Chapter 158: Undressed in the Lycan’s Lap

Adeline’s POV~

"Now, let’s get you taken care of and relaxed first," Blake said, his deep voice dropping into a low, steady rumble against my hair as his arms held me firmly.

"We need to clear your mind and completely wash away the lingering scent of that other wolf off your clothes and skin. To be entirely honest with you, Adeline, I can barely think straight or keep my wolf under control with this scent hanging all over you."

I gave him a slow nod, feeling the heavy exhaustion in my bones, and his tight grip on my waist loosened just enough for me to breathe, though his warm hand lingered on my hip a second longer than it needed to.

"Fine," I murmured softly. "I’ll go take a bath."

I put my phone down on the couch and turned toward the bathroom, but before I could even take a second step across the floor, the ground vanished from beneath my feet.

In one swift, effortless motion, Blake hooked one heavy arm beneath my knees and wrapped his other arm securely behind my back, lifting me straight up against his broad chest as if I weighed absolutely nothing at all.

"Let me help you with that," he said, a dangerous, intensely charming smile playing on his lips as he looked down at me.

"Blake, what are you doing? No, put me down, I am completely capable of walking and doing this myself!" I protested, my breath catching in my throat at the sudden movement.

"Oh, you are very welcome," he cut in smoothly, ignoring my protest entirely as he carried me straight into the bathroom with long, effortless strides.

I didn’t try to fight him or pull away. I simply let him carry me, feeling an overwhelming, strange sense of safety resting in the arms of a man who was six feet of radiating heat, solid muscle, and barely controlled primal hunger.

In the quiet bathroom, he gently set my feet down on the cool tile, then immediately bent down to test the water temperature, treating the simple task as if my comfort was the single most important priority in his entire world.

"Get out of those scented clothes and get comfortable," he said, glancing up at me with dark, unreadable eyes. "Unless, of course, you want me to help you strip those layers away myself."

My cheeks burned. I pulled off my t-shirt first, then my jeans, until I stood there in only my bra and underwear, my arms trying to cover more than they could.

When I looked up again, he had already taken off his shirt and pants, and he was in nothing but his black boxers, watching me with an expression so open and so hot that I forgot how to breathe.

He stepped into the tub first and leaned back against the edge, his broad shoulders resting against the porcelain, his legs spread to make room for me.

His eyes told me what his mouth didn’t need to say.

"Come on, get in. On my lap, with your back against my chest."

I climbed in slowly. The water was warm, and his body was warmer.

As I settled down, I accidentally brushed against the hard heat of him through the thin fabric between us, and a rough, breathless sound escaped him.

"Fuck..."

His left arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me back against him until there was no space left, and I felt every inch of him against me, with only my underwear and his boxers as the thinnest of barriers.

"Just stay. Just let me hold you for a minute." Heat crept up my neck.

My heart was pounding so loudly I was sure he could hear it, and maybe he could, because I felt his lips curve against my skin as he lowered his head and kissed the crook of my neck. Slow and soft, then lower, along my shoulder, as if he were memorising me.

My head fell back against his shoulder, and a shaky breath left me. "Blake, you said you would wait. You said I could decide."

"I did," he murmured against my skin, and his voice was rough and uneven.

"And I will. Every word of it. But waiting does not mean I am forbidden from touching you. It does not mean I am not allowed to hold you, protect you, and take care of you. Do you honestly want me to stop?"

I closed my eyes. The answer came before I could think of any of the reasons I should be afraid. "No."

"Good girl," he whispered, and I felt the groan in his chest.

He reached for the soft loofah on the edge of the tub, soaked it, and ran it slowly along my arm, then my shoulder, then down the line of my spine.

With his other hand, he undid the clasp of my bra in one practiced movement, and the fabric loosened. He only washed me, as slowly and carefully as if I were something sacred.

"Do you have any actual idea what it did to me," he said quietly, his voice dropping into a dangerous, dark register, "when you walked into your bedroom tonight and smelled another alpha’s scent lingering all over your body? My inner wolf instantly went completely wild."

"But then the moment I looked into your eyes, I saw how utterly exhausted you were, and how terrified you looked, and all my rage instantly turned into a desperate need to just hold you until all that fear left your body."

"I’m not scared of you, Blake," I whispered softly.

"Aren’t you?" his lips brushed the shell of my ear as he spoke. "Your heart is pounding like a trapped bird against your ribs right now."

"That isn’t fear, Blake," the confession slipped out of my mouth before my brain could filter it, and I felt his entire body go completely still behind me the exact second the words left my lips.

Blake’s hand slid up my arm, his long fingers cupping my jaw and gently turning my face around so that I had zero choice but to look straight into his dark eyes.