Chapter 41
Sandra
Three months later.
I never imagined that one day I would end up here.
That I would find the love of my life. More than that, that I would have a partner made for me by the stars themselves, by fate.
I take a deep breath as the wedding march begins to play.
My heart races, but my steps remain steady.
In front of me, a carpet of delicate petals spreads across the soft grass, forming a path that leads me to the altar. Above, strands of golden lights intertwine through the tree branches, creating our own starry sky. The night seems to hold its breath, as if it too is waiting for this moment.
The ceremony is intimate, in the backyard of our cottage, surrounded by those we love most. My gaze shifts to the people who came to witness our union, everyone who has always been by our side: Ted, Ethan, Jack, Viklaus, Balthazar, and dear Lucy, who is my sister at heart.
She came alone, and I know why. I was relieved to learn that she had decided to start her life over here in Salem, close to me. And far away from her toxic ex.
I smile at her as I walk by, and I see her subtly wipe away a tear of happiness. This makes me hold back my own emotions so as not to smudge my make-up.
Everyone gets up from the wooden benches, smiling at me as I walk by.
There is magic in every detail, in the glow of the lights, in the arch of white flowers that rises before me, its petals standing out against the darkness, framing the space where our vows will be sealed.
And then, there is Mark.
My heart almost stops when I see him under the arch, waiting for me with a sweet smile, a slight blush on that handsome face. His expression of devotion is so different from the closed one he usually wears.
He is looking at me as if I had stepped out of a dream, as if he can hardly believe his luck.
He makes me feel stunning.
And it's not even because of the long white dress I chose for today, with a daring slit up the leg. I feel beautiful because, in his eyes, I always will be. Because I feel the same when I see him. How lucky I am to have him as mine.
My smile shines brighter than any light around me, even when tears start to roll down my face, smudging my make-up.
I can't help it.
Ted is standing next to him, ready to officiate the ceremony, but for me, Mark is the centre of everything.
My breath catches when he raises a hand and I hold it tightly, feeling the immediate connection.
His gaze, those golden eyes shining with emotion, leave me speechless.
Stars, how handsome he looks in his impeccable suit and slicked-back hair. As soon as we seal our marriage, I'm going to want to rip his clothes off and mess up that hair with my fingers.
Ted begins to speak, I try to pay attention, but I can't help thinking about the day Mark proposed to me, days after the last attack, when his arm was still injured.
He turned to me and said that our bond, the connection between us, meant more than any formal marriage. But he wanted to put a ring on my finger, to show the whole world that I was his, and he was mine.
He asked if I wanted the same thing. If I wanted to marry him.
And I don't know if I cried first or covered him with kisses, but I said yes.
I want to be your wife.
I want to have your mark, wear your ring, wear your collar...
I want everything.
We don't know what the future holds.
I, with only one mortal life to live now, and he, with a few years of his stolen.
The urgency to live, to enjoy every second, is what made us make the decision so quickly.
We had no time to lose.
Now, three months later, here we are. Face to face. He looks at me with so much love, with such a desire to build something solid, and I can feel every beat of my heart resonate with the same urgency.
"I can't wait to live the rest of my days by your side," he whispers in my ear before saying "yes," agreeing to be my husband.
The yes that escapes me in a sigh is not just a promise.
It is our destiny, sealed before everyone, with the certainty that, no matter what the future brings, I belong to him.
And he to me.
In a second, his lips touch mine, sealing our union once again.
I lose myself in that kiss, feeling everything we are and everything we will always be.
***
We are on our honeymoon, far away from everything. We chose an isolated chalet in the Dolomites, at the foot of the mountain, surrounded by nature. We decided to spend our first night exploring the forest around the chalet, finding a nearby lake and familiarising ourselves with the path.
The full moon illuminates the treetops, and the sounds of nature around us only increase the feeling of being alone in the world, lost in each other.
We walk side by side, our bodies touching with every step, exchanging subtle caresses, savouring the pleasure of our company, of the moment, without haste.
Your fingers slide across my skin, caressing my shoulder, then my hair, with a gentleness that contrasts with the growing tension.
In response, my hand slides down his back, feeling the stiffness of his muscles under his shirt, the heat of his skin burning under my fingers.
When I run my hand over his abdomen, down to my fingertips playing with the waistband of his trousers, Mark gasps sharply.
"I can't take another second of this torture," he growls, and suddenly he pulls me hard and presses me against a tree.
I let out a giggle, and a low, involuntary growl escapes his lips as he kisses me with fierce need, as if he can't contain himself any longer.
My body arches towards him, my breasts pressing against him, my hard nipples rubbing against his shirt.
I wrap my arms around his neck and lift one leg, letting him fit perfectly inside me, pushing my hips.
He kisses me urgently, as if trying to devour me, and I surrender completely, feeling my body yield against him.
He moans softly, his hot breath against my skin, and his hand squeezes my waist tightly, as if holding me so I won't leave.
"You drive me crazy with lust, I can't stay away from that delicious mouth for even a minute..." He bites my lower lip, then slides a hand down my body until he touches me between my legs. "All I can think about is that little cunt..."
"Then come on, fuck me right here," I rub myself against his hand, and he growls, pulling my knickers aside, plunging two fingers inside me, making me shudder.
"Naughty girl," he murmurs, sucking my neck before pressing his teeth into my mark.
I feel him pull away and whimper, he laughs, but seems to contain his own frustration at postponing what we want.
"Come here," he says, pulling me by the hand. He guides me to a space between the trees and then takes off his shirt, lining the ground with it. "Sit here and open your legs for me."
I do as he asks, settling myself on the shirt, leaning back, resting my elbows on the ground, and slowly opening my legs, causing my dress to ride up. I'm still wearing my knickers, but they're to one side, exposing my wet pussy.
Mark watches me standing in front of him, unbuttoning his jeans and pulling out his cock. When he squeezes his fingers at its base, I see a drop of precum escape from its swollen head. I lick my lips at the sight, wanting to taste that drop, to feel its salty flavour on my tongue...
But then my pussy throbs with lust and I change my mind, I need him inside me, and I need him now.
"Mark..." I moan, pulling my knees up to me, spreading myself open for him. "Come on."
"Fuck," he growls and practically throws himself onto my body, fitting between my legs and sinking in with a hard thrust.
"Ah!" I cry out, throwing my head back as the sensation of him filling me all at once hits me. I'm used to his size by now, but it still takes me by surprise.
"My wife..." he whispers, his voice hoarse and full of desire, his hot breath against my skin as he takes me with uncontrollable force. "My female. My..." He sighs heavily, his breathing becoming more erratic, and in one fierce movement, he lifts his head to kiss me with desperate voracity.
His tongue invades mine with an urgent impulse, our kisses becoming a mixture of desperation and passion.
He doesn't stop the movement of his hips, filling me with each thrust, which increases in intensity.
The weight of his massive body on top of mine drags me into a state of overwhelming ecstasy, and soon his heavy breathing turns into hoarse grunts, his rigid muscles trembling with every movement.
My tongue brushes against one of his fangs that has grown during the kiss, and an electric sensation runs through my skin, as if my whole body is awakening to him, to his beast, to my male.
His smooth skin beneath my hands begins to change, and it’s not the first time he loses a little control while fucking me…
but this time it’s different. I feel fur sprouting and spreading fast, coating his skin under my fingers, while his muscles swell so intensely they seem to double in size.
Then, the soft brush of his tail against my calf makes me gasp.
He's losing control more than ever, and I love every second of it.
Mark stops suddenly, and I feel his body recoil slightly as he sits back on his heels, but he remains inside me.
"Damn..." His voice is deep, almost guttural. "My beast is breaking free, I've lost a little control."
My eyes scan every line of his half-transformed form, and my belly tightens with a deep longing.
Something primal inside me reacts to what it sees.
His eyes burn with an intense golden hue, as if the moonlight were reflecting in them, and the muscles of his body become even more imposing, wild.
His face, now more lupine, seems elongated, with sharp fangs.
His skin, once smooth, is now covered with caramel-coloured fur in some places. He tries to catch his breath, his lungs expanding and contracting irregularly. His large, clawed hands clench into fists as he tries to regain control.
"I'll be back to normal in a second, give me a moment," he murmurs, his voice raspy.
"Don't change back to normal..." I moan, feeling my body pulsate around him. My fingers slide over his fur-covered thighs, and I wiggle, wanting him to continue what he stopped. "Stay like this."
His eyes darken, his nostrils flaring as he sinks into me a little deeper.
"Are you sure, love?" He flashes a predatory smile. "If I don't control myself, I'll end up turning into the beast."
I bite my lip and nod.
"I want all of you, Mark," I whisper. "You are both the man and the beast... and I want both... I want you wild, I want you in your beastly form..." I look down where we are connected and watch, fascinated, as his cock grows larger, the base swelling. "And I want to feel your knot swell inside me."
He growls with lust, leaning over me again, the movement driving him deeper, stretching me as he grows, transforming.
I moan with the sensation and dig my fingers into his back, digging my claws into his skin.
"Do you like my monstrous cock, Sandra?" he asks, a mischievous tone in his voice, as he moves slowly, letting me get used to the different size.
My words get stuck behind moans when I feel the pressure increase as he gives himself completely to the transformation.
"I like it..." I manage to say, the sound of his movement in and out of me getting wetter and wetter, my clitoris rubbing against the fur that covers his abdominal muscles. "I want you to take me like this, in your feral form."
An animalistic growl reverberates from his throat and he triples in size, his skin completely covered in fur and a deep tremor shaking his body as his beastly form takes control.
Huge claws brush against my hips without hurting me, his mouth full of fangs opens and his thick tongue slides down my neck, his eyes shining like embers.
A shiver runs through me from head to toe and I spasm on his cock, desire intertwined with something instinctive and addictive.
He goes even deeper, and suddenly his knot invades me relentlessly, reaching a point that makes my body arch involuntarily. I feel an explosion of pain and overwhelming pleasure as he stretches me, filling me in a way that seems to break all my limits, leaving me breathless.
I sink my claws into his broad shoulders and he growls, pulling out only to thrust himself into me once more, and my cry dissolves against his neck. My thighs shake around his waist, and I cling to his neck, too weak for anything but to let him take me completely.
“What's it like to be fucked by the beast?”
"Incredible..." I hiss, feeling a wave of pleasure wash over me. "Don't stop. Don't stop."
"Does my female like to feel my knot?" His animalistic voice vibrates against my ear. "Do you like knowing that we'll be locked together, that my cum will gush deep inside you, with nowhere to go, that your belly will grow from all the cum accumulated inside?"
"Yes!"
With a roar, he wraps one arm around my waist and stands up, still inside me, with his other huge hand holding my bum, lifting me up and lowering me forcefully onto his cock, fucking me while standing, my legs wrapped around his waist.
He moves me as if I weigh nothing, his thrusts deep and brutal, a raw force that drags me to orgasm.
"Mark, I-I..." I gasp, closing my eyes. "I'm going to come."
A guttural moan explodes from his throat, his thrusts becoming uneven, urgent, fierce.
"Me too," he grunts.
And then I feel it.
His knot begins to swell inside me, binding me to him, tying me so tightly I bite his neck, his fur muffling my cries.
"Mark!"
His roar reverberates throughout the forest as he too comes, tightening his arms around me, his body trembling, his cock throbbing as endless spurts fill me, making me feel a heat invading me, my womb dilating more and more, his knot locking us tight, trapping all the cum inside me.
I don't know how long we stay embraced, united, waiting for our muscles to stop trembling, but finally I feel him relax inside me enough to slide his cock out. The next instant my cunt gushes, I feel the pressure in my womb ease, the heat trickling down my thighs.
"By the stars, Mark," I murmur, rubbing my face in his fur, inhaling his wild scent.
"I know..." With his breath uneven, he slides his tongue across my shoulder, up to my neck, and presses it into my mark.
"When can we do this again?" I ask, tilting my head back to look into his eyes.
His beastly face slowly transforms into a human one, and Mark emerges with a satisfied smile, his tongue running over an elongated canine.
"Whenever you want, my female."