Chapter Ten
All of the air left Ava’s lungs at his statement.
She had been doing her best to behave, but it had been a struggle.
The pull was there between them, that undeniable connection that bound them as mates.
It was as if there was a fire burning inside of her that grew hotter and brighter the closer she was to him, and she couldn’t wait for it to consume them both.
With his glowing blue eyes locked on her, she shivered with awareness. It was as if he truly saw her, every aspect, good and bad. And yet, he still thought she was the most beautiful female in the universe.
That was a pretty powerful feeling.
Her gaze drifted down to his perfectly shaped lips, making her remember what they had felt like against hers. She wanted that again. Wanted to feel his mouth on hers. Wanted to kiss him until they were both breathless.
Before she knew what she was doing, she launched herself at him.
This time, he was ready for her. He caught her easily, holding her body against his much larger frame.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and crushed her lips against his in a brutal kiss.
A strong arm wrapped around her waist, while his other hand stroked up her spine to the back of her neck, pulling her closer.
The kiss turned carnal in an instant.
It was wild, passionate, and so charged with emotion that it made her entire body hum with energy. She was damn glad he was holding her up since her legs had gone completely weak. If she had been standing, she probably would have fallen right on her ass.
Castiel tasted like hot honey with something darker beneath it.
Like smoke and dreams wrapped in moonlight.
With their mouths fused together, a pulse of white-hot need streaked through her bloodstream, making her shiver.
She clung to him, breathing him in. Tasting him.
Learning him. It felt less like discovering a stranger, and more like remembering something her body had always known.
He belonged to her.
He always had, and he always would.
The mating pull thrummed between them, tight as a drawn wire, feeding her desire and pulling her closer until nothing existed for her but him. He was her only constant, the only thing that mattered in her world.
Closing her eyes, she surrendered to the haze of need pulsing through her.
The desire she felt for him was too strong to deny, so she didn’t even try to fight it.
She didn’t care that they had only officially met a few hours ago.
She knew him. She wasn’t being reckless. She wasn’t even taking a risk.
She was simply giving in to the inevitable.
Wrapping her legs around his waist, she plastered herself against him.
Her tongue stroked against his, taking, tasting, in silent demand for more.
She lost herself in him, so focused on the way he was making her feel that she barely realized that he was moving until her back hit the bed and his hard body covered hers.
Desperate need exploded inside her as he pressed against her.
Her uniform was so form-fitting that it allowed her to feel his cock pressed against her heated core.
When he shifted again, his shaft rubbed over her clit, making her moan in pleasure.
He thrust his hips again, sliding his cloth-covered shaft against her even harder.
The friction felt amazing, but she wanted more. She wanted nothing between their sweat-soaked bodies. Not even air. Wishing their clothes gone, she gasped when she suddenly felt his bare skin against hers.
Breaking the kiss, she wheezed, “Was that me? Did I do that?”
“You did,” he confirmed. He kissed both of her cheeks and the tip of her nose before asking, “Did you mean to?”
“Oh, hell, yeah.”
A rumble of laughter made his chest vibrate against hers.
She gasped as the brush of his skin made her nipples harden into tight peaks.
When she glanced down, she gasped for another reason.
During their first kiss, she had felt an intense burning sensation when he had marked her with his magic.
She’d instinctively known what that feeling was, but it was still a shock to see the mating mark on her chest.
The ancient symbol on her chest glowed with silvery iridescent light, as if it had been inked beneath her skin and then lit from within. It pulsed in time with her heartbeat, warm and shimmering. She couldn’t look away. The beautiful mark wasn’t just decorative.
It was a claim.
A promise.
A quiet declaration to the universe that she wasn’t alone anymore.
The mating mark was a visual proclamation of the bond between them. She would wear it over her heart proudly. Still, a small, possessive part of her wished it were somewhere more obvious. Somewhere people could see at a glance, so there would be no doubt that she was taken.
“I can mark you again,” he offered softly. “This mark was instinctive. My heart claiming yours. But I can do it again, anywhere you like.”
She ran a finger down the front of his throat, then tapped the base of his neck. “Wolves like to mark their mates here.”
Hunger blazed in his glowing blue eyes. “Is that where you will mark me?”
She nodded. “With my fangs and my magic.”
“Then, I will do the same.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “You have fangs?”
He chuckled. “No, but I can make them and bite you if that’s what you want.”
Shaking her head, she said, “I don’t want you to change for me. I want you as you are.”
He simply stared down at her for several heartbeats, then he leaned in closer and settled his mouth back over hers in a soft, sensual kiss.
She ran her hands up and down his back in slow, gentle strokes.
She wished she could mark every inch of his skin.
Brand him so the entire universe knew he belonged to her, and her alone.
She’d never realized that she was so damn possessive, but she felt almost feral at the thought of someone challenging her claim on him.
“Mark me,” he commanded. “Our bond is not complete until you claim me as I claimed you.”
“Not yet,” she whispered.
She wanted to wait until he was inside her to mark him.
But first, she needed to touch him.
Rolling them over, she stared down at his beautiful body.
He held onto her so that she was sprawled out against his side with one of her legs draped over his.
His body was hard as marble, all curved planes and dense, unyielding strength.
She wanted to map him the way she mapped stone before she set a chisel to it.
To learn each line, each ridge, each subtle dip where muscle met bone, until she knew him so well she could sculpt him from memory with her eyes closed.
He was a living, breathing work of art, and she used her hands and mouth to worship him.
To show just how much pleasure she got from touching him.
Her hands skimmed over him, testing the warmth of his skin and the hard muscle beneath it.
Her mouth followed with soft kisses meant to soothe rather than tease.
She wanted to memorize the faint taste of salt on his skin, the rough catch of his breath when her lips pressed against him, and the way his muscles tensed and flexed as he reacted to her touch as if he was barely holding himself together.
All of it felt like proof. Like confirmation that he was really hers, and that she could finally stop imagining what it would feel like to have him beneath her fingers because he was really there with her.
Her hand trailed over his broad shoulder and down his muscular arm. She kissed his chest, then leaned her head against him so she could listen to his steady heartbeat. The beat slowly increased as she moved her hand lower, over his hard, chiseled abs, then down to the dips and curves of his hips.
His breath caught when she wrapped her hand around his thick shaft.
He was hot and hard against her palm, and she felt the throbbing pulse of his heartbeat through the velvety soft skin.
Staring at his face, she gave his cock a testing stroke.
She liked watching his reaction to her touch, and did it again to please them both.
With a growl, he rolled her beneath him again and claimed her mouth in a brutal kiss. Pushing past her lips, his tongue invaded her mouth. She opened for him willingly, meeting his passion with her own. It was a kiss that burned straight through her, making her move against him in restless abandon.
She let out a loud gasp when he parted her thighs and stroked a large finger over her pussy.
She was slick with the proof of her desire for him, and it allowed him to push the large digit into her with ease.
She felt her tight muscles part at his invasion, and she forced her body to relax at the unfamiliar feeling.
Squeezing her eyes shut, she panted for breath when he began stroking his finger in and out of her tight, hot hole.
Her pleasure increased when he used his palm to rub against her clit, teasing the tight bundle of nerves until she was writhing against him.
Pressure built inside of her, expanding and growing in strength until she strained to contain it.
He began to thrust his finger harder and faster, working her closer and closer to the edge.
Adding another finger to the first, he stretched her wider, preparing her for what was to come.
He scissored his fingers inside her, then curled them in a way that made her cry out.
The release tore through her like a tempest, making her entire body shudder and shake as she came.