Chapter 19
Morgan
The Fifth Full Moon
The moon is high and the air is sticky with heat. I’m already slicked in sweat and wet between my thighs, but I’m hiking toward the ridge that juts into the night sky.
I can feel him close. Stalking me. He’s waiting for me to run, but I’m holding out until I get to a clearing.
I haven’t let him touch me today. Not yet. It’s been torture for both of us, but I want him on edge and hungry for me.
Since our last full moon, we’ve attempted to avoid touching each other. It’s been easy with how we left things that night. The hurt that echoed through both of us kept us from speaking for a week.
But all that caves the moment I feel the pull. Desire is like a tide beneath the August moon, drawing our needs to the surface. We can’t resist them.
And Goddess, I can’t fucking resist him.
Every day that goes by feels worse and worse. Some mornings, I wake up craving him so much, I feel like I’m going to die without his mark. Others, I wonder if this is the curse. If Maeve worked some sort of magic spell that makes it impossible not to have these feelings.
It’s impossible to know what’s real and what’s magic.
We hurt each other. I’d seen shards of him in the moments our bond strengthened and our minds connected, and I used those memories to cut him. He did the same to me, though. He showed me what he thinks of me, and it’s not much.
But as hard as I’ve tried to hold onto that hurt to keep myself sane, I can’t tonight. It’s been a month, it’s our fifth full moon, and for the next few hours—I’m his.
Tall grass brushes against my calves as I make it to the clearing. The wind picks up, my sheer black dress whipping around me.
I left the house without telling him where I was going. Of course, he knew the second I left. He surprised me by not immediately showing himself, though. He’s been staying out of sight, even though I can feel his presence.
Sylvan and I are like the moon and its shadow. Inseparable.
Five months. That’s how long we’ve been bound together.
I’ve been keeping an eye out for any sort of creatures or hints of dark magic, but there’s been none. We’ve had no activity since Sylvan killed the three creatures, and part of me hopes that means it’s all over and we’re safe.
My lungs squeeze a deep exhale out as the tall fir trees open up to a wildflower meadow.
The mountain ridge cuts perfectly through the night in the distance, the moon swollen and bright.
The scent of wild bergamot, milkweed, and coneflowers is light, sweet, and honey-like.
For all the years I spent living away from here and saying I never wanted to come back, this is what I’ve missed.
I kick off my shoes and smile as I feel the earth beneath my toes. Vetiver surrounds me, and while the scent makes me feel warm and happy, it’s not what I’m searching for.
I’m waiting for him. Whiskey, cinnamon, oak, and sandalwood. The scent that intoxicates me, haunts me, and makes my mouth water. It’s grown stronger over time, and I swear I notice new notes in it now.
I close my eyes for a moment, listening to the world around me. It’s strangely silent because the animals know a predator is nearby. Deer will avoid us. Even black bears stay away from werewolves on full moon nights.
This far out into the forest, no one from town will bother us either. His scent will warn them away.
It’s just me, Sylvan, and the full moon.
“Run.”
Goosebumps break out over my skin. It’s a soft command, barely heard. I don’t know where he is exactly, even though I can feel him watching me. He’s lost in the trees and shadows.
My nipples go taut beneath the sheer black lace. I look around for him and then freeze. My heart skips a beat, every muscle tightening with anticipation.
Two golden glowing eyes watch me from the shadows.
I immediately take off running across the meadow. My breaths puff out as I push myself to sprint. I glance over my shoulders, and a panicked laugh squeezes out as he emerges from the trees.
He’s massive. Seeing him stand like this, I’m reminded of how huge, scary, and hot he is.
I turn my attention back to running. My lungs burn as I push myself, and when I glance back again, I scream.
He’s closing in on me. He’s unbelievably fast for a monster so huge.
I dodge to the left as he reaches for me, squealing as his growl sets every hair to standing. His claws grasp my dress, shredding the sheer fabric as I escape.
His growl of frustration makes me laugh. I fly across the field, running as fast as I can even though there’s no way he’s going to let me go too much longer.
I can hear him. Right behind me. Closing in.
I twist to the left as he reaches for me again.
I laugh again. He thought he had me—
Fuck.
Sylvan’s arms wrap around me, and the entire world spins as he takes me to the ground. He softens my fall, making sure nothing hurts as we hit the dirt, but then rolls me over onto my stomach.
He spreads my legs without pretense and notches his cock against my entrance. I’m soaked. I’m needy. I want him to be rough and demanding, because that’s better than him being tender. I can’t handle Sylvan when he is kind.
“Mine,” he snarls.
His breath huffs out as he thrusts, taking me completely. My voice is lost against the ground, my body arching back against him.
“You left without telling me where you were going,” he growls in my ear as he thrusts again. His movements are punishing. Harsh.
I love it.
“I knew you’d follow,” I gasp as I take him deeper.
“Always, little witch.”
His cock stretches me with every movement and I whine against him as he fucks me into the ground. His claws scrape over my bare hips and the pain makes my pussy instantly more slick.
Goddess, I’ve needed this. I hate that being full of his cock is something that’s helped me get through this month, but it has. Knowing that on the full moon, we can put aside our issues and satiate our cursed lust.
“I’ve missed you,” I gasp.
The admission shocks me, and his movements falter for a moment. He leans in, his tongue dragging over the soft part of my shoulder.
I squeeze his cock, my eyes rolling back on a moan.
I swear his cock goes deeper than it ever has before with his next thrust. His breaths are warm against my spine.
I’m drowning in everything Sylvan, bathed in his scent and demanding touch.
The sharpness of his claws, the way his body fits so well against mine—reminders that we work so well together even though we don’t.
“I’ve missed you too,” he grunts. “Fuck, little witch. Are you coming already?”
All I can do is nod as ripples of unrelenting bliss tear through me. I’m over the edge, every part of me giving in to the flood of pleasure. My orgasm is quick and harsh, just like the way he’s taking me. He goes still for a moment, groaning as I squeeze him.
I gasp as he pulls out and rolls me over.
Tears roll out of the corners of my eyes and he catches them on the tip of his tongue.
His claws drag down my front, ripping the sheer fabric and leaving me completely naked beneath him.
His cock nestles against my stomach, and when I look down, I’m not sure how, even with the heat magic, I’m taking all of him.
Beads of pre-cum drip onto my belly and glisten under the moonlight. The veins along his shaft pulse, his knot thick and swollen.
I’m still trembling through the aftermath of my orgasm. Sylvan leans down and I part my lips as he kisses me. It’s a monstrous kiss, his tongue sliding against mine. I whimper against his mouth as he moves down, shifting his body off me and nudging my knees apart.
Sylvan is a fast learner. Every time he touches me, he does something even better than the last time. His broad hand settles over my mound, applying just enough pressure to keep me in place as his tongue drives into me. I feel his groan against my cunt, my knees closing around his head.
“Fuck,” I whimper.
I meet his gaze. It sears me with its intensity, never leaving as he fucks me with his long tongue. Soon, I’m writhing and crying and whimpering, my fever inflamed by his touch.
There’s no escaping him. The longer we’re together, the more I accept this. The more I want this. There’s this part of me that I try to quell that begs for the mating mark and yearns for a future with him in it. What if we did take each other as mates?
But Sylvan has his secrets. He guards himself, even when I think he’s being open with me.
He’s really good about turning conversations away from his past and who he is.
Even with the bits and pieces I’ve uncovered over the last few months, I don’t really know him.
He won’t let me in, and I won’t let him have me.
It’s better this way, I remind myself. Just because we could be fated mates, doesn’t mean we should accept each other. Frankly, I don’t trust fate at this point. What has fate ever done for me except fuck me over?
“You’re thinking too much.”
He does this thing with his tongue that rips the thoughts straight out of my head.
My moan carries toward the moon as I roll my hips, chasing the pleasure building up fast again.
He’s going to make me come a second time, and it’s like he’s figured out how to do it on command.
He keeps working me with his mouth and soon, my voice is shattering around us again, my entire body caving for the tide.
The full relief that follows from coming turns every muscle to jelly.
Sylvan sits back on his haunches, regarding me as he licks his wolfish lips. My chest rises and falls with heavy breaths, sweat clinging to my skin. I reach up and close my hand around his cock. Or, try to. He’s so thick that my fingers barely meet around him.