Alpha Protector (Shadow Sentinels World #3)

Chapter 32

S hannon

His mouth on mine was like a drug, turning my limbs into liquid. My lungs burned from the intensity of his kiss, his mouth stealing my breath, but still, I didn’t want to surface for air. I never wanted this to stop. I wound my fingers in his hair, revelling in the softness of the strands and pulled until he groaned. Our touches were raw and desperate, my wolf snarling and trying to escape to find her mate. I understood her need to soar free, but I wouldn’t let her…yet. My soul trembled at the thought of him claiming me, of those sharp fangs piercing my skin right near my ear and leaving a mark that everyone would see.

His free hand skated over my collarbone and chest and landed on my left breast, kneading before he tweaked my nipple sharply.

I inhaled loudly, enjoying the bite of pain.

He pulled away panting, his irises glowing purple as his Fae side took dominance, his wolf waiting to pounce as soon as he sank his teeth into me and our wolf spirits could merge. Fuck, I couldn’t wait.

“That’s it, baby. Moan for me.”

I dragged my fingers over his pecs, scraping his nipples with a sharpened nail before sliding my touch over the ribbed muscles of his torso, tracing every defined dip.

“You are so beautiful, Stoney-boy.”

His eyes darkened more. Did he really not know how fucking gorgeous he was? His mouth slammed back into mine, his tongue owning me like I hoped he would soon. His hand released my hair, and he grabbed my backside, lifting me like I weighed nothing before depositing me on the table. The wood wasn’t cold, and I grinned, knowing it was stable enough to take the hard pounding I was about to get.

I turned that grin on him as his hand landed on the middle of my chest, urging me back. I allowed it until I was leaning on my elbows, staring at his shock of silver hair. He drew a nipple into his mouth, biting it with just enough force to make me cry out before licking across to my other breast and lavishing it with the same attention. My arms trembled as I tried to support my torso. Part of me wanted to watch, yet the submissive in me, the one who trusted my mate to take control of my body and play me like a violin, wanted to lay down and sink into his touch.

His tongue circled my navel, dipping in before continuing his path down my body, making sure he scraped the edge of his elongated canines against my skin. Each little scrape resulted in a slight speckle of blood that sent sharp spikes of pleasure and stinging pain through my body. His satisfied growls as he licked them so they healed drove me insane until I was writhing beneath him. He continued his way down my body, missing my core, which was slick and throbbing. His inhale and guttural growl as he licked my inner thigh, where my leg met my body, was indecent. “Gods you smell so godsdamned good.”

“Then get your mouth on me.”

My demand was met with a dark chuckle, and his stunning gaze ensnared mine. His pupils were so black they almost obscured the purple and silver storm in his irises. “Ask nicely, Butterfly.”

My response was smothered in a cry as he slipped two fingers through the slickness between my legs and entered me, curling them to hit the spot inside me that drove me mad. There was no stopping my cries. I was mindless as he pumped his fingers inside me. Hard.

“Well? I’m waiting.” His tone was dark, but his words were as breathless as mine.

“Stoney...” I managed to whimper. “Please, I need you inside me.”

His fingers immediately withdrew, but a strangled whimper was ripped from me as he dragged his tongue from my slick entrance to circle my clit, his big hand holding my pelvis down as I bucked under his attention.

“Taste you first,” were the only words he offered and they were more of a growl. His tongue laved me like he was trying to gather up every single drop of my slickness while driving me wild.

“Stone, please….I can’t…” At my sobbing words, he gathered some of my slickness on his fingers and slowly slipped a finger lower. At the same time, he slid his thumb inside my core, then clamped his mouth on my clit and sucked, his tongue flicking so fast it burned.

An orgasm exploded through my body in waves of bliss. I clamped around his fingers, and he moaned, his eyes flicking up to my face as tears slipped from my eyes at the sheer ecstasy. Just as I began to float away, he pulled his touch and his mouth away, standing tall between my legs. His erection pulsed, hard and thick, the head shiny and engorged. He pulled me forward until my backside hung slightly off the edge of the table and bent his knees, slipping my legs over his shoulders. Without a word, he snarled and slammed forward.

I screamed as pleasure ripped through me again. There was no pain, not when his fingers and mouth had made me ready to take him. At that moment, I only wanted him to lose control, too. I grasped onto the hard muscles of his shoulders, gazing up into his face, which was contorted with pleasure. As he thrust and withdrew, his eyes opened, and he stared down at me. His breathing was as ragged as mine, his eyes as heated. But it was the look of utter adoration and raw, unfiltered possession that had me clamping my internal muscles around his hard length. Because it mirrored my own. Sharp shocks of bliss rocked me every time he drove forward and rolled his hips, the head of his cock pushing against my womb. He groaned as I canted my hips, my body flicking his tip with each roll of his hips.

“Stone,” I whispered his name reverently. I loved seeing that look of pure pleasure on his face, but I needed...more. I pulled him down, trying to get closer. He knew what I needed and let my legs slip down. His gaze never left mine while he moved his arms until I could hook my heels around his waist. His pace slowed, and he lowered more of his weight onto me until our torsos were touching everywhere, our bodies, slick with sweat, sliding sensually together. The air between us crackled with emotion.

My heart swelled as I stared up at his beautiful face. “I love you.” I couldn’t hold back those words any longer. I’d wanted to say them for so long, and now all I wanted was for him to know how I felt and how much I trusted him with my heart and soul.

He sighed, his face softening as he leaned in and gently kissed my eyelids, cheeks, nose, and mouth. And with each rolling push of his body into mine, he captured another piece of my soul. My heart cracked. No one had ever loved me like he did. He’d known what I needed to quiet my mind. He’d cared for me, not just when I’d broken, but for years. And I’d loved him for years. I’d just never let myself admit it before he forced me to.

“Fuck, Shan, I love you, too. So much. You’re the air that I need to survive.”

I smiled and leaned up, kissing him deeply. A desperate, low moan eased up his throat, and he pushed me back down, a question in his eyes.

I nodded as a bolt of desire rocked me. “Make me yours.”

There was no second guessing, no question. His canines lengthened, sharp, white and long. He gave one hard thrust of his hips and struck. Stinging pain hit me below my ear right before liquid fire rolled through my body, melting my muscles and bones until it hit my centre, and a climax flowed from my core, pulsing through me, contracting my muscles in a rhythm that was like nothing I’d ever felt. It was beyond the explosion of pleasure I’d felt before, even more overwhelming. It kept building and pulsing, on and on, and getting stronger as his speed ramped up and he slammed into me, his teeth fixed into my neck. I heard myself give a strangled scream and arched under his weight, but he didn’t let up even as I dug my own nails into his back.

An animalistic growl escaped him with each smack of his skin against mine. He thrust harder each time, causing my nipples to rub against the slight dusting of silver hair on his chest. His climax hit him, and a deep, constrained moan rippled in his throat, unable to escape. He wasn’t giving up his hold on my neck, and another drag of pressure had every nerve ending screaming in my body that it was too much.

“ Stone,” I whispered until he growled and reluctantly let go, laving at the puncture wounds, but not enough to heal them completely. He immediately flipped us, laying back on the table, still hard as a rock, and lifting me until I knelt over him.

“Mark me.”

His demand was raw, his wolf pushing into his eyes, wholly and entirely present. It wanted out. It wanted his mate. Just like I wanted to claim mine. Without waiting, I gripped him and canted my hips, sinking down his length. My hands landed on his chest, and I dragged my nose up the strong column of his throat.

“Ready?” I whispered in his ear.

I heard him swallow. “Fuck, yes.”

My fangs pushed through his skin, our bodies still moving together in sync. My mark was lower. The shifter way, where everyone who looked at him would see it. I snarled. Possessive wasn’t a strong enough word for how I felt about him. He was mine. Eternally.

With every grind of my body against his, the hair at the base of his cock rubbed against my sensitive bundle of nerves, sending me higher. I was more and more desperate to fall off that familiar cliff.

Salty and metallic blood rolled over my tongue, his winter and pine taste exploding against my taste buds as I swallowed. There was nothing that could make me stop as I rocked, grinding down against the hardness of his abs. His long, low groan reached into my soul, his muscles tensing under my thighs and hands as I took more. My claws dug into his skin, and I knew it had to hurt, but I couldn’t stop. Rasping grunts left me as another climax built, and I moved in a desperate rhythm, needing more and more.

I released my wolf from my hold, and she flew.

“Shannon. Oh, holy fuck…” He gave a strangled cry, his body going rigid as warmth bathed my insides. That sensation of being filled took me with him. Our orgasms wiped out any conscious thought as our wolves came together, and I felt it the moment they merged and a tether settled deep in my soul. My climax rolled from one into another even as Stone flipped us again, ripping my hold from his neck and turning me onto my belly.

“Head down, Butterfly.” His voice was raw and deep, dark enough to send a shiver through me. I loved that voice, that desperate tone.

He grabbed my hips, lifted them, and slammed back into me. Sliding a hand up my spine, he pushed on the back of my neck with one hand, holding me in place as he drove into me over and over. This was raw, unapologetic fucking now. And I loved it. With a grunt, he wrapped a hand in my hair and pulled me up. I arched my back to accommodate his hold as it slipped under my chin and around my throat.

“Mine,” he growled and rammed into me, and I let him. I was useless against the onslaught of power he had over me. His other hand tapped against my pussy until I screamed, riding the wave of another mind-melting orgasm. He grunted and thrust two more times, emptying himself in me. His thrusts slowed, the movement enough to send our releases running down my thighs, but I was beyond caring. I’d never felt so sated and at peace in my life. He gently withdrew before picking me up, walking to the couch and laying down, pulling me on top of him again.

My attention fixated on the mark on his neck. “Mine. Forever,” I whispered, smiling at him as he stroked my sweaty hair from my face, where it stuck to my damp skin. The pleasure we’d shared settled into a hum under my skin, and my muscles shook so hard I couldn’t do anything but lay my head in the crook of his neck and sigh.

My mate.

His arms slipped around my waist; strong bands of steel that held me firmly yet reverently as his fingers traced circles on my spine. He kissed my ear, sending little shockwaves through me. I giggled but couldn’t bring myself to move. Instead, I burrowed my face into the crook of his neck and inhaled deeply.

“Are you okay?” He chuckled, the movement of his chest shaking me up and down.

“No, I think you killed me,” I mumbled into his neck, scenting the blood still leaking from his mark. My mark. My heart squeezed. I nuzzled along his jaw, my gaze meeting his as I slanted my mouth over his. Our kiss was deep and full of emotion, but it seemed neither of us could vocalise it. So, my words were simple and honest.

“Thank you for being mine. I’ll love you until the end of eternity.”

His smile was blinding, the spark of happiness in his gaze making my heart stutter. “As I will you. My heart and soul are forever yours.”