Chapter 34 Tash
Tash
The sun wasn't fully up so much as caught between branches like it couldn't believe it had to work this hard just to light the woods. My skin still shivered, nerves atomized, and even with Chance's arms wrapped like steel bands around me, it was all I could do to keep breathing.
The woods had this hush, a hush so deep the sound of our hearts beating could've made the birds jealous.
Every now and then a bird's call split the air, or a squirrel barreled across a branch, but the rest was just us.
The chaos from before had faded, but not the tremor in my hands or the drag of my need.
Chance held me close, his body burning like a furnace. He was so much, so solid, but I couldn't get enough. The heat of him soaked right through the coat he'd loaned me, and when he brushed his calloused thumb across my cheek again, something under my ribs just gave up trying to act normal.
We didn't talk. Not at first. Just the hush, the weight of what we'd survived, the clean, lost-girl hunger in my gut.
But if I knew anything by now, it was that hiding stuff never fixed a damn thing.
So I did what came naturally. I reached up and mapped the lines of his face, memorizing them with my fingertips.
He caught my wrist and pressed his lips to my pulse. "Are you okay?"
I shook my head, because "okay" was for people who hadn't just lived through hell. "Not even close," I whispered and clenched his arm. "But I'm here. With you. And I'm not letting go."
He smiled then, just a flicker, but his eyes stayed worried. Stormy, pale, and so fucking alive.
"The girls are safe? For sure?" I asked.
He checked his phone. "My mother has them and Maeve at the safehouse. Xavier is headed there now. They're safe." He cocked his head and looked around. "So are we. There are no humans for a good mile around."
It was all right there, everything I'd been too scared to say. For once in my life, I quit overthinking. Just let the words go. "I love you," I said. "I love you. I want to be your mate. I choose you and everything you are."
Chance stopped breathing. Literally. His whole body froze, and for a second, I thought I'd snapped something essential.
Then the hunger hit.
His eyes went dark, pupils blown wide, silver shot through with gold until it barely looked human. For a flash, I saw Caden behind them, his dragon rolling up from the depths, greedy as a kid let loose in a hoard.
Air rushed out of him. "Tash—"
I cut him off, didn't care. "Bite me. Claim me. Now. Here. Do it."
His hands shook where he gripped my waist, enough to make me shiver, too.
I steadied myself on his chest and forced the rest out, no shame left at all.
"I need the bond," I said. "I want it. I want the strength to protect our girls.
" The word felt right. Our girls. "I want it because they deserve a mom who can keep them safe.
I want it because I'm tired of being the weak link.
But mostly," I brushed his ear with my lips, "I want every part of you. I want forever."
He made a noise, part snarl, part plea. If there'd been a priest in the woods, they'd have started crossing themselves.
Chance cradled my face. "If you're sure, fuck, if you want this, I'll give you everything. I'll never stop."
I laughed, not cute, not soft, just wild and alive. "I want to wake up different. I want to burn."
He set his jaw with joy in his eyes. I could see Caden's fire behind them. The dragon was ecstatic. "Don't move," he ordered, and for once, I obeyed.
He scrambled to the edge of the clearing and started gathering kindling. Dry twigs, shredded bark, a half-rotted log he split one-handed like it was made of tissue. In no time, he had a pile built, a little pyre with a hollow perfect for warmth but safe from burning out the whole damn forest.
"Don't want you cold," Chance muttered. He shifted quickly and blew fire on the pile. It caught quickly, flaring up in gold and orange, licking at the mossy rocks and spilled leaves until heat shimmered across the air.
Caden turned and lumbered over to me. You're mine.
"Yes," I whispered. "And you're mine." He shifted back then helped me to my feet.
I stepped closer. The waxy, sweet scent of burning wood, the tang of sap, the trace of old rain in the dirt, it grounded me. It felt like home, or something close.
The world shrank to a circle of fire and nothing but Chance, all of him. He made quick work of his clothes, then took his jacket and spread it on the ground. He stared at me, bare-chested, hair mussed, eyes full of a hunger that bordered on frantic.
He pulled me in, slowly at first, but his hands were everywhere. His palms skated down my arms, framing my hips, yanking me close until our chests mashed together.
Our clothes started evaporating. He peeled my sweater, covered in mud now, over my head, taking his time, like it was the first gift he'd ever unwrapped.
His mouth landed on the side of my throat, right where the pulse hammered.
"Are you sure?" he asked, the tremor in his voice betraying him.
"Don't you dare stop," I said, and slid my hand down his bare chest, tracing every line until my fingers caught the waistband of his jeans.
We fumbled with the buttons, both of us laughing, both of us desperate. I wanted to crawl inside his skin, wanted to forget the last sixteen years of pretending I didn't need this.
The firelight made his skin look like poured bronze, every muscle picked out in shadow. My own body felt hypersensitive, every hair on end, nipples hard even before he brushed his thumb across them.
He knelt, didn't bother with preamble, and started at my waist, unbuttoning, unzipping, peeling denim and cotton and every bit of old armor off me like he couldn't get to the real Tash fast enough.
The next second, he was on his knees, worshipful, hands braced on my thighs. His mouth found my belly, then lower, and every time his lips grazed skin, I thought I'd lose it.
Clothes off, I stood naked in the clearing, a mess of mud and scrapes and want, and didn't care who saw.
Chance followed suit, stripping with the urgency of a man who'd been handed a death sentence and found the loophole in my body.
His jeans dropped, then his shorts, and fuck, the sight of him, his thick cock curved up, tip already leaking, thighs tense and ready, nearly short-circuited the last of my rational thoughts.
We crashed together, toppling onto the bed he'd made from his jacket. He sprawled over me, blanketing my body with his weight.
The fire crackled to our right, casting shadows that writhed every time he moved. Dawn sliced through the trees, mixing with the red-gold glow so it looked like every inch of us was carved from sunlight.
He hovered over me, both hands bracketing my face. "I want you so fucking badly it hurts," he said, teeth bared. "You have no idea what you do to me."
I arched, rolled my hips, grinding up into the heat of his cock. "Show me."
He did.
His hands mapped every inch, every scar, every remembered place. His mouth found the hollow at my throat, my collarbone, the dip between my breasts. He worshipped them first, his tongue flicking over my nipples, lips latching on, sucking until the pressure made me whine.
I raked nails down his back. He growled, shifting lower, tracing my ribs, my belly, a bruise from earlier that he kissed softly.
When he reached my thighs, he opened them with a single move. He didn't ask, just did. The cold air bit at my center, but his mouth followed, burning the chill away instantly.
He licked me greedily. His tongue was molten, working the folds until I was gasping, writhing, begging for more.
I grabbed his hair and yanked. "Don't tease. Not tonight."
He grinned into my skin. "As you wish."
After a swirl of his tongue, he sucked my clit into his mouth, and I went rigid. Stars exploded behind my eyelids, every muscle wound tight. He kept it up, not stopping even when my legs jerked around his ears.
And then, just as I was about to break, he pulled back, crawled up my body, planting kisses all the way up, until he hovered over my face again.
"Want you so bad," he repeated, voice guttural. "Tell me you're sure."
I met his eyes, steady. "Take it. Take everything. I'm yours."
His cock lined up against my pussy. He slid in slowly, thick, stretching me until he was buried to the hilt.
The woods caught the sound of my moan and tossed it right back, echoing through the clearing like the first prayer of the morning.
Chance braced on his elbows, face twisted in effort. "God, you feel good."
I clung to him, nails digging, not caring if I left marks. "Don't stop. Don't ever stop."
The rhythm built, raw, wet, skin slapping, sweat blooming between us. Every thrust drove the air from my lungs and replaced it with fire.
He kissed me, his mouth hot and insistent, our tongues dueling, exchanging every promise we'd never had the guts to say before.
The fire roared beside us. Sunlight spilled over our bodies, gold and wild.
We fucked like it was our last day on earth.
When I felt the telltale tingle building at the base of my spine, I nearly sobbed.
"Please," I begged. "I want it. I want you to bite me. Now."
He didn't make me ask again.
His hand circled my throat, just to steady me, then he lowered his mouth to the juncture of my neck and shoulder.
He paused, one last time, eyes flickering from silver to gold. "If you want to stop—"
I laughed, broken and wild. "Don't you dare."
His teeth grazed my skin. I braced for pain.
And that was where the rest of the world disappeared. The clearing, the fire, the sunrise, all of it shrank to this point, this second, with dragon and man and woman, heat and pulse, body and soul.
"Do it," I whispered and closed my eyes.
He did.
The bite hit like a car crash.
One second, I was lost in the rhythm, Chance's cock pushing so deep my bones screamed, every inch of me wound razor-tight, sweat slick between our bodies, arms tangled like we'd never get free.