Chapter 24 Rozi #4
He complied with animal ferocity, his thrusts becoming punishingly deep as he claimed me with primal intensity.
The sound of skin slapping against skin filled the clearing, along with our mingled moans and growls.
When his teeth found my shoulder again, biting down with possessive intent, I came with a scream that echoed through the clearing.
“That’s it,” he growled against my skin. “Let me hear you. Let the whole forest know who you belong to.”
His words pushed me higher, the pleasure almost too intense to bear as he continued to thrust into me, his hand still working my clit with devastating precision.
When he followed me over the edge, his release triggering aftershocks that left me trembling beneath him, I collapsed onto the soft grass, unable to support my own weight any longer.
We lay tangled together, our bodies slick with sweat and satisfaction, the mate bond humming contentedly between us. He cradled me against his chest, his lips pressing gentle kisses to my shoulder, my neck, my temple, tender counterpoints to the primal claiming we’d just shared.
“Now we’re officially mated,” I whispered against his neck as we lay entwined on the soft grass.
“Yes, we are,” he agreed, rolling us so I was sprawled across his chest. He traced lazy patterns along my spine with his fingers, his touch both possessive and reverent. “I love you, Dr. Rozi Thornbern.”
I was leaving behind the trauma of the legacy of my last name. Dr. Rozi Thornbern. My new name felt perfect on his lips, a blend of who I’d been and who I’d become—mate, independent and connected, individual and part of something greater.
“And I love you too,” I whispered, pressing kisses to his mating bite. “More than I ever thought possible.”
He drew invisible formulas and equations on my skin, a habit he’d developed over our year together.
“So, Dr. Thornbern,” he murmured against my hair, “now that we’ve cured pre-feral symptoms, revolutionized shifter medicine, and gotten properly mated… what’s next on your agenda?”
I propped myself up on one elbow, studying his face in the moonlight. The casual question held weight. He was asking about our future, about the life we would build together beyond this moment.
“I’ve been thinking about that,” I admitted, trailing my fingers along the defined muscles of his chest. “What if we expanded the research? Not just treating pre-feral symptoms, but understanding more about the mate bond itself?” I bit my lip, suddenly feeling vulnerable.
“Maybe… maybe even research that could help us start a family someday?”
His breath caught. His arms tightened around me with almost painful intensity, his eyes suspiciously bright in the moonlight.
“You want children?” he asked, his voice rough with emotion.
I smiled, pressing a kiss to his jaw. “Yes. Not right away, but… yes. Cubs with terrible brewing jokes and an unhealthy obsession with the COL moss.”
The smile that broke across his face was blinding, transforming his features with such joy that my heart skipped several beats. “God, I love you,” he whispered, rolling us so I was beneath him again, his weight a delicious anchor grounding me to this perfect moment.
But as we held each other under the stars, both of us knew this was just the beginning. There would be new challenges and new threats to the shifter freedom we’d fought so hard to protect.
Still, wrapped in the arms of my fated mate, I felt ready for whatever came next.
Tabia’s empire was crumbling, her pharmaceutical stranglehold over shifters breaking as my natural cure was distributed worldwide.
The criminal charges she faced would ensure she’d never again exploit our kind for profit.
Over the past year, we’d transformed Dhahabu Pharmaceuticals from a source of suffering to a force for healing.
The unmated males in the Ridge had found stability through our serum, giving them time to wait for their fated mates without fear of going feral.
The COL samples we’d collected had yielded insights that were changing shifter medicine forever.
Brody’s arms tightened around me, his heartbeat strong and steady beneath my ear. A year ago, I would have called this position—naked, vulnerable, in a man’s arms—a surrender. A weakness.
But Brody had shown me something different.
The way he’d challenged me in the lab, questioning my theories until they emerged stronger.
The way he’d knelt before me in our bedroom, powerful body yielding to my command with a trust that had brought me to tears.
The way he’d stood beside me in Tabia’s boardroom, silent support radiating from him as I dismantled her empire and rebuilt it into something that healed instead of harmed.
I’d spent my life believing I had to choose, strength or connection. Independence or love. Science or magic. The head or the heart.
Brody traced the mating mark on my neck, sending shivers cascading down my spine. His touch said what words couldn’t; I didn’t have to choose. I could have it all.
“What are you thinking about?” Brody asked, his fingers still tracing patterns on my skin.
“How lucky I am,” I replied honestly. “To have found you again after all these years. To have this second chance.”
His arms tightened around me, his heart beating steadily beneath my ear. “I’m the lucky one,” he said, his voice rough with emotion. “And I promise you, Rozi, I will spend every day of the rest of our lives making sure you never regret giving me that second chance.”
“I’m holding you to that,” I said, pressing a kiss to his chest, right over his heart. “Every. Single. Day.”
His answering growl sent a fresh wave of heat through me, and I laughed as he rolled us over again, his body covering mine with delicious weight. “Starting right now,” he promised.
Together, I thought with fierce satisfaction as his mouth claimed mine once more.
We’ve already changed the world.
We could handle anything together.