Chapter 34 Corin
CORIN
The house was finally quiet.
Wendy had left for the inn hours ago, promising to return in the morning. Freya had stopped by with food and remedies, then slipped away with a knowing smile. Even Elias, who'd been hovering like a protective shadow since they brought Chloe back, had finally gone home.
Now it was just them. Chloe curled against his side in the bed they'd shared before everything fell apart, her pale blonde hair spilling across his chest, her breath warm against his skin.
She was alive. She was here. She was his.
"Stop thinking so loud," she murmured, her fingers tracing lazy patterns on his stomach. "I can practically hear your brain spinning."
"Sorry." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Still getting used to this."
"Used to what?"
"Having you back. Knowing you're staying." His arm tightened around her. "Three days of not knowing if you'd wake up. I kept thinking about all the things I should have said, should have done."
She lifted her head, her green eyes finding his in the dim lamplight. "I'm here now. And I'm not going anywhere."
"I know." His hand came up to cup her face, his thumb brushing across her cheekbone. "But I want to make it official. Permanent. If you're ready."
"The mark?"
"The mark. The bond. Everything." He searched her eyes for any hint of hesitation. "I won't rush you. If you need more time to recover..."
"I've had three days of recovery." Her lips curved into a smile that made his heart stutter. "And I've wanted this since the moment I came back to your house instead of leaving. Maybe before that."
"You're still weak."
"I'm strong enough for this." She shifted, pushing herself up until she was hovering over him, her hair falling like a curtain around them. "Mark me, Corin. Make me yours."
His bear roared in triumph, but he held it back. This wasn't about claiming or conquering. This was about choosing each other, deliberately, completely.
He pulled her down into a kiss and she melted against him, her body soft and warm, her mouth opening beneath his.
He tasted her slowly, thoroughly, relearning every curve of her lips, every sound she made when he did something she liked.
His hands slid up her back, finding the hem of the oversized shirt she'd borrowed from his closet and tugging it over her head leaving her completely naked.
"Chloe." Her name came out rough, reverent. She was beautiful in the lamplight, all soft curves and pale skin, her breasts full and perfect, her nipples already peaked.
A flush spread across her cheeks. "Lying in that bed, too tired to move, all I could think about was you. Your hands. Your mouth. The way you felt inside me."
He groaned, his cock hardening against his thigh. "You're going to kill me."
"Not tonight." She leaned down, pressing a kiss to his jaw, his throat, the hollow of his collarbone. "Tonight I just want to feel you. All of you."
He rolled them, settling her beneath him, careful not to put too much weight on her recovering body. She gazed up at him with trust and desire burning equally bright in her eyes.
"I love you," he said. "I need you to know that. This isn't just about the bond or the mark. I love you, Chloe. I loved you before I knew you were my mate, and I'll love you long after we're both dust."
Her eyes glistened. "I love you too. Now stop talking and show me."
He kissed her again, deep and hungry, then began working his way down her body.
Her throat, where her pulse fluttered wildly.
Her collarbone, tracing the delicate line with his tongue.
The swell of her breasts, first one, then the other, his mouth closing around each nipple in turn, sucking and teasing until she was arching beneath him.
"Corin." His name came out breathless. "Please."
"Not yet." He kissed her sternum, her ribs, the soft plane of her stomach. "I've been waiting three days to touch you properly. I'm not rushing this."
He kissed the jut of her hipbone, the crease where her thigh met her body, the inside of her knee. She squirmed beneath him, her hands fisting in the sheets, her breath coming faster with each new point of contact.
"You're torturing me."
"I'm worshipping you." He pressed his mouth to her inner thigh, inches from where she wanted him most. "There's a difference."
He could smell her arousal, sweet and musky and intoxicating. His bear pressed against his control, demanding he take, claim, mark. But Corin held steady. This moment was too important to rush.
He parted her folds with his thumbs and licked.
She cried out, her hips bucking against his mouth.
He pressed her down gently, holding her steady, and set about taking her apart with his tongue.
Slow, deliberate strokes that circled her clit without quite touching it.
Dipping inside her entrance to taste her fully, then pulling back to lap at her outer lips.
"Corin." Her voice was ragged now, desperate. "I can't... I need..."
"Tell me what you need."
"You. Inside me. Please."
He wanted to draw it out longer, to make her come on his tongue before he even thought about his own pleasure. But his body was aching, his cock so hard it hurt, and her pleas were breaking down every wall of patience he had.
He crawled back up her body, settling between her thighs. The head of his cock nudged her entrance, and they both shuddered at the contact.
"Look at me," he said.
Her eyes found his, glassy with need, her lips parted and swollen from his kisses.
"This is forever," he said. "The bond, the mark, all of it. There's no going back after tonight."
"I don't want to go back." Her hands came up to frame his face, her touch tender despite the urgency thrumming through her. "I want forward. I want forever. I want you."
He pushed inside her.
Slow. Steady. Inch by devastating inch, until he was buried to the hilt in her tight heat. She gasped beneath him, her nails digging into his shoulders, her body stretching to accommodate his size.
"Okay?" he managed.
"More than okay." She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him deeper. "Move. Please move."
He started slow, long strokes that let her feel every inch of him. She was so wet, so hot, her pussy gripping him like she never wanted to let go. Every thrust sent sparks up his spine, pleasure building at the base of his cock.
He groaned as she arched beneath him, meeting his thrusts.
He kissed her, swallowing her moans as he picked up the pace. Harder now, deeper, driving into her with all the pent-up need of three days of watching her sleep and praying she'd wake up. She clung to him, her nails raking down his back, her cries growing louder with each thrust.
"Close," she gasped. "I'm so close."
"Let go." He reached between them, finding her clit with his thumb, rubbing in tight circles. "Come for me, Chloe. I want to feel you."
She shattered beneath him with a scream, her whole body convulsing, her pussy clenching around his cock in rhythmic pulses. He groaned at the sensation, fighting to hold back his own release. Not yet. He needed to mark her first.
He pulled out, and she whimpered at the loss.
"Turn over," he said, his voice rough with need. "On your knees."
She obeyed, still trembling from her orgasm, positioning herself on hands and knees with her perfect ass raised toward him. He ran his hands down her spine, over the curve of her hips, spreading her thighs wider.
"The mark goes here," he said, pressing his palm against her left hip. "It'll hurt for a moment, but then the bond will settle. You'll feel me. Always. And I'll feel you."
She looked back at him over her shoulder, her green eyes dark with trust and desire. "Do it. Make me yours."
He positioned himself at her entrance and thrust home.
The angle was deeper this way, allowing him to fill her completely. She cried out, her back arching, her fingers twisting in the sheets. He gripped her hips and began to move, long, hard strokes that made the headboard slam against the wall.
"God, you're beautiful like this," he growled. "Taking everything I give you. Opening up for me."
"Harder." The word came out choked, desperate. "Please, Corin. I need..."
He gave her what she asked for. Harder. Faster. His balls slapping against her with each thrust, his cock hitting depths that made her scream. The pleasure was building now, impossible to hold back, his bear howling for release.
"I'm going to come," he gritted out. "When I do, I'll mark you. Are you ready?"
"Yes. Yes, I'm ready. Do it."
He bent over her, covering her body with his, his mouth finding her shoulder. One hand slid around to find her clit again, rubbing fast and relentless, pushing her toward a second peak.
"Come with me," he commanded. "Come with me, Chloe."
She screamed as her orgasm ripped through her, even harder than the first. And Corin let go.
He came with a roar that shook the walls, his cock pulsing inside her, filling her with his release. At the same moment, his hand shifted, claws emerging, and he raked them across her hip in one swift motion.
The bond snapped into place like a thunderclap. He felt it everywhere. In his blood, his bones, his soul. She was there, bright and warm and undeniably his. He could feel her pleasure, her pain, her overwhelming love flooding through the new connection between them.
Chloe collapsed beneath him, her body shaking, tears streaming down her face. He gathered her against his chest, rolling them onto their sides, still buried inside her.
"Are you okay?" He pressed kisses to her temple, her cheek, the corner of her mouth. "Did I hurt you?"
"It hurt for a second." Her voice was hoarse, wrecked. "And then it was... god, Corin. I can feel you. Inside me. Not just physically. Everywhere."
"That's the bond." He nuzzled her neck, breathing her in. "It works both ways. I feel you too."
She turned in his arms, facing him, and what he saw in her eyes made his chest ache. Wonder. Joy. Complete, unwavering love.
"We're mated," she whispered. "Really mated. Forever."
"Forever." He kissed her, soft and sweet. "No take-backs."
She laughed, the sound watery but genuine. "I don't want take-backs. I want this. I want you."
He held her close, their bodies tangled together, the bond humming between them like a second heartbeat. His bear settled into a deep, satisfied rumble, finally at peace.
She was his. Marked. Claimed. Chosen.
And he was hers, just as completely.
They lay in comfortable silence, her fingers tracing the lines of his chest while he stroked her hair. The mark on her hip was already healing, shifting from raw scratches to silver scars that would stay with her for life.
"Does it look okay?" she asked, craning her neck to see.
He helped her roll onto her back and examined his handiwork. Three parallel lines, curved slightly, like claw marks rendered in moonlight. His mark. His claim, written on her skin for the world to see.
"It's perfect," he said. "You're perfect."
"Flatterer." But she was smiling, her eyes heavy with satisfaction and exhaustion.
"Just honest." He pulled the quilt up over them both, cocooning them in warmth. "Sleep now. You need rest."
"We both need rest." She snuggled against him, her head finding its place on his chest. Her breathing evened out, deepening into sleep.
Corin lay awake for a while longer, savoring the feeling of her in his arms. The bond pulsed between them, warm and steady, a connection that would last the rest of their lives.
He'd waited thirty-four years to find his mate. He'd wait a hundred more if it meant keeping her. But he didn't have to wait anymore. She was here, marked and claimed and gloriously, permanently his.
His bear rumbled with contentment, and Corin finally let himself drift. For the first time in weeks, his sleep was dreamless and deep.
She was safe. And she was his.