Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Morning sun spilled through the bedroom window as cozy as ever, casting the terrible memories of the previous night aside.
Lily pressed her fingers to the claiming bite, tracing the raised marks where Gray's teeth had sealed their bond last night. Already healing with shifter speed, but tender in the best way, sending sparks straight to her core with each touch. The thread between them pulsed warm and alive.
Gray's arm locked around her waist, yanking her back against his chest. His cock pressed hard against her backside. His wolf's possessiveness flooded the bond. Mine.
"Lily." Her name came out broken against her shoulder.
She turned in his arms, and the look on his face stole her breath. Raw. Vulnerable. Like he'd been sure she was a dream.
"I'm here." She cupped his face, thumb tracing his jaw where stubble scraped rough. "I'm alive. We're both alive."
He kissed her. No warning, no gentle morning greeting. His tongue swept into her mouth while his hands tangled in her hair, holding her like she might disappear. She tasted his desperation and the raw terror of almost losing her, all of it tangled with overwhelming relief.
"Need you." He broke the kiss, breath ragged. "Have to be inside you. Now."
"Yes." She pulled him over her, spreading her thighs. “And don’t you dare make me beg.”
He groaned at finding her ready, fingers sliding through her wetness. “Fuck. You are the perfect mate.”
“Because of you.” The admission made the heat rise in her cheeks, but it was true. Even exhausted, even after everything, her body only wanted one thing.
He circled her clit with his thumb while two fingers pushed inside, curling to find that spot that made her see stars. She clenched around him, and his growl rumbled against her neck.
"I thought I understood the bond. But it’s different now. I can really feel how much you want this." His voice scraped rough. "I feel everything."
She smiled. "Good, then you can feel this." She reached between them, wrapping her hand around his erection.
He bucked into her grip, and she felt what he felt. The tight heat of her hand, the perfect pressure. How he struggled not to rush to the end.
"Not yet." He pulled her hand away, pressing a kiss to her palm. "I’ve got to taste you first. Worship you properly."
He slid down her body, pressing kisses to every inch. When he reached her hips, he found the marks he'd left and traced them with his tongue like they were precious.
He pressed a kiss to the inside of her thigh. “I love seeing these on you.”
“Yes,” she moaned, threading her fingers through his hair and pushing him lower. "Now stop talking and—oh my—"
His mouth found her, tongue sliding through her folds. He devoured her like she was the only thing keeping him alive.
His thoughts flooded through her. Not exact words, but feelings and impressions. How she tasted like magic and home. Her scent making his wolf sing. How he wanted to stay between her thighs forever.
"Gray, please, I'm going to—"
He sucked her clit while his fingers curled against that spot inside her. The pressure built, coiling tighter and tighter in her core. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think, could only feel the relentless pleasure building higher. Her thighs started shaking. Her hands fisted in his hair.
He sucked harder, fingers stroking faster, and she broke.
The orgasm hit like lightning, her back arching off the bed, a scream tearing from her throat.
Pleasure rolled through her in waves until she couldn't tell where it started or ended.
Her magic exploded outward, roses blooming across the headboard, vines crawling up walls.
He didn't stop. Didn't let her come down. He worked her through it and straight into building toward another.
"Too much—" she gasped.
"Never enough." He looked up at her, mouth wet with her arousal, eyes pure molten gold. "I've been starving for this. For you. And I'm nowhere near done."
He returned to his task with single-minded focus. She felt his determination like a living thing. His need to give her pleasure.
The second orgasm hit harder. She cried out, not caring who heard. Magic crackled through the air.
"Please." She tugged his hair, trying to pull him up. “I want to feel you.”
"Yeah?" He crawled up her body until he was nudging at her entrance. "It’s the knot, right? You want it."
"I do find it kind of—hot." The words came out breathless as her body vibrated in anticipation. "But it’s not just that and you know it. I need everything from you."
“Then take it all.” He pushed in slow, making her feel every thick inch. “Everything I have is yours. Always."
The fullness was overwhelming, the stretch perfect and intense. She gasped, her body gripping him tight, and he groaned against her neck.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and dug her heels into his back. "Move. Please.”
He did. Long, deep strokes that had the headboard hitting the wall. The bed frame creaked. Their bodies moved in perfect sync.
"I almost lost you last night." His voice cracked on a thrust. "I can't stop seeing it."
"I'm here." She pulled him closer, nails raking down his back. "I'm not going anywhere."
"No. You're not."
He pounded into her, the rhythm relentless. His mouth crashed against hers, swallowing her cries. The pressure built with each thrust, each kiss, each desperate grind of his hips. She felt his wolf rising, possessive and protective and overwhelmed with the need to claim its mate properly.
“I’m going to bite you again." He broke the kiss, his mouth moving to her throat, lips brushing over the claiming bite.
The contact sent electricity straight through her. "Yes."
He pressed his mouth to the bite, teeth grazing without breaking skin, and she exploded. The orgasm ripped through her, making her clench around him in waves.
"Fuck, yes." His rhythm stuttered, then he drove deep one final time. "This is how it's supposed to be. You and me, locked together, forever." His whole body shook as he came, a rough sound tearing from his throat.
His knot began to swell.
The pressure was immediate, stretching her wider with each pulse of his cock.
She gasped, her hands digging into his shoulders.
It was intense, overwhelming, until her body yielded and it turned incredible.
The fullness pressed against every sensitive spot at once, constant and perfect.
Aftershocks rippled through her, pulling soft moans from her throat.
"Good girl," he rasped against her neck. "Taking my knot so well.”
The praise sent heat flooding through her. Locked together like this, she could feel everything. Every pulse of his cock. Every throb of his knot. The hot rush of him filling her.
He groaned. "Keep doing that and I'll never let you leave this bed."
She clenched deliberately, pleasure spiking through her. He cursed, his hips jerking.
He kissed the claiming bite, then kissed it again. “I love you so fucking much."
She pulled him down and kissed him hard, teeth catching his bottom lip. "I love you too. Even when you're insufferable."
They stayed locked together, their mouths moving in lazy exploration. Each kiss lingered, unhurried and thorough.
His knot kept her stretched wide, pulsing with each heartbeat. Every small movement sending sparks of pleasure racing through her.
"Ready for more?" He smiled against her mouth.
"Your knot hasn't even—"
He rolled them carefully, keeping them joined, until she straddled him. The new angle made them both gasp.
"Ride me." His hands found her breasts, thumbs circling her nipples. "I want to watch you take what you need."
She started to move, small rolls of her hips, all his knot would allow. But the pressure was perfect. She watched his face as she rode him, loving the hunger there, the way his eyes tracked every movement of her body.
"Look at you." His voice turned rough as his hands cupped her breasts. "You're absolutely wrecking me and you don't even know it."
"Gray," she sighed, barely able to breathe.
"That's it." One hand slid between them, finding her clit. "Come for me again. One more time."
The combination of his fingers, his knot, and the grinding pressure pushed her over. She came with a cry, magic bursting from her skin in tiny ethereal sparks. They scattered across the room like fireflies, each one leaving a tiny sprout where it landed.
"Your magic." He grabbed her hips tight and shuddered beneath her. "I can feel it. Like warm lightning under my skin."
Thanks to the bond, she realized he was right, her magic was touching him, connecting with his wolf. It had never done anything like this before. Because it had never had a reason to.
"Again." He rolled his hips, helping her move. “Fuck. I’ve never felt anything that spectacular in my life.”
When his knot finally released, he turned her.
"We’re going to have to do this every day for—forever." He positioned her on her side, sliding behind her. "I can’t get enough."
He entered her from behind, one hand on her hip, the other sliding around to play. The position was intimate, his chest pressed to her back, his breath hot on her neck.
“Lily,” he murmured with each slow thrust. “This is everything.”
She reached back to thread her fingers through his hair and turned her head to catch his mouth.
They moved together, savoring the connection, in no rush to finish.
She felt whole for the first time in her life.
Complete. All the broken, scattered pieces of herself had finally found their place.
He was hers, she was his, and the rightness of it filled every empty space she'd carried for too long.
When she came again, it was gentle but intense, rolling through her in waves. He followed, his knot swelling to lock them together once more.
“That settles it. We’re never leaving this bed," he declared against her shoulder.
"Tempting." She squeezed his hand where it rested on her stomach. "But the pack, aren’t they waiting to hear from us?"
"They can wait." But even as he said it, his knot was softening, releasing her.
A knock rattled the door. "Boss? You two decent?"
"No," Gray called back. “Go the fuck away.”
"No can do. The whole pack's downstairs and they're getting impatient. Also, there's a tree growing in your bathroom now."
Lily groaned. "My magic…"
"Is going to be the least of your worries when this pack gets hold of you," Ryker called through the door. "They're ready to celebrate."
Thirty minutes later, after a shower, and about a dozen “one more” kisses, she finally laughed and pushed him toward the door.
The noise hit them before they reached the bottom of the stairs. The distillery was packed. It looked like the entire pack had crammed inside.
The second Gray and Lily appeared, the room exploded.
Ryker started it with a piercing whistle. Then the howls began—deep, joyful, deafening. Shaw was pounding on the bar. Mara had her grandkids at her side, all of them grinning. The noise shook the windows, rattled bottles behind the bar.
"About damn time!" someone shouted.
"We heard you two blocks away!" another wolf called, which made Lily's face burn.
Gray's arm came around her waist, pulling her against his side. He was grinning, shameless and proud, while she wanted to melt into the floor.
"The boss finally claimed his mate!" Ryker raised a beer. "And judging by the structural damage upstairs, she claimed him right back!"
More howls. More laughter. Lily caught sight of vines crawling down the stairwell behind them, roses blooming from the banister.
"Your magic's showing," Gray murmured against her ear, but he sounded delighted.