re incredibly easy to read, you know.”

I scoff. “That’s your job, isn’t it? Reading people around you?”

He considers his answer. “Yes,” he admits. “I couldn’t figure you out the other day, though, when you showed up with those cookies. It takes a lot to catch me off guard.”

“And now?” I ask, dreading the answer. “Am I as boring and predictable as you thought?”

Insecurities flood to the surface, and my ex’s old insults play in my mind.

Predictable. Spoiled. Needy. Boring.

But River simply chuckles and gives me a ghost of a smile. “No. You’re the exact opposite. The more I find out about you, the less I want to stay away.”

It’s not a compliment, though. He says it cryptically.

“Don’t sound too happy about it,” I say sarcastically, stepping closer to him.

How could I not close the distance between us? My inner Omega wants nothing more than to be near him, regardless of how unhinged he is.

I’m inches from him when he takes in a shuddering breath. “I swear I came to help you tonight,” he whispers, his voice pained. “I promised myself I wouldn’t do anything else.”

My inner Omega does a backflip and lets out a yowl of need.

“Anything else?” I ask softly. “Like what?”

His hands are clenched into fists at his sides, and he grits his teeth. “Fuck, Skylar, listen to me. I’m damaged goods. I’m…fuck,” he hisses. “You don’t want any part of me. I promise you.”

My head swims.

He wants this, like I do.

The air is thick, charged with electricity, and my cunt throbs.

“But you want me,” I say.

He groans and closes his eyes. “Of course I do,” he mutters, taking in another shuddering breath. “You have no idea what you’ve started. But this won’t end well.”

My body aches. I need this. If he doesn’t touch me, I’ll combust.

“You promise?” I ask shakily.

He opens his eyes and his gaze darkens, sending a shiver up my spine. “Tell me no,” he says quietly, reaching out to stroke my cheek. I close my eyes and hum at the contact, sighing deeply.

“I’m not good for you,” he whispers. “I’m not good for anyone.” His other hand reaches out to rest at my waist, and my eyes snap open.

His eyes are a lovely shade of green, so dark and rich I could drown in them.

“You have an impossibly terrible perception of yourself,” I murmur as he tilts his head down.

His lips are inches from mine, and it’s all I can do to not lose my balance.

My cunt aches, slick slowly dripping into my cotton shorts, and he sighs against my lips. He’s all mint, spice, and River.

Then his lips are on mine, and I turn feral.

I haven’t been kissed in so long that for a second, I’m worried I forgot how to. But judging by the way he growls into my mouth, his tongue tangling with mine, I must be doing something right.

It’s not gentle or chaste. It’s a desperate kiss, me running my hands under his shirt to feel his abs and him digging his fingers into my waist.

“I know what you did,” he breathes into my ear as I grind against him, standing on my tiptoes to push my hips against his. “I know what you did to my jacket, you filthy girl.”

He’s rock hard against me, and I whine as he nips at my neck. “You came on my jacket,” he breathes. “You rubbed your pussy on my jacket and expected me to not notice?”

“I…” I gasp, trying to find a reasonable explanation for my actions. “You smelled so good…I needed…Alpha…”

He moves me until I’m leaning against the back of the couch, and the hand not holding my waist pushes my sweater out of the way, exposing my mating gland.

“When’s the last time someone touched you?” he demands, grabbing my chin and forcing me to look at him. “When’s the last time someone worshipped your cunt the way you deserve?”

My mouth falls open at his words as I struggle to think coherently. “More than a year ago,” I whisper.

He scoffs. “That’s a fucking travesty,” he mutters to himself. “A fucking crime.”

Then, his mouth descends to my mating gland, and I scream.

I’m over sensitized, and every suck and lick sends a jolt straight to my clit. I lift my hips and wrap my legs around his waist, desperate to grind myself against the front of his jeans.

My shorts are ruined. They’re a sopping mess, so wet with slick that the outline of my pussy is visible through the crotch. I leave a mess on River’s jeans, wiping my cunt back and forth on the denim outline of his cock. He grinds back against me, so hard that the couch shakes as I struggle to keep my balance.

“You taste just as good as I imagined you would,” he groans into my skin. “You taste like those fucking cookies you brought us.”

Us.

Him and Landon.

“I knew you would do this,” he hisses, reaching his fingers down to my hipbone, touching the top of my shorts. “I knew you would wreck me, with those pretty blue eyes—”

He grazes the crotch of my shorts with his fingertips, and a wave of euphoria hits me.

I orgasm right there, under his touch. I lose my balance and a gush of slick erupts from me, leaking from the sides of my shorts and dripping down my thighs.

“Fuck, yes,” he whispers in my ear as I shake. “You’re so fucking beautiful like that, such a good girl for me…so sensitive, so perfect…”

“Alpha,” I choke out, and he growls.

“Keep coming for me, Omega. Let me watch.”

He pulls back and holds me upright as my cunt spasms, the pressure of my orgasm so intense that there’s a puddle on the floor beneath me.

When I finally calm down, I whimper softly while River kisses me. He murmurs praises against my lips until I lean my head into his chest, breathing deeply. His hand strokes my hair, and he rocks me against him until I relax.

“That was the most powerful orgasm I’ve ever had in my life,” I murmur, dazed.

I feel his lips against my hair. “Don’t boost my ego,” he warns. “I’ll become more of an asshole than I already am.”

“Hmm.”

There’s another kiss to my hair, then he’s helping me step out of my ruined shorts. “Do you want me to get you a change of clothes, beautiful?” he murmurs, and my heart skips a beat. I lift my head from his shoulder to look at him. There’s a kindness behind his eyes now, a glimmer of sweetness that wasn’t there before. I lean up to kiss him, and he responds eagerly.

Who is this gentle, considerate Alpha? I never would have imagined River would be as tender as he is right now.

Especially since he hasn’t gotten off yet.

A wicked grin spreads across my face as I break the kiss and a million dirty thoughts fill my mind.

“You could always give me your jacket,” I say, smirking.

His eyes smolder.

“Yeah?” he breathes against my lips. “You want to squirt on this one too, for me?”

My cunt clenches.

River really is every dark fantasy I could have imagined. The filth that comes out of his mouth only fuels my lust, and suddenly, one orgasm is not nearly enough.

But before I can answer, he’s lifting me into his arms, and my legs wrap around his waist as I squeak. He walks over to the front of the couch and deposits me on the cushion before shrugging off his jacket and placing it next to me.

“Sit on it,” he orders. “Let’s keep your nice couch clean.”

I gape at him. “You don’t mean that,” I mutter. Already, a wet spot is forming on my cushion. If I sit on his jacket…

“I absolutely do,” he counters. “Now, plant that pretty ass on my jacket and spread your legs.”

I look up at him, taking in his jacket-less chest. Dressed in only a black t-shirt, his chiseled arms are on display, along with intricate tattoo sleeves in black ink.

My mouth waters.

He cocks an eyebrow, and I don’t hesitate in moving over to plant my soaking wet cunt on his jacket.

He kneels on the carpet in front of me, his pupils wide with lust.

“Spread your legs, Omega.”

Oh, fuck.

His deep tone speaks directly to my inner Omega. My legs move easily, and I proudly put my cunt on display for him, the lamplight from my front room shining on my most intimate part.

He lets out a choked groan.

“Show me more. Spread your lips, Omega. Let me see all of it,” he demands, his eyes wild.

I should be embarrassed at his request, but River makes me feel emboldened.

Like I can do anything with him, and there would be no shame.

With my eyes locked onto his dark green ones, I moan as I slowly make a show of spreading my cunt lips apart, exposing my hole to him completely.

The air is charged with his scent, and I’m close to coming again just from inhaling him.

“You’re so fucking pretty,” he whispers, bringing his face to my cunt. “Like a flower.”

I moan, unable to do anything but watch as he licks his lips.

“You can relax, baby. You’re not going anywhere until you’ve ruined my jacket. I’ve got all night.”

And with that warning, he leans over and presses his mouth to my aching cunt.