Okay, first of all, thank you so much for the kind comments left for me last chapter, they mean so damn much to me! Second, it turned out I did have a full chapter waiting, but it was much shorter than I initially realised, so you'll see a break in the chapter later on where it otherwise would have ended, hopefully it's all okay.

Second, consider THIS your official content warning! NSFW content past this point! Obviously read at your own discretion and only do so if you're 18+ for obvious reasons. Other than that, enjoy!

Chapter Twelve

She would have been lying if she'd said that the familiar tingle along her spine indicating his presence didn't excite her when, in the night, she woke to it.

Still, as she sat and looked around her room, she had to wonder where exactly he was that she could feel him. Then, with a brief glance out of her window, just through the crack in her curtains, she saw him and her heart skipped a beat. "Paul." She breathed, feeling a warm, comforting feeling spread across her chest.

She didn't know why, but her previous anxiety at seeing him was gone. Somehow, though she didn't know how, she knew that things were going to be fine.

Quickly and quietly, so as to not wake anyone, she scurried from her bed, sliding her feet into a pair of sneakers, not caring that she wasn't wearing socks. In fact, she was only wearing a sports bra, a pair of shorts and now her sneakers. She grabbed one of the tees she worked out in, slinging it on as she crept from her room only to see her dad, awake, sitting at the kitchen table with a brow already raised in her direction.

She stilled, caught. "Hi." She muttered out sheepishly.

He sighed. "And what exactly are you doing?" He asked, already looking like he was doubting whatever she was going to say.

"Walk." She blurted out, watching his lips twitch, amused. "A walk. I'm going for one." She corrected herself, nodding somewhat awkwardly.

"At this time?" He asked, sceptical.

She thought for a moment. "A drive?" She then proposed, this time more a question than anything.

He chuckled, shaking his head, leaning back in his chair, grabbing her truck keys from their hook on the wall. "Don't ever get arrested, you're a terrible liar." He told her, throwing the keys, watching as she caught them with ease. "Wherever you're going, just be safe." He told her, standing and folding the paper that she hadn't even noticed him reading, walking over to the couch and slumping down, turning the TV on and immediately lowering the volume.

She didn't waste any time questioning where this newly rational man had come from, instead shooting past him and straight out the front door.

Quickly, she all but ran around the side of the house, almost slamming into Paul on the way. He didn't seem at all shocked when he saw her, catching her shoulders easily and steadying them both. "River." He breathed out, seeming giddy at the sight of her.

"Paul." She smiled back, shocking herself by reaching out and pulling him in for a hug only to, a second later, pull back with a blush. "Shit, I'm sorry." She muttered, realising that she'd assumed that everything was okay simply because he was there.

Chuckling, he pulled her back in, wrapping his strong arms around her, letting the heat of his body melt into her.

When they pulled apart the second time, things were different. For one, they seemed to stop pulling away upon realising just how close they both were, how very close their lips were. River wasn't entirely sure which one of them drew the other in first, but before she knew it, her feet were off the ground, held up effortlessly by Paul as he stood straight with her in his arms, their lips pressed together so very gently.

She immediately let her hands toy with his hair, only pulling away when, much to her own embarrassment, she left a moan fall from her lips and into his mouth.

They looked hungrily at one another, staring in the darkness, as Paul slowly lowered her back to her feet, both their hearts beating like war drums. "Your place?" She suggested, hopeful.

Grinning, he nodded, leaning down and kissing her again, this time just quickly. "Your car?" He asked, jokingly since they both knew he didn't have one.

"My car." She agreed, biting her lip to stop her grin from showing as they, hand in hand, went to her truck.

It seemed, though, that once they were inside an enclosed space, all bets were off. River hadn't even managed to start the engine before Paul had slid across the bench-style seat and was nipping at her ear, nudging her jaw to get to her neck. She granted access quickly enough, gasping as his hand came over and grasped her thigh just as the tip of his tongue skimmed over her pulse. "Wait... Oh, God- Wait, we've gotta get off my driveway." She panted, laughing when he pulled away with somewhat defeated, almost puppy dog eyes. "If my dad opens those curtains, we're dead."

"Then drive." He growled playfully, scooting away just far enough that he wasn't leaning over her but that their thighs were just a couple of inches apart.

He kept a hand on her leg as she drove, distracting. He couldn't help himself though. There she was. He was finally with her. Sure, he knew part of him should have been thinking about Jacob, but the second Sam had told them all to go home, he'd sprinted to her house.

As they drove, he tried not to make it too obvious that just being in the truck with her, just those two kisses, just being able to smell her, it had got his hard as a rock. He was pathetic, he knew that, but he couldn't help it.

Alas, as they sped down one of the roads, mere minutes from his, he hissed out a breath as she went to lay a hand on his upper thigh only to brush him.

Shocked, she took her eyes from the road for a second, glancing across to see for herself, confirming her suspicions. She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry as she looked back on the road and placed her hand there all the same. Greedily, he let his head fall back as his hips writhed up at the contact. "River." He panted, dangerously close to begging.

"Fuck." She muttered, looking back quickly with desperate eyes, glancing back at the road just long enough to pull into a layby.

The second the truck had stopped, before Paul could move, she clambered on top of him, both of them laughing a little as she hunched over after hitting her head on the roof of the truck that, until then, she'd considered to have a lot of space in the cab.

Their mouths were on one another in seconds, devouring any piece of exposed skin they could find.

Just feeling him, hard and wanting beneath her, it was enough to have her feeling dangerously turned on. They moaned into one another's mouths, groping, grinding, feeling every beautifully painful second of it all. It wasn't until, after perhaps two minutes that passed like hours, River pushed back and sit up, truly feeling him through the layers between them, falling into his eyes, that she muttered out, "Paul, I... I need you."

He almost came there and then. "I won't last long." He told her, almost apologising as his hands shot down to undo his shorts.

Excited, she shook her head with a laugh. "I don't care." She told him honestly, clumsily pushing her sleep shorts down a thigh at a time, just leaving them below her knees.

Before he'd even finished with his shorts, he let a hand wander up, feeling with one strong hand what he'd missed the taste of all this time. Touching her, feeling what he'd done to her, to his imprint, it was almost too much, especially when she let herself sink down into his palm, bracing her arms on his shoulders. He was worried that he'd be finished before they got any further as he continued, moving his hand in a way that she was clearly enjoying.

He hadn't had chance to use his fingers last time, having been preoccupied with burning her taste into his mind, but tonight? Well, cramped in the truck's cab, little room for manoeuvring, things were different.

The feeling of sheer euphoria that he felt as she, moans escaping her lips in spite of her efforts to keep quiet, lowered herself against his hand, this time guiding his middle finger. "Oh, fuck." He groaned as she let herself down onto his finger, slowly, slowly, until his knuckles were flush against her skin. Is this what his ego, his inability to simply give in and apologise, had been keeping from him? Fuck. He'd never make that mistake again, that was for sure.

While she moved above him, River remembered not to get too lost in her own feelings, reaching down and taking the length of him in her palm, wrapping her hand firmly, feeling the very breath leave his body for just a second.

They continued like that, possibly only for a minute, feeling like a decade or more had passed, wrapped together in bliss, before River decided that she needed more.

It was then though, just as he felt that maybe he'd gotten the hang of it, that she pushed his hand away, catching his mouth in a rough, desperate kiss that he eagerly returned. Part of him worried that he'd hurt her, that he'd done something wrong, that he'd managed to change her mind, but the passion of her lips was enough, enough to tell him otherwise.

He didn't realise what she was doing though, simply enjoying what he was feeling, until she pulled away, looking into his eyes. There she was, hovering above him, above him, silently begging permission. "Is this okay?" She asked, laughing when he raised a single questioning brow. "Enthusiastic consent. I need it."

Grinning up at her, entirely present in this moment that was wholly theirs, he reached up and cupped her face. "I want this." He told her, a gruffness to his voice. "I want this with you. Only you." He then added.

At his words, seemingly taken aback for a moment, River nodded. "I only want you, too." She told him, melting when he drew her in for a tender kiss.

With their lips together, with him in her hand, she sank in his lap, lowering herself and guiding him until they met in the middle, touching so very intimately. They moved slowly at first, gently, moving inch by inch, little by little, both gasping and grasping with each new sensation.

That whole first minute or so, their eyes didn't once stray from one another's, not until their hips finally touched. Paul was the first to look away, letting his head roll back in utter ecstasy as his chest rose and fell a little faster. In that moment, River found herself looking at him, really looking at him. She hadn't ever seen anything so truly incredible as looking down at him, face a picture of bliss, a picture of serenity.

The feeling of him inside her, the fullness that she'd never even been able to imagine before, his skin on hers, not knowing where either of them ended and the other began, it was all such a new, entirely inexplicably perfect bundle of feelings. Each one threatened to send her over the edge, sending shiver after shiver over her body.

Paul's hands on her hips, after a moment, she began to move. She didn't go up and down, not at first, instead opting for a little back and forward, grinding and shuffling. The movement was a little awkward, a little foreign given that she, in her other sexual encounters, wasn't all too used to riding nor taking, but fuck it felt good.

There was no pain to wait out, they fit together so very perfectly, but she waited until the strange stretching and filling sensations died down just a little. She definitely wasn't un-fond of them, but they were something that she'd have to feel a few more times before confidently enjoying them. So, once they waned, once Paul opened his eyes, once they stared at one another, full of awe, she began her rise and fall.

They were quiet at first, hushed with only breaths and quiet groans filling the air, but as River began to bounce in his lap and as Paul, gripping her hips as tightly as he dared, bucked up into her, the volume rose. Little by little, thrust by thrust and bounce by bounce, they drove one another wild. Eventually, not much later, as they neared the end, having steamed up the entire cab from their breath, they clasped one another close, kissing and licking at any and all exposed skin until finally, suddenly, just as quickly as the feelings built, they fractured and shattered together, falling from the same cliff and riding out the same high.

Silence fell when they both stilled, chests heaving in tandem.

A minute or so passed before River eventually pushed herself off Paul, panting as she fell to his side, laughing a little at realising that, with him in the middle of the seat, she'd ended up on the wrong side.

"That was so fast." She laughed, reaching a sweaty hand up to push the short hairs from her forehead.

Chuckling, Paul nodded. "I'm sorry." He groaned, reaching out and brushing her cheek with his knuckles lovingly.

"What?" She asked, cocking a brow. What the hell was he sorry for?

He shook his head, gesturing down at his deflating crotch. "I'm sorry, it was just so fucking-"

Oh! "No! Paul, me. I've never cum that fast before in my life." River couldn't help but laugh. Had he really thought he'd done badly?

"Never?" He asked after a moment, seemingly inflating his ego.

Rolling her eyes, she punched his shoulder softly, pulling her leg over into the footwell, shuffling in her seat to lean against the door. "Shut up!" She laughed, shaking her head and unconsciously running gentle fingers down his chest, feeling the light sweat making it slick. "Never." She then admitted honestly, looking his in the eyes with a grin.

"Me neither." He told her, unable to shift the grin from his face. "Not that you've got any competition there." He then added.

A little shocked, River sat a little straighter. "You mean-"

He raised a brow. "We've already had the virgin talk." He teased lightly, sure that she couldn't have forgotten.

She nodded, looking away sheepishly. "Right, we did." She nodded again. She could feel a light, guilty blush. "I, uh, I guess I listened to the gossip a little too much after the bonfire mishap." She admitted, looking back up into his eyes. "Brooke's stupid friend Krystal swore she saw you and-" She caught herself, shaking her head. "It doesn't matter." She added with a shrug.

"Rumour Paul is a man slut." He shrugged, chuckling. "Real Paul is -was- a virgin until approximately two minutes ago."

Groaning, River dropped her head into her hand, braced against the dash. "I just took your V-card in my truck?" She asked, though she knew the answer.

Nodding with a grin, Paul reached out and cupped her head with his hand. "You did." He replied. "Pervert." He added, laughing when she playfully smacked his chest. "Hey, I'm not the weirdo deflowering local boys-"

"Oh my god." She groaned, smacking his chest again, laughing. "If you say deflowering one more time, I swear to god, you'll never touch me again." She threatened playfully.

They laughed together like that, teasing, playing, forgetting any and all responsibility, for a lifetime. Eventually, once River's legs were working again, she drove them to Paul's. She knew that she'd told her dad that she was just going for a drive, but when he invited her in, telling her that he'd behave and just wanted to sleep beside her, she simply couldn't say no.

That night, wrapped in his arms, she slept better than she ever had. She wasn't even sure if she dreamed of anything, but the reality of having him was the best thing that she could have dreamed of.

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Paul was the first of them to wake in the morning. It was, as it usually was, to a howl and the sound of approaching feet.

It was only then that he, upon remembering the night's events, looked down at saw her. River. He and his wolf alike were immediately ecstatic, almost having not realised that she was there. Perhaps that was why he finally felt rested, as if he'd caught up on all of the missed sleep of his whole life? Perhaps that's what sleeping beside her for the rest of his life would feel like. He sure hoped so.

With the sound of paws drawing closer though, he realised that he couldn't be fantasizing about their life together, not until he'd told her the entire truth. The question then became, how the hell did he do that? Other than Sam, who'd had no guidance or understanding in the beginning, no one else so far had fought the imprint, not until River, so he knew he'd have to find the right way to tell her. He'd probably have to prove it to her; she definitely wouldn't just accept it at face value.

He pulled himself from thought though and himself gently from under her. Part of him felt immediately angry, offended that one of his brothers would pull him away from her like this, but the man in him knew that none of them would do that, not without cause. So, quickly and quietly, he grabbed a pair of loose sweats and pulled them on as he stumbled to the door.

He could smell that it was Jared before he opened the door to see the mostly brown wolf with a mask-like patch around his eyes just before he phased back, jogging the last few steps. "Good news, brother-"

"Shhh!" Paul hushed him quickly, stepping out and softly closing the door behind him, holding up a hand toward Jared's still moving mouth. "Just- quiet, okay?" He grumbled, watching the other boy's eyes as they went wide.

"Dude." Jared muttered as a grin spread across his face like a giddy young boy. Paul rolled his eyes but couldn't stop a smile of his own. "Dude!" Jared then whispered excitedly, reaching out and playfully punching his brother's stomach. "Oh shit! Bro! Yo, this is fucking-"

"Okay, okay!" Paul desperately tried to hush him, praying that he didn't wake his sleeping imprint. "Calm down." He then added when Jared finally stopped rambling.

"Calm down?" Jared scoffed, laughing. He quickly, playfully, punched Paul in the chest before doing some odd little happy dance. "Dude, I was coming to tell you that Jake's awake and shit-"

That got his attention. "He is?" He felt immediately a little guilty, not having thought about his brother all night while he was probably in agony. Sure, he still thought it served him right, but that didn't mean he wished pain on him.

"Fuck Jacob!" Jared barked, making Paul smirk just a little. "Paulie got his dick wet-"

"Alright, shut up." He chuckled, hiding a smirk as he reached out and shoved his idiot friend.

"Bro, how many times? I'll even let it slide that your patrol started a half hour ago. Fuck, I'll cover you, okay?"

"Calm down."

"I'm gonna go tell the guys." Jared practically fell over his own feet as he turned and shot off, clearly giddy as he laughed and ran.

Paul, amused, couldn't help but roll his eyes at his friend. "Jared-"

Giggling like a schoolgirl, Jared spun long enough to throw him a wave, actually tripping over himself that time. "Have fun!" He yelled across the small clearing.

Paul almost yelled back, wanting to quiet the moron. "Dude, what are you-" He began to growl, only to laugh instead when the mess of limbs, upon reaching the treeline, phased and raced off. "Asshole." He muttered into the wind with a chuckle, knowing that it would still be heard.

Then, feeling that warm, happy feeling that he didn't ever want to let go of, he remembered. His imprint, gently waking, was in his bed.

He swelled with pride for just a second, almost rolling his eyes at himself and his wolf. He was quick to go back inside, rushing to his room, almost shocked to see her. As he gathered himself, watching her, he leaned in the doorway to his room.

Slowly, she stirred. He watched with a grin as, his pillow clutched against her face, she stretched out her entire body before sleepily pushing herself up on one hand, looking around with tired eyes. She found him quickly, smiling a sleepy, adorable smile upon catching sight of him. "Damn." She croaked out, voice hoarse.

"Damn?" He repeated back at her, pushing off the doorframe and closing the small distance between them, placing hands either side of her head as he climbed onto the bed. "What are we damning?"

She more than happily rolled onto her back, releasing his pillow in favour of reaching up and touching his sides, letting her legs fall apart to accommodate his hips as they settled against her own. "You." She answered easily, looking him up and down. "All the way to Hell in those sweatpants."

Smirking, he raised a brow. "Oh, you like them?" He teased, leaning further until their lips almost touched, stopping so very close to her.

She grinned easily and shook her head softly. "Nope." She replied, leaning, desperate for their lips to touch. As she moved closer though, he backed off a little, watching amusement twinkle in her eyes. "Hate them." She added with a shrug, raking her fingers up his bare torso and tangling them in the hair at the base of his neck, gently guiding him back to her.

He shuddered at the sensations, suddenly incredibly aware of the two thin pieces of fabric between them.

Still, in spite of the glorious distraction, his mind strayed. He couldn't help but think about the huge secret that he was holding from her. He needed for her to know. He needed for her to truly know every part of him, no matter the outcome. He knew that the imprint would make it such that she couldn't hate him, not even for something this huge, but he still worried. After all, their relationship, whatever it was, didn't exactly have the best beginning.

So, ruining the moment, instead of giving in to his desires and sating hers, he instead told her that they should talk. He told her that, much to her dismay, there was a bonfire later that night and that he, not entirely to her surprise, wanted her there. She joked, of course, that they didn't exactly have the best track record when it came to bonfires, but ultimately she agreed to go.

They spent the rest of the morning in much a similar fashion, lost in one another until River finally headed home, assuring him that, come rain or shine, she would see him at the bonfire. He wasn't sure his nerves would hold that long.

I'll just end this with a quick: I'm sorry if that sucked. I've said before and I'll probably say again, I don't tend to write smut or whatever you'd call that, it's super new to me, so whether it was okay or terrible is just something that I'll have to work on. At the same time, I'm super conscious of the fact that I don't want my story to get flagged/deleted, so I'm trying to not be too graphic while still painting a picture.

All in all, I hope you've enjoyed! I'll get my writing cap on and hopefully update again super quickly, I'm just deciding how I want River to take the news in all honesty. I have a couple of ways I think things could play out. I'm also wanting to explore her tribe a little and the possibility of them having wolves too... maybe River being one? I can't decide if that's too far or not. Who knows. Still, enjoy, tell me what your thoughts are, have a great day!