Chapter 28
ELLIE
Daska's breathing was slow and steady beneath my cheek, each exhale a gentle rumble through the thick fur pressed against my face.
His massive bear form curled around me like a living fortress, one enormous paw resting across my hip, anchoring me in place.
I didn't move. Didn't want to. If I lay still enough, maybe I could pretend this moment would last forever.
The memory of the fight slammed into me without warning.
So much blood. Daska's roar splitting the air as claws raked across his side. The wet sound of impact, over and over, until I couldn't tell whose blood was whose anymore.
I almost lost him.
My throat tightened. I pressed my face harder into his fur, breathing him in. He'd fought for me. Bled for me. Nearly died for me. And he'd won.
The bond hummed faintly beneath my ribs, a steady pulse of warmth that matched the rhythm of his heartbeat.
It had been there since the mating, quiet but insistent, like a second pulse I couldn't ignore. Now it felt… stronger. Deeper. As if the fight had somehow forged it into something unbreakable, or maybe it had been the time we’d spent together at the moon hearth, the way we’d made love so many times. ..
I lifted my head slightly, just enough to study him in the dim light filtering through the cave entrance.
His fur was growing back in patches where it had been torn away, new growth soft and pale against the darker surrounding coat.
He slept in his bear form to speed the healing.
In human form he looked even worse, scabs pulled tight across his shoulders and flanks, but the bruising that had turned his skin mottled purple and black was fading to yellow-green.
I reached out carefully, my fingers hovering over a particularly nasty scar on his ribs. Karik's claws had carved through fur and muscle like he'd wanted to rip Daska apart.
He nearly did.
My hand trembled. I let it fall.
Daska's breathing shifted. His massive head turned toward me, one dark eye opening to focus on my face. For a moment, neither of us moved. Then his nose pushed gently against my shoulder, a low, rumbling sound vibrating through his chest.
Safe. Alive. Here.
The shift came slowly, deliberately. Fur rippled and shrank, bones cracking and reforming until the enormous bear beside me became the man I knew, broad-shouldered and scarred, his dark hair falling loose around his face. His hand found mine, fingers threading through mine with careful tenderness.
"Ellie" he murmured, his voice rough with sleep. His thumb traced circles against my palm. "You are worried?"
I nodded, not trusting my voice. His gaze swept over me, searching for injury or distress, and I felt the bond flare warm and bright between us. He still looked tired, shadows under his eyes, but he was here. Whole. Mine.
"I was just remembering the fight. I’m fine. Go back to sleep, you should rest more."
His mouth curved into the faintest smile. "You worry."
"Yes."
He leaned forward, tilting my head up and back so he could brush his lips over mine.
"There is no need," he said softly. "I am nearly healed. Though perhaps now you do not find me as desirable as you did at the moon hearth?"
I turned quickly to face him, full of indignation, and he laughed at my expression.
“How can you think that?” I demanded.
“It’s been four nights and we haven’t…”
“You nearly died!” I snapped. “You were badly hurt, and I…”
“No longer have need to worry,” he said, grinning at me. “Come here, mate.”
I fought against the smile growing on my face and lost as he bent to kiss me again. I had missed him too, and hadn’t wanted to put pressure on any of his wounds, but if he really was better…
He pulled my body back against him, curling around me, and I felt the hard length of his cock press between my legs. Oh, he was definitely feeling better.
I gasped as he rocked his hips against me, the friction sending heat pooling low in my belly. His hand slid down my stomach, fingers tracing lazy patterns across my skin before dipping lower. When he found me already wet for him, he groaned against my neck.
"You have missed me too," he murmured, his fingers circling slowly, teasingly. "I can feel it."
"Yes," I breathed, arching into his touch. Through the bond, I felt his satisfaction, his desire, the way my response was affecting him. It was intoxicating, feeling both my own pleasure and the echo of his.
His fingers worked me with practiced ease, finding that perfect rhythm that had me gasping within moments.
He knew my body now, knew exactly how to touch me, where to press, when to speed up or slow down.
The bond amplified everything, feeding my pleasure back into his until I couldn't tell where I ended and he began.
"Daska, please—"
"Not yet." His voice was rough in my ear, his fingers never faltering.
I whimpered, my hips rocking against his hand, chasing the release building inside me. His other arm wrapped around my waist, holding me steady against him, and I felt the hard length of him pressed against my backside, hot and insistent.
"Four nights too long," he murmured against my lips, his fingers circling slowly. "I have missed the taste of you. The sounds you make when I touch you here."
His fingers worked me with the same careful patience he brought to everything, slow circles that built the pressure higher and higher until I was trembling against him.
I could feel his cock hard and insistent against my backside, could feel his restraint through the bond, the way he was holding himself back.
"I want you," I managed. "Please. I need you inside me, Daska."
He made a rough sound and pulled his hand away, pushing up the light tunic I wore to sleep in. He, of course, sleeping in bear form, was already wearing nothing. I felt him press against me from behind, the rounded head of his cock easing into me slowly, filling me completely.
I gasped as he filled me, the stretch and fullness overwhelming even though we'd done this so many times before. He was so big, and from this angle he felt even deeper, reaching places that made my breath catch and my toes curl.
"Safe?" he asked, his voice strained, his body trembling with the effort of holding still.
"Safe," I managed. "So safe. Move, please…"
He pulled back slowly, then thrust forward, and I cried out at the sensation.
His hand came back to work between my legs as he set a steady rhythm from behind, Long, deep strokes that had me biting my lip to keep from crying out.
The angle was perfect, hitting something inside me that made my toes curl, and the pleasure built quickly, amplified by the bond until I couldn't think, couldn't breathe, could only feel.
His chest pressed against my back, his breath hot against my neck, and through the bond I felt his pleasure layering with mine, building higher and higher.
The angle was perfect, hitting something deep inside me that made my vision blur at the edges.
His fingers worked faster, matching the rhythm of his hips, and I was so close, so desperately close. ..
"Daska..."
"Ellie," he groaned against my shoulder. “I need to feel you come on my cock. Please...”
His words, rough and desperate against my skin, sent me over the edge.
The orgasm tore through me with devastating force, my body clenching around him as waves of pleasure crashed over me again and again.
I cried out, my body clenching around him, and through the bond I felt his own control shatter.
The bond flared white-hot between us, pleasure feeding back and forth between us through the bond until I couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.
I felt his satisfaction, his relief, the bone-deep contentment of being joined with his mate after days of forced separation.
His fingers gentled on me, easing me down, and his other arm tightened around my waist, holding me close against his chest.
For a long moment we just lay there, tangled together, both of us breathing hard. I could feel his heart hammering against my back, could feel the satisfaction and contentment radiating through the bond like warmth from a fire.
"Missed you," he murmured against my hair. "So much."
"I was right here," I said, but my voice came out soft, affectionate rather than teasing.
"Not the same." His hand spread across my stomach, possessive and tender at once. "This. Missed this."
I turned my head enough to catch his mouth with mine, the kiss slow and deep and unhurried. When we finally broke apart, his forehead rested against mine, his breath still coming in soft pants.
"I love you," he murmured.
My chest tightened, tears pricking at my eyes. He'd never said it before. Neither of us had. We'd danced around it, shown it in a thousand small ways, but the words themselves had remained unspoken.
"I love you too," I whispered back, and felt the truth of it settle into my bones. I did love him. Desperately, completely, in a way that terrified me.
Because I still had to leave.
When we finally emerged from the cave, the camp was alive with movement.
Life had returned after Karik had retreated.
Normal, everyday life. Children darted between the fire pits, their laughter bright and sharp in the cold air.
Women tended to meals and mended furs, their voices low and easy.
Men sharpened weapons and hauled supplies, their movements efficient and purposeful.
I stopped just outside the cave entrance, my chest tightening with something I couldn't name. Daska's hand rested lightly on my lower back, a grounding presence as I took it all in.
A group of warriors passed nearby, their heads dipping in respectful nods as they caught sight of Daska. One of them paused long enough to clasp Daska's forearm, murmuring something low and reverent in their language.