Chapter 9 #2
Lex groaned, a low rumble that started in his chest and ended in his throat. He surged up, the animal in him snapping the leash. He bore her back onto the mattress, his weight settling over her, not crushing, but encompassing. Caging her.
She was so warm. Warmer than any human had a right to be. Her hands immediately found his sensitive skin, palms skating over his biceps, his back, her nails digging in just enough to ground him.
"You're sure?" he asked, his voice harsh, barely recognizing it as his own.
His fingers hooked into the front clasp of her bra.
"Jules, listen to me. Once we do this, there's no going back.
You'll be mine. Permanently. The pack will know.
Everyone will know. There is no walking away from a wolf once he claims you. "
Her eyes were clear, green and bright in the dim light. She didn't flinch. She just arched her back, pressing her chest against his hand.
"I'm sure," she whispered, then stronger, "I've never been more sure of anything."
The clasp snapped open. He shoved the fabric aside and lowered his head.
He didn’t just kiss her; he devoured her. Taking one peaked nipple into his mouth, he swirled his tongue, teeth scraping lightly, sucking hard enough to bruise. Jules cried out, her back bowing off the mattress, her hands flying up to cradle his head and hold him there.
The sound went straight to his cock, hardening him to the point of pain.
"Lex—"
"I'm here." He moved to the other breast, lavishing it with the same dark, hungry attention. "I'm right here."
His hands fumbled with the button of her jeans. She lifted her hips, desperate to help, and he shoved the denim down, dragging her panties with them. He stripped her efficiently, tossing the clothes aside until she was bare, pale and glowing against the dark sheets.
He grabbed her knees and pulled her down the bed, spreading her wide.
"God, you smell so fucking good." He pressed his face into the soft skin of her stomach, inhaling the scent that had haunted his dreams for weeks. "Like cinnamon and vanilla and want. You have no idea what that does to me."
"Show me," she demanded.
He smiled against her skin, a predatory baring of teeth.
He slid down, settling between her thighs. Hooking her legs over his shoulders, he locked her in place. The view destroyed him. She was wet and glistening, flushed for him. Perfect.
"Lex, you don't have to—oh God."
He licked her right through her center with the flat of his tongue, a long, claiming stroke that made her nearly come off the bed. He gripped her hips, his fingers digging into the soft flesh, holding her steady as he proceeded to take her apart.
It wasn't gentle. He couldn't be gentle, not now. He feasted on her, drinking down her cries, his tongue relentless. She tasted like sugar and musk, addictive and potent. She writhed against him, her heels digging into his back, her hands gripping the sheets until her knuckles turned white.
"Lex! Lex, please!"
He didn't stop. He pushed her higher, relentlessly, using his tongue and mouth to drive her to the edge. When she finally shattered, screaming his name, he drank every drop of her pleasure, feeling her tremors vibrate through his own jaw.
He worked her through the aftershocks, gentling his touch only slightly, before he dragged his body back up hers. He shed his jeans and boxers in a chaotic frenzy, kicking them away.
When he settled back between her legs, her eyes went wide, dropping to his erection.
"Lex..."
"I won't hurt you," he swore. He wanted to slam into her. He wanted to bury himself so deep he’d touch her soul. But the human part of him, the part that loved her more than breath, forced the wolf to heel. "Tell me if it's too much."
"It won't be." She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him closer. "I trust you."
He pushed inside.
The friction was exquisite agony. She was tight, so incredibly tight, stretching around him, accommodating him.
He gritted his teeth, veins standing out on his neck as he forced himself to move inch by agonizing inch.
He watched her face, searching for pain, but all he saw was a hazy, drugged wonder.
"Okay?" he ground out, sweat beading on his forehead.
"More than okay." She rolled her hips, taking the last of him. A gasp tore from her throat, followed by a moan that snapped his last tether. "Please, Lex. Move."
He withdrew almost all the way, then thrust back in. The groan that ripped out of him was animalistic. It felt like coming home. It felt like dying and being born again.
He set a rhythm that was punishing and possessive. He drove into her, again and again, claiming her body with his, marking her inside and out. She met him, thrust for thrust, her nails raking down his back, scoring his skin. The sting only fueled the fire.
"Mine," he growled against her throat, the word distorted by his fangs lengthening, his wolf clawing at the surface. "You're mine, Jules."
"Yours," she sobbed, tossing her head back. "Always. Lex, please, I'm close, I'm—"
Her tightening around him was the trigger. He felt her climbing toward another peak, and his control evaporated. He shifted his angle, hitting that spot deep inside her that made her scream, driving them both toward the precipice.
"Let go," he ordered. "Give it to me."
She came hard, her body clamping down on him, milking him. The sensation dragged him over the edge.
In that final moment of release, as his seed poured into her, his wolf lunged.
He didn't think; he simply reacted. His hand tangled in her hair, exposing the vulnerable column of her throat.
His teeth found the junction of her neck and shoulder.
The spot that pulsated with her life, the spot that had been calling to him since the moment they met.
He bit down.
It wasn't a nip. It was a claim. His teeth sank in, breaking skin, tasting copper.
Jules gasped, a high, sharp sound, her body bowing beneath him. But she didn't push him away. She clutched his shoulders, pulling him closer, accepting the pain and the pleasure in equal measure.
Something audibly snapped into place between them. The world tilted on its axis. A rush of emotions that weren't his own—joy, relief, overwhelming love—flooded his mind. The bond. It was forged in blood.
He held her there, panting, his teeth still grazing the mark he’d made, soothing the wound with his tongue as the aftershocks rolled through them both. She was his now. In every way a woman could belong to a man, in every way a mate could belong to a wolf.
And God help him, he was entirely hers.
They lay tangled together afterward, both breathing hard, her head on his chest and his hand tracing lazy patterns on her back. The bite mark on her shoulder was already healing, leaving behind a faint scar that would never fully fade.
"I can... I can feel you, she murmured. "In my head. Is that normal?"
"It's the bond." He pressed a kiss to her hair. "It'll settle in over the next few days. But yes, you'll always be able to sense me now. And I'll be able to sense you."
"That's..." She paused. "Actually, that's kind of amazing."
He huffed a laugh. "You're taking this remarkably well."
"I just had the best orgasm of my life. I'd take pretty much anything well right now."
"The best?" He rolled her onto her back, grinning down at her. "Sweetheart, that was just the beginning."
She laughed, bright and real and his, and he kissed her again because he could. Because she was his mate, his partner, his future.
"What happens now?" she asked when they finally came up for air. "With the pack, I mean. And Stan."
"Riko handled Stan. And the pack will accept you because they don't have a choice." He traced the mark on her shoulder. "You're mine now. Anyone who has a problem with that has a problem with me."
"And you're mine." She touched his face, her eyes soft. "Anyone who has a problem with that has a problem with me."
His heart clenched. "Gods, I love you."
The words slipped out before he could stop them. But he found he didn't want to take them back. They were true. Had been true for longer than he wanted to admit.
Her breath caught. "You—"
"I love you, Jules. I think I've loved you since you told me your succulent's name was Fred."
Her laugh was watery, tears spilling down her cheeks again, but happy tears this time. "I love you too. Even though you're grumpy and you grunt instead of talking and you literally stalked me for months."
"Watched," he corrected. "I watched you. Stalking implies malicious intent."
"Semantics." She pulled him down for another kiss. "My grumpy wolf."
"My sunshine girl."
They stayed in bed for the rest of the day, leaving only to stoke the fire and raid the kitchen for food. At some point, Lex retrieved Fred from the guest room and placed him on the windowsill in his bedroom.
"There," he said. "Better light in here anyway."
Jules smiled at him from beneath the covers, looking thoroughly debauched and absolutely perfect. "You're a softie."
"Tell anyone and I'll deny it."
"Your secret's safe with me." She held out her arms. "Now come back to bed."
He went. Because she asked. And because there was nowhere else he'd rather be.
Outside, the sun set over Snow Ridge, painting the sky in shades of pink and gold. Inside, wrapped in warmth and each other, Lex finally understood what it meant to be home.
It wasn't a place. It wasn't four walls and a roof.
It was her. It had always been her.
And now, finally, she was his.