Chapter 10 #2
The sound in his chest became a purr and his massive hand came up to cover both of hers where they clasped over his torso. The black coating on his fingers melted away, pulling back into his skin like ink in water until only warm flesh remained.
"Michelle." Her name came out layered, his voice wrapped in something deeper that sent a tremor down her spine.
He shifted, turning within her embrace until they faced each other.
She had to tilt her head back to meet his gaze, his body so much larger than it had been that morning.
The yellow glow of his irises pulsed with his heartbeat, tracking every small movement she made.
Her pulse quickened and her lips parted.
He saw it all, she knew, his nostrils flaring as he caught her scent on the air.
"The ferals," she started, voice rough.
He placed a finger against her lips, the touch gentle despite everything. "Still there. Waiting." That strange dual quality filled his voice. "They won't approach. They know what I am."
"What are you?" The question escaped before she could stop it.
His hand moved from her lips to cup her jaw, thumb brushing across her cheekbone. "I am yours."
Well, fuck. That did things to her she didn't want to examine too closely.
After the kidnapping, the chase, the fear… she needed this. Needed him. Needed to feel alive and claimed by the man who'd become a monster to save her. She pushed up on her toes and crushed her mouth to his, hand sliding around the back of his neck to yank him down to her level.
He didn't hesitate. Arms banded around her waist and lifted her off the ground.
Her legs wrapped around his hips as he carried her deeper into the cave, away from the entrance where the darkness grew thick.
The light from his eyes cast shifting yellow patterns on stone walls.
Her back met the cave wall, and he kept one hand behind her head, cushioning her from rough rock while his mouth never left hers.
His tongue swept inside to taste her with a confidence he hadn't possessed before.
His free hand slid down her side, finding the hem of her leather tunic.
Fingers slipped beneath the fabric, tracing the curve of her waist with purpose.
No fumbling or uncertainty… he knew how her skin tightened at his touch, felt how her breath caught when his thumb brushed the underside of her breast. When his hand moved higher to cup her through the thin fabric, his thumb found her nipple without searching.
She gasped, hips rocking against his. Through the layers of their clothes, she felt him hard and ready. Survival burned in her blood, and her body demanded celebration in the most primal way possible.
“Tell me what you want,” he demanded against her mouth.
"You know what I want." She nipped his lower lip.
A growl rumbled through his chest, vibrating through her entire body. He pulled back just enough to strip her tunic overhead, tossing it into the darkness. Cold air hit her skin for a heartbeat before his mouth found her throat… lips and teeth mapping the line of her neck.
She tilted her head back to give him access and felt him pause where her pulse hammered against her skin.
He leaned in and bit down with just enough pressure to make her cry out and arch against him.
His tongue soothed the spot right after, and she realized he knew how much force to use, felt her body's limits like they were his own.
"Not fragile." She managed the words while her hands roamed his bare chest, needing skin to skin contact. "Not with you."
Golden light from his eyes let her see his transformed torso.
Still Zeke, but more—muscles thicker and denser, carved into something beyond what he’d been before.
The armor had retreated completely beneath his skin, invisible now, but she knew it was there.
She traced patterns across his chest, following the ridges of muscle, and felt him shudder under her touch.
"Everything." His voice came out rough. "Every touch is more now."
She filed that information away and traced another path along his ribs. His hips jerked forward, pressing his erection firm against her. The heat of him made promises through their remaining clothes.
"Off." She tugged at his belt. "Everything. Off. Now."
He complied fast enough to make her bite back a smile, then helped with her remaining clothes, his strength controlled even in his urgency.
When the last barrier fell away, he lifted her again and carried her to where soft moss covered the cave floor.
Lowering her with a gentleness that contradicted his raw power, he knelt beside her.
Golden eyes moved over her body with a look that combined worship and hunger.
"You're hurt." His hand hovered over the dark cast on her leg.
"I'm alive." She reached for him. "We're alive. That's what matters."
He caught her hand and pressed it to his chest. "You matter."
Before she could respond, he moved over her.
His lips found her breast, tongue circling before drawing her nipple into his mouth.
The suction was perfect… no, better than that.
Her back arched off the moss as her cry echoed in the small space.
He repeated the motion and drew another cry while his hand moved to her other breast, fingers mirroring what his mouth was doing.
He was mapping her responses, learning her body on a level no man ever had.
"Zeke, please…" She didn't know what she was asking for, only that she needed more.
He lifted his head and his eyes found hers. "Tell me."
"I need you inside me. Now."
But he moved down her body instead. She started to protest until his mouth found her and thought became impossible.
No fumbling, no searching—his tongue found her clit and circled with pressure that made her see stars.
One thick finger slid inside and she caught her breath at the stretch.
Her body clenched as he found that spot deep inside that lit up her entire nervous system.
A second finger joined the first, stretching her wider while his tongue continued its work. His free hand splayed across her stomach, and she knew he sensed how close she was. He curled his fingers just as he sucked her clit into his mouth.
She shattered and a scream tore from her throat as pleasure crashed through.
He held her there, working her through the peak and extending it until she was limp and shaking.
Only then did he move up her body to settle between her thighs.
The broad head of his cock pressed against her entrance, hot and thick.
She was so wet from her orgasm that he slipped inside without resistance, and they both groaned.
"Slow." His arms shook with the effort of control and she wasn’t sure if he was talking to himself or her.
Wrapping her legs around his hips, she pulled him deeper. "I can take you."
He pushed forward another inch, then another, until he filled her to the hilt. They both paused, panting in the charged air between them.
"Move. Please, move."
He withdrew and pushed back in. The friction was perfect torture, each thrust hitting the angle that made her gasp. But she didn't want control. She wanted raw and real.
"Harder." Her nails dug into his back. "I won't break."
A growl tore from him and his hips snapped forward, driving into her with enough force to slide her across the soft moss. This was what she needed… not gentle but fierce and claiming. He fucked her hard, rhythm shifting in response to signals her body sent without her conscious knowledge.
"Mine." The word rumbled against her throat. "My mate. My Michelle."
"Yours." She bit his shoulder hard enough to leave marks. "And you're mine."
The bite seemed to break what little control he had left. His pace turned frantic and powerful, pounding into her. Her next climax built faster and harder than the last, her body coiling tight and ready to snap. His hand moved between them, and his thumb found her clit.
"Come for me." Pure gravel filled his voice. "Let me feel you."
The touch and the command pushed her over the edge. She clenched around him as her orgasm ripped through with force that bowed her spine. He followed a heartbeat later, pulsing deep inside her, heat filling her as he emptied himself with a roar that shook dust from the cave ceiling.
They clung to each other as aftershocks faded, both slick with sweat despite the cold air. His weight pinned her to the moss, a solid anchor in their stone sanctuary. She pressed her face into his neck and breathed him in, tasting salt on his skin.
They were alive. She was safe.
And completely, utterly his.