Offered to the Triplet Alphas

Chapter-72. Not the same

[Xanthea]

The haze of the heat clouding my mind cleared away. My body felt a lot fresher and rejuvenated. And it was now I understood why people said sex was the best cure for heats.

Despite my body feeling more alive than ever, a sharp soreness tightened in my muscles. I could barely keep up with Asher's ferocity. Pleasure diffused into a trail of burning pain and numbness, especially in my legs and hips. There was no point in asking him to stop or slow down; I could feel him grow harder inside me with each breathless moan that died between our intertwined lips.

Was it normal for a man to have such a primal, almost beastly reaction to heat?

I knew men went out of control near a woman in heat, but did all of them experience such raw, untamed, and overwhelmingly carnal hunger?

Or was Asher different, his need more uncontrollable, more insatiable? This wasn't the first time we had sex, so I knew Asher could control himself better. It just felt as if he didn't want to anymore.

Maybe it had nothing to do with my heat at all. Maybe it was this dark, suffocating room, drawing out Asher's deepest, darkest desires, and my body was just too weak to contain his profound lust.

Or perhaps it was the blend of both - the heat and the darkness - combining to create an experience so intense, so consuming, that my mind struggled to endure the reality.

Asher kept fucking me with the same ruthless vigor. My mind could no longer decipher if it hurt bad or good. But it hurt. Slowly, I felt myself detach from my body, unable to endure the sensations any longer. And my mind wandered, desperately seeking an escape, trying to understand the origin of it all.

What had triggered him? I contemplated, and after what felt like forever, I kept returning to the same conclusion.

All of this began with a question: what does love feel like?

That's where it all started, and I wondered if that's where it would all end. Perhaps if I answered his question, he would stop. I had to take my chances.

"Asher... let me do it... let me... please you," I slid my palm around his nape as he covered my neck with love bites, clearly obsessed with the idea of leaving his mark there someday. Or perhaps, conflicted.

He wrapped his arms around my back and pulled me against his chest, making me straddle his hips. My nails dug into his shoulders as he thrusted deeper, hitting a spot in the depths of my core that sent an electric thrill zapping through my body.

My insides tightened around him, and he let out a throaty grunt.

His breaths were labored, uneven, and strained against mine as I began riding him at my pace.

I ran my fingers through his sweaty hair and down his ripped body. Licking my dry lips, I buried my face in his neck and bit him.

He hissed, letting out a satisfactory groan.

"Asher... can we-"

Before I could ask if we could take a break so I could answer his question, he hugged me, burying his face between my breasts. "Can we stay like this forever?" His words took me off guard.

"Uh-"

"Do we really need to go back?" he mumbled softly. "Can the time just stop right now? And can we just freeze in it together?" I blinked, my heart racing faster.

"Being with you like this makes me wonder if this is what home feels like," he spoke against my breastbone and my smile faltered.

"Does this place feel like home to you?" I asked, feeling my heart tighten with guilt.

"You... feel like home to me," he said, and my heart skipped a beat, my chest filling with warm flutters.

I bit my lower lips, my body tensing up.

All of this might be overwhelming for me, but from the serenity in his tone and the vulnerability in his body and words, I could tell he found this peaceful.

stay here

I held back my words and allowed myself to please him. His thrusts turned softer, their intensity mellowing. They became much more

more or less like this

yet so much

it is

me?" I asked, blanketing my arms around

it working?" he asked

broke into a soft

fucking with my mind, otherwise it wouldn't have worked,"

him place his palm under my ear.

"Yes, husband?" I smiled.

serious

fast, I shook my head, lowering my eyelids.

are hurting," he said

"N-no. I am not..."

know there's something you want to tell me. What

before you say it. So

deep breath and stopped moving my

nuptial night after winning your

was a moment of

That's what you said that night." Asher repeated what I said that night, word for word, his voice raw with reminiscence. I widened my eyes, peering into the veil of darkness that hid him from my vision. It took me a while to come to terms with the

the emotions surging within me, I continued, "that's my answer to your

for the full

hand withdrew

real life. And I figured out that you can respect someone and not be in love with them, but you can't love someone and not respect them. Love is respect, sacrifice, and selflessness. Love is when you start putting someone

a deep breath as he pulled out of me and I

I knew

gestures that go unnoticed by others, I notice. The way you care, the way

same, does it?" he said. "I don't feel the same. I am not the same. Right now, you wish

the churn in my stomach weaken my body. It felt as if he could

you realized this place meant something to me. But that didn't make

with my fingers, I remained silent. I didn't know what

body finally left all contact

felt my empty surroundings with my hand. Within a second, he held my shaking hands and knelt in

upper body as he draped his shirt over my shoulders. We remained silent

humbled tone. "I was exceedingly selfish tonight.

hands tighter this

naked again. But thank you for defining love for me. And thank you for staying here, by my side, longer than you could. It

as though I was

knit my brows, feeling the weight of his words settle gravely in my

the back of my head urging me to hug him, as

felt as if something was shattering

chest that got worse when Asher kissed my forehead. But the problem was, everything was fine between us -

comforting like it used to be before

me in his arms. It almost felt like every emotion I

and before I could gather myself and ask what

reality did something strange to my

glowing light gray eyes gazing at me warmly, while the rest was just the sensation of a man's touch all over my body. I felt paralyzed as the