Chapter 10
Sawyer stopped on the front porch of Piper’s cabin and set her down on her feet, then searched her face for acceptance one more time. Her eyes held so much more when she looked up at him that his breath caught in his throat, and for the first time in his life, he understood what it meant to love someone deeply. Piper smiled up at him, then reached up and stroked his face with the tips of her fingers, desire slowly replacing the other emotions.
“Come inside with me,” she said, her voice husky. “I want you, Sawyer, we’ve waited long enough.”
When she took his hand and led him inside, he didn’t resist, couldn’t if he’d wanted to. The animal inside him was firmly in control, determined to finally claim its mate in a ritual as old as time. Piper closed the door behind them, then, still holding his hand, led him down the hallway to her bedroom and turned on a single light by the bed. She turned to face him, her face flushed with desire, wound her arms up around his neck, then stretched up on her toes and kissed him.
Pleasure shot through him, making his body begin to tingle and tighten. A low growl escaped from his chest, and he grabbed Piper by the hips, lifting her off her feet to get better access to her mouth. She wrapped her legs around his waist and pressed her breasts against his chest, her tongue darting in and out of his mouth as she kissed him, sending more waves of pleasure rocketing through him.
When he set her on her feet again, she wobbled just a little before taking a step back from him, then began to unbutton her shirt. “You’ve shown yourself to me,” she said, slipping the buttons open one by one. “Now, it’s my turn.”
He watched mesmerized as Piper slowly slipped the shirt from her shoulders, letting it land on the floor, but his hands began to inch to touch her when she slipped the lace bra off and her nipples hardened in the chill of the bedroom. Reaching up, she slipped the clips out of her hair, letting her blonde curls tumble over her shoulders, then very slowly unbuttoned her jeans, peeled them down her legs, and stepped out of them.
Feeling like he was going to explode, he took a step toward her, his eyes on the scrap of lace covering the triangle between her legs, but she held up her hand to stop him, then slowly removed them herself. His body throbbing painfully, he could only watch as she backed up to the bed, lay down, spread her legs for him, then with a crook of her finger, her eyes beckoning him, lay back on the pillows.
He stripped off his clothes as he walked toward the bed, leaving a trail behind him, then lay down beside her, her gasp of pleasure when their skin met enough to almost send him over the edge. Finding her mouth, he kissed her until he got his control back, then began to explore her body with his hands, running his fingers up and down her stomach before finally cupping her breasts. Trailing kisses down her neck, he sucked an erect nipple into his mouth, making Piper arch her back and cry out with pleasure, then switched to the other one.
Desperate to have her writhing beneath him, he trailed his hand down her stomach and between her legs, then slipped one finger between her folds and began to stroke her. Her hips came up off the bed to meet him, her cries of pleasure filled the room as he took her higher and higher, then finally over the edge. Gasping his name, she opened pleasure-filled eyes and looked up at him, sending waves of need pulsing through him.
His control slipping, he slid between her legs, then pushed them open wider, then with one hard thrust of his hips drove himself into Piper, realizing a second too late that he was her first. Her eyes opened in surprise, then filled with pain when he broke the barrier between them, and he forced himself to remain completely still as her body slowly adjusted to his. Leaning down, he kissed her until he felt her relax beneath him, and she lifted her hips to him.
He pulled back and looked down at her, “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said. “That’s the last thing I want to do.”
“You won’t hurt me,” she said, her voice husky, the desire back in her eyes. “I want this, Sawyer, I want you to make love to me.”
Gathering the last of his control, he began to move inside her, small, short strokes at first, then harder and deeper when she started moaning with pleasure and her hips rose to meet him. When Piper began to tremble under him, her body gripping him tightly as her muscles spasmed with her pleasure, he stopped fighting the need driving him and drove himself into her over and over.
“Open your eyes sweetheart, I want you to look at me,” he said, gasping when a rush of something more than just pleasure washed over him when their eyes met. “You belong to me now, and I swear that nothing will ever come between us again.”
“I’ve been yours since the day I walked onto the ranch,” Piper said, tears streaming down her face. “Finish this, Sawyer, make us one forever.”
It was all the invitation he needed, he drove himself into her again and again until her body began to tremble and shake beneath him. Pipers cries of pleasure filled the room, driving him over the edge, and he emptied himself inside her with a growl that shook the walls of the little cabin. Then completely spent, he collapsed on top of her, his breath coming in short gasps, but managed to roll off of her and pull her into his arms.
They lay tangled together, neither speaking for a long time, as the new connection between them fused and bonded with the old one, giving both more strength. When Piper began to shiver, he pulled the blankets up over them, settled her more comfortably in his arms, and let out a long sigh of contentment, happy just for a moment to bask in the power of what they’d just shared.
***Piper***
Letting out a long sigh of contentment, Piper snuggled deeper into Sawyer’s arms, the feel of his warm skin against hers sending ripples of pleasure through her. Wondering if that was normal, she looked up at him, but the question died on her lips when she saw the look on his face and realized that he felt it too. Smiling at him, she laid her head back on his chest and listened to the steady beating of his heart, her body filling with warmth that she understood had nothing to do with physical desire.
“Do you feel that?” she asked. “It’s like someone turned on a heat lamp inside me. It only happens when I’m with you.”
Sawyer smiled down at her, “It’s the bond between us,” he said. “I’ve heard other shifters talk about it, but I didn’t really believe it was real until now.”
She was silent for a second, “So this bond, it’s a physical thing?” she finally asked, still a bit confused. “I’m not sure I understand.”
“According to legends, shifters bond for life, Piper,” he said. “When we find the right person, it just happens, a lot of people think it’s fueled by our magic, that it intensifies our feelings. All I know is that I’ve never felt this way, never wanted anyone as much as I want you. This isn’t going to go away Piper; it’s a forever thing.”
“I think I can live with that,” she said, grinning up at him. “Especially if we get to do what we did earlier again.”
He laughed, then rolled over and leaned up on one elbow to look down at her, “Why didn’t you tell me, Piper?” he asked. “I was afraid that I hurt you. I would have been more careful if I’d known.”
She felt a blush spreading across her cheeks, “It’s not exactly something that comes up in conversation,” she said. “And I guess I was a little embarrassed that I waited so long, but……well……by the time I was ready, you were the only one I wanted. I was afraid to tell you because the last time I tried to; it didn’t go so well.”
“The last time?” he asked, raising his head to look down at her. “I don’t remember that.”
She rolled over and looked up at him, feeling her cheeks turning pink, “That’s because I never got a chance to tell you,” she said, then sighed. “Do you remember my twenty-first birthday party?”
He nodded, “The day I brought Helen home for the first time,” he said, then sighed, then his eyes widened with surprise. “You’ve known that long?”
“I was going to tell you that day,” she said. “I figured it out when you were gone on that buying trip, I was so sure that you felt the same way, but then you showed up with Helen. I was devastated so I never said anything.”
“Oh, Piper, I wish you would have. Things could have been so different,” he said, rolling onto his side so they were face to face. “When I got out of the truck that day something changed when I saw you standing there in that dress. I don’t know if it was because I’d been gone for three weeks or because I saw you as a woman for the first time, but all I could think about as you ran to me was kissing you.”
“I thought you wanted Helen, she was so beautiful and sophisticated, I didn’t think I stood a chance next to her, so I backed away,” she said. “But she knew, I saw it in her eyes that day. She’s seen me as her rival all these years, and I guess she wasn’t wrong.”
“You never did anything, never let me know how you felt,” he said. “That couldn’t have been easy, I’m sorry you had to go through all that, but you’ll never have to again. We’re together like we should be, and nothing is ever going to separate us.”
She felt tears rolling down her cheeks, Sawyer reached out and wiped them away with his thumb, “I’m crying again,” she said, then laughed. “I’ve been doing a lot of that lately, but these are happy tears, I guess dreams really do come true.”
He rolled her over onto her back and looked down at her, “You know it occurs to me that we have some time to make up for,” he said, grinning. “About three years if my calculations are right.”
“Oh, you think so?” she asked. “And what exactly did you have in mind to make it up?”
“Hmmm……. there are a few things that pop into my mind,” he said, trailing his hand down her stomach. “A few dreams I’ve been having that I’d like to see come true.”
Piper gasped when his hand slipped between her legs as thrills raced through her, and her body began to throb. “I’m happy to do anything I can to help,” she said, pleasure already racing through her. “But I’m new to this, so you might have to give me a few pointers.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I’m going to give you a little bit of an education tonight,” he said, kissing his way down her neck. “I’m sure you’ll be a straight A student.”
Her response was lost to a long sigh when his mouth found her breast, and the conversation died away, replaced by moans of pleasure that lasted well into the night. They fell asleep wrapped up together, their bodies sated, their hearts finally on the same path, and the bond between them wrapped them in a blanket of contentment that held until the morning light.