Chapter 6
Axel
Ella was curled against me, her breath soft and steady, her body tucked close, seeking warmth.
But even though the wind still rustled lightly through the trees, I didn’t need to step outside to know that the storm had begun to ease; I felt it in my bones.
It was a connection my kind had with the land.
Morning was just beyond the horizon, and the worst of the blizzard had passed. The air would still soon, and everything felt perfect. Especially here, under the blankets and next to my mate.
And Ella was my mate. There was no doubt about it now. As we spent the evening together, something ancient inside me locked into place. She was mine, and I was hers. And she didn’t even know it yet.
The precious female in my bed had shifted sometime after we’d settled in. At first, she’d kept her distance, but that hadn’t lasted as the night progressed. She’d rolled toward me in her sleep, one leg sliding over mine, her arm draped across my stomach. I hadn’t moved.
Hell, I couldn’t move! Ever had a cat fall asleep on you, and now you can’t move for hours? Yeah, it was like that. But she was not a pet; she was my mate.
Every inch of me was aware of her, and of the way her body fit against mine.
I stared at the ceiling, my eyes keen in the darkness, and counted the knots in the wood, trying to think about anything other than the lush woman pressed against me.
Her scent was everywhere—vanilla and something warm, like cinnamon—and it was driving me insane.
My beast stirred, restless and possessive, wanting more than just the comfort of her touch.
She murmured something in her sleep, a soft sound that made my beast stir again. I wanted to roll her beneath me, tear off the T-shirt—my T-shirt—she’d worn to bed, and bury myself so deep she’d forget anyone else before me.
I wanted my mouth on her, wanted to taste her while she screamed my name. I wanted her legs wrapped around my waist, and her nails dragging down my back. But it was too soon.
So I lay there, every nerve on fire, hyper aware that she was right there, her legs just inches from my thickening cock.
Ella moved again, her leg sliding higher, her breath warm against my skin. My hand twitched, fingers itching to grip her hip, to pull her closer and let instinct take over.
I shifted, adjusting myself, and I knew the moment she woke.
A feminine gasp broke the silence. She pulled back, her body tense, her hand retreating from where it had rested low on my stomach. The warmth of her touch vanished.
“Oh! Sorry. I didn’t mean to... I must’ve rolled over in my sleep.” She pushed herself up onto one elbow. “I didn’t mean to intrude on your...”
Her words stilled, replaced by an open-mouthed stare as her eyes landed on the massive tent my cock had made with the blanket.
Too late to hide my reaction to her, I stayed still, watching her. Her cheeks were flushed, her voice breathy, and the air was instantly tinted with the sweet scent of her arousal.
“You didn’t intrude,” I said, my voice sounding rougher than I wanted it to. “You were sleeping.”
“I’m not sleeping now.”
“No, you’re not. You’re awake and smelling like you need me.”
Her brows raised inquisitively. “Smell?”
“Yes. I smell your lust and how wet you are. And it’s driving me mad.”
She licked her lips. “In a good kind of way?”
I looked down at the giant, unmissable tent. So did she, and another rush of her desire hit my nose. I groaned.
“In a I’m-going-to-fuck-you-if-you-keep-looking-at-me-like-that kind of way.”
She inhaled sharply at my words. “And what if I want you to?” Her voice turned husky and drenched with need.
“Fuck. How the hell am I supposed to be a gentleman when you say things like that?” I shifted, shoving her back down onto the bed and caging her body with mine. I wanted to gauge her reaction and to give her a chance to back out before the scent of my mate’s need demanded I do something about it.
She wrapped her arms around me. “Who says I want you to be a gentleman?”
Her legs locked around my hips, pulling me flush against her.
The low, breathy sound she made went straight to my cock, ripping through every ounce of restraint I had left.
I slammed my mouth over hers, and she kissed me back, a mess of tongue and lips, her fingers clawing at my chest, trying to pull me closer until there was no space between us.
It was raw and primal, and the beast inside reveled at my mate’s reaction to us. She might not know yet that she was my mate, but her body did.
“Oh god, I’m burning up,” she moaned when I finally dragged my mouth from hers. “What’s happening to me?”
“I’ll help ease your need,” I growled, dragging my mouth away from hers. “Just say the word.”
“Yes,” she hissed. “Please. I want you.”
Fuck! That was so fucking sexy.
I shoved the sleep shirt I’d let her borrow up, then yanked it over her head before kissing every inch of exposed skin.
She arched into me, breaths shallow as I palmed her breast, my thumb circling until her nipple tightened into a little bud.
I kissed my way down her throat and collarbone so I could pluck the sensitive bud with my lips, and swirl my tongue over it, mimicking what I’d do very soon to her clit.
God, she was so sweet, so needy, and so unmistakably, irrefutably mine. I ground against her, letting her feel how hard I was, how much I needed her.
She moaned, hips lifting, begging with a whimpered, “Yes!”
“You feel that?” I rasped. “That’s what you do to me. You make me want to fuck you.”
Her nails bit into my back. “Then do it.”
“Not yet, my love. I want to taste you first.”
The truth was, I couldn’t fuck her yet. Not until she knew what I was.
Unlike most wolf shifters who could choose not to knot with their partners when they were shifted fully into their human forms, I had no such liberty.
Plus, I didn’t have another form, and I didn’t know how far the camouflage extended.
What if I lost control and the illusion dropped while we were locked together, and she saw what I was for the first time?
I had to show her soon, but not like that.
However, that didn’t mean I couldn’t have her coming all over my face.
I slid my hand between her thighs, fingers teasing over the scrap of fabric that covered her pussy. She was soaked. I groaned, pressing my forehead to hers.
“You’re so wet for me.”
As I kissed my way down her body, I teased her with slow, deliberate strokes until she was writhing beneath me, hips lifting, breath coming in broken gasps.
Her underwear quickly ended up on the floor.
Grabbing her knees, I tossed them over my shoulders to expose her sex.
I circled her clit with my tongue once before moving lower to spear into her channel.
Her hips moved, grinding on my face as I tongue-fucked her.
I found her clit with my thumb and rubbed in small, tight circles that only grew tighter as her thighs squeezed around my head.
Her voice came in broken gasps, right before she suddenly froze.
Her channel clenched around my tongue, and she bucked, mouth open in a silent cry.