Chapter 14
Every other second, I expect the old me to rear her ugly head and take back everything I felt in the living room, but that doesn’t happen. Not as Drake carries me outside to the shed, not when I place another cloaking spell around the small space for privacy, or even when we begin to strip each other of our clothes.
Instead, the more time that passes, the more relief I feel at no longer feeling the need to push everyone away, and the more I want to pull everyone closer.
Well, at least Drake and that’s exactly what I do without an ounce of hesitation.
My borrowed shed isn’t big, and his imposing form makes the space seem even smaller, but that doesn’t stop either of us. With my mattress back in its normal spot in the corner, we practically fall on top of the lumpy surface, our legs tangled together.
He lands on the bottom with a grimace on his face. “How long have you been sleeping on this thing?”
I shrug. “Just a couple months.”
“I’m going to find us a house,” he says with a growl. “One with a real bed. You deserve better than,” his eyes look around, a bit of sadness in them, “this.”
He’s right, and I’ve been working toward “better,” but looking back now, I think I was always going to be in my own way.
Leaning forward, my nails scrape against his chest and I kiss him, but before things can get heated again, my right hand begins to burn.
“What the fuck?” I mutter, sitting up and trying not to be equally distracted by his hard cock beneath my ass.
Drake’s chest is glowing and, right before my eyes, the chains around his wolf are moving. I point and raise my brow. “Is that normal?”
“No, definitely not,” he says as his fingers tighten around my hips. Before I can say anything else, he flips our positions and has me on my back. “But that’s a problem to worry about later.”
Or maybe it’s not a problem at all. I know Natalia said that Drake is marked for destruction, but there isn’t anything evil that I sense inside him. She had to have gotten it wrong, and the curse he has, maybe it can be broken by finding one’s fated mate.
Before my mind can get too far off track, Drake grabs the back of my neck firmly, lifting my head closer to his. His dark eyes contain more of those silver sparks that I noticed earlier, and he licks his lips as if he’s prepared to devour me for his last meal.
“You’re mine, Little Dove.”
Four words have never sounded so sensual, but the fact that they don’t make me want to run as I did earlier is the biggest win of the day.
My wolf rumbles inside me, her agreement clear as I sense her presence rising to the surface. She’s as eager to claim our mate as I’ve suddenly become.
I don’t know how I’ve gotten to this moment after the fucked-up day I’ve had, but the relief inside me is too great to ignore. Maybe the fates aren’t so idiotic after all.
Only time will tell. For now, I’m done fighting. I have to be.
Drake’s hand cups my face and there’s a look of reverence in his gaze that melts the last pieces of ice I’ve kept around my heart. My head nods ever so slightly and he lifts up just enough to reach between us. He grabs his cock and rubs the head over my clit, making my entire body jolt with need.
As I start to reach forward, he puts me out of my joyous misery and thrusts inside me. My mouth pops open with an audible gasp and I’m clinging to his arms as he somehow keeps going deeper and deeper.
The moment he’s fully seated within me, an energy builds inside my chest, expanding with every beat of my heart and heating the rest of my body. Drake, on the other hand, seems to be frozen in place. His eyes are closed, and his jaw is tense, but he doesn’t seem to be in pain. At least I don’t think so.
I lift my hand, and when I touch his face, he shakes his head.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, suddenly feeling as if maybe sex so soon wasn’t the smartest decision I’ve made lately.
His chest rumbles, and he starts to move, but barely.
My stare catches movement on his chest, and the longer I stare at his tattoo, the more I realize it’s moving in real time. His wolf is shaking, and the chains around him have fissures forming within the metal, but none of the remaining restraints are breaking.
“Your wolf,” I whisper, my hand hovering just above the mark, but not touching it.
The scorching temperatures emanating from that part of his body remind me that I was already burned by the mark once. We should probably stop in case this isn’t a good thing or some sort of beacon to the bitch that cursed him, but when I try to roll out from under Drake, his eyes finally open. “No. She won’t take this from me, too.”
The pain in his voice slashes at my heart as if I’ve been physically stabbed. I barely know this man, but the more I let him in, the more he tells me, the more I’m ready to murder on his behalf.
As I look into his heady gaze, his eyes are nearly black, and the silver flickers I saw before are nowhere to be seen, but there’s an intensity etched within his stare that I can’t deny. Drake needs me. Maybe more than either of us understands.
The thought causes a disturbance within me, but it’s not fear for the unknown or being tied to this man that shakes my foundation at its core. It’s the fact that the longer we remain pressed together like this, the more his pain begins to bleed into me.
“I’ve got you,” I say, keeping my gaze locked on his face.
He blinks slowly, and when he reopens his eyes, a bit of the tension he’s been holding there seems to ease. He starts to move above me again, rocking his hips. With each forward surge, the air feels as if it’s stolen right from my lungs.
The energy that had been building at my chest returns, swirling frantically inside me. The stronger the power gets, the faster Drake’s movements become.
“The bond,” he forces out with a strangled tone. “Can’t…control…”
A sensation of need blasts through me, coming directly from Drake, and there’s a feralness about him as his fingers grip my hair, holding the strands so tight that tears prick at the sides of my eyes.
His growls become louder, and I notice his canines extending as if his wolf is breaking through, but nothing more happens beyond that.
“You can let go,” I tell him when he seems to be holding back, his muscles remaining coiled beneath his taut skin as he moves with precision above me.
His head shakes. “I’ll hurt you.”
This time I grin. “I’m not fragile. I promise you.”
Sweat breaks out along his forehead, and he lets out a guttural roar as he tilts his head back. When he stares at me again, I can’t stop from smirking.
There were several moments earlier today that I thought this man was soft and possibly a little pathetic for practically begging me to accept him, but staring at him now, seeing the beast he truly is, I start to understand that there’s a lot more to Drake Cage than I’d initially given him credit for.
His hand wraps around my throat, not so tightly that I can’t breathe, but with enough pressure that I’m aware of every breath I take. He slams into me, eyes focusing entirely on my body.
My legs wrap around his waist as I take every bit of him, over and over again. My body shakes, and there’s little to nothing I can do other than hold on, but that’s more than enough.
Drake leans forward, increasing the pressure and grabbing my chin roughly. I think he’s going to say something else, but instead, he closes the bit of distance between us and kisses me with a ferocity I should have expected.
His tongue demands entry into my mouth and owns everything it touches. He tastes every corner, and I can barely think, but at the same time, I’ve never felt more empowered.
I grip his arms tighter and soon find myself matching his thrusts with my own vigor. Our bond is growing with every passing minute, and the stronger our connection becomes, the more powerful my own wolf feels.
An energy unlike anything I’ve experienced before starts to warm my own skin. I ignore the sensation in favor of focusing on the way Drake is not only fucking my body into oblivion, but also owning my mouth like it was created just for him.
Yet, the more time that passes, the stronger my own sensations become. My insides tighten almost painfully, and I’m certain I’m about to come, but before that can happen, Drake breaks our kiss and slows his pace.
His eyes—that are once again sparking with silver—drag over me, but I don’t feel the least bit self-conscious. In fact, the longer he seems to inspect every inch of my naked skin, the harder it is to breathe, and the more I squirm beneath his currently halted movements.
“You’re glowing,” he says with a smirk.
At first, I think he’s trying to compliment me, but then I realize the shed is brighter than it should be, and I actually am glowing.
My skin is almost translucent, and my hair has officially turned white instead of the platinum blonde it normally is.
“Stunning,” he whispers before leaning closer and holding me with more control than he had just minutes ago.
“Don’t be gentle,” I tell him in case he thinks this new development is something to be careful with. I’ve never felt more formidable, and I need him to finish me off before I combust—literally.
“Your wish is my command.” A rumble echoes from him again, and I release any lingering tension that was building up, thinking I’d lost the beastly side of him.
He grabs my legs, bringing them forward until I’m nearly bent in half and my ankles are resting against his shoulder. My fingers can barely reach him, and I start to complain, but then his hips surge forward and all breath escapes my lungs once again.
The glow around my skin doesn’t cease and the shivers racing through me only grow with intensity as Drake pushes closer and places his hand over my chest.
His touch sends a vibration through me from his own shaking, and the connection of the bond feels as if it’s tightening around my chest. My heart is pounding wildly, doubling in time with every thrust.
My hands wrap around Drake’s wrist, and I pull him closer, ignoring the protesting from my legs being contorted. I need to touch him and hold him and taste him.
With unfocused eyes, I manage to grab hold of his face even though I was aiming for his neck and drag him closer. His lips are a hair’s breadth away from mine when he slips a hand between us and rubs a finger over my clit.
Instead of kissing him as I intended, I cry out, my body giving into the release that’s been building. As an orgasm rips through me, and right before I lose the hold on my mate, I feel the quakes of his own release.
Just as I think it’s over, that we’re officially bonded, my chest expands and my back arches. The glow around me intensifies, and in the next second, Drake is pulling me up. I wrap my legs around him, still keeping our connected position as he helps me sit up.
Tremors move through the both of us so strong that I can’t tell which ones are from me and which are his. I grab his face and kiss him, needing this closeness to take away the weight of the bond that presses in on me.
It’s not painful in a way that makes me want to run from it. Instead, I want to dive right into the fire and let the flames consume me.
Drake doesn’t disappoint, either. He kisses me until every thought leaves my muddled mind and all I can feel and hear is him.
I have no clue how much time passes, but the intensity of the bond snapping into place finally releases us and Drake leans against the wall behind us. I keep my legs around his waist and lay my head on his chest, listening to the sound of his slowing heartbeat.
His fingertips move lightly over my back, making shapes I can’t translate, but it’s the pulsing of the bond within me that holds most of my attention.
“You’re not glowing anymore,” Drake says, his featherlight touches now moving over my shoulder before going down my arm.
“That wasn’t the only unexpected thing.” I lean back and glance at his wolf tattoo. I place my palm over the black ink. It’s still warm, but not burning like before. “Can you feel your wolf now?”
A darkness falls over his face, and regret fills me for asking the question even though I have no clue why.
“That’s something we need to talk about.”
The way his voice darkens ruins whatever high I’ve been riding and, suddenly, all I want to do is murder that bitch witch.