42. Oz
Oz
Three Weeks Later
I hop onto the barstool at the ranch house, slapping a giant piece of cardboard down on the beautiful burled-wood countertop.
Wilder spins from the stove where he was ostensibly attempting to teach me to cook green beans.
He says, “Cookin’ ain’t hard, Oz,” but it’s my preference to watch my big, handsome mate do it.
I’m there for dickstractions, and I am so very good at that particular skill.
Ginger hops up next to me, tongue lolling as she, too, watches him cook.
“We’re useless,” I say to her with a little smile.
Stroking her soft elbow, I smile at how handsome my big mate is. “So, I’ve been thinking.”
Wild groans and runs both hands through his hair as he looks over the cardboard. He glances up at me with a wry expression. “Another vision board. Oh goodie.”
I lean across the island and slap his beefy chest. “The last one turned out so fun; what are you even grumping about?”
He shifts onto his forearms as he looks at the collage I made. “That nest is gorgeous. You sure you don’t want to bring the one from your apartment?”
I shake my head. “It was great for just me and Ginger, but you don’t fit, honey bun. Your legs hang over the edge, and Ginger has no space, which is why she sleeps on your head.”
On cue, our pretty little pit hell shimmies on the stool next to mine, panting as she stares at a plate of bacon next to the stove.
Wild turns and grabs a piece, then tosses it to her. “You’re a menace,” he says when she snaps it out of the air, gulps it down, then stands on the island top to ask for another.
Rubbing her leg, I admire how much confidence she’s gained since we met Wilder. Most of the time, she doesn’t slink around with a tucked tail anymore. She’s blossoming, just like Pine Gulch.
Wild waves at a stack of books on the end of the island. “Got those for you. Nest catalogs from a couple places back home in Laporte and a few other havens. My credit card’s sitting on top there. Get whatever you want, okay?”
I snort out a laugh. “Don’t you want to cut out stuff for the vision board?”
“Nope.” Wild tosses another piece of bacon to Ginger. “If you like it, we like it.” He waves his spatula at me. “My only demand is that you learn to cook at least a few things so you don’t starve if I have to travel or somethin’.”
I frown. “Wouldn’t I be going with you?”
“Of course,” he says.
“So why do I need to cook?”
“It’s a useful life skill, Oz.”
“But watching you cook is so damn sexy.” I curl my wing over the island and snake the spiked tip through his belt loops. After dragging him away from the stove, I crawl onto the countertop and rise until his back hits my chest. “I got you a present, something your mama suggested.”
Wild and Willa’s mama came to town a couple of days ago. She’s staying with Willa at my place until the Keeper’s mansion is a little more renovated. Marcy’s totally amazing. Kind, generous, absolutely hilarious. Wilder must get the stoicness from his father, not that I’ll ever know for sure.
He glances over his shoulder at me, growling softly as I trail hard kisses down his neck.
Reaching into my back pocket, I withdraw a maroon velvet box. When I hand it to him, he freezes against me.
“Open it,” I encourage, starting back up with the kissing.
His fingers tremble slightly as he opens the box. Inside sits a simple gold band.
“Your mama told me it was the human tradition to exchange rings, so I got a matching one,” I whisper. “Put it on, cowboy.”
His body quivers slightly against mine as he takes the ring from the box.
When he slips it on his finger, a sense of victory rampages through me.
It’s such an obvious sign that he’s taken, and I fucking love that.
If anything, since the dramatics with the Sandovals, I’ve gotten just about as possessive as Wild is.
I love introducing him as my mate. I’ve told everyone in town, I think.
The only thing better’ll be when the pixie twins splash us all over the cover of the Gulch Gossip. I literally don’t think I can wait for that, and I’m sure they’re gonna do it.
“It’s beautiful,” he whispers. “Gods, I need you, baby. Fuck the green beans. Come to bed with me.”
Laughing, I hop off the island and dash around the other side again. “Wild. Lemon, Bluebell, their mates, your mama, and Willa are all coming here for dinner. They’ll be here in, like, half an hour!”
“Plenty of time for what I need,” he growls.
“Noooo!” I howl as I take off up into the air where he can’t reach me. As I stare at him scowling below, I resist the urge to snark that he’s likely regretting expanding the vertical space in the house, because it gives me a totally great escape plan.
“Get down here,” he commands, and the confidence in his tone raises the tiny hairs on my nape.
I’m helpless when he uses that voice on me, so I sink back down to where he is.
Wild grabs me, tosses me over his shoulder and heads for the bedroom. “I can do thirty minutes,” he promises. “You don’t wanna miss this, mate.”
Threading my arms around his neck, I smile. “Well, when you make it sound so appealing, I guess not.”
He presses his forehead to mine, nuzzling me with his nose. “It’s time, baby.”
Everything in me tightens. We’ve talked about this since the day we moved into the ranch.
The fact that we have company coming is totally forgotten.
Wild carries me back to our room and sets me on the bed.
I make quick work of shedding my clothes so I can watch him do the same.
He pulls his white tee over his head, revealing that stacked core I love to bite.
When he shoves the jeans down, I sigh at the way his cock bobs heavily against his left thigh.
I like to bite all of that too.
He sinks into the nest, and the edge dips under his body. Parting my legs, I recline against the plush pillows and wait for him to climb fully over me. He rests his body on top of mine, covering me with all that perfect warmth.
A smile pulls my lips up. “You are such a good Oz-warmer, you know that?”
“Mmm.” That’s all he says as he brings his mouth to my shoulder and bites softly.
I arch into him, desperate for more of that hot mouth and soft tongue. His cock rubs against mine as he presses his hips to me. He’s already leaking precum, and it drips onto my skin as I close my eyes and concentrate on the sensations he drags from my body.
He bites again, this time at the top of my trap. Then another time at the base of my neck. And finally, just beneath my ear. I cry out at that one, heat flaring through me as my cock kicks between us.
Wild lets out a happy-sounding groan and sits up, staring at our dicks. He shuffles backward enough to press the tips together, rubbing his over mine and depositing sticky strings of precum. Like always, I can’t stop staring at the way he touches us.
His fingers wrap reverentially around our lengths, stroking once until precum streams from my throbbing tip. Like every time he commands my body, I’m helpless in his arms. Every look, every touch, every taste of Wild is heaven to me.
“I never knew it’d be like this.”
I don’t realize I even said that aloud until he grins and reaches down with both hands. “Like what, baby? So perfect?” He grips his foreskin and stretches it over the very tip of my cock.
Gasping, I surge upright as he does it again and again. The warmth is almost like a mouth, sticky and wet.
“We’re perfect, aren’t we?” He smiles as he pulls his foreskin fully over my cockhead and the first few inches of my dick.
Cheeks flushing hot, I watch as he holds me inside of him and pulls back, then thrusts once. Suction tightens around my tip, and I spurt precum. Slippery, wet sounds ring out in our room as he jerks us, keeping enough tension for his skin to remain tight around us.
“You’re perfect,” he says on a breathy moan, “and I will never, ever get enough of you. I don’t know if I say it enough, Oz, but I love you.”
My hips move entirely of their own accord, spongy cockhead pressing against his over and over as precum coats us both.
“Need your mark on me,” he growls out, thrusting a little harder. “Need you to claim me, baby.”
Possession rages through me, and I surge forward to kiss him. I can barely reach him from this angle, and our cocks pop apart long enough for me to hiss at the loss of him. Then we crash together, my mouth hungry on his as I nip and bite my way up that perfect neck.
I’m panting, gasping with need because we’ve talked about this, and we agreed we’d take it slowly. But we can’t. I’ve barely been holding back from marking him for the last week, and we both know it.
I pull back long enough to stare into those deep green eyes. “You sure, baby? There’s no going back from this…no second chances. You’re mine if we do this.”
He grins, sexy dimples popping on either side of his beautiful mouth. Lifting his hand, he flashes the wedding band. “Already yours, sweetheart.”
Groaning, I beckon him closer with a finger. “Keep doing that thing you were doing, and I’ll go first.”
His cheeks flush as he reaches down, covering me with his foreskin once more. That hot suction has me groaning, but I lift my wings and tuck the tips into holes in the headboard. Using them, I push forward enough to loop an arm around Wild’s neck.
“Last chance for an ou—”
He swallows my words, sucking my tongue between his lips until I’m gasping and thrusting into his hand.
Mate. My mate. My Wild.
Surging forward, I clamp my teeth around his shoulder and bite hard. Intention’s everything, and I let it flow through me, thinking of every second he shocked me, tantalized me, loved me.
Every smile.
Every laugh.
Every subtly possessive look he’s given me.
In my chest, heat flares, and my heart kicks so hard I arch, breaking the bite.
“Fuck!” I shout.
Wild breathes out my name like a prayer, burying his face in my neck. “I feel you,” he says with a deep groan. “Inside me, baby, in my heart.”