Edgar almost lost all control when Ivy touched herself. And again when she watched him and licked her lips. And then when he moved over her, slid against her, slid into her. Thrust into her sex for the first time and knew it was the very first time for her. The need to make it perfect for her, to make it amazing, was the only thing giving him enough control to hold the lion back from mounting her and fucking her into the headboard. He groaned as she squirmed under him, her hips rolling in a sensual if unpracticed invitation, and he retreated a little more. The wet heat of her body dragged at him.
Ivy sighed through another gentle thrust, her fingers working into his hair. He loved the sounds she made, the needy soft noises as he moved faster and the short gasps as her face flushed and another orgasm approached. She cried out again, stiffening under him in a sudden convulsion, and her muscles clutched his cock hard enough to nearly finish him as well. He closed his eyes, trying to think of non-sexy things so he could last long enough to drive through her climax and give her another. Make her come until she was a sweaty mess on his bed. Until she smelled like him and no one would ever mistake her as someone else's. The lion grumbled his approval, and thought more about biting her. Putting her on her knees so they could really mount her, then bite her shoulder. The damn wolverine would know who was in charge then.
Edgar thrust hard without meaning to, the visual nearly driving him over the edge, and Ivy moaned and tightened around him. He worried about hurting her, she felt so small underneath him. But when her heels dug into the small of his back, urging him closer, he moved faster. Harder. Fighting the pressure driving him forward until she cried out and her nails left gouges across his back as she came. He couldn't hold back any longer, thrusting through her spasming channel in short, sharp punches until his own climax rolled through him and nearly knocked him out. He filled her in a rush, a hot surge, and Ivy moaned. Edgar collapsed on top of her, sparks dotting the insides of his eyelids, and tried to piece the world back together.
Her breasts pressed against his chest in a soft invitation, almost enough to get him going again, but he slid to the side so he didn't crush her. Ivy lay boneless among the tangled sheets, her eyes closed as she panted, and he felt it like a punch in the chest — he loved her. Absolutely loved her. Wanted her with a desperate need that scared him.
He watched the flush fade from her cheeks and her breathing slow, and traced a slow path through the sweat cooling between her breasts. Observed the goosebumps that rose on her arms in response. She smiled, the barest curving of her lips, and batted away his hand. "Quit it."
"Can't help myself." Edgar sighed in almost resignation, lowering his head to breathe against her skin. Wanting to breathe her in, taste her, memorize everything about her.
Ivy sighed and stretched, wincing a little, and he eased up on his elbow, studying the rest of her nakedness. "Everything okay?"
"Just a little sore." She reached for him, her eyes still closed, and wiggled closer against his side. "And cold."
Edgar drew her against his chest and pulled the sheets and blankets over them. She fell asleep quickly but he didn't follow for a long time, his thoughts uneasy. Loving again meant vulnerability. Meant opening himself up for another devastating loss. Edgar closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on the uninhibited way the lion loved her, wanted her. For the first time in a long time, it was easier to live in the animal's mind than his own.
Edgar never heard her leave, just woke to find the bed empty beside him. It bothered him that she left, and more that he didn't understand why. He replayed the night in his head, looking for clues, but even a hot shower didn't bring enlightenment. So he counted on coffee to fill the gaps and headed for the kitchen. Almost nothing stirred in the mansion as he walked to the back porch. Edgar paused as he sipped his coffee and counted the people doing yoga with Carter. Ivy stood there among them, stretching, and for a wild moment, Edgar was tempted to join them as well.
Before he could move, the floor creaked behind him and Edgar turned to see Logan in the doorway. They had not had much time to talk about the meeting with Smith from the previous day, so Edgar started talking as Logan made toast. When Edgar raised his eyebrows at the simplest breakfast he'd seen Logan eat since he met Natalia, Logan rolled his eyes. "Shut up. Nat still feels sick in the morning. Toast is all she can eat."
Edgar just refilled his coffee and leaned against the counter near the toaster. Logan collected butter and jam from the fridge and started to load up a tray. He didn't look up as he asked, "When did Smith say he would get back to you?"
"Today," Edgar said. "By close of business."
"Good." Logan checked the jam and returned to the fridge to retrieve strawberry as well as blackberry. He eyed Edgar. "Everything going okay with you?"
Edgar shrugged. "Of course. I just want to get this all over with."
"Right. And the girl?"
"What about the girl?"
"Come on, man." Logan frowned as he fished the bread out of the toaster and put four more slices in, resetting it. "You know what I'm talking about."
"And I don't want to talk about it. Or her."
"Why not?"
Edgar started to make more coffee, not looking at his brother. "That's part of what I don't want to talk about."
"You've got to give me something, Ed. Nat won't leave me alone."
Edgar snorted. "So that's why you care so much. Because Natalia does."
"It's more than that and you know it." Logan scowled, tossing bananas and other fruit onto the tray. "This might be the first morning in ten years that you don't look like you're praying for death. If that's the girl's doing..." His eyes narrowed as he looked at Edgar, then leaned forward to take a deep breath near his shoulder. The alpha straightened, eyebrows climbing toward his hairline. "You slept with her."
"Mind your business." Edgar wanted to curse. He'd planned to keep it secret a little longer, to revel in the easiness of it. No doubt Logan would tell Natalia and then the entire family. Edgar trusted Nat to keep her mouth shut, but Logan kept quiet about as well as Eloise did. He even opened his mouth to beg Logan not to say anything, but stopped short as one of the other women walked into the kitchen.
She was one of the refugees from the Auction, with long blonde hair and worried eyes. He remembered that from the night he rescued them at the resort. But she looked even more worried as she came in from the porch. She looked between them and finally focused on Edgar. "The woman with dark hair out there? The one they call Ivy. Do you know her?"
"Yes." Edgar sipped the last of his coffee and prayed the pot brewed faster. He couldn't take much more of difficult conversations in the morning.
"Well. I knew her too, sort of. Except her name was Isobel. I heard about her and a pack down in Texas." The woman wrung her hands in front of her and looked between them again. She shook her head. "I just wanted to tell you... Because you've been so kind to me. She's trouble."
"Trouble?" Logan managed to sound diplomatic as he speared the toast and completed an impressive stack on the tray. Edgar figured Natalia would not send her husband down to fetch breakfast ever again. "What kind of trouble?"
She took a deep breath. "I heard she broke up a pack. She was mated to the alpha but ended up leaving him and destroying the pack."
"I think you're probably mistaken," Edgar said. He glanced out the window at where Carter guided everyone through what he called sun salutations. It looked more like very slow torture, but Edgar wouldn't judge. Ivy's ass looked pretty amazing in those tight yoga pants. He wouldn't mind watching her bend over all morning.
"I'm not," she said. "I remember her face. I saw pictures. And my friend was down there when it happened. She almost got the alpha killed. She used him to get what she wanted, and left."
Edgar raised his eyebrows. "And what was it she wanted?"
"Another man." The woman shook her head and folded her arms over her chest as a chill through the kitchen. "She went after a richer guy, chasing him like a bitch in heat."
The lion rumbled a warning and the atmosphere in the kitchen grew tense. Edgar knew better than anyone that that couldn't be true of Ivy. She'd been a virgin until the night before. He spoke quietly into his empty coffee cup. "I'm sure you're mistaken."
"Okay." She held up her hands and retreated a step, a wise enough jaguar to know when not to challenge a lion. "But I just wanted you to know. Be careful. Please. You've got a lovely family here and a beautiful home, and I don't want to see her wreck this, too."
Logan waited until the woman was well out of earshot, and Edgar fought back irritation when his brother finally spoke. "Any idea what she's talking about?"
"Only that she's wrong." Edgar nodded at the tray. "And your pregnant wife's breakfast is getting cold, so you should probably move along."
Logan's eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms. "Okay, friend, you'd better slow your roll. I'm still the alpha around here. I'm glad you're almost happy again, but I'm not going to tolerate someone coming into my pride and fucking it up."
"She's not going to."
The alpha started to pace. "You know she's not Anna, right?"
"Fuck off." Edgar threw his cup in the sink, and turned to leave.
Logan grabbed his arm, yanked him back into the kitchen, and shoved him against the fridge. "Listen to me, brother. She's not Anna. You can't get Anna back by saving her. She won't be Anna. I don't know what kind of game she's playing, but she's in your head. Maybe she's preying on your loss, maybe she's trying to be what you want — I don't know. I don't give a shit. But I will not let that girl destroy you."
Edgar gritted his teeth and his nails dug into Logan's arm where it pinned his chest. "I'm not a fucking idiot, Logan. I get it. She's not Anna. She'll never be Anna. No one will ever be Anna, and thank you for reminding me, you fucking prick." He shoved away from the fridge and threw Logan back a few steps. Edgar growled, the lion agitated, and resisted the urge to put his fist through the wall. He scanned the room, desperate for an outlet, then picked up one of the kitchen chairs and hurled it into that wall. It made a satisfying noise when it shattered, but it didn't relieve the crushing pressure in his chest. "Being with her just reminds me how much she isn't Anna. It just makes it that much harder to accept that my mate is gone. She's almost enough. Just almost. And it hurts a thousand times more because the difference between 'almost' and 'enough' is the fucking Grand Canyon. I think I'm close, I think I can almost live without Anna, and then I'm with Ivy and I don't know if anyone will ever be enough. She's torture, Logan. Fucking torture."
A soft sound behind him and Logan's blank expression stopped Edgar's heart. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, not wanting to turn. But Ivy's voice, every word so carefully enunciated he knew she must have been on the verge of crying, drove into the room and tore a hole in his guts. "Excuse me. Carter said there would be coffee in here."
Logan poured a fresh cup and held it out for her. Ivy walked with deliberate care, not once looking at Edgar, to take it. Logan didn't release the cup right away. "Why does that woman think your name is Isobel?"
Her face might as well have been a mask. "My name is Isobel Victoria. The last thing my mother said was my name, and I couldn't stand to hear it from anyone in the program. So I used my initials. It hurt less."
Logan released the cup so she could take it, but as Ivy moved away, avoiding Edgar's gaze, the alpha cleared his throat. "And why does she think you're going to destroy my family?"
She paused, then turned on her heel to face them both. Edgar braced himself for the worst. Maybe she played them all. Even Smith.