Chapter 23 #2
My mouth finds the soft line of her throat once more, the hollow beneath her ear and above the curve of her shoulder.
I learn the places that make her shiver, the spots that draw out a sharp inhale or a broken sigh of my name.
Each sound she makes burrows under my skin, sinking claws into a primal and possessive spot that has been straining against its leash since the moment I brought her through my forest.
The way she existed there with me with ease, like she always belonged there at my side.
How she looked around in wonder, eyes wide as she took in its beauty.
The way she splashed in the river with me and made me begin to picture how the rest of my days would look if I could convince her to stay with me there—to be mine, forever.
She pushes against my chest, forcing me to lay back against the bed.
I watch as confidence and pleasure drive her to take control, her hips rolling up and down as she stares directly into my eyes.
The bed creaks quietly beneath us, a stark sound against the hitch of her moans and the low growls I can’t hold back.
Heat coils low and relentless, tightening with every clench of her pussy around me and every helpless little gasp she tries and fails to swallow.
Her head tips back as she increases her pace.
I feel my control fray with every movement and I know I need to make her come before I embarrass myself and make her regret choosing me in return.
“Wren,” I growl out. “Look at me.”
She looks back down at me, hazel eyes blown wide with her pink lips parted, cheeks flushed as a sheen of sweat glistens on her chest. She looks more radiant and alive than I’ve ever seen her, and for a heartbeat I almost forget how to speak.
I was going to tell her filthy things to help her get to her climax, but somewhere along the way my heart and mind tangle.
“I love you,” I whisper as my hands squeeze her hips.
She shudders beneath me, and her answering whisper scrapes right over every nerve ending in my body. “I think I love you too, Torryn.”
It breaks something loose inside me and I take over the pace between us, my hips surging up to meet her as my hands pull her down against me. I watch as she slaps her own hand over her mouth as her moans become ragged and loud.
Her pussy grips my cock so tightly it feels like she’s going to break me, and a second later I feel the telling spasms as her release rips through her.
Her hands fly to my chest like she’s trying to hold on for dear life as I continue to ride it out, slamming my hips against her until I spill inside of her, slowing down a fraction and leaving us both breathless.
I feel the mate bond flare to life at the same time my body empties. It’s like a door swings open inside my chest, and a warmth and light surges through it.
The sense of Wren—her fear and stubbornness, her tangible grief and wild hope, her fierce, aching love for a world that doesn’t deserve it—rushes into the quiet space inside me as a brush of awareness against my mind.
The wolf throws back his head and howls, the sound echoing through the new connection. The hawk wheels high in a sky that isn’t there, crying out in fierce, wordless celebration. Even the dragon, prideful and prickly, rumbles low and satisfied, curling along my ribs as if to say, finally.
Each animal shares its joy within my mind as I sit back up to encircle my mate and pull her tight against me.
All I want is to fuse us together and keep us in this suspended moment forever.
Sweat slicks our skin where we press together, heartbeats pounding wildly in sync.
Her fingers tremble where they cling to my back, nails digging in one last time before she seems to collapse against my chest entirely.
We sit there like that for several long breaths before I lower us both gently against the bed, face to face. Then, softly, I feel a pulse of her feelings brush mine: wonder and confusion.
“Torryn,” she says tentatively, like this is all an illusion that will be ripped away from her.
“I’m here,” I murmur, turning my head to press a kiss to her damp temple.
“I can…feel you.” She swallows, pulling back just enough that I can see her eyes. “Not just your body, but inside, like I could reach out and touch you without moving.”
“You can,” I say hoarsely, overwhelmed by the emotions filling me.
I knew she was my mate, but my biggest fear I never voiced aloud was that I was scared she wouldn’t feel that in return without being a shifter. That the bond would only go one way.
“That’s the bond. The same one I share with my spirits and with my pack. You’re part of that now. No matter where you go, no matter how far, I will always feel you, and you, me.”
Her breath catches before she lets out a shaky breath that might be the start of another wave of tears. “It’s so beautiful.”
“It is” I agree, and press a soft kiss to her forehead as I feel a thread of anxiety exuding from her.
“But know that you don’t have to always keep the connection open.
It’s okay to keep your thoughts or feelings to yourself at any time.
Don’t feel like you have to keep yourself exposed, unless you want to. ”
Guilt creeps in as my hand cradles her face, forcing her to look up at me. “We’re taught from a young age to prepare us for the overwhelming change of a bond, and how though we are connected as two halves of one whole, you don’t have to lose yourself in it.”
Tears shimmer in her eyes as her voice cracks, “Are you sure? I never want you to feel like I don’t want you, always. There’s just a lot of heaviness and uncertainty that I carry around and I don’t want you to feel that burden.”
My lips curl up at the edges, completely in awe of her kind heart and how she always thinks of others. “Nothing has changed, Wren. I still don’t own you and I will never make you feel that way, but if you ever want to share that with me, I will help you carry the burden.”
Gratitude and love floats from her as the open connection slowly closes and I tip my forehead against hers. It’s still there, alive and thrumming, ready for her to use at any moment, and all I’m left with is a deep contentment and a full heart.
Eventually, practicality weakly raises its head. We’re in enemy territory and I can’t stay. Every part of me wants to, but wanting and being able are not the same thing, and my mate doesn’t need me to fight her battles for her—no matter how badly I want to.
Reluctantly, I begin to ease myself away, but her leg hooks over my hip, as if her body protests the idea of even an inch of distance.
“Don’t go,” she murmurs, the words muffled against my chest, eyes looking suddenly heavy with sleep.
“I have to,” I answer honestly before I tap my hands lightly over her temple and on her chest, just above the steady thrum of her heart. “But if you need me, just reach for the bond. I will come for you, no matter when or where.”
Her fingers curl against my chest, pressing right where my heart beats in return. “Even if I’m further in human territory?”
“Especially then,” I whisper, my voice growing rough with the thought of her in danger. “All I need is one thought from you and I’ll decimate them all, sweetheart.”